do?”
“If there is, I’ll call you. You might want to take Birch aside when he comes back and present a clear, concise account of what’s going on. Your father’s version won’t ... be as accurate. It’s up to you, though. If you don’t want to get involved, I understand.”
“I’ll talk to him. I think he’ll be back in the morning.”
When the door closed behind her mother, Sunny sighed deeply. Who was that cold-eyed person who just walked out of her office? Certainly not the mother she knew and loved. Did she dare walk down the hall to her father’s offices? And say what? Hey, I heard you’re going to jail. She rummaged through the mess of papers and schedules on her desk for the number Birch had given her when he left. In case of an emergency. What could be more of an emergency than this? She dialed the operator and placed a person-to-person call. Birch’s harried voice came over the wire. Sunny started to babble the moment she heard her brother.
“Jail, Birch. Bars, striped suits, the whole works. Did you hear what I just said?”
“Mom won’t let that happen,” Birch said.
“Perchance are you talking about the mom you turned your back on? You could never take that one to the bank. In the old days it might have been true. Not this time, Birch. You need to come back. What’s the point in staying there? It’s all falling apart anyway. This is going to be one of those snowball things,” Sunny said in a jittery-sounding voice.
Not this time . Sage had said those same words to him just days ago. “Okay, I’ll get the next plane out.”
It was six-thirty when Sunny cleared her desk in preparation to leaving the casino. She sensed him before she actually saw him. “Lock the door,” she ordered.
Birch locked the door, his face full of questions. “He’s acting like a one-man Gestapo unit. He’s fired seven people in the past few hours. Twenty others have threatened to quit. The kitchen is in an uproar. The pool overflowed around three o’clock and five ceilings are ruined. Some high roller out of Cincinnati and his retinue says he’s pulling out of the tournament and he wants his money back because we didn’t come through with the satin sheets his girlfriend requested. The phones aren’t working on the seventh floor. There’s some shady parasite hanging out in the garage who insists on talking to Dad, and Dad won’t go to the garage. The gears on the hydraulic lift in the counting room are stuck. Some guy walked out of here with $96,000 of our money. A pretty routine day if you ask me. What the hell were you thinking of to sign those loan applications, Birch? You know Mom has to sign off on everything.”
“Dad said things switched up. I just figured she was so caught up in Uncle Simon she didn’t want to be bothered with the casino since it was doing so well. Maybe I should have questioned it, but I didn’t. Jesus, it never occurred to me that Dad would lie about something so important. I swear to God, Sunny, I didn’t know.”
“If Dad backs up your story, then I guess you don’t have anything to worry about.”
“What do you mean, if ? I’m telling you the truth. Where is he?”
“Today he’s like a spook. He’s everywhere. I’m going home. This isn’t my problem.”
“I could use a little help here, Sunny.”
Sunny ignored the pleading tone in her brother’s voice. “From me and my big belly? When I could have used a little brotherly intervention with him, a few kind words, where the hell were you? Not this time, big brother.”
“Sunny, it wasn’t like that.”
“The hell it wasn’t. What you need right now is a Popsicle. The only problem is, Mom isn’t here to give you the magic cure-all. I bet she installs those iron gates at Sunrise again to keep us out. See you tomorrow.”
Rage, unlike anything he’d ever experienced, coursed through Birch. The moment his body ceased to shake, he headed for his office, where he sucked down two long swallows of
“If there is, I’ll call you. You might want to take Birch aside when he comes back and present a clear, concise account of what’s going on. Your father’s version won’t ... be as accurate. It’s up to you, though. If you don’t want to get involved, I understand.”
“I’ll talk to him. I think he’ll be back in the morning.”
When the door closed behind her mother, Sunny sighed deeply. Who was that cold-eyed person who just walked out of her office? Certainly not the mother she knew and loved. Did she dare walk down the hall to her father’s offices? And say what? Hey, I heard you’re going to jail. She rummaged through the mess of papers and schedules on her desk for the number Birch had given her when he left. In case of an emergency. What could be more of an emergency than this? She dialed the operator and placed a person-to-person call. Birch’s harried voice came over the wire. Sunny started to babble the moment she heard her brother.
“Jail, Birch. Bars, striped suits, the whole works. Did you hear what I just said?”
“Mom won’t let that happen,” Birch said.
“Perchance are you talking about the mom you turned your back on? You could never take that one to the bank. In the old days it might have been true. Not this time, Birch. You need to come back. What’s the point in staying there? It’s all falling apart anyway. This is going to be one of those snowball things,” Sunny said in a jittery-sounding voice.
Not this time . Sage had said those same words to him just days ago. “Okay, I’ll get the next plane out.”
It was six-thirty when Sunny cleared her desk in preparation to leaving the casino. She sensed him before she actually saw him. “Lock the door,” she ordered.
Birch locked the door, his face full of questions. “He’s acting like a one-man Gestapo unit. He’s fired seven people in the past few hours. Twenty others have threatened to quit. The kitchen is in an uproar. The pool overflowed around three o’clock and five ceilings are ruined. Some high roller out of Cincinnati and his retinue says he’s pulling out of the tournament and he wants his money back because we didn’t come through with the satin sheets his girlfriend requested. The phones aren’t working on the seventh floor. There’s some shady parasite hanging out in the garage who insists on talking to Dad, and Dad won’t go to the garage. The gears on the hydraulic lift in the counting room are stuck. Some guy walked out of here with $96,000 of our money. A pretty routine day if you ask me. What the hell were you thinking of to sign those loan applications, Birch? You know Mom has to sign off on everything.”
“Dad said things switched up. I just figured she was so caught up in Uncle Simon she didn’t want to be bothered with the casino since it was doing so well. Maybe I should have questioned it, but I didn’t. Jesus, it never occurred to me that Dad would lie about something so important. I swear to God, Sunny, I didn’t know.”
“If Dad backs up your story, then I guess you don’t have anything to worry about.”
“What do you mean, if ? I’m telling you the truth. Where is he?”
“Today he’s like a spook. He’s everywhere. I’m going home. This isn’t my problem.”
“I could use a little help here, Sunny.”
Sunny ignored the pleading tone in her brother’s voice. “From me and my big belly? When I could have used a little brotherly intervention with him, a few kind words, where the hell were you? Not this time, big brother.”
“Sunny, it wasn’t like that.”
“The hell it wasn’t. What you need right now is a Popsicle. The only problem is, Mom isn’t here to give you the magic cure-all. I bet she installs those iron gates at Sunrise again to keep us out. See you tomorrow.”
Rage, unlike anything he’d ever experienced, coursed through Birch. The moment his body ceased to shake, he headed for his office, where he sucked down two long swallows of
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