Page 6 of What Happens In Vegas
Chapter 3
The women hit the casino with an energy that had Bonni bursting with anticipation. She hung behind the others and watched them chatter. Ava and Fredi had their arms linked as they followed Celia, who was leading the way through the crowd like a pro.
Bonni knew just how badly she needed this trip with her besties, and she was determined to have a great time. Nothing was going to ruinit. The last few months, she’d been so deep in a case that coming up for air was near impossible. She’d had no life. Work, home for sleep and fresh clothes, then back to work. Her only release had been working out in the police-station gym. A girl can only do that for so long.
Bonni laughed at tiny Celia easily cutting a swathe through the crowd between the rows and rows of slots packed fullwith people. Gone was the practical mom who thought only of her kids. In her place, Bonni was beginning to see snippets of the wild child from college emerging. Ava looked over her shoulder and tipped her head in Celia’s direction. They winked at each other, knowing what the other was thinking.
Shenaniganswere about to begin.
Ava unhooked her arm from Fredi’s and dropped back to Bonni. ‘Itcertainly didn’t take long for her to get her groove back. We might be in for some drama.’ She didn’t have to whisper so Celia wouldn’t hear as the din of the casino nearly swallowed up her words, enough so that Bonni had to strain to hear.
Bonni giggled, and said, ‘I don’t even know what to think. But whatever, she’s been wound up so tight for far too long, trying to make ends meet. I can’tbelieve Dickhead is fighting her on child support. The man is a cardiac surgeon while she’s hustling for freelance jobs that she can fit around the kids’ schedules. Men can be such asshats sometimes. She needs to let loose.’
Ava nodded seriously. ‘My last project, I was analyzing spreadsheets until I thought my eyes would bleed. And then, of course, not being appreciated. I’m not thrilled withthe corporate-world rat race, let me tell you. Getting some rest and relaxation this weekend is just what the doctor ordered for all of us!’
The group followed Celia around until she finally stopped and declared, ‘These are the slots we’re going to play.’
They stood in front of a bank of video-style games with a multitude of buttons, multiple wheels, flashing lights and all sorts of rumblingand pinging sounds. Bonni had no idea what to make of it.
She looked at them. ‘Holy Hannah! What happened to the old-style slots, the one-armed bandits?’
‘Oh my God, seriously, Bonni? You’re a cop. In the fraud division, no less. You should know all about these!’
‘Come on, Celia, I have nothing to do with gaming. In Canada, gaming is legislated at a provincial level, and the Ontario Lotteryand Gaming Commission oversees things in Ontario. And I’m local law enforcement, not a fed.’ Bonni eyed the machines.‘What’s with all those buttons?’ She tapped her fingers on one of the reels with an almost lifelike-looking dragon blowing fire. ‘Look at all the reels – there’s, like, six of them.’
Celia stepped forward and explained. ‘These are for extra spins. When you play the max –’ shetouched the big round button printed with ‘MAX’, and continued – ‘if you get a certain line of icons –’ she ran her fingers over the images behind the screen and tapped a dragon – ‘you get extra spins, which gives you more opportunity to win. Big wins too.’
Fredi looked at her and planted her hands on her hips, head tilted slightly. ‘Since when did you become the casino aficionado?’
Celia shruggedher shoulders. ‘Colin asks a millionwhy?questions about pretty much everything, so I started listening to this podcast that explains how things work. They did one about Vegas. Plus, Mom goes to casinos and she likes to brag about her winnings. These kind of machines are her favorite. Besides, you never know when a piece of knowledge will come in handy.’
‘You are the queen of useless information,’Fredi teased.
‘It’s not useless. Information is power,’ Celia retorted.
Bonni slid on to the chair in front of the machine Celia was touching. ‘Okay, ladies, enough of the bickering,’ she said.
They replied in unison, ‘We are not bickering.’
Ava laughed, and said, ‘We should’ve bet how long it would take for us to revert to our old college ways. Come on, we’re here to have fun! Bonni, thistrip was your idea. You take the first spin, and then we’ll all take a machine.’
Bonni stared at the machine. As part of their package, they’d all received $100 in play money to gamble with. Of course, gone were the old ridged discs of old. Now, it was all ones and zeroes on a flimsy barcoded piece of paper. She’d carefully amassed a baggie of quarters, but she might as well use the credit first.
Bonniopened her purse and pulled the voucher out. ‘Seems like as good a time as any to use the freebie money.’ She drew in a deep breath. ‘Here we go.’
She slid the voucher into the money slot and was startled how fast it was sucked in. Seconds later, her machine was loaded up with a hundred dollars’ worth of credit.
‘I thought you weren’t going to gamble?’ Fredi teased.
The girls crowdedbehind her.
Bonni shrugged and cracked her knuckles. ‘When in Rome.’ She made a surprised face and looked at her besties behind her. ‘That pun was totally not intended. Plus, it’s free. Now, why don’t the rest of you play, and quit staring at me. You’ll bring me bad luck or something.’
‘Don’t worry, honey, we’ll play. But Ava’s right. This trip was your brainchild, so it’s only right you sayhello to Lady Luck first.’ Fredi stepped behind Bonni and put her hand on her shoulder. ‘Giving you some good luck, positive karma or whatever you want to call it.’
‘Hmph. Well, gather round, girls, and let’s hope for the best.’ Bonni chewed her lower lip and pondered the array of buttons in front of her. Not understanding all the numbers or what they meant, she made an instant decision and slappedthe Max play button with her palm.
The chorus of gasps behind her made Bonni realize how much money the Max play used up. She felt nauseous. ‘Whelp. Guess it’s time to break out the quarters.’
