I nodded and told him it was never as cut and dry as some taught and sometimes those doing the teaching were the worst offenders. The dark clothes we had both acquired along with the tactical boots were for the same purpose, he would just be sanctioned and I would more or less be breaking who knows how many laws. He told me that tonight he had confirmation there were good guys in bed with bad guys and now he just had to figure out which of the good guys were bad guys. I told him to have fun with that. Smiling he said he wished Mr. C had not retired as he would really like to ask how he brought down those boys in the sand box. I told him to skip it as Mr. C always tended to take things too to that point where the only way through was by the road of pain. I actually had no idea where my wife lived but with her out of the house it would be much easier to break in, I was hoping I would not have to go there. I checked into the same casino resort my driver did under the same pretense, I was working with homeland security. I had never been much of a gambling man though I had been involved on several large casino projects over the years as a security engineer. My current partner of sorts not tired wanted to play some cards and would not take no for an answer. Walking by the progressive slots I threw away a twenty and bet the maximum, I never expected to win the jackpot on my first push of the button.
What came next was more or less a small circus of which I should have probably stayed for. The casino wanted pictures for their advertising campaign and knowing that I took the printed piece of paper from the attendant and slipped away. From the crowd that was gathering I watched the execs and their media people which too me always seemed to be young women who had to be hired for their looks show up. The fact is in these modern casinos they had gotten away from using coins, even if you wanted to play the penny slot you needed a dollar and to me sitting around a card table where the odds were I was going to lose not to mention the machines where I was guaranteed to loose was not where I wanted my money so I had saved what I could over the years and that had been my policy with FES as well, the cash I had stowed in safety deposit boxes was more or less in my mind a liquid asset I could access without going through a bank which had to report on money I deposited in large sums and even if it was not large there would be a record of the deposits and someone in the bank would have access to those funds. I was not at a bank with a piece of paper that stated I had just won millions of dollars which I knew an uncle wanted a large portion of. Walking up to the cashier I waited for her to go through her thing. I filled out the necessary paperwork for the government and she then had me go to the admin office as she did not have that much cash. There the cameras had come out and I put my hand up and had to tell the young woman taking the pictures she needed to delete her chip as I had not authorized her to take my photo or make use of my likeness for any of her marketing campaigns.
Smiling she told me I had to and I smiled back and told her actually there was no law stating I had to but we could discuss it over breakfast. The leadership of the tribe had come in about that moment and I introduced myself. One of them recognized my name and asked if I was here on business or pleasure. I told him at the moment I was just visiting and had happened to pay homage to the gods of chance and the gods had decided to bestow upon me this piece of paper which had stated I was to be blessed with many pieces of coin but all I have done is fill out forms and have their cute little thing try to get my mug shot so she could tell people even ugly people could win. When they looked at her she shook her head and said she never said I was ugly, smiling I told them yes she was just about to take me to breakfast and tell me how ugly I was. The woman shook her head and said she was not about to do any such thing; I told her she was about to take me for breakfast, because she wanted to encourage me to give the money back, smiling she said yes she had been about to say yes to breakfast but not to and then she held up her hand and said she was married. I held up my hand and said I had been married and hopefully would be again but who knows and I was okay with just eating breakfast while I figured out how I wanted my cash. I saw one of the tribal elders gulp and asked how much cash were we talking about. I handed over the paperwork. Smiling I told him I was okay with all forms of bills after our great uncle received his share of course and told him my room number. I was told most received a certified check. I shrugged and said I was not most and liked the cash but if they preferred they could wire the money to my account after I set one up. When I was told they had a bank I asked if they were considered an offshore bank like the good folks up the Dakotas.
Before they could answer I told them that using their bank would be easier and if they could just provide a small sum of cash in bills no smaller than a hundred, say fifty thousand dollars worth I would appreciate it and I was in no rush and would like to go eat breakfast first and then take a nap. After shaking hands I walked out of the office on a promise from the chief executive of the tribal corporation he would have the paperwork ready upon my return. When I met up with my agent boy I asked how he fared and he shook his head and told me his wife would not be happy as he lost five thousand. Smiling I told him I would buy breakfast. The marketing gal called my name and walking up said she had been misunderstood, smiling I told her I was in the wrong My counterpart asked who she was and she pointed to her name tag and he politely told Susan he was glad to meet her and if she had any trouble with me to just say the word. She asked as she pointed back into the casino where I would like to eat. I told her I guess I needed to tell her I had already had a place in mind, a quaint little place just off the strip as they served good old southern comfort food like grits and chicken biscuits. She told me she new the place and needed to head over to their tribal offices and then the bank for me. We rode with her and then then Susan asked the agent his name, he told her most called him Mark. Nodding she repeated our names Mark and Mr. Christianson. Mark looked at me but said nothing. After breakfast she told me thank you for providing entertainment for the day and if I needed to get back just go down to their other casino and catch the shuttle. I told her I actually needed to go back to rent a car. When she told me she could help with that; when I said thanks I was told to meet her in thirty minutes at the Tribal offices. When I was followed by what appeared to be seemingly more and more like a real partner in crime, I asked where he needed to go and he shrugged saying today nowhere but later on when his boss arrived for some dinner party he would meet with her.
