Текст книги "Alibi High"

Автор книги: Jeff Shelby

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Текущая страница: 13 (всего у книги 15 страниц)

THIRTY SIX

“We're going where?” Jake asked, looking at me like I'd finally lost my mind once and for all.

“River Star,” Johnny Witt said from behind the wheel of the Witt family minivan. “The casino.”

“I think it was rhetorical, honey,” Brenda said from the passenger seat, patting him on the arm.

Johnny shrugged and focused on the road.

When Nate told us that the computers were at River Star, I immediately thought we were in trouble because I didn't see any way we could get up there that night. But Johnny quickly talked me down from the ledge, telling me it was no problem. If Emily could babysit all the kids, we could make a double date out of it. And check out the computer situation at the same time.

“I know Brenda will be in,” he said. “She loves the casino.”

“She does? I didn't know that.”

“She never tells anyone. But put her around slot machines and I have to take away her ATM card.”

“That doesn't sound like Brenda at all .”

“Trust me,” he said. “She's a gambler.”

So then I just had to figure out how to enlist Jake. I called him and told him that the Witts needed a night out and they wanted us to come along. He was surprisingly enthusiastic, probably ready to blow off a little steam after a week of not having me at home and . Emily was excited about the prospect of lording over her siblings and the Witt kids for a certain amount of cash. Johnny dropped me at home, I got ready and we headed to the Witt ' s house, where Johnny offered to drive.

And we were just getting around to our destination.

“River Star,” I told him. “Like Johnny said.”

“You hate gambling,” Jake said, eyeing me. “Why are we going to a casino?”

“Well, Brenda likes to gamble.”

Brenda twisted in her seat. “What? Who told you that?”

“You're like one step away from Gamblers Anonymous,” Johnny said.

“That is an exaggeration,” she said, frowning at him. “I just like to play the slots once in awhile.”

“Remember that time in Vegas when you learned there was a slots tournament and you had to play and you ended up screaming at that old woman for taking your lucky machine?” Johnny asked.

Brenda's mouth twitched and she turned back around in her seat. “I'd staked it out. She knew it was a lucky machine. There's etiquette, alright? People without etiquette are terrible.”

Jake ignored them. “Daisy. You don't like casinos. Why are we going?”

“Because they needed a night out,” I said, smiling at him. “Like I told you.”

“And the computers,” Brenda said over her shoulder. “We're going because of the computers.”

“The computers?” Jake asked. “What computers?”

“The ones from Emily's high school,” Brenda said. “She and Johnny think she found them.”

“You would be a terrible spy,” Johnny muttered, shaking his head.

Jake stared at me. “Spill it. Now.”

I sighed and told him what Johnny and I had learned.

When I was done, Jake rubbed at his temples like his head hurt. “So we're going to buy stolen computers?”

“Well, no. Duh. Of course not. We aren't going to buy them.”

“So exactly what exactly are we doing , then?” he asked. “Why are we going to meet with Stolen Computer Guy's Brother and pretend like we want to buy his stolen computers? What exactly is this going to accomplish? And what's going to happen when Stolen Computer Guy's Brother realizes we are no n' t serious buyers?”

“I have no idea,” I said. “But we'll figure something out.”

“We'll figure something out,” Jake repeated. “That will look great on your tombstone.”

“So dramatic,” I said. “Come on. This will be fun. Maybe. ”

“And exciting,” Johnny said added . “It's pretty exciting getting to be a spy. Dude, I used the word heist earlier. It was cool.”

Jake shook his head and turned to look out his window.

I knew 'd known he was going to be irritated, but I wasn't sure what other choices we had I didn't have many oth er options . Sure, we could've called the police, but I didn't know if they'd take me seriously and I wasn't sure where we'd tell them to go. We didn't know Nate's brother's name yet and we didn't know if the computers were at the casino or someplace else. The way I figured it, I thought we'd just get to see the computers, then settle on a price, then set up another time to meet with them and then we'd involve the police and they could do the rest of the work. And as much as I wanted the school to the get the computers ir stolen equipment back, I was also focused on who took the computers. I wanted to see the person who broke into Prism and stole the electronics. I wasn't sure if Nate's brother was the guy, but I was pretty sure he could point us to who did.

