"We know that, dear. Sometimes we just have to say things out loud to make sure everyone is on the same page," Myra said soothingly.

"Myra is right, child," Annie said. "Now, Charles, can we please get to the good stuff? When and how are we leaving? Do we need to hurry and pack?" She looked around at the others and asked, "What does one wear in Las Vegas? Are we supposed to glitter and sparkle?"

"Never mind the glitter and sparkle, Annie. What are we supposed to do when we get there?" Kathryn asked. "What exactly is this mission all about?"

Charles cleared his throat. "Well, the current mission started out to be one thing, but with my people in place and reporting to me on an hourly basis, it looks like we might have inadvertently stumbled onto something else. Now is a good time to tell you that your payoff will come through Beatrice Preston. However, I may well negotiate another fee that could quadruple Miz Preston's fee. We'll get to that later.

"Lizzie had her face-to-face meeting with your new employer. With Las Vegas three hours behind us timewise, she will be getting ready shortly to head off to the county jail, where Marble Rose is being held. I have no idea what will transpire at that meeting. It's possible that if Marble Rose doesn't cooperate, the mission might well be scrapped."

"Why wouldn't she cooperate? Surely she can't enjoy being in jail. Why hasn't she engaged the services of an attorney?" Nikki asked. "The first thing a person does when she's arrested is to hire a lawyer. Is it possible she has been denied the opportunity?"

"At the moment, I can't answer that. All I do know for certain is that Marble Rose and her mother are estranged. The young lady is extremely bitter toward her mother."

"If we go, and if our mission isn't scrapped, what is the vigilantes' role in all of this? What exactly are we supposed to be doing once we get there?" Kathryn asked.

"Right now we're in a holding pattern, so let's use the time by me telling you what I have managed to learn about how Las Vegas works. I want you to store the knowledge away just the way those squirrels store their nuts for the winter.

"I'm told that the slot machines in Las Vegas pay the bills. The machines are referred to as 'beautiful vaults' because they bring in nearly three-quarters of the roughly $60 billion in gambling revenue at American casinos. That's billion with a capital B.

"Slot machines are the most popular form of gambling. The poker machines are a close second. Some serious gamblers, who like to play table games, consider slot machines not true gambling because they are programmed with a payback percentage and something they call a hit frequency.