Smoke and Mirrors

64

At eight-thirty A.M. Brad pulled into the Roundtable’s parking lot. “Alexa, you going to wait out here?” Winter asked.

“Drop me here and park closer. I want to go in and look around while nobody knows who I am. Ring me when you’re ready to leave. Is there a metal detector?”

“This is Mississippi, Alexa,” Winter said. “Everybody is packing heat.”

As Alexa made it to the front doors, a large rosy-cheeked man with bright red hair and bushy brows held the door open for her. He was dressed in a leather sports coat over a T-shirt. His new-looking jeans broke on fancy cowboy boots.

“Hope you brought money and luck with you,” he said cheerily.

“I sure did,” she replied.

The man walked in after her, drawing even as they entered the expansive foyer. “Normally, I’m surrounded by pigs,” he said.

“Normally, so am I,” she said.

“Jason Parr,” the man said, offering her his hand, which was dry and callused. “I raise hogs all year until my vacation rolls around, and then I come here to Tunica and roll dice. I sure could use some luck, if you’ve got any to spare. As of last night, I’m down to my last two thousand hogs.”

“You’re playing craps?” Alexa asked. She was amazed that the place could be so busy so early.

“‘Playing’ isn’t the first word that springs to mind.”

“I’m sorry. Maybe your luck will change.”

“You ever played craps, Miss…?”

“Alexa Keen,” she said. “No, Mr. Parr. I never have.”

“Well,” the smiling pig farmer said, “it’s about time you did. It’s a fascinating game.”

“I don’t know anything about gambling,” she said, giving him a once-over. “I just wanted to look around.”

“All you have to do is throw dice. I’ll do the rest. If I win, I’ll give you ten percent of whatever I get. And I’ll cover one hundred percent of the losses. It’s what they call a win/win situation, Mrs. Keen.”

“I’m not married. Call me Alexa. I can only play until I get a call from my boyfriend. Then I have to leave.”

“Okay, then, Alexa. Let’s you and me put a choke hold on the cashiers’ cage while you’re on the playground.”

Alexa saw Winter and Brad enter the casino and spotted a large man in a loose-cut suit holding a walkie-talkie and following them. He was built like a pineapple and his face was red from exertion. When he shouted, Winter and Brad turned at the sound of his voice. Based on Brad’s description, Alexa figured he was Albert White, the head of casino security.