I told him that I had things I needed to see to, smiling he nodded toward the direction our tour guide had driven, I shook my head saying how was I supposed to know I would hit the jackpot my first try. He asked what jackpot and I explained how they had those progressive slots all interlinked to one jackpot and I happened to pick the right machine and being recently divorced I needed to open my own bank account which the owners of the establishment we were staying at were so graciously helping out with as they also owned a bank. The man breathed in as we walked and said if he won a jackpot he could retire right now; nodding I told him yep and then he would spend lots of money on a new house, cars, trips and a whole bunch of crap that he did not need and would die broke. He asked what I was going to do with the money. I said I would keep some liquid but the rest I would invest and I definitely will not be telling anyone I won a big jackpot. I looked at Mark and told him I really had to do some stuff that he may not want to know about or be involved in, which would fit in his bad guy being the good guy to find out which good guy or bad guy was bad. When we walked into the tribal offices, we were greeted by and older assistant who asked if she could get us anything. Mark told her maybe some good luck as he had to tell his wife he lost five thousand dollars at one of their casinos. I told her I was fine, I was just here to sign some paperwork and meet with a gal from their marketing department, I believed her name was Susan. The woman nodded and said Susan was out at the moment but should be back in a moment. Just then the Chief Executive walked through and seeing me asked how was breakfast. I told him mine hit the spot; and was asked which one did I choose. Mark told him the little country place up the street that served good southern comfort food, but not to worry his man here paid for it.
The executive told us he knew the place and liked to go there on Saturday's but was hoping for my take on their establishments. I told him I could still do that as that was my profession, as he raised an eyebrow I told him i personally would have moved the check in counter out of the casino into a separate lobby, and then remembered that was his competitor and corrected my mistake and told him actually I liked the all around design of the place but after walking through the casino and smelling like smoke the last thing I wanted was to eat something and had just needed to get some air to clear my sinuses. Nodding he asked if I could change anything what would it be. I told him the location of his showroom which I noticed had family shows and since the parking garage was on the far side of the casino that meant families with children who they did not want to yet expose to the scene of watching folks waste their savings or rent money had to walk around the whole facility to get to the entrance of the show room. Nodding he said he had never really noticed that. I nodded and told him his business was the casino and his goal with the concerts was to put people in each seat inside that casino; but the last time I checked children were not allowed to spend their allowance sitting at one of his video games. Mark asked if I got that in five minutes. I told him actually no I had come to that conclusion on a previous trip but I preferred their canyons to their casinos so avoided them mostly and I definitely preferred the smaller resorts to the larger ones as I liked the quiet and the home like feel. The Executive asked if I did not get that feeling at their resorts. Smiling I told him not to get me wrong his staff was friendly enough but to them I was a guest which is a polite saying I was the one paying their paycheck and a few of them were willing to talk to you beyond that but most were too afraid of losing their jobs which they probably should be as most did not know how to how to separate friendship from business relationship. Susan the marketing manager came in at that moment and said she would need to know what kind of car I would be needing. I told her something with a sturdy suspension that could handle driving in the sand like a jeep.
She made the call and when she was done she laid out the paperwork from the bank and told me I would have to go in to finalize everything. I looked at my watch and her boss told her he could take care of it as an officer of the bank. I followed him into his office as the signed paperwork was faxed back and the originals couriered over. While waiting for confirmation I was asked what canyon I liked best and told him the one that they had recently restricted to guided hikes, but more than that I liked the solitude. Mark asked why I stayed at the casino, shrugging I told him I too had meetings later and would need a place to shower, nap and change. Susan came in and handed me a key ring and told me all she could get was a hummer. I shrugged and said it worked. Word came back that my account had been funded and when security came into the office with a security bag I counted the money twice as did Mark. He followed me out to the front of the hotel where there sat a brand new hummer still with dealer plates on it. Mark asked if he could drive and I nodded. Climbing in I checked the glove compartment and found the lease paperwork, the entire lease had been paid up front, not quite what I had in mind. He asked where to first and told him the bank as I was not walking around with this much cash.
