The Good Thief's Guide to Vegas Read Online Free PDF Page B

jacket caught my eye. She gripped the pearls that ringed her turkey-flesh neck.
    ‘Your friend is a real lucky pill.’
    ‘Is that right?’
    ‘Oh sure. She’s been on a hot streak.’
    The croupier spun the roulette wheel clockwise and flicked the ball in the opposite direction. I watched it whiz around in a pale blur until it began to lose momentum.
    ‘No more bets,’ the croupier murmured. He was a scrawny type with a slicked-down side-parting and an acne-scarred face that was perfectly in keeping with the gangster theme. ‘Bets are closed.’
    ‘Thought you didn’t gamble,’ I said to Victoria.
    ‘Not my money,’ she replied, as if that explained everything.
    The ball clacked and bounced off one of the tiny metal spurs that dotted the wheel, then pitched and dropped into red 19.
    And then it popped out.
    ‘Red Eighteen,’ the croupier mumbled, leaning forward to gather in the losing chips with his spindly arms.
    A collective groan went up from the table. Victoria winced and offered an apologetic look to the elderly lady.
    ‘I’m so sorry.’
    ‘Don’t be, honey. You won me plenty.’ The lady gathered together her not-inconsiderable pile of chips and tossed a hundred-dollar marker to the croupier. ‘Goodnight, y’all.’
    Victoria turned to Josh. ‘Apologies to you, too.’
    ‘Hey, don’t sweat it. We won on red, remember?’
    Victoria swivelled and gawped at the table. She clapped her hands in delight.
    ‘How much did we win?’
    ‘You doubled your stake,’ I said, trying not to sound too bitter.
    ‘Came out even,’ Masters corrected me. ‘Allows us to dance another day.’
    He winked at Victoria and I swallowed down the bile that had just risen in my throat before reaching for the strap of her handbag and giving it a tug.
    ‘Shall we go?’
    ‘Oh.’ She glanced at Masters. ‘I think I may stay for a while. And like I said, Josh has given us tickets to his show.’
    ‘Front-row seats,’ he added.
    ‘Yes, front-row seats. His assistant has come down with a bug, you see, and he needs a volunteer to help him with one of his illusions.’
    ‘And what – that volunteer is you?’
    ‘I thought it might be fun.’
    Victoria and Masters shared a look. It wasn’t the type of look I relished seeing them share, and I sure as hell didn’t want them to share anything more.
    ‘Hey, Chaz, how’d you like to run a bet with some of my chips?’
    ‘It’s Charlie,’ I told him. ‘And I don’t bet with other people’s money.’
    ‘Is that right? Well, you know the minimum stake at this table is five hundred dollars?’
    I was just about to tell Masters where he could shove a handful of his purple-coloured chips when Victoria interrupted us.
    ‘Roulette’s not really Charlie’s game. He’s more of a poker player.’
    ‘Is that right? Say, you’re not one of these folks who plays on the internet, are you? A lot of newbies get caught that way.’
    I fixed a smile to my face. ‘Thanks for the warning.’
    ‘How did you do, by the way?’ Victoria asked. ‘You haven’t been gone very long.’
    ‘Oh, I decided to pass in the end. Thought you might fancy a stroll around the Venetian. Maybe a drink in St Mark’s Square?’
    Victoria scrunched up her face. ‘But I’ve already said that I’ll take part in Josh’s show. It starts in an hour – right, Josh?’
    ‘Uh huh. Unless you win big enough for me to quit.’
    He pressed two more purple chips into Victoria’s palm. She looked between us.
    ‘You don’t mind, do you?’
    ‘Mind? Why would I mind?’
    ‘And you’ll come to the show with me?’
    I wanted to say no, but she was giving me a new variety of look, a doe-eyed effort that would have made me feel like an absolute heel if I’d said no.
    ‘If that’s what you want. But I’m going to take a tour of the Venetian first. So I’ll see you inside. Okay?’
    ‘Perfect.’
    Josh snapped his fingers. ‘Chaz, I’ll have your name put down on the ticket counter.’ He