The alarm on his phone went off right on time. Dwight rolled over and closed his eyes, just another minute. The bed was so comfortable he didn’t want to move. When he woke, it was five after nine. Crap! I’m too late, he thought as he bolted upright. He scrubbed his face, the whisker’s scratching his palms. “Dammit.” He sighed and got up. He showered and shaved, the whole time mentally kicking himself for going back to sleep. Now what was he supposed to do?

Dwight’s stomach was growling so he went downstairs to the buffet. He was looking around for a place to sit when a table with three reunion people waved him over. “Have a seat. Can’t have a compadre sitting all alone. I’m Jeff, this is my wife Amanda and Tim.”

“Dwight Hays. Thanks for sharing your table. He sat down and a waitress came over. “Orange juice, please, and water, no lemon.”

The waitress nodded and left. The conversation revolved around what they did back in Afghanistan and when and where they were now. Both Jeff and Tim were still in the military. Jeff in the Air Force at Langley and Tim at Ft. Drum in New York. Amanda, Jeff’s wife, made jewelry and sold it on-line. She gave Dwight a card with her website on it.

“I’ll even ship overseas, though that costs quite a bit more. But I really wanted my business to be international.”

“That necklace she’s wearing is one of hers,” Jeff said. “She’s making the gift shop rounds to see if they’ll carry her work.”

Dwight nodded politely and made the appropriate exclamations of awe at the quality of the necklace. He didn’t know anything about women’s fashion or jewelry. Maybe if I did I’d still be married, he thought. The others hung around until he was finished. “You all didn’t have to wait on me,” he said.

“Nonsense. We invited you over. Only polite to stay till you finished. “You didn’t want to go on the chocolate factory tour?” Tim asked.

“No.” Dwight patted his pudgy belly. “I need to stay away from that kind of thing.”

Everyone laughed in understanding. “Who doesn’t, right?” Amanda smiled. “Well. Nice to meet you. We’re off to Harrah’s to talk to the gift shop manager.”

“Good luck!” Dwight waved as Jeff and Amanda left. “How about you, Tim? What’s on your agenda for the day.”

The two walked together out of the buffet and to the casino floor. “I don’t know. I did the Hoover Dam tour yesterday. Did you hear about the murder? One of our people found the body.”

“Yeah. I heard.”

“Damnedest thing.” Tim shook his head. “Weirder yet is that the woman is supposed to be some sort of dead body whisperer. The Murder Queen, they’re sayin’. Rumor is she’s found several bodies back in the hick town where she lives. Nevada or New Mexico I think.”

Dwight had to bite his tongue. Tim was talking about Jean. He knew about her bodies from their son, Jim. She’d been in quite a bit of danger on every one she’d found. He’d been worried about her and Dawn hadn’t been pleased about that. That might have been one of the reasons she’d left.

“Who does that—find dead bodies I mean. Geesh!”

“Just happened I guess. I heard she found the body in the sauna, of all places. No one looks for a body in the sauna.”

“Death traps.” Jeff waved his hand. “Sauna’s I mean. Can’t be good for you all that heat. That’s why people stay inside here in the summer.”

“You’ve got a point.”

So far, they’d been wandering around the gaming area. Dwight was just following along since he didn’t really have anywhere to go.

“Okay. This is my machine.” Jeff climbed up onto the stool seat.

Dwight looked at it. It was one of those mega-jackpot machines that needed a dollar a spin. “You’ve played this before?”

“Yeah, All day yesterday. I’m down about $460 dollars but if I win, it’ll be a million-dollar payout. I won one of these three years ago. Bought me a new house in a gated community. Love it.” Jeff settled into the seat and pulled a player’s card from his pocket and stuck it in the slot. “And, they bring me free drinks all day. Food too, if I want it.”

Dwight was boggled. “Really. Quite the set up.”

“You bet.” Jeff roared. “You bet, get it?”

Dwight pasted on a smile. “Oh, yeah. Funny. Well. Good luck.”

Jeff gave the machine’s lever a pull. “Thanks. Have fun.”

Dwight walked away a few paces and watched. The machine made a huge amount of noise with bells and sirens and lights were flashing all over it. More bells rang when the spinning stopped. Just a few bucks were won, and Jeff pulled again. And again, it was all sound and fury. Nothing seemed to happen when the spinning stopped. Jeff pulled, over and over until Dwight grew tired of watching. Seemed like a waste to him. Odds were with the house after all but if the guy won once before, it wasn’t too strange that he decided to try again. But what did he care. He’d gotten into all this trouble by betting on the ponies.

He walked off, there had to be something better to do. He went out to the pool to the shaded small seating area with plants all around and umbrellas for shade. There was a view of the pool. It was only ten, too early for drinks even for him. A waiter came around and Dwight asked for a bottle of water. With the tip, it was going to come to twice what it was in the gift shop, but Dwight didn’t care.

He pulled his notebook from his pants pocket and a pen and began jotting down names of people and their companies that he thought held some promise for him. If he didn’t start bringing in more money, he was going to be living out of his car or mooching off of his son. Neither option was appealing.

