the table.
“I think you might be overdoing it a little,” Marlene whispered once he was out of earshot. She raised her voice and launched into a loud lecture on manners and then, while pushing back the drink glasses, flipped the liquid from the vial into Hank’s rye and Coke. “Here’s the key. Be a good girl and get ready for bed and I’ll be up in a few minutes.”
I found the second vial in my purse. It was supposed to be for our next hotel. I held it so that Marlene could see it anyway.
She shook her head. “We’re not trying to kill him,” she whispered.
I stood as Hank returned. I told him that I was sorry if I’d been rude.
“Rude? Nonsense! We’re pals, aren’t we? You can be yourself around ol’ Hank.” He patted my arm. The size and weight of his hand—like a baseball glove—gave me pause for a second. I looked at Marlene.
“I’ll be up soon, honey.” She kissed my cheek.
I told Hank good night, and made for the elevators.
Sooner or later, this guy was going to try and move Marlene up to his room. She’d put that whole friggin’ vial of Ketamine in, though—the goof might just pass out in the bar and then what would she do?
As I waited for the elevator, I looked back toward the lounge. The only way for this to work would be for her to actually go with him to his room. Every hustle we’d ever pulled before this was in public.
The elevator opened and I glanced back again just as Marlene was laughing, her head tipped back. Something about the way her mouth opened, as if she could be screaming, made the hair on my arms prickle.
Don’t be a dope, I thought. If anyone can take care of herself, it’s her.
Outside our room, I opened my purse for the room key. Inside was my swimsuit, just sitting there in a little ball. I had seen the pool when we checked in that morning. The deck had all this gorgeous marble, and white pillars with Roman statues. I wanted to make like I was Cleopatra taking a dip. Once Marlene was finished with this guy, she’d said she wanted to move to another hotel. I’d never get a chance to swim if I played by her rules.
I looked at my watch. I could go down to the pool for half an hour and she’d never know.
In the lobby, I ducked out of sight and tried to get a look into the lounge. They were gone, near as I could tell. I slipped behind another column. Man, I loved those crazy Roman statues—they were so friggin’ cool. Marlene and Hank were definitely not in the lounge any more.
I couldn’t wait to step into that warm pool water, the golden lanterns illuminating the deck. I’d be like that chick in the Ban de Soleil commercial. The jingle started up in my head: Ban de Soleil for the San Tropez tan …
Standing in the lobby, I tried to recall which way the pool was. Everywhere seemed to lead back to the casino. Signs pointed to the elevators, to the shopping area, to the lounge. I headed back across the lobby toward the front desk to ask directions.
As I came closer, I heard one of the receptionists say, “Security will be right up.”
I stepped up to the desk.
“Disturbance on the twelfth floor,” the receptionist told a man in a black suit on the other side of the counter. “Code two.”
My heart started to bang.
The guy in the black suit spoke into a walkie-talkie. “Security to twelve. Code two.”
I turned and watched two more suited men rush past me to the lobby elevators.
It can’t be her, I thought. She put the whole vial in, didn’t she? He was big, though. Maybe one wasn’t enough. Why didn’t she take the second vial just in case? I looked up at the ceiling as though I could find her that way.
Then I bolted for the elevators.
Before the doors opened on the twelfth I could hear the shouting.
I stepped off the elevator and turned toward the noise and there was Marlene on the carpet in the hallway, on all fours, gasping and sobbing. A man and woman were bent over her, trying to help her up, but she would not be touched.
Two men in black suits had Hank pushed face first against the wall, arms twisted behind his back, wrists bent in a way that made them look broken.
Hank