Dim Sum of All Fears by Vivien Chien

Author:Vivien Chien
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Press

CHAPTER

17

After we made it through Jack Casino security, we were welcomed into a sea of slot machines. They rang and played cheerful sounds of promising wins as people pushed buttons and pulled levers. Music and happy chatter filled the room as groups of people laughed and tried their luck.

Not being much of a gambler, I had only been to the casino a handful of times and didn’t know my way around. I stood in awe as I watched people move around from game to game.

The more I thought about it, the more I wondered where Brandon was getting the money for these casino outings to begin with. From the things Isabelle had told me, I knew their finances were not the best, and with him being cut off from his parents, I couldn’t imagine where he found the cash for his gambling habit. Clearly, he had been winning, but where had his start-up money been coming from? Someone couldn’t possibly win all the time … was he losing all his winnings?

Megan tugged on my sleeve. “Blackjack is over there.” She pointed to the other end of the room.

Working our way through the crowd, we headed for the blackjack tables. The area was congested and people hovered near the tables, watching their friends and significant others as they contemplated card strategies.

A girl with blond hair and glasses wearing a casino uniform walked by with a tray of drinks. I stepped in front of her. “Excuse me, have you worked here long?”

She appeared taken aback and hesitated before she answered. “Yeah, why?”

I pulled out my phone and opened my photo album, showing her a picture of Brandon I had taken from a social media page. “Have you ever seen this man before?”

She inspected the photo and then gave me a sideways glance. “Is he a famous person or something?”

“No,” I laughed. “He’s just a regular guy. I was wondering if you’ve ever seen him in here before.”

She shook her head. “Nope, sorry.” And she walked away without giving me time to thank her.

“Time is money around here,” Megan said with a shrug.

“Everything is money around here.”

She smirked. “Okay, well, what do we do? Try someone else?”

“I don’t know how else to find someone who knew him. But someone had to, if he came here as much as Esther said he did.” The blackjack dealers started to look our way. “Come on, let’s move around. We look suspicious.”

After we walked around aimlessly for a few more minutes, a petite woman with caramel-brown hair walked by, an empty tray in her hand. I had to do a double take, because when I saw her something triggered in my brain. I knew her from somewhere.

She was the reporter from the plaza!

Only not so much. Today she was dressed in a Jack Casino uniform.

Recognition set in on her face as she made eye contact with me. It was followed with a guilty head slump and a poor attempt to turn around and go the other way.

I grabbed her arm.

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