Vegas or Bust: An Aggie Underhill Mystery (5 page)

“I didn’t have to go then,” Roger lied.  “Sometimes it just hits you.” 

“Oh, yes,” Anita said.  “That happens to me sometimes.  Just out of the blue.  And, of course, there’s never a bathroom around when you need one.”

Roger scratched his head and looked up at the television monitor that was built into the ceiling of the elevator.  To avoid making eye contact with Betty, he focused on a scantily dressed Britney Spears who was singing and dancing around on stage in a music video.  The elevator just made its second stop.  Two passengers got off and five more piled in. 

Just then Aggie’s cell phone began to buzz.  Digging around in her pocketbook she found the phone on the bottom beneath her wallet.  The screen lit up with a photo of her grandson, Shawn, wearing a cowboy hat and Sarah’s name beneath it.  Aggie had taken the picture of
Shawn decked out in his cowboy costume when the family went to see the Old West show in Pioneertown where Roy Rogers, Gene Autry and several other actors had filmed Old Western movies. 

“Hello,” Aggie said, dreading to hear what Sarah had to say.  But she figured the least she could do was answer the phone call, even though she’d rather avoid it.  After all, she was the one that sent the houseguests from heck over to her daughter’s house.

“Hi, Mum.”  Sarah’s voice sounded tired.

“You all right, dear?  You sound exhausted.”

“I am,” she said.  “I just called to let you know that Linda and Jill arrived safely.  We just got back from having dinner at Ruby’s Diner.” 

“That sounds nice, dear.”  A few weeks ago, Aggie and Betty drove down to Camp Pendleton to visit and they all ate lunch at Ruby’s Diner.  It was located at the very end of the Oceanside pier.  It was a nice clear day and they were able to stare out at the beautiful Pacific Ocean as they ate.

“Yes, you’d think so, wouldn’t you?”

Aggie gnawed on her lower lip.  Sarah sounded aggravated.  “Uh, oh.  What happened?”

“Jill took off with some creepy looking skater guy she met on the pier and hasn’t come back yet.  Linda is beside herself.”

The elevator went up two more floors and stopped.  One person got off the lift and three more people squeezed inside. 

“Is she all right?” Aggie asked.  “Have you heard from her?”

“Linda called Jill’s mobile and Jill said that it was love at first sight.”

“Well, that doesn’t sound so bad,” Aggie said.  “After all, Jill is an adult.  She can take care of herself.” 

Sarah lowered her voice to almost a whisper.  “Mum, Linda's hysterical because the guy looks like he lives on the streets.  She’s hoping Jill will meet a man with money.  Not some homeless druggy.  She wants Jill to meet a Hollywood director or something like that.”

Aggie rolled her eyes.  “I’m not surprised.”  The elevator finally reached the 14
th
floor and she, Betty, Roger, and Anita pushed their way off. 

“We’re down this way,” Anita told Betty while making a sweeping motion with her hand.  “There are ten rooms on this floor reserved for the wedding guests.  We’re just a few doors down from the room that Aggie and Roger are sharing.  Well, five doors to be exact.”  Anita and Betty waved goodbye and walked down the hall to their room in the opposite direction of Aggie and Roger.  Aggie silently mouthed the words,
see you soon
.

“Are you still there?” Sarah asked. 

“Um, yeah, sorry, dear.  We’re getting off the lift.  We just checked into the hotel.”

“Linda’s a mess, Mum.  I don’t know what to do about Jill.”

“Well, I say good for Jill!” Aggie said, the phone still pushed to her ear.  “She needs to get out from beneath her mother’s thumb.  It’s about time she made her own decisions.”

“Mum!”  Sarah squealed.  “With a homeless man?”

“I doubt he’s homeless,” Aggie said.  “And even if he is, that’s her decision.  Besides, I think Jill ran off with him on purpose just to irritate her mother.  She’ll be back.”

“What am I supposed to do with Linda in the meantime?  The woman is driving me crazy!  She won’t stop blubbering!”

“How am I supposed to know what to do with her?  Tell her that a lot of wealthy film producers look like they are homeless to keep people from knowing their identity.”