We rode in an uncomfortable silence the rest of the way until the giant neon lights of the casino lit up the darkened sky.

The River Star hotel and casino was built to Las Vegas specifications. Big bright lights, tall sprawling buildings and a massive billboard that you could see for a mile in either direction so you'd know where to pull off the highway and lose your money. The highway exit was decorated with all sorts of signs promising big jackpots, large buffets and even bigger jackpots. The traffic backed up on the offramp, the product of a Friday night crowd. We snaked along with the other cars until we reached a six – story parking garage and Johnny maneuvered the minivan into a spot on the top floor.

“Fine,” Jake said, turning to me. “If you get to play cop or investigator or whatever it is you're playing, then I get to gamble.”

A tiny, ethical knot took up residence in my stomach My pulse quickened and a knot formed in my stomach . I hated gambling on principal president and it was one of the reasons we avoided the casino. Thornton, my ex, had dumped a sizable amount of his time – and our money – into local casinos and the whole idea of gambling pretty much left a bad taste in my mouth. I thought it was wasteful, like throwing your money into the mouth of a volcano. Jake, however, thought gambling could be fun and had, in fact, spent many weekends in Las Vegas prior to our getting married. He'd tried to get me to go, but I'd steadfastly resisted. respected my desire to avoid them and here I was, b ringing him directly to the one place I despised.

“Alright,” I said, knowing I didn't have much choice.

He leaned closer to me. “ I'm going to get one So I can get a hundred dollars out of the ATM . ? ”

The knot punched me in the stomach grew bigger . “What? ? ”

“A hundred bucks,” he said, smiling. “I'm going to march into that giant lit-up castle over there, find an ATM machine that will charge me, like, eight bucks to make a withdraw a l, take out one hundred of our dollars and then gamble with it.” His smile grew. “Play some blackjack, maybe a little poker. Who knows?”

“Jake, we can't – ”

“I can do whatever I'd like,” he said, holding up an index finger to silence me. “You've brought me here under false pretenses. I am allowed to have a good time. And in order to have a good time, I will need to put our hard-earned money at risk in some of these games you despise so much.”

He was pushing all of my buttons. At once. He knew how much emphasis I placed on not wasting money and I'd always maintained that gambling was a huge waste of money. He was trying to torture me, make me feel bad for tricking him into the date night at the casino and also let me know he was irritated that I'd gotten myself further involved in the computer theft.

I hated payback.

“Maybe I'll win,” he said, then smiled again. “Or maybe I'll lose.”

“I should punch you,” I said.

He cackled. “This may turn out to be fun after all.”

Both Brenda and Johnny were turned around in their seats, watching us. Johnny seemed amused, but Brenda looked concerned.

“Fine,” I said. “Take out your money. I hope you lose it all.”

“Yeah?” Jake said. “Maybe I'll take out two hundred then.”

I started to say something, but he put up his index finger again. “No, no. False pretenses and all that. I can do whatever I'd like while we're here.” He leaned closer to me. “I hate investigating and you hate gambling. So if you're gonna play Jessica Fletcher, I'm gonna play Johnny Chan.”

“ Who the hell is Johnny Chan?”

“ On e of the greatest poker players and gamblers to ever live,” he said. “One time – ”

“ I don't care!” I said. “And you know how I feel about gambling. It's totally different than...whatever it is I'm doing.”

“ Totally diff erent?” he said, widening his eyes. “Oh, I'm sorry. Have I not said about seventy thousand times that I am not in favor of you continuing to act like some undercover cop? Have I not said it loud enough? Should I yell it right now?”

“ No, because I'll put my fist in your mouth as soon as you open it.”

“ I even told you the other day that if you were going to keep doing this stuff, that maybe you should at least get paid for it,” he continued. “But I'll take a huge guess and assume you aren't getting paid for this little expedition tonight?” He folded his arms across his chest. “Tell me I'm wrong and that you're getting paid and I won't go yank a bunch of cash out of the ATM right now.”

I didn't say anything.

He thrust his arms up in the air. “I win! Show me the money!”

I turned to Brenda. “You'll help me hide the body, right? After I kill him?”

