Page 31 of Family Ties and Alibis

Mercedes found the flying monkey machine. Luigi went to try his hand at roulette while Tony and Paulie settled in at the poker table.

“Well, my love, what would you like to try?” Pete asked.

“I dunno.” Carlita noticed a quiet corner where a bank of machines sat empty. “What about over there?”

“Looks as lucky as any.” Pete fed a twenty-dollar bill into her machine and put another twenty in the one next to it.

She pressed the button. Nothing happened. “How can I tell how much I’m betting?”

Her husband leaned in. “You’re betting five.”

“Five cents?”

“Five dollars.” Pete showed her the teeny-tiny dollar screen in the corner.

“Four spins and I’ll be out of money. No wonder no one is playing these machines. They take your money fast.”

“You can change the denomination.” Pete showed her which button to press, reducing her per-spin bet to a more reasonable amount.

“Thanks.” Carlita pressed the button. The reels twirled, and the machine began playing a little ditty. “What just happened?”

“You won ten dollars.”

“Whoo-ee,” she hooted. “I’m rolling in dough.”

He laughed out loud. “You’re officially ahead of the game.”

“Maybe I should stop.”

“And miss out on more potential winnings?”

“True. I’ll keep playing until I spend my twenty bucks.” Carlita had almost spent all of her money when the machine began spinning erratically, as if it had a mind of its own. The spinning stopped, and it made a rapid-fire ting-tinging sound.

She checked her balance, thrilled to discover she had won a hundred dollars. “Will you look at that?”

“This must be your lucky machine.”

Carlita promptly pressed the cash-out button.

“You don’t want to keep playing to see if you’re on a hot machine?”

“No way. I’m gonna take my winnings.” She slid the voucher into her pocket. “Let’s see what other kind of excitement we can find.”

Weaving their way through the casino, they stopped at the complimentary beverage station for a glass of lemonade.

A commotion near the side entrance caught Carlita’s attention. “I wonder what’s going on.” Stepping closer, she noticed flashing lights right outside the door. “It looks like an ambulance is parked out front.”

Pete bobbed his head. “Someone is sitting in the back.”

Slipping out of the building, the couple crept closer toward a crowd that had gathered off to the side.

“…casino manager.”

The blood drained from Carlita’s face. She tapped the woman who was talking on the shoulder. “Do you know who got hurt?”

“The casino manager. His name is Vinnie.”

Chapter 13