“Urrr!” Sarah growled.  “Mum, that’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard.  I’m pregnant and hormonal.  I don’t need this.”

“I’m sorry, dear.  I’m sure all of this will blow over once Jill comes home from her date.”

“
If
she comes home,” Sarah said. 

“She will.”

“Oh, by the way, you’re still coming over for Thanksgiving dinner, right?”

“Oh, Thanksgiving,” Aggie said.  “Yes, right.  When is that?” 

Roger found their room number and slid the keycard into the door, unlocking it.  He then took hold of Aggie’s suitcase from her and dragged it into the room along with his.

“Thursday,” Sarah said.  “
This
Thursday.  And you need to be here.  I’m not going to suffer through this holiday with Linda and Jill without you.”

“I’ll be there,” Aggie promised.  “And I’ll bring Roger and Betty with me.  Oh, and perhaps Tom.  It depends on his work schedule.”

“Make sure you have extra room in your car because you’ll be taking Linda and Jill back with you.”

“What?” Aggie’s voice jumped an octave.  “Sarah, I can’t hear you.”

“Mum, knock it off.  I know you can hear me.”

“We must be losing reception.  Sorry, dear.”

“Mum?”

“Sarah, I’ll try calling back when I get service.”  Aggie tried her best to make a static sound and then hung up.

With a grunt, Roger hoisted their suitcases up onto the foot of their individual beds, looked at Aggie and nodded.  “Sarah?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yes.”

“Was it about Linda and Jill?”

“Yup.”

“I can see that.”  He nodded.  “I say you avoid all calls and blame it on no cell phone service.”

“Good idea,” Aggie agreed.  “Oh, and by the way, you and Betty are invited to Thanksgiving dinner at Sarah’s house.”  She figured the more people she invited to be there with her, the better.  And she’d just happen to fill all seats in her car as well.

***

Jack wondered how his mother and Miriam were getting along and which restaurant they had decided to dine at.  His mother would probably want Italian food and Miriam would probably want a salad or a place with fresh fish.  He thought a buffet would be the best decision.  That way they both would be happy.  He bet they settled on the buffet in the Planet Hollywood casino.  Just in case that’s where they decided to eat, he stayed clear of the restaurant.  He didn’t want to upset Miriam and have her worry about bad luck because he saw her before the wedding.  Even though he was tempted to have a peek at his mother and Miriam together, he restrained himself.  He didn’t want to do anything to ruin their big day. 

Looking at his watch, Jack counted the hours until the wedding.  It was getting pretty late and he guessed that Miriam and his mother would’ve probably finished eating dinner by now.  He knew that both of them liked to be in bed early.  Getting beauty sleep would be important to his mother.  And Miriam was generally an early to bed, early to rise, sort of person.  She loved waking up at the crack of dawn.  For her, it was invigorating.  Unless, of course, they were having such a good time that they decided to stay up late and talk girl talk over dessert.  He could just picture them chatting over hot fudge sundaes.

Sliding his cell phone out of the inside pocket of his leather jacket, he checked for missed phone calls from Miriam.  There were none.  But he did have a couple of text messages.  He clicked on the little envelop icon and felt disappointed.  Neither of them was from Miriam.  Both messages were from his buddies.  They were begging him to drop by and join them at the strip club located at the other end of the Planet Hollywood mall. 

Jack had hoped to at least have one message from Miriam.  Even though he didn’t really expect it to happen, he’d hoped that she’d send him a text saying what a wonderful time she was having with his mother.  That would be the best wedding gift in the world.

Oh well,
he thought, shrugging.  He knew that Miriam didn’t want them to see each other until the wedding.  Maybe texts and phone calls were on her list of
no, no’s
, too.  He wondered how she’d feel if he texted her anyway.  He’d just keep it short and to the point.  Deciding it was worth the risk he typed in,
‘I love you’
and sent the text to her cell phone.  Smiling, and not expecting to get a response because of her silly superstitions, he slid the phone back into his jacket pocket. 