“Oh, definitely,” she said, smiling. “I know all of the good places.”

“Good luck prying her away from the slots,” Johnny said.

She swatted him on the shoulder.

We got out and walked through the garage to the elevator. Jake tried to hold my hand in the elevator, but I yanked it away from him and made a face at him. He chuckled and shook his head.

I glared at him. “You are totally blowing it.”

He raised an eyebrow. “How's that?”

“Before you started threatening me with gambling, this was gonna be your lucky night,” I said.

“Lucky night?” he asked. “How do you figure?”

The elevator reached the main floor and the doors opened. I waited until Johnny and Brenda walked out ahead of us.

I looked at my husband. “I was gonna have lots of sex with you tonight when we got home. Now?” I held up my index finger and wagged it in his face just like he'd done. “You won't even get to touch my boobs.” a glimpse of what I was going to offer.”

I made a mental note to pu ll out my long-sleeve pajamas and to make sure I wore socks to bed that night.

Jake frowned at me. “But—”

“ No buts.” I frowned back at him. “Literally.”

I stomped out of the elevator, smiling, leaving him standing there to ponder that.

THIRTY SEVEN

The interior of River Star was an assault on all of my senses.

The space building seemed endless, with rows and rows of slot machines, all ringing and making cartoon like sounds, as people sat on stools and punched the buttons on them. Beyond the slots, I could see more rows of tables for card games. The purple and pink neon lights were everywhere, advertising everything from games to food to drinks. Waitresses dressed in skimpy purple and pink outfits flitted about with trays full of drinks. Shouts of joy and groans of disappointment rose above all of the machine noise every few moments. And there were throngs and throngs of people.

The River Star was thriving.

Brenda rubbed her hands together. “So, I think I'll just go wander and see where I end up.”

“Bet I know,” Johnny said.

“Be quiet,” Brenda said, then headed into the sea of slot machines.

“And I'm going to go find an ATM,” Jake said, grinning.

I stuck my tongue out at him.

He blew me a kiss.

Forget one night without sex.

He was now looking at a month.

“Nate said to meet him near All Kinds of Wall of Walleye,” Johnny said.

I tried to refocus. “What the heck is that?”

“Apparently a place to eat. That serves lots of walleye.” He pointed to the opposite side of the casino. “Says all food is that way.”

I nodded and we entered the giant mob that seemed to be moving in that way direction . I was struck by the different types of people that were in the casino. Couples, singles, seniors, college students, nicely dressed people, folks with barely any clothes on at all. Tall, short, big, small, blonde, brunette, long hair, bald. Everyone was there. Apparently, I was one of the few people in the state of Minnesota who didn't have any interest in gambling.

We moved slowly with the herd, people peeling off towards the games and others joining up as we trudged toward the large neon sign at the far end of the room that offered food. The smells of pizza and cold cuts fried chicken and popcorn wafted in the air. We passed a long bar , jammed with customers, elbow to elbow at a long wooden strip counter . I was trying to calculate the money that went through this place and couldn't even imagine. No wonder the state had wanted the casino.

A giant fish with large googly eyes loomed over us as we passed the bar , a sign positioned underneath that read and a sign in the shape of a fish below the giant googly eyed fish declared that we had reached All Kinds Wall of Walleye. It was a counter service place, where you stood in line, then pulled what you wanted from warmers as you walked toward the register. I didn't count them, but it looked to me like there were at least twent y y– five people in line, trying to decide which kind of fried walleye they wanted.

“He said he'd find us when we got here,” Johnny said, scanning the crowds. “So I guess we just wait here.”

“Alright,” I said, already feeling claustrophobic and germ y aphobic from the crowds.

“How do you wanna play it?”

“I'm genuinely not sure,” I admitted. “I'm hoping it will come to me as it...evolves.”

“I got your back,” he said, nodding. “We'll be alright.”

I was grateful that Johnny was with me. I didn't want to do this alone and I was pretty sure that if Jake had had his way, he would've turned the minivan right back around and headed for home. I wasn't quite sure might not have known how we were going to figure this everything out, but I 'm was glad I wasn't doing it alone by myself .

Johnny nudged me with his elbow and nodded toward the rows of slots. “There's Nate.”

