“I’m going to hit the floor,” he told me. “I see you’re up here for the first couple of hours. Boring, but at least you get to eat. I think there’s staff leftovers from some lunch shindig they were having earlier.”
“Okay, sounds good to me. Anything I should look out for?” I asked.
“Nah. A few scumbags down on the slot machines with one of those lever apparatuses. You seen those bad boys?” he asked.
I frowned at him. “I heard about them, but I haven’t seen one in action. You got one on you?”
“Nope. I hand them over to the head of security for inspection as soon as I get one. Don’t want it getting into the wrong hands. Not saying you… but you never know. Years back, one of the security teams ended up pairing up with the criminals and they made a killing over summer 2010.”
“That’s nuts for real. You see anything on the tables? Do you know to read the cards and see if the dealers or the patrons are cheating?” I was dropping the bait, but it seemed like they hadn’t spotted Jaz cheating like I did.
Damien shrugged his boulder-like shoulders. “We see that stuff on the monitor and check it that way if that’s what you mean. I’m going to head down there, you have a good night. I think Eddie is taking care of the Southern wing.”
“Hmm. Okay. See you on the floor later.” I went in search of the food Damien spoke about and found a selection of muffins, sandwiches with the crusts cut off, and rolls on a plate.
I selected a chicken and lettuce sandwich then moved through to the security room. All of the monitors were active, each carded table having its own security camera. The entry point had its own camera as well, along with the back alley and other areas of the casino. My eyes were scanning for Jaz. I sat down next to Marco.
He wasn’t so much staring at the screen as looking through it. He was munching on a glazed doughnut to pass the time. “Oh, hey man. Pull up a pew. Not much going on tonight, except this guy’s crazy haircut on the roulette table. Check it out.” He pointed to the screen.
I glanced at the haircut briefly, a guy with a mohawk and shaved sides. Whoopee. The things that amused the security guards irritated me sometimes. “That guy with the Mohawk is funny.” I played along with him while I looked for signs of Jaz. I didn’t want them knowing I was tailing her. I was fishing to find out where she was located. Inside, I felt torn up about it, but I didn’t have evidence at this point.
I finished my chicken sandwich and threw part of the edge I didn’t like in the trash. I felt a spike of adrenaline run through my body as I located her at the end monitor in the Mahogany room. She stood over the blackjack table. I had to stop myself from jumping up to action so as not to draw attention to myself. I glanced over at Marty, who sat parked in the far corner of the room. He was a stickler for the rules and one of the guys who did the roster, so I didn’t want to piss him off.
“Think I can get up to the Mahogany room to take a look? It looks like an interesting room. I would like the experience,” I asked with an easy-going tone.
“I think I put Damien in there for tomorrow night, but if you can sweet talk him out of the shift, then you take that one and see for yourself. We have a few extra rules up there, but Damien can brief you if he decides to swap.” Marty gave in without asking me why I wanted to be up there.
I just felt grateful I didn’t have to lie about it. “Okay. I’m sure he won’t mind.” I knew he wouldn’t. Damien seemed to be a pretty relaxed guy.
“No, I don’t think he will either. He finds that room pretty boring from what he last told me,” Marty offered.
Can’t get away from me that easy, Jaz. If that’s even your name.
I hung out in the security room for the next half hour watching the monitors, my eyes blurring. I cast my gaze down to my watch, hoping I had time to hit the floor and at least get a chance to stretch my legs.
I saw one man on monitor trying to get a little huffy with a cashier, but security handled the situation, so it didn’t get out of hand. Other than that, everything on the floor appeared above board. I eventually made it down to the floor, and that’s when I thought my shift picked up a little.
I located Damien. “Hey, I hear that you’re going to be in the Mahogany room tomorrow night. Mind if I swap that shift with you and you take the floor? I’ll pay you back and swap another one with you down the line.”
“Any reason why you wanna work for it?” he asked.
Here came the questions. I shrugged nonchalantly. “Yeah, I want to see how they do it up there and who's playing.”
“Okay, man. Same shit up there, but okay.”
I shook Damien’s hand in agreement and headed off to work the floor.
One step closer…
I went through the motions during the day, taking a ride with Coyote and Smoke. I chopped it up for a while and then I was back to the grind at the casino. I knew I was about to see Jaz, so it heightened the adrenaline pumping through my system.
Thursday night at Red Stone Casino picked up the energy leading into the weekend. Most slot machines had someone in front of them playing a game. Every card table had at least one person on it and everyone seemed to be in the mood for risk and having a good time.
I smiled as I walked through to the exclusive Mahogany room. The walls were padded in velvet and it had a VIP only bar. The bar was illuminated, with a lavender bar top, and Jaz stood there with one foot upturned waiting for her drink in a halterneck top. She appeared to be sipping a drink already.
I stood on the outskirts of the room and honed in on her figure. As if by magic or some sort of secret radar, she turned and looked straight at me with her cat like eyes. She continued to sip gracefully through her straw. She hitched her shoulder, winking at me as she turned her gaze back to the bar. I felt my manhood moving around in my pants and discreetly adjusted myself. The woman was taunting me and enjoying herself, and she was doing a great job. I vowed to keep a level head with her, especially if I wanted to catch her in the act of cheating. I coughed a little as she aroused feelings in me I didn’t know how to tackle.
She made her way to a nearby roulette table where she joined six other people. She slid in at the end.