It just happened as I walked into the bank I noticed my old handler talking to an account manager. I went straight to the merchant counter and asked about a safe deposit box, When asked if I had an account, I nodded and told the young woman that yes I did and it was just opened through an officer. She looked down and said yes I must be Mister. I cut her off and said that was me As she brought out me around the desk my name was called. Looking up I saw my handler with that look. I asked how her day was going. Glancing around she told me that it was quite pleasant outside. I told her to wait as in a couple of hours it would be scorching hot. When she asked how my wife was, I shook my head and said since I was no longer married that was a question for which I did not have an answer. I then asked if she had heard something was wrong. As I signed the paperwork for the box, I told her I would be out in a minute. Just then she saw Mark come in and told me she had to go. I told the back of her head it was nice seeing her again. Once I had the key to the deposit box I took out all my alias ID's I had on me and dropped half the money into the box as well. Next I went out and asked for ten thousand to be wired to an account. I had to call the one woman who did not care what Christina and I were going through as she was still my mom. The fact was she had managed the trust accounts for the children for years. This ten thousand was going to Christopher's account one of which I had only started later.
After teaching her how to use the computer early on I remembered she got hooked on poker games and I showed her how to trade online and from what I understood she had done well by her grandchildren not that they knew it. As we left I handed Mark a five thousand dollar bills and told him it was a gift for his wife from a secret admirer. He looked at me and asked when I had met her and I told him I had not unless that long legged beauty who walked out when she saw him was his wife. He looked away and I told him not to worry I would not tell anyone. He was looking at one of the receipts I had signed and noticed my signature. Since most of the names I had used over the years had C as the first letter I only had to change the signature slightly though mostly I did very little signing of anything. My signature was Mr. C with a wavy line after it. Mark looked at me and said yes that he was married to that tall woman. I told him at least they were playing on the same team and that he should call her and invite her over for lunch. He told me she was working, nodding I pulled out my phone and called her and asked if she could meet me for lunch or at least follow me to the casino where I was staying along with my new friend Mark who I thought she would like to meet. I could here it in her voice that she hated I had found out a either she was following me or I knew her husband was but the truth was I only guessed she was following me though I did pick out half of her team before I got to the first light. I prayed for our country if that was what they were sending out.
I was in a hummer a fact that did not escape my attention so in order to have some fun with my entourage I headed for areas where there was desert and took off across the sand. Mark had grabbed a the overhead handle as I bounced along until I was next to the railroad tracks hidden by the trees. By the time she made it the casino I had made it to my casino provided room in their attempt to regain some of those funds they had lost but left a few things in my paid for room as the larger room I was not listed in. I was glad the suite had an attendant and I was assigned a handler who had an eye to get me to a table. Not going to happen was my thought. I waited until I thought it was appropriate during lunch to excuse myself and then went and used a house phone to report someone was in my room and they were definitely not maids and gave my paid for room number. I watched the security out of a corner of my eye and knew exactly when those boys got popped. My handler had gone off and came back and apologized for the confusion but it seemed I still had another room and several men had been caught in it and would like to know if I was missing something. Mark followed me up as did his wife reluctantly. As I went through the room with hotel security I simply said my computer bag was not there and never once said it had been stolen. People though who have already come to a conclusion about a situation will interpret what they hear to support their theories and it did not fail in this case as law enforcement types for the most part if they were arresting you for one thing, like trespassing, they will assume the worst, I knew that first hand with my little two weeks vacation in the spa from hell.