I followed his gaze and sure enough, Nate was strolling over to his us , still in the clad in his Vikings sweatshirt , and looking calm and collected. . He wasn't looking around , or checking over his shoulder or up at the cameras that seemed to be mounted everywhere. He seemed looked more relaxed than when we'd met him in the Data Dork parking lot.

He lifted his chin as he got closer to us, then pointed for us to keep walking past All Kinds Wall of Walleye. We started walking and he fell in step next to us.

“Busy Friday night, yeah?” he asked with a grin.

“Mad house,” Johnny said.

“Pretty much like this every weekend.”

“You come here a lot?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Sometimes.”

Which wasn't an answer at all.

We followed him past the restaurants, past another row of poker tables and toward the far end of the casino floor. The crowd finally thinned, people apparently not wanting to make the walk all the way down that far to the end of the building , especially when everything they needed greeted them as soon as they entered the front doors. We reached the end of the floor a dead-end and turned left, down a narrow corridor, doors on one side, windows on the other. Johnny glanced at me and shrugged.

Nate stopped at a door marked “Floor Security” and knocked.

For a moment, my heart stopped. I thought maybe he was taking us to casino authorities or some other law enforcement officer that who was going to would scold us – or arrest us – for trying to buy stolen computers. As irrational as that sounded, I was fairly certain that's what was about to happen.

Johnny apparently though the same thing. “Wait?” Johnny he said. “Security?”

“Relax,” Nate said. “It's my brother. He works here.”

The door opened and a taller, skinnier version of Nate eyed us. He wore a River Star uniform – red shirt, black pants – with a name tag on the left side of his chest that identified him as Al Swearingchief, Assistant Director of Floor Security. His long black hair was woven into a tight braid and he waved us into his office, a small square room with a desk, a couple of chairs and a laptop on the desk.

“This is my brother Al,” Nate said, gesturing at his brother.

Al held up a hand but didn't say anything as he . He sat down in the chair on the other side of the desk.

“These are the peeps I was telling you about,” Nate said to Al.

Al nodded, didn't say anything, just stared at us.

“They aren't cops,” Nate added. “I asked them.”

Al nodded again.

We all stood there in silence for a few moments. Awkward silence.

“So,” Al finally said, leaning back in his chair. “You're interested in the computers.”

“Yeah,” Johnny said. “That's why we're here.”

Al looked at me. “And why are you here?”

“Because I'm actually the one that's interested in buying them,” I said.

He looked back to Johnny. “So then why are you here?”

“I'm the one that made contact with your brother,” Johnny explained. “We hang out in some of the same places.”

He glanced at his brother. “That right?”

Nate nodded. “Yup.”

Then Al stared at us some more.

“And you're not cops?” he said finally.

We both shook our heads.

And then he burst into a laughing fit so loud that I started and bumped into Johnny.

“I'm just messing with you guys,” Al said, a big grin on his face. “I like to play tough guy once in awhile, you know what I mean?”

“Um, sure,” Johnny said.

“I don't get to mess with too many people here, you know?” he said, still grinning , then . He offered his hand. “I'm Al.”

We all shook hands after that unbelievably awkward greeting.

“So,” he said, making a fist and rapping it against the desk. “You're interested in a few computers.”

Both Johnny and I nodded.

“And you wanna see 'em, I'm guessing?”

We nodded again.

He slapped the desktop. “Alrighty then. Let's go have a look-see.”

He stood from the desk and led us out of the office, Nate trailing behind us. He led us further down the corridor his office was in until we reached an exterior door. He punched a couple of numbers on the keypad next to the door, the pad beeped and he pushed o pen the door, n the handle. We which put us outside again, slipped outside, at the back end of the sprawling complex. We followed Al to a line of about twenty storage trailers, large structures all with keylocked entries on them. He led us to one in the middle, punched a couple of numbers on the pad entered a code and pulled the sliding door to the side. He grabbed a flashlight from his hip and flicked it on, the beam white and bright and filling illuminating the interior of the trailer.

“I know this is all kind of cloak and daggerish,” he said. “Hope it doesn't scare y'all. Just trying to be careful.”

“This is your trailer?” Johnny asked.