Not sure what to do with himself, he decided to take his friends up on their offer and drop by the strip club.  He had no desire to stay very long, but decided he’d see what they were up to.  He had nothing else planned for the evening and he figured he’d just close his eyes whenever the girls’ clothes came off.  That would make it okay.  Or at least he hoped so.  As long as Miriam and his mother didn’t find out, he’d be fine.  And if they did, well, he’d give them both their beautiful bracelets and both women would be so happy that they’d quickly forgive him.

Saturday, November 19th

Chapter 4

The alarm on Aggie’s cell phone went off.  The sound of a crowing rooster and the incessant buzzing and vibrating of the alarm’s ringtone awoke her with a start.  The rooster kept crowing louder and louder until she was ready to pick up the phone and throw it against the wall.  She kicked herself for having chosen that annoying ringtone.  After a second or two, she remembered where she was and touched the screen of her phone, snoozing the alarm.

Rolling over, Aggie stared at Roger’s bed.  His was nearest the bathroom.  It was empty.  She was relieved to find out that Betty’s story regarding Roger’s snoring had been false.  Either that, or she’d been so dead to the world, she hadn’t heard it.  Either way, she got a good night’s sleep.  She wondered how Betty had faired sleeping in the same room as Anita.  Maybe Anita’s snoring had been a fluke thing and she was just having sinus problems when they shared a room on the cruise ship.  Regardless of the reason, Aggie was completely content that she didn’t have to share a room with her nemesis. 

Yawning, she sat up and stretched her arms up over her head.  She could hear the toilet flush and then the bathroom door clicked open.

“Hey, sleepy head,” Roger said.  “About time you woke up.  I was getting ready to wake you.”  He had already showered and gotten dressed.  He was wearing khaki dress slacks and a coral polo shirt.  His wet hair was combed to the side. 

“My alarm just went off,” Aggie said.  “I set it in case I overslept.”

“You won’t believe the prices of room service!” Roger griped, he picked up a laminated sheet of paper sitting on the bar next to the TV and waved it at her.  “Ridiculous!  How hard is it to have someone bring you bacon and eggs?  It doesn’t take a genius to deliver.  Any moron could do it!  With these prices you’d think I was making a car payment or darn well near!”

“Is that what you’re wearing to the wedding?”  Aggie pulled the blankets off of her legs, got up out of bed and stretched.  She sauntered over to the large entertainment center that spanned almost the entire wall across from the beds.  A flat screen television set was in the center of the entertainment center and to either side of it was a mirrored bar and on the far side of each bar were built in wardrobes.  Aggie pulled open the one on her side of the room, and took out a turquoise dress she’d hung up last night.

Roger looked down at his shirt, re-tucked it into his pants, and then tugged at his brown leather belt that matched the color of his loafers.  “Why?  What’s wrong with it?  Is it the color?  Maybe I should change my shirt.”

“No, nothing’s wrong with it.  I just thought you’d wear something a bit more traditional, like a suit.”

“This is Vegas.  No one’s traditional in Las Vegas.  I saw a man walking down the street in a Spiderman costume yesterday.”

“True,” Aggie said, mulling this over.  “I guess you’re right, dear.”  She’d seen that man too and had thought it was rather odd.  The man had been casually strolling down the street as if it was normal to be dressed as Spidey.  She’d spotted him while they were circling the block looking for the Planet Hollywood hotel’s parking garage. 

“Have you seen this menu?” Roger waved it at her again and then stormed across the room to hand it to her.  “Just take a look.  It’s an outrage!”

Aggie took the menu from him and scanned the items.  They were a bit pricey, but that was expected when it came to room service.  Room service had always been pricey no matter where she’d stayed.  “Why are you looking at room service?  We have enough time to have breakfast at the buffet before the wedding.”  The wedding wasn’t until eleven.  And last night they’d all agreed to get together and eat breakfast beforehand. 

“The buffet was a rip off,” Roger grumped.

“I thought you enjoyed it?  The food was good.”  The four of them ate dinner at the buffet located in the casino.  And then afterwards they played a few of the slot machines before bed.  Roger played the penny machines, Aggie and Betty played the quarter slots and Anita took off to do some souvenir shopping in the mall.  After a couple of hours they’d decided to call it quits and to save their energy for Saturday.

