Her eyes zero in on the paper. "Twenty-seven cents? That blows."
"I lost ten dollars in the blink of an eye," I say on a heavy exhale. "I worked hard for that money and now, poof, it's gone."
She takes the slip of paper from my hand. "Your boss should give you a bonus for catching that woman who stole the wallet in Meadow."
"It's part of my job." I look over at where Jersey is sitting. His left brow is raised. That's a sure sign that he's on a winning streak. "I don't get bonuses for nabbing petty thieves."
Adley frowns. "That's a crime in itself. That poor man would have spent the rest of his vacation trying to replace his credit cards and crying over the lost money in his wallet. You saved him from that headache. You should at least get your picture on a plaque on the wall for the employee of the month."
I smile. When two of the senior security staff arrived at Meadow, I briefed them on what I'd witnessed. They approached Shelby and the owner of the wallet. She was taken to the central security office on the third floor once she realized that she couldn't talk her way out of the fact that the man's wallet was in her purse along with a credit card belonging to another female hotel guest.
I graciously accepted the praise my supervisor gave me along with a hug from the couple who Shelby had duped. Once I'd filled out my incident report, I was free to go.
The wallet is back where it belongs, and Shelby is at a local police precinct, waiting to be booked.
"It's my job, Ad." I pluck the printed slip from the slot machine out of her hand. "I'm going to give this and the tickets to the magic show to my friend Jersey."
"You're talking about Wally Hampton, aren't you?" She wiggles a thumb in Jersey's direction.
"Wally Hampton?" I pause and look at Jersey. He's still winning. The toothy grin on his face is a dead giveaway. "That's Jersey. Does he look like someone you know?"
"He looks like Wally Hampton because he is Wally Hampton. He just so happens to be the greatest quarterback ever to play the game." She shakes her head. "You're going to give him your measly twenty-seven cent voucher and two tickets to a magic show? The man is worth a fortune, Ellie."
"That can't be right," I whisper even though Jersey is out of earshot. "He's never mentioned football to me. He's a big baseball fan. He's always wearing that Yankees ball cap."
"He's retired." She shoots me a look. "Do you know how much his autograph goes for? If you ask him to sign one of his jerseys, you could sell it online and spend your days living the high life in Vegas instead of busting your ass catching purse snatchers and chasing minors out of the casino."
"I happen to like my job." I open my purse and pull out the folded piece of paper I printed our tickets on. "I'm giving him these so he can take his wife to the show."
"He's a huge deal, Ellie. If he wanted to see that magician, he'd just have to show up at the door and they'd seat him in the front row."
"To do that he'd have to be Wally Hampton," I say quietly. "Tonight he can sit in the tenth row and he can just be Jersey. A man on a date with the woman he loves."
***
"I thought that you'd be able to leapfrog the line since this club is technically inside the resort you work at." Adley scrunches her nose. "There are at least a hundred people in front of us."
My gaze wanders down the line of people all waiting to get in Shade. The club opened two months ago in the new wing of the resort along with several high-end boutiques including Belese designer handbags, Whispers of Grace jewelry and the soon-to-be-opened new location for Matiz Cosmetics. Celebrities and their entourages have been descending on the property in droves.
The only impact it's had on my job as a casino security guard is that I have to hover if I'm assigned the task of watching over someone recognizable when they have the urge to gamble.
When a gorgeous actor and his pop star girlfriend indulged in a night of poker last week, I spent my entire shift on a comfortable chair inside Ollie's Room, the high-stakes playground. I lucked out that night, but the actor didn't. He lost more money than I'll make in two years. It didn't seem to faze him. He was all smiles when he walked out of the room with his arm around the woman who has the number one song in the country right now.
"I might know the guy working the door tonight." I half-shrug. "If I do, it'll be an easy in."
"I'll do whatever it takes to get us inside." Adley traces her fingertip along her bottom lip. "If you know what I mean."
I rub at my forehead. "You didn't just tell me that you're willing to blow some random to get inside Shade, did you?"
She nods. "It's the hottest club in Vegas. I want in."
"You told me you hated going down on Leo." I grin at her. "Weren't you the one who said blowjobs are overrated?"
She chews on her lip. "Leo's penis was not appetizing. It scared me."