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  “Why doesn’t she report him?”

  “Report what? Is it illegal to want to know what’s in a room? Is it illegal to go through someone’s stuff? If you don’t steal anything, what have you done that is legally wrong? There are moral problems. There are hotel policies. But what about laws?”

  Adeline sounded annoyed. “Why doesn’t she simply say no?”

  “She is afraid he will fire her, and he is such a creep, she is afraid it will be worse than just losing her job. If he fires her, and doesn’t give her a good reference, what is she going to do for a job? If she can’t get a job, how does she support her child and help her mother?”

  “It sounds to me like she is making her decisions based on fear and emotion. She needs to look at it more logically.”

  Carolyn tried to soften the conversation. “When your resources are limited that is much easier said than done.”

  Adeline was hoping for an easy answer. “So, Anna, what do you think we can do to help her?”

  “I’m not sure, but there are three good brains with lots of life experience in this room. We should be able to solve a problem this simple.”

  Adeline huffed. “In sixty-six hours?”

  “Why not?”

  Carolyn tried for a reasonable tone. “First, we need to make sure this is real and get more information.”

  “I suggested she come to the room, but she’s afraid that she’ll get caught and it will cause problems.”

  Even Carolyn was beginning to get frustrated. “So, what do you want us to do? If we can’t meet her, what can we do?”

  “Again, we should be able to think of something.”

  “Fine, bring the basket down to her. When you give it to her, tell her that a lady is going to run into her in the hall in five minutes. Tell her that my name is Carolyn. Tell her that I am going to make a big deal about her; she’s officially a friend of my granddaughter. I am going to insist that she have lunch with me to catch up, that I haven’t seen her since the wedding. If there is any chance that people are keeping track, they will know that she is meeting me because of my granddaughter. I’m in one of their nicer suites; she can’t say no. If they call her on it, she has a story.”

  “That’s brilliant.”

  “I have my moments.”

  “I’ll be right back.” Anna hurried out the door, basket in her arms. Adeline was shaking her head, obviously not as excited to help the young woman as Anna seemed to be.

  “Adeline, we can take a few minutes and talk to the young woman. If she really needs our help, and there is something we can do, it shouldn’t take us long to figure out what that is. It will just be a plan of attack for her to carry out. We will be on our way to Hawaii. If she doesn’t need our help, it will all be done in ten minutes. Surely, we can afford ten minutes to make Anna comfortable.”

  “Very true. I hope this does not turn into a heretofore-unknown hobby of our Anna. I know she moves heaven and earth to help her family. Perhaps it is simply her way of approaching the world, but I do not wish to go from one charity case to the next. It is one of the reasons I have lived within the confines of my own home for so long. You and Anna are quite rare in that you seem to turn a blind eye to anything I might possess. In my experience, it is much more common for individuals to immediately begin to take advantage of associating with me. It might be subtle, like never offering to pay for a dinner when dining with friends. It can be more sinister — we can talk about crooked professionals and greedy relatives another time. It has served me well to be vigilant.”

  “I’m very sorry that you have lived that way. I’ve never had anything worth taking, so it has never been a problem for me.”

  “I know I sounded less than gracious, and I apologize. It is simply that I’ve so looked forward to our little escape, and I don’t want to spend it looking after a young woman who should be looking after herself.”

  “I understand.”

  “Does that make me a terrible person?”

  “No, that makes you our anchor to reality. Anna obviously likes to get involved. I have a tendency to run down that same path. You can keep us from falling off the edge.”

  “That is a very generous way of looking at it. Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I promise, we won’t go so far down the path that we don’t enjoy our vacation. I am well aware that it has been a long time since any of us have had this type of adventure, and we will not squander it.”

  “That makes me feel much better. Thank you.”

  Anna burst through the door. “She will be walking down the hall in about three minutes. You ready?”

  Carolyn stood up. “I’m ready.”

  “You know your lines?”

  “What lines?”

  “Well, I just wanted to make sure that we have our story straight. She was the only one in housekeeping when I first went down to talk to her, but there were a couple of maintenance guys getting off the elevator when I walked by, and there was a housekeeper carrying some pillows to one of the rooms. And a food service guy with someone’s meal.”

  “How am I going to know which one is Amy?”

  “Well, there’s a good question. She’s a little tiny slip of a thing. Can’t be five feet tall. Can’t be more than ninety pounds soaking wet. She’s wearing a housekeeping uniform. She is as pretty as she can be and has her hair pulled back in a bun at the nape of her neck.”

  “No problem. How many five-foot-tall, ninety-pound housekeepers are going to be in a hallway at the same time?”

  Turns out the number was two. As Carolyn walked down the hall, purse tucked under her arm so that it would look like she was headed to the casino, there were two little tiny housekeepers walking toward her. Each with their hair pulled back in a bun. “Amy? Is that you?”

  “Mrs. Cooper?”

  “Amy, how lovely to see you.”

  “I didn’t know you were in town.”

  “I didn’t know you were working here. I would have had Suzi call.”

  Amy turned to the other girl and made introductions.

