I rose to a sitting position to find Wilt and Carolyn staring down at me with looks of concern. “Where’s Jimmy?” I gasped for breath as my ribcage slowly expanded. I felt like a flattened pancake after being squashed under Jimmy’s weight.
“Gone,” Carolyn pointed towards the door as she held out her hand. She had already put her shoe back on. “Get up. We’ve got no time to waste.”
I did as I was told, but I was confused. I also had a pounding headache. I stood opposite Carolyn and scanned the casino floor. People milled around machines and tables, placing their bets as if nothing had happened. “What’s the rush?”
Carolyn frowned. “Jimmy’s going to tell Manny, and when Manny comes after Wilt he’ll find out that I had something to do with it. There’s going to be trouble.”
My mouth dropped open. “Manny knows you’re a witch?”
“Of course he knows, Cen.”
“I thought you said he was just a casual fling?” He had to mean more to her than that if he knew about Aunt Pearl’s supernatural talents. “Exactly how serious is your relationship?”
“I don’t kiss and tell, and I’m certainly not going to share the lurid details of my love life with my niece.” She placed her hands on her hips. “It’s none of your business.”
“You pissed off a mobster. You just made it my business.”
Carolyn waved me off. “No time for that now. We better make ourselves scarce.”
Wilt walked zombie-like towards a nearby slot machine. He rummaged in his pockets, finally turning them inside out, empty. Carolyn beckoned him over and he fell in behind us. We headed out of the casino and towards the hotel lobby.
The lobby bustled with hotel guests, most of whom probably had no clue about the earlier gunfire.
“I’m not letting up until you tell me more about your relationship with Manny. Was this before or after he married Carla?” I felt underdressed beside Carolyn, though my casual dress matched just about everyone else in the lobby.
“Before, but I don’t see why that matters. We met at one of Carla’s parties, back when she still lived in Westwick Corners. Manny was in town for a few days on business. He was immediately attracted to me.” Carolyn smiled and ran her fingers through her long blonde hair.
“Attracted to Pearl, or attracted to Carolyn?”
“What does that matter?”
“It matters a lot. Does he know about your Carolyn act?”
“Uh-huh. He knows everything. And don’t call it that,” Carolyn sniffed. “Carolyn is very real to me. I can assure you she is very real to a lot of people around here. Including Manny. He thinks it’s kind of sexy.”
I covered my ears. “Too much information.” I didn’t want to imagine my elderly aunt—even in her Carolyn alter ego—getting intimate with a member of the opposite sex.
I turned and saw that two of the bachelor party men still followed us, hovering back a few feet. “I know you’re flattered by all the attention, but this is getting creepy. It’s like they’re stalking us.”
Wilt snapped to attention and marched towards the men. “I’ll take care of them.”
Carolyn waited until he was out of earshot and leaned closer. “At least they’ll keep Wilt occupied for a while.” She winked at the two men and followed me to the elevators.
I rolled my eyes, pressed the elevator button, and prayed for the doors to open before either Wilt or Carolyn found any more trouble.
My prayers were answered as the elevator doors opened and I stepped into the empty elevator.
Carolyn followed me in. “Jimmy was card-counting too. That’s why he was so furious. He wasn’t supposed to have any competition at the table. Manny will think I helped Wilt.”
“You did help him.” My mouth dropped open as the larger implications of Carolyn’s statement sunk in. “Wait a minute. Are you saying that Jimmy was card counting with the casino’s knowledge?” That implied that Rocco was involved somehow.
“The casino has to know. They monitor everything, so how could they not know?” Carolyn dropped her head and muttered to herself.
“Hey, wait for me!” Wilt jumped in the elevator just as the doors closed behind him. Whatever he had said to our admirers had worked, because they were gone.
“How is witchcraft worse than counting cards? Either way is cheating.” As far as I could see, Jimmy had been beaten at his own game and was a sore loser. I didn’t see what it had to do with Manny, or why witchcraft was worse than counting cards. Both were forms of cheating in my eyes.
“Maybe, but Manny doesn’t see it that way. Card counting is how Manny and his guys make some of their money. Any witchcraft that undermines his business is something he won’t tolerate.”
“The card-counting seems awfully labor intensive. Jimmy would have to win a lot to make it worthwhile.” I wondered if Rocco knew what was going on at his own casino.
Carolyn rolled her eyes. “They look for high rollers like Wilt appears to be.”
“What are you guys talking about?” Wilt rubbed his forehead. “Who was card-counting?”
“Never mind, we’ll talk about it later.” I turned to Carolyn. “Manny won’t know you were involved.”
Carolyn shook her head. “The surveillance cameras. Anyone watching will see that everything here on the floor froze with my rewind spell. It’s obviously magic.”
“I doubt it. Most people would think the temporary freeze is a technical glitch with the camera or something.”
“Except that not all of us were frozen,” Carolyn said. “Don’t you see? That in itself proves we are witches. Anyone reviewing the surveillance footage will see us moving around while everyone else is frozen in place.”
“Oh,” I said. “I hadn’t thought of that. But that’s okay. We’ll just tell Rocco. He already knows we’re witches, and he can just erase the footage.”
“Hmmm.” Carolyn frowned.
“What’s wrong with that? Manny doesn’t work at Rocco’s casino, so he’d never see the footage anyways.”
“I guess I forgot to mention that part.” Carolyn paused and drew a deep breath. “Manny has already infiltrated the casino. A few of his men are now on security detail here. Now that Carla’s gone, nothing is going to stop him from making his takeover official.”