“I
did
enjoy it,” Roger said.  “It wasn’t the food.  It was the price.  Buffets are supposed to be either inexpensive or free in Las Vegas.  Didn’t you see all those billboards for cheap buffets on the Strip?  It’s to draw you into the casinos.”

“I wasn’t really paying attention, dear.  I was too busy looking for our hotel.”

“Well,” Roger said.  “They charged way too much for our dinner.  Really, who can eat that much in one sitting?  No one!  And they know it.  That’s how they’re making their money.  It’s a total scam to charge that much.”

“If money’s an issue, I can pay for breakfast…”

Roger raised his hand, palm out to stop Aggie in her tracks.  “I wouldn’t dream of it.  I just don’t like the way we’re being ripped off.  It’s not your fault.”

Wrinkling her brow, Aggie examined her turquoise dress and then reached into the wardrobe and held up a floral print dress she’d brought as a backup.  Maybe she’d wear that one instead. 

“The blue,” Roger said. 

“You think?” Aggie asked, giving both dresses a once over.

“Turquoise brings out the color of your eyes.  But change the purse.  You’re pink bag doesn’t work with it.”  He glanced at the time on his watch and tapped the glass with his index finger.  “It’s already half past eight.  You’d better hurry.  We’re supposed to meet Betty and Anita in an hour.”

“So we’re going to the buffet?”

“We’re going to have to.  There’s no time to go anywhere else before the wedding and room service costs an arm and a leg.  And if I have to pay enormous prices, then I’m going to take advantage of the all you can drink champagne at the buffet.  Get my money’s worth out of it.”
“All right, dear,” Aggie said, not bothering to argue with him.  She knew Roger was a tightwad and a penny pincher even though he had quite a bit of money coming in from his interior decorating business.  He was a very popular decorator and designer in the Southern California desert.  He was known for his uncanny ability at being able to read someone’s personality and interpret it within his work.  The only time Roger wasn’t cheap was when he was spending money on something that really interested him like exotic fish.  He had a really large custom tank built into one of the walls in his house that was part of his interior decorating motif.  Money was no object when it came to something that he really wanted. 

“I’m going to check the news while I wait,” he said, picking up the remote and flipping on the television.

“Okay,” Aggie said.  “I’ll hurry.”  She disappeared into the bathroom with her turquoise dress and her bag of toiletries. 

***

Groaning, Jack rolled over and hit snooze on the alarm clock.  His head ached, his body hurt and his tongue felt as if it had grown a thick coat of fur overnight.  Going to the strip club and spending the night out with his buddies wasn’t the brightest of ideas.  Miriam would kill him if she knew how much he drank.

“Ugh!” he moaned, forcing himself to sit up.  Pain radiated from deep within his head.  He forced himself to get up onto his feet.  Slowly, he wandered over to the bar and picked up one of the glasses.  He headed for the bathroom and turned on the sink.  He needed to begin hydrating if he was going to get rid of this hangover before the wedding.  It wouldn’t look good if he stumbled down the aisle. 

Gulping down a glass of tap water, he wandered back to the bed to retrieve his cell phone from the nightstand where he’d plugged it in to charge.  He scanned the screen and frowned while setting the phone back down.  There were no new messages.  Not even a text message.  He hadn’t heard so much as a peep from Miriam.  It worried him because last night he’d sent her a text while in the mall and then one more before he passed out in a drunken stupor.  He wondered if Miriam could tell that he was drunk and was angry with him. 

Grabbing his phone, Jack pulled up the text messages he’d sent just to see if he’d sounded like he’d been drinking.  Gnawing on his lower lip, he shook his head.  He’d sent Miriam more messages than he had realized.  He only remembered two and he’d sent more like twenty.  Quickly, he scrolled through the list and read them over.  There were five:
I love you’s
,  three:
Missing you
’s, ten: 
Wish you were here with me’s
and two more
I love you’s
, spelt
I Luv U
and a couple of
x’s
and
o’s
. 