Al shook his head. “No, no. Belongs to the casino. But I'm the guy in charge of them. I oversee the inventory and placement in each one. Mostly, we put outdated machines and furniture in them until we sell them off or the vendors come to reclaim them.” He smiled again. “But sometimes I put a few extra things in them. A little safer than keeping them at home, if you know what I mean ? . ”

“Sure,” Johnny said.

Al held the light high and shined it into the trailer. “On the left.”

Johnny and I both peered into the trailer. On the left wall, neatly stacked , were computer monitors and hard drives and keyboards. There were a couple of printers, too. They looked like they were in good shape. Nothing broken. And they absolutely looked like computers you'd see in a computer lab.

“Can I ask where you got these?” I said.

Al's smile dimmed. “You can ask, sure.”

Then he didn't say anything.

“But you won't tell me?” I said. “Right?”

“I'm not sure why it really matters,” Al said. “If you wanna buy computers, I've got some. If you aren't interested, we part friends.” He paused. “Hopefully.”

I didn't say anything hesitated . Because I wasn't sure what to say do . I felt like we were at a critical juncture and I really didn't know what to do. I wanted him to confirm that those computers were from Prism, but he didn't want to. And I wasn't going to actually buy the computers. Which I thought he was starting to figure out.

Al looked at Nate. “Thought you said they were serious buyers?”

Nate nodded. “Because they are. I think. Right, guys?”

We didn't say anything. Johnny and I both stayed silent.

“Or maybe you brought me some cops and we're totally screwed,” Al said, frowning at his brother. “I told you, dude. I can't go back to jail, man!”

“They aren't cops!” Nate said. “They told me they weren't!”

They both looked at us.

“We aren't cops,” Johnny finally said.

“Back to jail?” I asked.

Al waved a hand in the air. “Misunderstanding. That's all it was. I didn't mean to take the guy's car.”

“ Oh.”

“We aren't cops,” Johnny repeated. “But we need to know where these computers came from.”

“Why?”

“Because I think they came from my daughter's school I know where they came from ,” I said. Johnny stared at me, wide-eyed, his mouth in the shape of an O. “They were stolen from her school a school .”

Al immediately threw his hands up like he didn't want anything to do with that. “Whoa. Whoa. Whoa. I didn't steal anything, alright? I'm just looking to move some merchandise that fell into my lap , alright? . I don't steal.”

“So you didn't take them?”

He looked me dead in the eye. “No. I did not.”

While I thought his whole notion that stealing was different than selling off stolen merchandise was a little murky, I believed him.

“So where did you get them?” I asked.

He cut the flashlight and stuck it back on his belt. “ Look, I can't reveal my sources.”

“You aren't a journalist.”

“I still have sources.”

“Look, man,” Johnny said, taking a step toward Al Nate and pointing at him. “You and I both know that one of the unwritten rules of black market computer reselling is that you don't steal from kids! Everyone knows that, dude! And if you don't tell us where they came from, I'll burn you in every forum I can find and no one will bring you their stuff ever again deal with you again .” He jabbed his finger in the air again toward Al Nate . “I know people, man. People trust me. If I tell them you stole from kids, you're done.”

“ And if he's your connection ,” I said, looking at Al. “If he's your middle man, putting out feelers for things you're selling, then you're done, too.”

Al looked at his brother. Nate shrugged, as if to tell him he was on his own didn't know what to say .

Al sighed. “So you're telling me my merchandise belongs to kids?”

Johnny and I both nodded.

“Well, that's just craptastic,” he said, stubbing his toe against the as hp ph alt. Then he looked at Johnny. “You can't burn me him , man. This job doesn't pay me anything. I need him. Because I need to be a reseller just to make a living, alright?”

“I won't burn you him if you tell me us where you got your stuff,” Johnny said. “That's what we're interested in.”

“So you don't want the computers back?”

“Let's worry about that later,” I said. “After you tell us where you got them.”

He grimaced, like the force of my words had punched him in the stomach. He stubbed his toe on the ground again, clearly thinking about what he wanted to do. Or maybe unsure. Maybe Johnny's rant had gotten to him Or maybe about he was contemplating locking us up in the trailer.

“Okay,” he finally said. “So, like, in this job, I meet a lot of people, right?”