Dwight was looking at his emails when Stephanie walked by. “Hey a few of us are going to that big gift store on the north end of the strip. Want to come?”

He nodded. “Yes.” He’d been researching the companies he’d made note of on-line on his phone but was ready to do something else.

“Great. Meet out in the lobby in twenty.”

“See you there.” He finished up his research on a company and clicked all the tabs off. He drank the rest of the water and headed inside. The cold air was a shock. He hadn’t realized how hot it had gotten outside.  He idly wandered through the gaming area, wondering if Tim from breakfast was still there. Nope, gone. Dwight wondered if he’d won or given up. He checked his watch, just about time. He came out of the gaming area to see Stephanie, Jean, and Damon. Soren was coming from the other direction. So, he thought, five of us. Jean did not seem glad to see him. When the Uber came he could see it was going to be a tight fit. Four of them were going to have to sit in the back seat. Jean got in the middle from the driver’s side of the car while Soren got in on the other side. Dwight got in behind Jean and Damon on the other side. Yep, he thought, Jean was squished right up next to him. That can’t make her very happy. On the other hand, even as awkward as it was, it felt good to have her close to him.

And the ride was awkward. When they got to the gift shop, they sprang out of the car as though the seats shot them out. Jean took a picture of them in front of the shop in the big sidewalk area in front. While she fussed with the picture, he went inside.

It was as advertised, he could see. So much stuff! Late 50’s pictures of starlets and leading men, old photos of Las Vegas and Hoover Dam being built. Ashtrays, metallic colored glass coated shot glasses. It hurt the eyes, to be honest. He spotted Jean in the tee-shirts. She was looking at ones for adult women. Maybe for herself.

The conversation didn’t go well. And mouth on auto pilot, he started by insulting her, ticking her off. He had to confess to needing money. It was annoying that she offered to buy him lunch. He wasn’t that poor. At least not yet. Then he told her that everyone knew she found dead bodies. She seemed surprised to find out he knew about it. Did she not know that Jim talked to him? Then to a barbeque place for lunch.

He liked a pulled pork sandwich as much as anyone, but it was twelve bucks for a sandwich and some fries, then another seven for each beer. Jean was the first to get up to find the facilities, apparently deep in the bowels of the building. Then Stephanie left. She came running back to the table. “Jean’s hurt!” She turned around and went back as the three men sat, stunned. Dwight slammed his chair back and raced to the back.

Jean lay on the floor, moaning, Stephanie was crouched over her and some guy in black pants and white shirt was on the phone, calling an ambulance. When she told him she’d been attacked, he could feel his blood pressure rise. Who would do that? Who would dare hurt his wife? That last shocked him. Did he still care that much? Would he care this much if Dawn were hurt?

He did his best to comfort her. It didn’t matter. Someone had hurt someone he cared about. They were going to pay. Dwight insisted on going with the ambulance. The EMT’s didn’t like it but the guy in the back finally told him to sit in the passenger seat.

At the hospital everything they did seemed to cause her more pain. He got angry and had to take several deep breaths. Finally, they said she could go. He didn’t trust that doctor. He had no idea if she had permanent damage or not. In the cab, he noticed Jean’s every wince at every bump in the street. He had to clench his teeth to keep from saying anything to the driver. It seemed like it took forever to get to the hotel. He made sure to walk her to her room, disappointed that she didn’t ask him in. After she closed the door, he shook his head. Of course, she needs to get into something comfortable and lie down. Don’t be a knucklehead.

Downstairs he went to the Starlight lounge.

Several of the people he knew were there.  Stephanie, Soren, and Damon sat with Brandon and Fletcher. “How is she,” was the predominant question.

He flopped down in a chair they pulled over. He was tired and upset. When a waitress came over, Fletcher said, “Crown Royal, right?”

Dwight nodded.

“Crown Royal, double.” The waitress took everyone else’s order and left. “So tell us.”

“Punched in the kidneys. No blood in the urine,” he sighed, “which I guess is good.”

“It is,” Damon offered. “It means there is most likely no serious damage. It’s illegal to do a kidney punch in boxing. It can kill.”

That made Dwight both relieved and more angry. “Holy crap! Who would do this to Jean? Some whack job?”

Everyone shook their head. Stephanie patted Dwight’s hand. “Crazy people everywhere, Dwight. There’s no telling.”

He nodded. They talked about what they’d all been doing the last few hours. Then Stephanie said she was going up to see Jean. Everyone thought that was a good idea. Dwight didn’t, she needed to rest, not get up and down answering the door but he kept quiet. Jean would throw them out if she was tired. He finished the drink Fletcher had bought him as they drifted away, one at a time.

Dwight thought about it. Who would know that Jean was at the restaurant? They only made the plans just before the car ride over to the gift shop. That meant Stephanie, Soren or Damon because she didn’t attack herself and he didn’t do it. But Soren and Damon were at the table with him the entire time. Stephanie? That made no sense at all. 

Next Chapter: Alternate Dwight Story Chapter Twelve