“Since this is Vegas, and if you were a betting man, Jack, what are the odds Zack Meadows is going to be in his office? My opinion for whatever it’s worth is that the guy is avoiding us. The big question is, why? This whole thing is starting to smell more and more like a fish market. I don’t mean to blow my own horn here, but I am an investigative journalist, and by now, under normal circumstances, I’d have a feel for what’s going on. I don’t. And I know Maggie doesn’t either. Dennis, who has good instincts, hasn’t said boo, so he’s out there in left field with me and Maggie. What’s your gut telling you, Jack?”

Jack scrunched his face into a grimace. “I can’t read it either, Ted. About the best I can come up with is to say that something is off. I think we’ll know more once we see what we come up with regarding Zack Meadows. I don’t know why, but I think that guy is the key to what’s going on.”

“Are you . . . do you . . . are you thinking he wants to ace out Cosmo and take over, something like that?”

“Yeah, something like that. I could be really off base on that. For all we know, the guy might be out of the country or out of the state, but I don’t care who it is or how important he is or thinks he is. In this digital age, the guy would be checking his e-mail and phone for texts. That’s a given, don’t you agree? Especially for someone who not only works for but is actually the chair of the Gaming Commission. He’s got to be available twenty-four seven, I’m thinking. That means he has to check his messages. He’s chosen to ignore all of ours, and we must have left at least a dozen. It smells, that’s for sure,” Jack said.

“I couldn’t agree more. Did you check in with Espinosa? Anyone hear from Abner or Snowden?” Ted asked.

“I’m doing that now. Espinosa said Charles and Fergus are back in the penthouse. He hasn’t heard from Abner or Snowden, and neither has Charles. That’s it,” Jack said.

“Maggie is slowing down. Meadows must hang out in that brick building on the right. Lots of cars. Busy place, I guess. She’s turning so, yeah, this is it,” Ted said, turning on his signal light to make a right turn to follow Maggie.

Everyone got out and immediately started to fan themselves. “The front door is over there,” Maggie indicated, pointing to a green awning by a massive mahogany double door. Let’s do it!” she said, sprinting ahead with Cyrus on her heels. The others followed and stepped into a small, beautifully decorated lobby that was so icy cold, they all started to shiver.