When she got past the roulette wheel, she saw that the ladies’ room was down one hall to the left, and the men’s room was farther down the right and down another corridor.
Yay! Carl was going to be hard-pressed to decide which hallway to guard. She watched as he took a post near the roulette table, but that was pretty crowded; he was going to have a hard time staying focused. When she neared the ladies’ room door, she saw an exit door at the end of the corridor.
Whoo-hoo, another yay!
Rushing down to the end of the hall, she saw that there wasn’t an alarm on the door, so she grabbed a tissue out of her purse and wadded it into the latch strike so the door couldn’t lock, then prayed the men’s room had an exit too.
Hallelujah and a bag of chips, it did.
She started knocking. And knocking. And knocking.
Some guy she didn’t recognize opened the door. “What do you want, lady?”
“I need to talk to my husband privately.” She pulled a picture of Phil that Toni had given her out of her cross-body purse. The man looked at her like she was crazy. She fished out a twenty-dollar bill from her wallet. “Please.”
“Fine,” he said. He was clearly exasperated. “Wait here.”
The longest two minutes ensued, then Phil opened the door. His eyes widened. “It’s you, the queen of hearts. Why did you want to see me?”
“Don’t you think this game is kind of shady?” she asked.
“Hell yeah.”
At least he wasn’t slurring. That was a good sign.
“I’m positive that the guy who is winning is a plant for the house.”
“The fuck you say.”
Samantha nodded.
“I want my money back.” This time his voice came out a little slow and belligerent. Now she could see the effects of the bourbon.
“Phil, the only hope you have is not losing all your chips. You’re making poor bets, you need to fold more.”
“I want my twenty-thousand.”
“Carl, Murray, and the game-runner aren’t going to allow that.”
She watched as he deflated. “You’re right. I’m going to lose everything.”
“No, you’re not. Not if you do what I say.”
“I don’t play good like you. I’m going to lose.”
“We don’t have much time. You’ve got to think about your family. You need to do what I say and follow my lead.”
His head jerked up. “How do you know about my family?”
Samantha fumbled through her purse and pulled out the picture of Phil, Sharon, and their son. Then she pulled out a picture of the baby scan. “A friend sent me. They’re concerned about you. Sharon wants you back. She’s sick with worry.”
He took the scan of the baby from her and traced the picture with his forefinger. “Do you know if it’s a boy or a girl?”
“A little girl,” Sam lied. Anything to get him to respond and get with the program.
“A daughter,” he sighed with a smile.
“You’ve got to save your money and go home. They need you. Sharon needs you. Your son needs you. Your daughter needs you.”
He looked at her with tears in his eyes. “Okay.”
The door slammed open. “What the fuck are you two doing?” Carl demanded, as Samantha twirled around and away from both of them. “You drunken ass. I ought to kick you out of here.” She heard a scuffle.
She unbuttoned the first two buttons of her dress and pulled it open exposing her lacy bra, then wiped her hand over her mouth, smudging her lipstick. When she turned back, she made sure she stepped on the pictures that Phil had dropped.
“Carl, stop,” she pleaded.
Carl turned from where he had Phil by the shirtfront. He gave her a onceover. “How do you two know each other?”
“What are you talking about?” she asked innocently. “We met tonight.”
“Bullshit,” Carl said. “I’m not buying that.”
“Look, I just needed a little hit of something. A little bump of something-something or a man. If you’d been available, Carl, I would have been all over you. But Phil here was all that was available. Maybe you and I can talk after the game,” she winked.
“You are so full of shit, lady.”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out.”
She watched as Carl gave her a serious considering glance. He gave a little smile. She had him.
Hurray!
Carl let go of Phil so he fell to the ground. He looked over at Samantha. “Cover yourself up and fix your lipstick. Break time is over. I’m assuming you jammed the exit door over there?” he jerked his thumb toward the ladies’ room.
She nodded.
“Well, go.”
She went.
As she opened the door, she saw Carl dragging Phil back in the exit door of the men’s hallway. She quickly went into the ladies’ bathroom and fixed herself up.
Carl was waiting for her near the roulette table with all of the men. He rolled his eyes when he saw her. It didn’t matter to her, she’d accomplished her mission.
“It’s a wig shop. That has to be a first,” Asher laughed.
“What do you mean?” David asked.
Ezio snorted. “You didn’t grow up in New York. Anything could be a front for anything. Did you notice how big the building was? It might have a dry cleaner beside it, but still, the building that the two shops occupy is huge.”
“Shit, I didn’t see that,” David admitted.
They drove by and parked two blocks away. They’d taken Eden’s car, the one she loved, the one that Asher called her piece-of-shit baby. It was a nineteen ninety-nine Honda Civic with over three-hundred-thousand miles on it, and you could tell. It was