I decided to put off my break in at Christina's house and wait for the sheriff. When he came in and saw me he shook his head and asked if I had not had enough. Smiling I told him I was in town on legitimate business and happened to stop in and since he was going to find out anyway I hit a jackpot on my first pull on one of them one armed bandits. His eyes lit up and said maybe my luck was changing. I nodded and said I guessed though if my ex found out she would want that to. He asked what was I missing and I told him that in the room there had been a computer bag with some cheap knock off notebook worth about two hundred dollars and what would have been the last of my money until some of my new contracts started paying off, but since he was here I asked if those weren't the boys who had been working for my ex wife I saw being escorted out. When he looked at my old handler his eyes said they were. I told him other than fact stealing was wrong I would not press charges as it was probably only a misdemeanor and was told actually inside a hotel there were other charges that came into play and since it was on tribal lands there were still other tribal charges that came into play and a whole lot of paperwork and seeing who could pis the farthest to find out who gets jurisdiction. I shook my head and said I would hate to be the boss of those boys. Looking over at Mark and his wife he looked like he was having an adventure where as she looked like she had just heard she had a fatal disease. My resort handler asked if she could move the rest of my stuff. I told her the sheriff might need it as evidence to which he nodded and when he was through he could find a charity to give it to. I looked at my watch and told them if they did not need me any farther I needed to go get ready for my dinner appointment with a state representative and whoever he brings along. I looked at my handler and asked if it was possible to have my meeting here if there was someplace private. She nodded and said she would see what she could do. I made a call and asked if the congressmen minded moving our meeting to where I was staying. I could here that not only he but his our host were both more than happy. Looking at the sheriff I told him if there was nothing else he needed from me; he told me when he saw Christina to tell her hi. I told him the truth I had not seen her in awhile but if she called I would pass it on.
She called me as soon as I got to my suite and asked why I had not returned her calls. I told her I was sorry but did not realize I had to call her. She got right to the point and asked if I had kissed her client. I told her to let me think about that and then I told her since I did not know anyone named Her Client I guess not. She then told me I knew what she meant; I paused for a moment and asked if she was talking about that hotel manager because if she was, no I did not kiss her but she kissed me on the cheek twice yesterday and both times it was surprise to me. Christina said well the woman thought we were dating and I asked what gave her that impression. Christina told me she had told her I had taken her to dinner last night and I told Christina I took half a dozen people to dinner last night which included a couple celebrating the expansion of their business, the hotel detective and his boss the manager as a way of saying thanks for saving my life when someone tried to poison me yesterday which was really odd as the only persons I had told I was going were her and the children and my business partners. Christina freaked and asked to please repeat that and I told her it would not have been classified as poison as it was several syringes of some uncut narcotic that had been put into my breakfast which if it had been brought to me on time I would have probably eaten. Christina said no one told her that and I said not to take it personally as that was not the thing anyone would tell the ex wife who cleaned her ex's clock during the divorce for which he never even had a chance to speak his piece. Something clicked and before she could say anything, I told her the sheriff sends his love to her.
Christina said yes she had gone out to dinner with him but no she had not slept with him and the only reason she went to dinner with him was she wanted a name of a security firm not connected with the case one that he would trust around his daughters. I told her I would never have guessed and she told me I was not that good of a liar as I would not have even passed it on if I had not figured it out. I told her really I would have never known they went out to dinner just that he thought she was up for grabs and that I did not mind since now I would not need to go petition the court to look into the circumstances of my divorce at least from a financial perspective. Christina asked what I was talking about and I told her business was picking up more everyday and I kind of hit a jackpot earlier in one of those stupid machines she and mom used to like to play when they went on vacation. Christina asked if I had seriously gambled and I told her to appease the gods I had kissed the twenty goodbye and I figured that they must have liked the gesture as on my first push of the max bet button I won the progressive jackpot. I could tell she was stunned and then her next comment was that she should have never divorced me in the first place. I let it hang there for a moment before I told her what was done was done.
I changed the subject and asked about her meeting and she said that was why she had called me as at the moment I was the only one she could trust to give her honest advice. I told her even if it was at a loss and she had to lose all the properties she should get out. She said that was not what she had wanted to hear but, I told her that I only said that because I smelled a rat and if something went way wrong with her taking her private companies public then she would be blamed and even sitting in the country club they would eventually send her too was not something that she would want. She asked what I was going to do and I told her the truth I was going to petition the courts to allow me to challenge our divorce decree. She told me why did she not like the sound of that even though she kind of hoped the courts would agree so she could take the last six months away. I told her nothing would take them away but we could put this behind us and move on to the the next chapters of our lives whether it was together or apart. Her next comment was she could use a good roll in the hay and I apologized for not being able to help with that but I really had to go. Sighing she said at least she could take comfort she was going to be sleeping in the bed I had slept in and would be wearing my shirt that I left with the manager when I used her shower. She then told me thanks for what I did for Christopher. I asked what she was talking about and she told me she would tell me later.
Tired of living behind the veil of silence and political correctness.
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