Witch World Read Free Page B

information.
    “Explain 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.
    “I 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.”
    “No 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.”
    “Great.” Jimmy studied it. “This license looks real.”
    “It’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.”
    “How do you know?” Jimmy asked.
    “He’s been to Vegas tons,” Alex said. “He’s a master card counter.”
    “Wow.” 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.”
    “You should teach us all this weekend,” Debbie said, a bold comment coming from her. Ted shrugged.
    “I 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.”
    “The 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-roomphone 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.
    “This 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 Ted—who had gone off to find his own room. Alex, it seemed, was determined that Jimmy stay with us.
    “We settled the sleeping arrangements in the car,” Debbie said, studying the minibar. Because it was filled with tiny bottles of liquor, and we had checked in to the room using our real IDs, the bar should have been off-limits. But Ted had managed to bypass the locking mechanism before departing for his quarters. I was glad, I loved minibars. The snacks tasted ten times better to me, probably because they cost ten times as much as they were supposed to.
    “When we talked about it in the car, we didn’t know this suite would be so large,” Alex said.
    “We only have one bathroom,” Debbie growled.
    “Do you plan on spending the weekend throwing up?” Alex asked.
    Jimmy interrupted. “Hey, it’s okay—remember, I’ve got Ted’s room as a backup. Don’t worry about me.”
    Alex went to reply, but then her eyes slipped from Jimmy to me. Her unspoken message couldn’t have been clearer. She wasn’t worried about Jimmy, she was worried about me. Orelse she was trying to force the two of us