Lucky Break Read Online Free PDF Page B

YouTube.   Maybe they’d even cash out with an exclusive to one of the gossip rags.
    Satisfied no one felt compelled to blurt out an ill-advised comment, I left them to Romeo.   Pushing back through the swinging doors, I knew how Dorothy must’ve felt going to bed in Kansas and waking up in Oz.   On this side, everyone partied on, oblivious to homicide in the kitchen only steps away.   I snagged two flutes of Champagne from a passing waiter and slugged one, depositing the empty on his tray.   The other I clutched so tight I risked breaking the stem.
    My mother held a group of men under her spell.   I shouldered my way through until I got her attention—it took squeezing her arm.
    “Oh, Lucky.   How nice.   Perhaps you’d care to weigh in on whether we all should admit that sixteen thousand hookers and nine vice cops is the equivalent to non-enforcement of the archaic law that makes prostitution a crime in Clark County.   Wouldn’t it be better to legalize what’s already happening here?   Collect taxes and protect not only the johns but the girls as well?”  
    Prostitution.   A divisive topic even in Vegas, especially in Vegas.   From the clenched jaws and hard eyes of some of the men ringing her, Mona was working on a homicide of her own.
    All eyes turned in my direction.   I felt a drop of sweat trickle down the side of my face.   Holding my Champagne, I swiped at the drop with the back of my hand.   “Sex.   A potent drug, with the argument for legalization equally as unclear.”   I grabbed Mona’s elbow as I forced a smile.   “But someone once told me that sex and politics were not topics meant for a cocktail party.”   I pulled mother away from her fans.
    “Lucky, really.   If I’m to make any changes in this town, I need to bend some ears, get people to listen.”  
    “Not here.   Not right now.”
    “What’s all this about?”   Curiously, she didn’t adopt her normal huffy tone; in fact, she sounded amused.   Maybe her running for office wasn’t a bad thing on top of the whole late-in-life twin thing.   Dealing with Mother was like handling a two-year-old: keep them busy, keep them tired, and they can’t do you any harm.
    I held a chair for her at a table off to the side in a corner by the window, then joined her.   “It’s Father and Teddie.”   I lowered my voice and made sure no one was listening.   Then I explained the scene in the kitchen.   “Father said you’d know who to call.”
    Mona sat like a statue, immobile, her smile fixed by fear.   “Of course, Squash Trenton.”
    I blinked a few times, looking for the punch line.   There wasn’t one.
    “He’s in the book.”   The color drained from Mona’s face.   “You don’t think your father …”
    “Of course not.   Knowing him, he was trying to help.   Unfortunately, someone had already permanently retired Mr. Box.”   I could say the words, couldn’t admit the possibility.   Instead, I gave Mother a pointed look that even she was clever enough to read.  
    A hand snaked to her throat.   “Teddie,” she whispered.
    I leaned back and drained most of my Champagne as I looked at the Strip through the windows, the lights painting the night sky with bright, fun come-ons promising loose slots, cheap food, and fun.   None of that here.   “I don’t know.   Something’s not right.”   I chewed on my lip as I tried to find the way out of the maze without success.   Murder didn’t mesh with the Teddie I knew.   Of course, neither had duplicity and cheating, yet, he’d proven both were part of his skill set.
    “I wonder what Teddie has to say for himself?”

    The large atrium-style vestibule of the Clark County Detention Center was virtually empty, which seemed odd for a Saturday night, especially with Christmas so close I could feel it breathing down my neck.   Decorated in early institutional, the space held little warmth and hints of fear.   A few lonely decorations hung from