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He answered on the second ring. “Hi, sweetheart! What can I do for ya?”
“Mr. Dez, I need you to come to the slots right outside of the bottom of the Dawn’s escalator. Quickly, please.”
All my words ran together, but he must’ve gotten the gist because he replied, “I’ll be right there.”
He appeared less than a minute later.
“Boys!” Cody’s dad yelled, entering the fray and grunting as he separated the former friends. Where Cody was tall and AJ was broad, Mr. Dez was both. They were all out of breath by the time everyone was standing again. Cody’s Hollister shirt was torn down the neck, but he seemed otherwise unharmed, whereas AJ already had a black eye forming.
I approached Mr. Dez timidly, feeling the full burn of mortification as I whispered, “I think I’ll need another favor. Can we go to your office?”
“I’ll take care of it,” he assured me, understanding my concern. The evidence of the brawl would be erased from the security cameras within the hour. Mr. Dez was usually only in charge of security for the resort side of Fortuna, but thankfully he had easy access to all the cameras.
“Sweetheart, it may be best if you and my son get off the premises for the rest of the day.” Mr. Dez held out the keys to his Tahoe to me, and I grabbed them on reflex.
I tugged Cody by the elbow, and without a backward glance, we were out of there.
We walked in charged silence, Cody’s adrenaline urging him along too fast for me to keep up. When we reached the subtle barrier between casino and lobby, my ankle was throbbing, and I finally had to speak up.
“Cody, you’ve gotta slow down. I’m about to fall out and make another scene.”
He looked back at me apologetically. “Sorry, Cher. I feel like I could lift a car right now. I understand now why kids did this so much in school.”
“Well, I’m glad you didn’t. I’m not sure my heart could take it. I feel like I’m gonna throw up,” I replied truthfully. “But thank you,” I added softly, causing a smile to split his face.
“Anytime, Cher.”
Something must have been in Fortuna’s recycled air today, because as soon we reached the automatic doors of the lobby, an enraged Jeanne stormed past.
“What the hell do you think you are doing?!” she yelled at the gathering of suits and landscapers standing around Angie, the magnolia tree that stood tall and proud on the opposite side of the corridor from my favorite one, Margaret.
“Oh shit,” Cody murmured, pulling us back behind the Minerva statue to watch the scene unfold. “I always knew Jeanne had it in her. Should we go provide backup? I’ve still got some energy to burn.”
I thought about calling him a drama whore, which was the truth, but that would be in poor taste after the drama he’d just kicked up on my behalf. “We don’t even know what it’s about, and the last thing you need to do is draw more attention to yourself,” I hissed, even though there was no one around to hear.
He gave me a flat look. “You know Jeanne. Do you think she’d get that upset for no reason?”
Jeanne, mother of three, almost four, who treated every single piece of greenery in Fortuna as if they were also her children….
“No. I don’t.”
Our attention was drawn back to the scene when Jeanne, red-faced and flustered, stormed off. I wanted to go after her, but Mr. Dez’s warning to get off the property rang in my ears, so I made a note to call her later instead.
Which made two phone calls I owed people this evening.
Cody tugged my arm. “Let’s creep by and see if we can see anything.”
I nodded my agreement before we cut a wide arc past the landscaping crew—the men in suits had already dispersed—and then doubled back. We came to a halt under Angie just as a ladder was propped against her trunk and a landscaper started his ascent.
I frowned, trying to piece together what had Jeanne so upset as Cody dropped my arm and crouched down to pick up two fallen magnolia leaves. My frown deepened as he handed me one, the shiny gleam of the top of the half-green, half-brown leaf catching the light from the afternoon sun that poured in through the domed glass ceiling. I pinched the stem and rotated the leaf, catching and angling the sunlight, accidentally throwing a glare across Cody’s face. “Stop tha?—”
CA-LUMP CA-LUMP CA-LUMP
The sound pierced the air, making us both jump. “What the fuck?!” Cody rasped, whirling around.
CA-LUMP CA-LUMP CA-LUMP
We both looked up to the top of Angie and cringed when a glare from a large piece of metal flashed at us like a beacon.
