Red Queen Read Free Page B

out the first half of the word before suddenly grinding to a halt. I smiled at her knowingly.
    â€œIs someone forgetting a certain confession?” I asked.
    Alex acted cool. “Confession is private.”
    â€œOh, my God, Alex. You didn’t,” Debbie squealed with pleasure. Screwing Neil the Nerd went above and beyond the UCLA admission-man rumor. This one would be all over Las Vegas before the weekend was done. Alex cast me a dirty look.
    â€œTell her it ain’t so,” she ordered.
    â€œIt’s possible it ain’t so,” I said. There was more truth toAlex’s remark than I let on. I was a bit of a nerd. The reason I worked at the library was because I loved to read. I was addicted. I read everything: fiction, nonfiction, mysteries, sci-fi, horror, thrillers, biographies, romance novels, all the genres, even magazines and newspapers. It was probably why my brain was stuffed with so much arcane information.
    â€œExplain that I was only joking about Neil,” Alex insisted.
    The sex secrets of Alex and Neil could have gone on another hour if Jimmy hadn’t interrupted. He was not a big one for gossip.
    â€œI don’t give a damn about Neil’s sex life,” Jimmy said. “But I do appreciate your offer, Ted. If I get stuck for a place to stay, I’ll give you a call.”
    â€œNo problem,” Ted said, a note of relief in his voice. He reached in his pocket and pulled out a card. “Here’s a fake ID if you plan to gamble.”
    â€œGreat.” Jimmy studied it. “This license looks real.”
    â€œIt’s not,” Ted warned. “Don’t use it at the MGM’s front desk to check in. It’ll fail if it’s scanned. But don’t worry about gambling at the other hotels. I haven’t seen them scan IDs on the casino floors.”
    â€œHow do you know?” Jimmy asked.
    â€œHe’s been to Vegas tons,” Alex said. “He’s a master card counter.”
    â€œWow.” Jimmy was impressed. “Is it hard to learn?”
    Ted shrugged, although it was obvious he enjoyed theattention. “It takes a good memory and hard work. But you don’t have to be a genius to do it.”
    â€œYou should teach us all this weekend,” Debbie said, a bold comment coming from her. Ted shrugged.
    â€œI can teach you the basics. But it takes hours of practice to make money at it. And the casinos keep changing the rules, making it harder to get an edge.”
    â€œThe bastards,” Alex muttered.
    We reached Las Vegas before sunset so we weren’t treated to the famous colorful glow suddenly rising out of the desert night. It was a curious phenomenon, I thought, but during the day Las Vegas looked far from imposing. Just a bunch of gaudy buildings sticking out of the sand. But I knew when night fell, the magic would emerge, and the town would transform itself into one gigantic adult ride.
    Alex drove straight to the MGM, where we checked in to our room, a decent-sized suite with a view of the Strip and three separate bedrooms—plus a central living area that came equipped not only with a sofa but a love seat. The price wasn’t bad, one hundred and fifty bucks: fifty bucks when split three ways. Still, the weekend was ruining my savings. The library was not exactly a high-paying place to work.
    With the sofa and love seat, we had room for another two people. But Jimmy, damn him, was too much of a gentleman to impose. He also seemed reluctant to take Ted up on his offer. He tried his best to find his own room, using our hotel-room phone to call several hotlines that supposedly could find you a suite on New Year’s Eve. But it was all hype; it was Friday evening at the start of summer and Las Vegas was bursting at the seams. Jimmy struck out.
    â€œThis couch is softer than my bed,” Alex said, sitting not far from where Jimmy had just finished dialing. I was glad we had temporarily left