CASINO SHUFFLE (2 page)

“Take everything to the housekeeping office,” said Antonio, “and enjoy, compliments of Captain Roman and his culinary team.”

Maria smiled and clapped her hands at two nearby housekeepers.
 
“You heard the man.
 
Take this stuff to the office.
 
Put the strawberries on my desk.
 
Don’t take any.
 
I just counted them.
 
Got that?”
 
She glanced at Antonio.
 
“Good bowtie.
 
What’s the color – a little like a wet sponge.”

“
Champagne
.”

“That’s better than a wet sponge.”

Sonny Wu entered from the hallway.
 
“The good Captain is peddling his wares in the lower floor villas.
 
He has a master key so I left him to it.”

Antonio’s BlackBerry vibrated.
 
A calendar appointment appeared on-screen.
 
“Max.”

“Max Allen.
 
Corner Villa.”
 
Sonny handed a bowl of truffles to a housekeeping attendant.
 
“Want me to run over and check it out?”

“No thank you, I should have time,” said Antonio.

“You like to make sure things are just right for him.”

“He’s been coming to the casino for five years,” said Antonio.

“He trusts you,” said Sonny.

“He’s very particular,” agreed Antonio.
 
“But harmless.”

“Max Allen, rich career poker player.
 
And in here we have Shannon Moon, celebrity starlet and her boyfriend Brandon, the pop star.
 
Sounds like it’s going to be an interesting weekend.”

“Don’t forget Mrs. Reddington in 2507.”

Sonny groaned.
 
“I can’t no matter how hard I try.”

“Did she ask you to dine with her again?”

“She doesn’t ask anymore, she just orders me to stay.
 
Why do I get the creepy old rich ladies and you get the high-rollers and celebrities?”

Antonio straightened his bow tie in a nearby mirror.
 
“I was considering having you attend to Miss Moon and Brandon while they’re here this weekend.
 
With me providing guidance, of course.”

Sonny smoothed down the front of his tuxedo jacket.
 
“Wow.
 
It would be an honor.
 
Do you think you’ll be staying over this weekend?”

“More than likely.”

“I’ll put some things in the office for you before I go.”
 
Sonny hesitated.
 
“Do you need
me
to stay over this weekend?”

“I would not hazard another call from your lovely wife.
 
How is she feeling?”

“Morning sickness is gone.
 
Now she just eats.”

“I’ve noticed that you’re tired most mornings, yet you skip your usual cup of coffee.
 
Take home the cheesecake in the butler pantry.
 
That may help you get some rest.”

“Thanks Antonio. She has me running to Dunkin Donuts at all hours of the night.
 
By 4am her stomach is stuffed with donut holes and my bladder is bursting with café latte.
  
The cheesecake might hold her over.”
 
Sonny checked his watch.
 
“I’ll go set up your office before Shanndon gets here.”

Antonio jolted.
 
“Don’t refer to Shannon and Brandon as
Shanndon
.
 
That was coined by the gossip magazines and Miss Moon detests everything related to the paparazzi press.”

“Sorry, it just slipped out.”

“Thank you, Sonny.”
 
Antonio caught Maria as she came bounding down the stairs holding hair gel and a tub of face cream.
 
“Can you complete the remainder of your duties in two minutes?”

Maria leaned back and shouted, “Two minutes ladies!
 
Look around!
 
Leave nothing behind!”
 
As room attendants swiped cloths over glass and gathered supplies, Maria pushed a utility cart across the parquet floor and called over her shoulder to Antonio.
 
“We got this,
papi.
 
You get going.”

“Call me if you need me.”
 
Antonio jogged up the marble stairs to the second level of the Sachem Suite, running his silk handkerchief over the polished banister to erase stray fingerprints.
 
At the top he plucked a blue string from the floor of the balcony.
 
He called towards the guest bedroom to the Villa Housekeeping Attendant he assumed was nearby.
 
“Check the floor before you go.
 
Your mop is dropping strings.”
 
He stepped to the open doorway and leaned into the room.
 
“Hello?”

The bedroom was empty.
 
The air still smelled of vacuum cleaner ozone.
 
The attendant had not sprayed air freshener.
 
Through the glass doors to the right he could see that the bathroom lights were off.

There was a soft creak from inside the armoire.

Curious, Antonio grasped the handle.

“Oh!”

Antonio pivoted towards a young female attendant stepping out of the bathroom holding a bottle of air freshener.
 

“Antonio!
 
