EIGHTEEN
Do you know where you’re going to?
Do you like the things that life is showing you?
Where are you going to?
Do you know?
(Mahogany by Gerry Goffin / Michael Masser)
Evan picked up the third bottle of Cristal Champagne. One by one he refilled everyone’s flute, emptying the bottle. Sitting between Valarie and Fran, he sat with a small smile on his face, hoping it gave the impression to the others that he was enjoying the concert. With his mind preoccupied with a few questions he was trying to cipher the answers, the concert was immaterial to him. Diana Ross used to be Cindy’s favorite female singer, topping even Cher.
At the Seventh Gate he was forewarned that a man from our world would be looking for them to help. The question as to when he would arrive was becoming a prominent question. Evan hid a clue as to where they were going for him to follow. Or had Evan been too careful in how he had left the clues. That was Thursday and tomorrow would be Sunday, and they had finished what they came here to do financially. Under normal circumstances, waiting around for an extra day or two wouldn’t matter, but Fran and Gil’s unexpected appearance put things in a whole new light. Evan did not want to spend any more time with Gil than he needed too. Yet he needed the man the Seventh Gate spoke of coming. He should have relevant information, and Evan was certain that he could align his powers with Evan’s to enhance their abilities.
After talking with Major Gil Hammons, Evan knew and understood the type of man he was. Driven to succeed, at any cost. If he thought he was doing something for the benefit of his command, or his country, no sacrifice would be too great. The greater good and all that rot, weighed the costs and sacrifices. Hopefully not his own. Evan did not believe his story of just running into them. The knowledge they were in Vegas was a gift from Valarie. What hotel they were staying at required work to find out. Now, like a blood sucking tick he was attached to them. The connection needed
to be severed as quickly as possible. Yet how could he leave without the man from the Seventh Gate?
An idea started to germinate in his mind as the last refrain started to echo in his mind. Do you know where you’re going to? Evan thought he had a good plan, but it relied heavily on David and Judy. Do you like the things that life is showing you? Life has shown him that Valarie was definitely interested in him. Life had shown him how to make the money they all needed. Now life has dropped another idea in his lap. Where are you going to? Do you know? Yes, Evan had very clear plans where his life would take him. From the stranger from the Seventh Gate, to Fran and her Major Gil Hammons, to Valarie and how she felt towards him, to the coming battle, his mind took quantum leaps back and forth.
This has not been the introduction to magic that Evan had planned or hoped to give her. He was thrilled that the timeline had moved itself up. She appeared to be as interested in him, as he was in her. Unlike many Others, he had a deep romantic interest in her that could not be avoided. With the spell he had cast on the plane, he had to take things at a certain pace, or things could get upsetting for everybody. The desire to hold her, to make love to her, to allow them to become more than each other’s Others, made his blood run hot. For three years he had waited, biding his time. Now was the wrong day, and after three years he could wait another three or four days, if that’s what it took to make certain that she was the one.
He did not wish to wait any longer. She sat next to him now. Her thighs against his. The smell of her perfume in his nostrils, the way she smiled when she caught him watching her. The slight blush that came to her when she saw him studying her. His preoccupation with magic for so many years dominated almost all his waking hours. Maybe after so many years he had forgotten how to act with a woman he cared about. Absurd! He told himself. Like riding a bicycle there are some things you just do not forget in life. Of course he could cast a spell and make her fall head over heels for him, but he did not want to or believe it was necessary. He believed that she wanted him as much as he wanted her. It was obvious even to his dimwits.
What was the problem? They had almost made the first real connection just moments before David and Judy rang the suite’s doorbell.
Then Fran and Major Hammons showed up, with a barely plausible excuse. Damn, bad timing all the way round. Was his concern for her safety the problem? Was it his need to teach her as quickly and dispatiently as possible the problem? Hell, he did not know and the frustration was growing. Ancient dead languages never presented the same difficulty in understanding as his own feelings. He wanted her. She wanted him. Why should there be a problem? When they got back to the hotel and were by themselves, they could both satisfy their craving and longing. It was settled, but he did not feel any better.
He did not want to wait. She sat next to him now. Her thigh pressed against his. The smell of her perfume wafted through the air to tease him. How could he gracefully extract them from the group and go back to their suite? Evan reached out and picked up the folio that the waiter had left. He took a wad of hundred dollar bills out of his pocket and counted out what he needed, while adding a hefty tip. Now he was ready to go.
As the last refrains of Ain't No Mountain High Enough died, Evan grabbed Valarie’s hand. It startled her. The applause lasted through two encores. Finally, thankfully he thought, Mrs. Ross did not return to the stage. The house lights came up.
“Are you ready to go?” Evan said directly into her ear. He used the tip of his tongue to trace an inch or so of her ear lobe. She looked at him and smiled as she nodded.
“That was fabulous,” Fran said. “Thank you so much for including us, that was so sweet of you. Now I feel lucky. We should find a table!”
