Murder by Chance (Betty Chance Mystery) (17 page)

At one-thirty in the afternoon Lori headed toward the Hungry Moose Buffet, her hips moving with a cha-cha beat. She was in a wonderful mood. Only seven hours earlier she’d left the poker table $29,000 ahead. Lori couldn’t be happier if she’d won a million bucks.

“Lori,” Tony’s voice echoed from behind her.

She swirled around and shot a Cheshire cat grin at the man who’d helped turn her losing streak around. She was actually surprised to see him walking around free. The last time she saw him he was being escorted by a security force.

“Thank you for staking me,” she said, assuming he’d already heard what happened after he left the poker table.

As soon as he reached her he kissed her on the top of her head. He answered, “You’re welcome.”

Lori fought the urge to instinctively pull away. In reality, she barely knew the man. But, for now, forced manners prevailed. She continued, “I would have called your room, but I was worried I’d wake you up. Plus, I didn’t exactly know what happened to you after you left.”

“You mean after I was forced to leave,” he said with a half grin.

“Can I ask what that was all about?” she asked, knowing she was overstepping boundaries. Still, she had watched her date being led away by Men in Black.

“A misunderstanding, nothing more. Sometimes, the security underlings get carried away when their boss calls someone in for a chat.”

“Tom Songbird?”

Tony nodded. “It’s nothing I can get into right now, but if you’re worried I can guarantee you I’m one of the good guys.”

She nodded as if she completely believed him. In fact, the opposite was true. Too many things had happened on this trip for her to trust anyone.

Lori reached into her purse and pulled out a white envelope. It was stuffed with five thousand dollars. She handed the money to Tony and asked, “Are you sure you don’t want a cut of my winnings? After all, you’re the one who staked me.”

He shook his head and said, “Watching you play is my payback.” He slipped the money inside his custom-made suit jacket. Even at noon, Tony Gillette was dressed to kill.

They walked together down the hallway as Lori searched for her aunt. Betty had left her a message to meet her in the buffet. Unfortunately, Lori had overslept.

Tony placed his arm around her waist as they walked, and said, “My sources tell me you played like a champion.”

Lori flinched. Tony must have felt it and pulled his arm away. She hoped her little action reminded him her affections couldn’t be bought, not even for gambling money. She wasn’t
that
addicted, she thought. With a jolt she realized once again she referred to herself as an addict.

She pushed the negative thought out of her mind. She’d focus on being positive about her skill as a gambler. “I did play well.” Lori said, “In fact, the best I’ve ever played. After the first few losing hands were dealt, it all turned around in my favor. I couldn’t catch a bad card, though maybe it was just luck.”

“Poker isn’t about luck. It’s about skill, which you certainly have.”

“Thank you,” Lori said quietly. She knew Tony’s compliment was sincere. She didn’t know him well, but by now she knew he’d never joke about gambling. It wasn’t merely a game. It was his livelihood. His life.

After her early morning’s astounding win, she now found herself fantasizing about becoming a professional player. It’d certainly solve her little problem of not being able to stop gambling. She wouldn’t have to stop. If it was the way she earned a living, who could criticize her habit? If she could muster up a bit more self-control, being a pro would solve all of her problems.

As Tony spoke his next words, Lori wondered if he could read minds like Boris claimed to do.

“Have you ever considered going pro?” Toni asked.

She admitted, “Not until this morning.”

“You’d be very good. Plus with your looks, the television networks would be crawling all over each other to get to you.”

Lori shrugged her shoulders in modesty. “There are a lot of attractive professional female poker players.”

“None of them can compare to you. And with my coaching, there’s no telling how far you’d go.”

“It’s tempting, but I already have a job.”

“You just called what you do to earn money a job. Wouldn’t you like a career that is a passion? And one that pays a fantastic amount of money?” Tony asked, tempting her more than he knew.

Lori loved running Take A Chance Tours, and adored working with her aunt. But, the little known fact that she kept borrowing from the company’s funds was putting both her and her aunt at financial risk. That terrified her. At least if she were self-employed, the only one she could destroy would be herself.

He stepped in front of her and came to a stop. Tony said, “I’ll be here until the tournament on Saturday. Is there a chance you could stay?”

“I’m sorry, no. I have to help my aunt. We’re scheduled to leave tomorrow, and we still don’t have transportation scheduled. After all she’s been through, I don’t think I should leave her.”

“Are you sure? I’d really like you to stay,” he urged.

“So would I,” said another voice that came directly behind her.

Tony’s face turned to stone and his eyes glared over Lori’s shoulders.

She turned. Severson was standing stoically, practicing his alpha male stance. His legs wide apart, his shoulders squared, and his thumbs rested inside his belt. He looked as if he would draw his pistol at any given moment.

“And just why do you want me to stay, Sheriff?” Lori asked, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Are you asking me out on a date?”

Severson responded with the same sarcastic tone. “There are two dead bodies connected to your tour company, remember?”

Lori sputtered back with anger. “I didn’t have anything to do with that.”

Tony interrupted, “Sheriff, unless you arrest her, you can’t force her to stay. I’m confident my team of highly-paid attorneys would agree with me.”

Severson responded, “I didn’t say I would force her to stay, just that I’d like it if she did. Just like you would like it, except for a very different reason.”

“I doubt that, Sheriff.” Tony laughed.

Severson shot Tony a look of disdain. “Miss Barnes, I need to talk to you alone.”

Lori leaned over and kissed Tony on the cheek. “Thank you again for everything. I’ll get ahold of you before I leave Moose Bay.”

Tony brushed her long hair from her eyes and then walked away.