  Carolyn kept the charade going. “Have you talked to Suzi?”

  “Not in a little while. I’ve been busy. You know how that goes.”

  “Well, she told me just before I got on the plane that she and Barry are expecting their first baby. I’m so excited to be a great-grandmother.”

  “Please give her my best. Tell her I will try to give her a call soon.”

  “I will do no such thing. I would like to take you and your son to dinner. My treat.”

  “That’s very generous of you, Mrs. Cooper, but I couldn’t.”

  “How about a cup of coffee then? When is your next break?”

  “Well, I’m off work in about half an hour, but really it isn’t necessary.”

  “Amy, please, allow me to buy you a simple cup of coffee.”

  “Okay. We can’t really walk around the facility in our uniforms, but I think I have something to throw on in my locker.”

  “If you don’t have anything to change in to, we’ll just meet in my suite. That might be a little more quiet anyway. I’d love to hear your input about what the best baby things are these days. It’s been ages since I’ve been shopping for a little one. I’ll just go back to my suite now. Why don’t you drop by when it is convenient, and we will have a little chat? We are right down the hall. North Tower, of course. Suite twelve.”

  “That would be great. Thank you, Mrs. Cooper.”

  “Not at all, dear.”

  Carolyn turned on her heel and headed back to the suite.

  Anna was anxious. “How did it go?”

  Carolyn took a deep breath. “Other than the fact that she was walking with a friend, a friend about the same size so I wasn’t sure which girl she was, we did fine.”

  “Did the friend suspect?”

  “If there is film, which there always is in an environment like this, we will be given awards.”

  Anna gave Carolyn a little squeeze. “Thank
you.”

  “We really haven’t done anything yet.”

  “You were willing to listen and to give it a fair look. That’s all I could ask.”

  Adeline took a deep breath. “It was I who tried to put the kibosh on it. I apologize. I’ve lived in my own little world for so long, I forget what a big place the real world is. I’ve dealt with my own problems for so long, I’ve lost sight of the fact that my problems pale in comparison to many. It has been a very long time since I have had to worry about the basics like proper food and shelter. How thoughtless of me.”

  Anna smiled warmly. “Obviously not. You have given it thought now. You were just on a little time delay. Chances are good this will all come to nothing, but don’t you remember when you were young? Sometimes just knowing that someone is willing to listen makes all the difference in the world. Getting it all out in the open to look at often brings the answers that person needs. Many times you don’t even need to say a word. The person with the problem will fix it themselves once they hear themselves describe it.”

  Adeline acquiesced. “Very true.”

  Anna tried not to be overly enthused. “So, when is Amy gonna be here?”

  “In about a half an hour. She played it well. Said she wasn’t supposed to be in the hotel shops and restaurants in her uniform, so I invited her in for a chat about Suzi and buying baby things. It all flowed rather naturally.”

  Anna smiled. “I’m proud of you. Thanks.”

  “My pleasure. Hopefully all she needs is a little grandmotherly advice, and we’ll be on to the next adventure.”

  Adeline sounded more upbeat. “Let’s hope.”

  The girls were reviewing the brochures given them by the concierge when Amy tapped on the door. Anna shot across the room, opened the door, and greeted Amy warmly. “Well, isn’t it a small world? Your granddaughter’s friend is the same little girl I asked to take care of that basket for me.”

  Amy walked in the room, and Anna closed the door.

  “I appreciate your trying to help me Miss Anna, but I don’t think there is anything you can do.”

  “Well, you just sit down and tell my friends what is going on, and we’ll see what’s what.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Amy sat down and shared the bizarre story of her supervisor’s behavior.

  “I came in a little late one day. My son was sick. Ear infection. My regular babysitter wouldn’t take him. Afraid to get the other kids sick. Anyway, I finally talked my girlfriend into watching him. She works nights and wasn’t happy about it, but she agreed, and I figured if she had any problems, I’d just run home. I don’t live very far from here.”

  Anna nodded and made an understanding noise. Amy seemed to gather strength from it.

  “So I get to work, and Peter — he’s my supervisor — he jumps on me for being a little late. I can’t lose my job. I apologized all over the place, and he said I could make it up to him. I figured he was gonna ask me to meet him in a closet somewhere, and I just wouldn’t have done that, but instead he said he wanted me to look around in one of the rooms. I didn’t have to take anything, just look around for some piece of jewelry. He said that the guest claimed to have lost it on the casino floor, but they were pretty sure that she didn’t and that if it was sitting around in her room, then they would know it was some kind of hoax.”

  Adeline was nonplussed. “Really?”

  “I know it sounds stupid now, but I was worried about my job and my son, and he didn’t give me any time to think about it. It wasn’t like he was asking me to do anything illegal. I would never take something that wasn’t mine. I was just supposed to report back if I saw it.”

  “And what happened?”

  “Nothing. I looked around the room. It wasn’t there. I told Peter. He said I did good. I figured that would be the end of it. He didn’t fire me that day for being late. I thought we were okay.”