“Wonderful, what should we play?” Valarie asked. Evan gave her a dark look.
“I don’t care,” Fran responded, “Whatever pays the best.”
“Evan and I have done very well playing roulette, and that can pay as high as thirty-five to one.”
“I have no idea what that means,” Fran admitted, “but if that’s what you like, I’m with ya.”
“For every dollar you bet, if you win you get thirty-five dollars back,” Gil said automatically.
Evan walked past three tables with active play until he got to a table with the little sign, “$1000 MAX.” in a lucite holder on a little pole by the croupier. Taking a package of one hundred dollar bills with a Caesar Palace wrapper, Evan dropped it on the table between spins.
“Changing ten thousand,” the croupier said, which caused a pit boss to walk over. “How would you like that, Sir?”
“One thousand in hundreds, the rest in thousands.” Two stacks were pushed over to him. Evan gave Valarie the stack of hundred dollar chips and picked up the thousand dollar chips.
What number? Valarie mentally asked Evan.
Just play with me for a while, and he leaned over to kiss her cheek, “For luck.”
He dropped one chip on twenty-four, a chip on black, a chip on even, a chip in 2nd 12, and a chip at the bottom of the table for the column with twenty-four in it. Valarie played the exact same places along with Evan, David and Judy.
Fran placed a fifty dollar chip on twenty-four, “Well if that’s the number, I’m in too.”
Gil knew how high the odds of actually winning a single number was, so he played red and even only.
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“Final bets,” croupier said, and he spun the wheel. “No more bets,” and he sent the white ball on its journey to travel the gully the opposite way the wheel was spinning. Finally the loss of centrifugal force to gravity caused the ball to drop down to the small cups. The ball bounced three times in one cup and then on to the dividers twice before settling into one cup. “Twenty-four, black.”
Everyone excitedly gathered their winnings, or watched their bets get swept away. The next three spins everyone lost, except Gil who won fifty dollars, making his loses only three hundred and fifty dollars. They all played for an hour and twenty minutes, most of them winning much more than they lost. Except for the last two plays Gil would bet his own way, but seeing is believing, and bet the whole group was betting. Gil’s total loss after his one big win was six thousand and fifty dollars.
“Guys I’m getting close to my limit and am ready to go back to the suite. I’m going to play one last spin if I can get the pit boss to take the limit off the table,” Evan said.
After five minutes of back and forth as to why the pit boss could not take the limit off the table since none of the high stacks tables were open, the pit boss called the floor supervisor over to join the conversation.
The floor supervisor looked directly into one of the ceiling cameras that watched the table, “One roll only, no limit since none of the high limit tables are currently open.”
“I have one hundred ninety thousand dollars, I want to bet one hundred fifty thousand dollars on twenty black. That’s my bet.” Guys, I’m playing this one straight, so bet accordingly,” Evan told Valarie, David and Judy.
“I’ll bet fifty thousand on twenty black,” Valarie said.
“Fifty thousand on twenty black,” David said.
They looked at Judy, “I’ll pass. I’ve done well for once, so I’m going to stop.”
There was an audible moan from the large crowd that had joined the table.
“I’ll be wild, and bet everything,” Fran said, hardly able to contain her excitement, “eight thousand seven hundred fifty dollars on twenty black!” “You’re all nuts, the odds are so against you,’ Gil said.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please place your bets,” The croupier said as he gave the wheel a hard twist. Immediately people started placing other large bets all over the table. Four other people bet on twenty black. The ball shot onto the track and circled around the spinning wheel a dozen times before it started to lose momentum. It dropped into a cup only to bounce out. It hit the bar between cups and bounced again, fell into a second cup only to bounce again. The crowd was silent, waiting for the ball to drop, and it finally did, twenty black.
A great shout of joy erupted from the crowd. Some moans and expletives accompanied the losses.
Did you do that, Evan asked only Valarie, amazed at the control she would demonstrate at this early stage of her training.
To be honest I don’t know but I was wishing real hard and only had a chance to enchant three chips.
The croupier raked in all the losing bets before starting to count out the payoff of the winning bets. Side bets were paid first, and as people picked up their winnings, they were told the table is now closed. Another table would be opening in a few minutes.
The floor supervisor walked over to Evan. “Congratulations Mr. Cooper, on another big win. Can we send the money over to Caesar Palace’s bank, or would you like your money in a different fashion?”
“As we came in, we passed a luggage store and they had a stainless steel case in the window. It was just slightly larger than a briefcase. Is it possible to get two of those cases?”
“Certainly Sir. I’ll ask the general manager to open the store and we’ll get it taken care of for you. Then what?”
“How much cash do you think a case will hold?”
“Between eight hundred and a million dollars.”
“Wonderful, please fill both cases and then wire the balance to Caesar for me. Then you might want to check how the rest of my group would like their money.”