Severson placed his arm on Lori’s shoulder as he led her toward the hotel elevator. As soon as they were inside Lori held her finger near the control panel, positioning herself to be the one who pressed the button. She asked, “Are we going up?”

Severson shook his head. “No, Lady, you’re going down.”

**

Tillie pushed the half eaten piece of chocolate cake as far away as she could. “If I want to keep my brain working, I’d better not have too much sugar.”

Betty nodded, looking at the six different deserts she’d laid out in front of her. She’d only taken a bit of each, but she wasn’t being wasteful. The casino wouldn’t mind. They understood that sampling was part of the process of writing a review. It was as if Betty were a revered sommelier whose nod of approval would bring a round of applause at any five-star restaurant.

She jotted down a few notes in her small leather notebook, writing each word carefully. Something had changed in Betty the moment she decided to write a blog. Writing about food, as well as eating it, had become her passion. She was determined her writing would be as good as any cuisine she tasted. She began to see food as a thing of beauty, and not a secret hiding place for her emotions. Her lifelong guilt about enjoying even a miniscule bit of sweetness evaporated. How could she scribble about paper-thin discs of dark chocolate sitting atop Jasmine blossom ice cream and not fall in love?

Betty glanced at her watch. “I’m a bit concerned that Lori didn’t show up.”

“You didn’t want her to come with us, did you?” Tillie asked, thinking it would be better if Lori were not part of the Great Baffler Bus Break-In.

Betty shook her head. “No, not at all. But since we usually have all of our meals together when we’re on tour, I didn’t want to do anything out of the ordinary that might attract attention.

Tillie asked, “Do you want me to look for her?”

Betty said, “No, there’s no time.”

Betty checked her watch. It would be two o’clock by the time they’d finished their meal, the exact time that Boris would be on stage. When they left the buffet, the two women would walk past the show room to make sure the matinee was in full swing. Then they’d hurry to Boris’ motor coach.

Betty was feeling a time crunch in more ways than one. Take A Chance Tours was scheduled to leave in twenty-four hours. She still had to find time to do her daily blog posting, as well finish her review of the buffet. She knew her readers wouldn’t mind if she were late in blogging, but her blog’s advertisers wouldn’t be as forgiving.

Betty put her notebook into her shoulder-strap purse. The bag was secure enough that if she had to run for it, it wouldn’t get in her way. She was wearing running shoes instead of flats, and a lightweight jacket with leather gloves within the pocket. And the basic staple of her daily wardrobe—black elastic waist pants—would be easy to run in. Surprisingly, it had taken her more time than she’d thought to choose an outfit. She wasn’t exactly sure what the current fashion trend was for breaking and entering.

Betty shifted about uneasily in her chair. “It’s almost time.”

“That it is,” Tillie said, sounding anxious.

“Are we sure about this?” Betty asked for what seemed like the millionth time since they’d decided Boris’ bus had to be searched.

“We have no choice.” Tillie said, a trace of doubt in her voice.

She reached over and took a huge bite of chocolate cake. “For energy.”

Betty reached over and stabbed the remaining piece.

“We’re going to need it,” she said.

The two women headed out of the room.

**

“It’s this way,” Severson said, pointing down the long brightly lit tiled hallway.

Without even asking, Lori knew where they were heading. They were going into the bowels of the casino. Or at least that’s what Tom Songbird had called it.

It was the area far below the casino and hotel that made everything possible. Ground level and above was designed for guests and gambling. Underground were the kitchens, laundries, heating and cooling systems and, of course, the main event of the moment—the surveillance room.

Lori relaxed a bit when she saw Tom Songbird waiting for them to arrive. As soon as they reached him, Tom placed his outstretched finger on the keypad and spoke, “Thomas Edison Songbird.”

The door to the room slid open and Lori and the sheriff followed him inside.

Lori looked around and uttered, “Wow! I’ve seen this type of room in movies, but it’s way more impressive in person.”

Six employees were seated at desks, surrounded by sixty wall monitors. Tom had told her that Moose Bay had over sixteen hundred cameras situated around the property. Every square inch of the casino and hotel, except for bathrooms or guest rooms, was being captured on camera.

“This way.” Tom said, leading them to the far end of the room. A single monitor, attached to a digital VCR sat on the largest desk in the room. He picked up the remote and hit the start button.

Lori watched as the image of a hotel corridor popped up on the screen.

Severson said, “That’s the hallway in front of the penthouse suite where the blood was discovered in the bathroom. The video you’re watching was taken fifteen minutes before the anonymous call concerning screams inside the suite.”

Lori asked, “Have you had that blood tested yet? Was it human?”

“That’s not important, right now. Look,” Severson said, his finger pointing toward the screen.

On it, a woman, dressed in a bulky black hoodie, black spandex pants and red high heels stopped in front of the penthouse door. Although the image was crystal clear, Lori couldn’t be sure who the woman was, though she was dressed exactly like Tillie. The woman’s head was tilted downward. The part of her face that wasn’t covered by her hoodie was hidden behind large sunglasses. But, when she reached up to adjust her sunglasses the sleeve on her hoodie slipped down her arm.

“There!” Severson yelled, and Songbird stopped the tape. Songbird zoomed in on the image in front of him until only the woman’s wrist filled the screen.

Lori swallowed hard and realized why she had been called into the room. The lady in question was wearing the same bracelet Tillie always wore.

“We want you to verify the woman is Tillie,” the sheriff said.

“I, I can’t be sure,” Lori stuttered. “She dresses like her. I mean, Tillie certainly has her own sense of style. And the bracelet is the same kind that Tillie wears.”

“Next image,” Severson instructed.

Tom hit the fast forward button. He stopped within a matter of seconds. The monitor displayed a view of the same woman right outside another hotel door. Lori recognized the room number. It was Betty’s.