Scared me.”

“My apologies, Simone.
 
I did call out.”

 
“I’m in my own little world when I’m cleaning.
 
Didn’t know you were in here.”
 
She saw his hand on the armoire door.
 
“You checking for the robe?
 
I always put in a new robe.”
 
The housekeeping attendant stepped past him and yanked open the armoire.

And shrieked.

Inside the armoire was perched a spiky-haired Asian man, dressed in tan slacks and a blue jacket wedged between the pedestal safe and the brass clothing rod.
 
He clutched a silver and black camera and immediately began snapping pictures.
 
The inside of the armoire flashed.

In retaliation, the housekeeping attendant straight-armed the air-freshener at him and pulled the trigger.

The Asian man screamed and catapulted off the pedestal safe.
 
The top of his head cracked the open door as he dropped to the carpet.
 
The camera emitted a feeble buzz of defeat.

Antonio grabbed the man by the shoulders of his jacket and yanked him upright.
 
“Who are you?”

“NO touch!”
 
The Asian photographer wrestled free and launched himself out the bedroom doorway.
 
His sneakers squeaked madly across the marble landing.

BlackBerry in hand, Antonio turned to the attendant, “Are you okay?”

She dropped to the bed and huffed out breath.
 
“What the hell?”
 
She stared at the open armoire door, eyes bulging.
 
“That was some ninja shit right there.”

From the landing they heard the slam of the entry door.

Antonio spoke into his BlackBerry.
 
“Security?
 
Get Mark Ford on the phone.
 
Right away, please.”
 
In the guest bathroom he drew a glass of water.
 
He handed it to the attendant.
 
“Drink this slowly, dear.”
 
Into the phone he said, “Mark?”

The Security Manager said, “If you’re inviting me to dinner, I already ate.
 
It’s taco day in the cafeteria.”

“We had a paparazzo hiding in the Sachem Suite.”

“A papa-what?”

“A celebrity photographer.”

“Oh.
 
A paparazzi.”

“Just one photographer.
 
Singular.
 
A
paparazzo
.”

“Only you would know that.
 
How the hell did he get in there?”

“We’ll have to investigate that later.
 
He’s Asian.
 
Spiky hair.
 
Carrying a camera.”

“Asian with a camera.
 
Right, shouldn’t be too hard to track on surveillance.”

“Blue jacket, tan slacks.
 
The room attendant sprayed him with air freshener.”

“So I have to walk around smelling Asians with cameras?”

“He’ll go to the nearest restroom to flush his eyes.”

“I was making a joke.”

“Shannon Moon is arriving any minute.
 
The paparazzo may have overheard us talking about it.”

“I’ll call surveillance.”

“Good.
 
How many officers are you bringing to the valet port for Miss Moon’s arrival?”

“Five plus me.”

“Bring another five.
 
I was only half expecting paparazzi, but finding one hiding in the armoire moves my suspicions up a level.”

“Just now you said paparazzi.”

“I’m expecting more than one.
 
En masse.”

“Ten of my boys in the port.
 
I’ll pull ‘em from somewhere.”

“How many at the elevators?”

“Just one.
 
We have the elevator locked out for us.”

“Any stationed up here on the floor?”

“Nobody, but we’re watching the halls and main bank of elevators in surveillance.
 
I still have ten posts on the casino floor, a guy standing post for a software tradeshow in the ballroom and one of our coded entry doors to the cage shit the bed and I got another guy there checking badges every time somebody wants to take a smoke break.”

“Understood.
 
I’ll meet you downstairs in five minutes for Miss Moon’s arrival.”

“Can’t wait to meet this girl.
 
Glad I wore my good suit today.”

“The blue pinstripe?”

“No, the brown one.”
 
There was a pause.
 
“That’s the one my second wife always liked.”

“And what was her general disposition?”

“Insanely jealous.
 
She hated it when other women looked at me.
 
Oh.”

Antonio allowed himself a small smile.
 
“Five minutes.”
 
He holstered his BlackBerry and took the empty water glass from the recovering attendant.
 
“Are you feeling better now, Simone?”

She exhaled loudly.
 
“That man’s lucky I wasn’t carry my toilet bowl brush.
 
Might’ve stabbed him.”

Antonio patted her gently on the back.
 
“You were a formidable opponent.
 
I’ll replace the water glass in the bathroom.
 
Why don’t you go have a cigarette in the cafeteria?”

“How’d you know I needed one?”