“ Uh, okay,” I said, I nodded uncertainly, not sure of where he was going.

“A lot of people come here on a regular basis,” he said. “Because they like to gamble.”

“Yeah,” Johnny said. “Because it's a casino.”

“Right, right,” Al said, still working his toe into the asphalt. “And sometimes that gets them in trouble.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“They gamble too much,” he said. “Or they wanna gamble more than they have.”

“ Okay,” I said, still not understanding. “But w I still wasn't understanding. “W hat does that have to do with the computers?”

He switched toes, now rubbing the other one against the asphalt. “Well, sometimes people open lines of credit. They usually just end up dig ging bigger holes, you know? And then when the hole gets too big, they gotta do something to get out of it.”

“So you open lines of credit for people here?” Johnny asked, adjusting his glasses, like he was trying to get a better read on him.

Al's mouth twisted a little. “Not officially, no.”

“But unofficially?”

“I can get it done,” he admitted. “I know a couple people in the financial office. Sometimes they need things. We trade favors and stuff like that. It's sort of off the books.”

“If it's off the books, what happens if they keep losing?” Johnny asked.

Al's eyebrows bounced and he glanced toward the trailer.

“They've gotta pay you,” I said, starting to put it together finally. “However they can. You arrange the credit directly with them and the deal is with you, so they've got to pay you back directly. And given that they had to open a credit line, they probably can't do that with cash, can they?”

Al shrugged again.

“So they pay you with what they can,” I said.

“Remember that one dude who had to sign over his Jeep,” Nate said, chuckling. “That was kind of funny.”

Al cut his eyes at his brother and Nate's laugh quickly died.

“Do you tell them what you want?” I asked. “Or do you let them make offers?”

Al cleared his throat. “Some of both, I guess. If we get to that point, then we try to figure something out that will work.”

Al probably had a nice little side business going and it just reinforced my distaste for gambling. The waste of money, the addictive nature and the seediness of it. It made people do bad things. I'd yet to see anything good come from gambling and this whole fiasco was becoming Exhibit A.

“So then you made a deal with somebody who couldn't pay off their line,” Johnny said.

Al hesitated, then nodded.

“And they settled up with you by getting you the computers,” I said.

Al nodded again. “Yeah. Because I get a lot of computers. It's usually the first thing people offer up and they're pretty easy to move, especially with Nate's connections. But I swear . I didn't take them a . A nd I didn't know they came from a school.”

Al had already confessed to enough that I didn't think he'd lie about that part.

“So,” I said, looking at him. “Who'd you get them from?”

Al sighed and put his hands on his hips. He was still staring at the ground, his toe still doing the stubbing thing. Nate stood next to him, silently.

“If I tell you,” Al said. “Are you gonna blow me up here? Report me or something?”

Johnny looked at me.

“Can we have the computers back?” I asked.

Al sighed again, li ke a balloon losing all of it ' s air. He turned and stared at the trailer. Then he turned back to me. “Yeah, okay. Bad karma for me to keep them anyway if they belong to kids.”

“ How are you gonna make the credit line right?” Johnny asked. “Or whatever you wanna call it.”

He frowned, then waved a hand in the air. “I'll figure it out. I'll have to call in a few favors and probably kick in a little of my own cash to cover it since I can't sell the computers. And I'll go to my customer and tell them they brought me bad merch and they're gonna have to make it right somehow. B ut I'll get it worked out. I just don't wanna get blown up here.”

“Okay,” I said. “You tell us who gave them to you and you give us the computers and we'll leave it at that.”

Al licked his lips, glancing at Johnny. “And you won't burn me Nate in the forums? He can keep doing what he's been doing? ”

“We'll be cool,” Johnny said. “I won't say anything.”

Al tugged at the braid at the base of his neck. “Yeah, man. Cause I still need that business, you know?” He sighed again and let go of the braid. “Alright. We got a deal then.”

A tiny shiver ran up my spine.

Al closed the door on the trailer, pointed at the casino and then started walking.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“I'm taking you inside,” he said. “You wanna meet 'em, right?”

“Meet who?”

“The one who gave me the computers,” he said. “Because they're here. In the casino. Right now.”