  Adeline pushed. “So, then what happened?”

  “About a week later he came to me and said that they were going to be cutting back on some of the girls’ hours. I can’t lose any hours. I’m just making it now, and that includes my second job. I was kind of in a panic, and he asked me to look through another room. This time he said some clothes were missing from one of the shops downstairs. He said he chose me because I’d done such a good job before, remembering every detail of the room and everything.”

  “Why would they have housekeeping checking that? Why wouldn’t someone from security take care of it?”

  “Again, he asked me when my mind was on something else. It didn’t seem like a big deal. He wasn’t asking me to do anything illegal, although it made me uncomfortable, not so uncomfortable it was worth losing my job over. I’m sure lots of the girls go through people’s stuff, but they don’t take anything. You’d never get another job. That’s one of the things they used to use NORA for.”

  Adeline asked, “Who is Nora?”

  “NORA isn’t a who. NORA is a what. Way back when I was in high school everybody was talking about NORA. Something like Not-Obvious Relationship Awareness? Non-Obvious? Something like that. Anyway, the biggest enemy of the casino is a cheat. Any casino. Any kind of cheat. One way to cheat is to find someone on the inside who’s willing to work with you to help you win. I’m not sure how it happened, but the CIA, or somebody working with the CIA., or something like that, created a software program that would check huge amounts of data for little tiny matches. So you take all the data in a casino, and you compare and contrast, and sooner or later you start finding the cheats. Maybe the dealer used to live with the guy who’s winning big at the table, or the girl at another table is the sister to the guy winning big. Sometimes those connections aren’t important. Sometimes they are very important.”

  “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

  “Oh, it’s really common knowledge. It made national news and everything. But that was a long time ago. You can bet, no pun intended, that if the casinos were talking about NORA way back when I was in high school, they have something much more powerful in place now. They probably had something more powerful then. A casino might just be the most secure place on the planet. They know who you are before you ever get here. They have eyes in the sky everywhere. They can watch every move you make in the public areas. They have everything computerized. They know how many chips you have in your pocket. The cards have special things in them so you can’t replace one of our cards with one of your own. They know when you walk out of your room. They know everything.”

  Adeline shook her head. “I didn’t know that.”

  “The same is true for just walking around on the strip. They are watching you all the time. They scan your license plate when you park your car. They have face-recognition programs, and they link one piece of information with another piece of information, and pretty soon they know more about you than you do.”

  Adeline sat up a little straighter. “And who gets to see all this information?”

  “Anyone with the right job.”

  Adeline didn’t sound amused. “So, you’re telling me that by staying in this establishment, I’ve opened myself to a rather large, and perhaps unsavory, group knowing about my personal finances?”

  “They probably know your gambling habits, how to market to you, and they probably know your credit rating and that kind of stuff.”

  “Wonderful.”

  “It isn’t as big a deal as some people think. I remember a few weeks ago everybody was upset about a bank that sent the wrong information to the wrong customer. For most of the customers it didn’t matter. All that same information is available every time you write a check. All the bank did was tell some guy what your balance was. Do you really care how much money a stranger has in the bank?”

  Adeline was quite cool. “I come from a different time. I care very much when my privacy is poached.”

  “Unfortunately, all that stuff is a thing of the past. There isn’t much privacy today. With computers and cameras every
where, not just here in Vegas, you’re being watched no matter who you are.”

  Anna cocked her head to one side. “That sounds more like a movie plot than reality.”

  “Look it up. It was happening a lot before nine-eleven. Since then it has been happening at a rate that scares even people like me. People who don’t really care. Talk to your lawyer and find out just how much the government can do now without having to go through all the steps they used to. Your cell phone company is selling information about you. One of the biggies admits it publically, the others say they are just helping marketers, but either way details about your personal life are out there for anyone with enough money. They know what you buy at the store. They know how fast you use it up. The company will tell you they just sell the information based on demographics, but if you bring something back to one of the big stores and you don’t have a receipt, they can find you pretty darn quick on their computer.”

  Adeline took a breath. “Well, as unpleasant as all of that is, that is not why we are here.”

  “Sorry. ADD. I get off on weird tangents sometimes, and you ladies make me feel so comfortable, I just kind of went there.”

  Anna’s voice was warm. “I’m glad you’re comfortable. You were saying that your supervisor catches you when you are most vulnerable and asks that you snoop.”

  “Yes, that’s a good way of putting it.”

  Adeline’s voice was rather cold. “I know this sounds harsh, but I must ask it. Amy, have you ever, even one time, even under duress, stolen anything?”

  “No, ma’am.”

  “You are certain? Because if we pursue this and you have, we may be making more trouble for you than you are currently shouldering.”

  “I am certain. I’ve never stolen anything from a guest’s room.”

  “That makes it sound as if you have stolen from other places.”

  “Unfortunately, I have.”

  The girls exchanged a look.

  “I’ve stolen cookies from my mom. I used to be starving when I’d get home and she was still at work, and she had a firm rule that there wasn’t to be any of that nonsense, but I did it anyway.”