Exhaling, Jack rationalized that his messages only portrayed how much he loved her.  There was no way she’d know that he texted her drunk, right?  Jack sighed.  Who was he kidding?  It was obvious that he was drunk.  Miriam had to know that.  But at least she also knew how much he loved her and that he was thinking of her the entire time he was at the club with the guys.  So, sucking up his courage, he decided to try sending one more text.  He knew how superstitious Miriam was, so he didn’t want to chance calling her even though he was dying to hear her voice.  He felt texting her would be the best choice.  He figured that she’d be a bundle of nerves right about now, since today was their special day, and he didn’t want to make her feel any more anxious.  He’d just send a short, sweet note so that she knew he was thinking of her this morning.  And maybe she’d go easy on him about the drinking.

Maybe the guys are right,
he thought. 
Maybe I am whipped.

He typed on the touch screen,
“See you at the altar, my love.” 
Clicking send, he smiled and then glanced at the time on his phone.  His mother should be with Miriam right about now.  Then a thought occurred to him.  He could call his mother to check on things.  It would give him a little peace of mind since he hadn’t heard from Miriam.  Then he remembered that his mother didn’t have a cell phone.  Well, she did have one.  He’d bought her one as a Christmas gift.  She just never learned how to use it and never remembered to have it turned on.  He doubted that she even remembered to bring it with her.  And if for some crazy reason she had remembered to bring it, it would be in her suitcase.  He thought it was sweet that his mother was a little behind the times when it came to technology even if it was an inconvenience.

“Stop worrying,” he muttered to himself.  “Miriam’s fine.  You’re fine.  Everything’s fine.”  But for some reason he didn’t feel fine.  Deep in his gut, something bothered him.  He had the feeling that something was wrong and it kept nagging at him.  Taking in a deep breath, he told himself it was a mixture of being hung-over and nervous that was making him feel sick inside.  But he knew that wasn’t true.  The feeling started last night before he began drinking. 

Jack walked back to the bathroom and gulped down another glass of water while he waited for the shower to heat up.  He figured whatever was bothering him would soon be gone.  Soon he’d be married to the woman of his dreams and all other worries would dissipate.  He hoped Miriam wasn’t too upset with him for sending his mother over to help her get ready without asking first.  He shook his head at the thought.  It was silly to think Miriam would be upset at him for something like that.  If anything, she’d be happy he was trying to help relieve some of her stress by having his mother help.

***

After a lovely breakfast, and way too many glasses of champagne, because Roger wanted to make sure they drank their money’s worth, Aggie caught up with Betty and Roger at the entrance to the buffet.  Roger was preaching about the price of the champagne brunch to two young women standing in line waiting to get in.  She heard him tell the girls to make sure to drink a lot of champagne to counteract the price.  And that if they could, they should stay until the lunch menu is in service so they could get a two for one deal.

Aggie apologized to the girls as soon as Roger and Betty were out of ear shot and then caught up with them in the casino.  Anita had skipped out on breakfast early to try her luck at the tables before the wedding.  Aggie bet Albert wasn’t going to be too happy with their credit card bill when it came in.  Not only was Anita doing quite a bit of gambling, she also had her arms filled with shopping bags last night.  She’d said she needed to make sure everyone had souvenirs.  And when Anita says everyone, she literally means everyone.

Betty and Roger were standing behind Anita at the Black Jack table when Aggie found them.  Anita was scooping up her plastic chips and beaming.  “I’m up a hundred dollars,” she said.  “I just need to cash these in.”

Roger glanced at his watch.  “You might have to wait until after the wedding.”

“Okay, you worry wart,” Anita said, giggling while she shoved her winnings into her purse to cash in later.  “You know worrying too much is bad for the old ticker.”

“I don’t worry too much,” Roger said.

“Okay,” Anita said, smugly.

“I don’t!  And I’ll have you know there is nothing wrong with my heart,” Roger protested and looked over at Betty to back him up.  “Isn’t that right, Betty?  I don’t worry too much.  That’s the most absurd thing anyone has ever said to me.”

“Well,” Betty said while rubbing at her tired eyes from lack of sleep due to Anita’s snoring and then yawned.  “Well, um, you do carry on a bit about letting me drive your car.”