As the floor supervisor asked for each of their ID he said it would take about thirty to forty-five minutes to get this all done and handed out in either the cash or transfer receipts.
“Well I’m hungry,” Judy said loudly. “Can you bring it to us in the cafe or do we need to wait around for the money or transfer.”
Their group was taken to the restaurant by a pit boss to ensure they were seated immediately, and MGM knew where they would be waiting. The host was told that everything they ordered was to be comped. Omelets, burgers and a meatloaf dinner were ordered.
“That was an extraordinary showcase of luck. It’s almost impossible to predict with any accuracy where that little white ball falls,” Gil said while they waited.
“It’s all a case of mind over matter,” Evan said, then added the old joke,”if you don’t mind, it doesn't matter.”
“Well, Evan did say he was feeling lucky before they left,” Fran said innocently enough.
It was then that Major Hammons brought up the story Fran had told him about what had happened in the apartment. Silence descended on the table for a moment after Major Hammons had finished.
“That’s an incredible story,” Evan said at last.
“You’re saying that it never happened?” Fran said, astonished. “I was right there. I saw everything up close. We were all sitting at Val’s dining room table.”
“Yes we were,” Evan said quickly, before Valarie could comment, “but we were just talking. First about coming to Vegas. Then about Valarie’s dreams. Somehow the conversation turned to magic.”
“And it’s that demonstration of magic that Fran told me about that has me so puzzled,” Major Hammons said in an even voice.
“What puzzles you?” David asked.
“Well, you heard me describe what Fran said happened in that room. Then we just heard Evan admit that nothing happened. Now I’m curious to know if it happened or not, and if it did happen, then how did he do it?”
“The only thing I heard Evan say was that it was an incredible story. I think we can all agree about that. So he never contradicted the veracity of the story,” and David took a sip of his hot coffee. He was not sure what was happening, but he did understand that the world was not ready for the type of powers that Evan possessed.
“Then it did happen.” It was a statement and not a question. Major Hammons watched Evan carefully. Throughout the evening Evan had acted as if he were preoccupied. He tried several times to end the evening as graciously as possible. Now he was calm, alert and exuding confidence. Major Hammons wondered about the change in his manner. “And I’d like to know how. Everything has an answer in sound logic, based on facts, but what Fran described could not have happened.”
“In other words, you don’t believe in magic,” Judy accused. “Absolutely not,” Major Hammans asserted. “There’s always an explanation for the magician’s tricks.”
“I agree with you entirely,” Evan said casually. He noticed the surprised expression on Fran’s face. “Everything does have an explanation
based upon facts and logic. The question you need to answer first, is do you possess enough information and understanding to derive the correct explanation?”
Valarie smiled at Evan. It was a very clever and absolutely true conclusion to Gil’s own argument. Everything in the universe could be explained with logic, if and only if you knew and understood everything in the universe. That knowledge and understanding was not humanly possible on such a vast scale, or was it?
“So do you believe in magic?” Major Hammons persisted. “You’re saying that everything Fran told me has happened by your use of magic.” “No,” Evan said flatly, then noticed the waitress approaching carrying a large tray of food. “Our food has at long last arrived.”
“No, what?” Major Hammons asked, not allowing the subject to drop to be dismissed so easily. “No you don’t believe in magic, or no you didn’t do what Fran said you did?”
“No, I didn’t do what Fran said I did without knowing explicitly what she said I did. What you described could be explained by any number of methods.”
“Such as?” Fran asked, disturbed that Evan was making her out to be either a liar or inclined to engage in extreme exaggerations. “You sat right there with me,” she said pleadingly to Valarie. “Evan, you told us you were a magician and not the ‘hocus-pocus’ kind either.”
“That’s true, I do proclaim to be a magician and not just a prestidigitator, by virtue of my knowledge and understanding of magic, as limited as that may be.”
“You said that by concentrating your will power and directing it with your imagination you could control and alter the physical world around you, didn’t you, didn’t you?” Fran accused, ignoring the hamburger and fries the waitress set before her.
“You have a very good memory,” Evan said complimentary, “I did say that.” He started to eat his sausage and eggs.
In exasperation and frustration Fran turned to Valarie for aid. “Val, you saw and heard the same thing that I saw in your apartment, didn’t you?”
Valarie heard the uncertainty in Fran’s voice, and saw the distress in her eyes. She was caught . She wanted to help Fran, but she did not want to betray Evan. Mentally she asked what she should say.
The truth, came his response.
“Yes, I think I did,” Valarie finally said.
Major Hammons put down his fork. “If both Fran and Val say that you created an effect in Val’s apartment, why are you denying that you didn’t?” “I am not denying anything,” Evan said with maddening calmness. “Neither you nor the girls have described anything that I can admit to, so I therefore have to say I didn’t.”
“Okay,” Major Hammons said excitedly with a smile. “Let’s say that an effect was done in Val’s dining room, and I know nobody has described anything yet. How would you do it?”
“Fran has already told you how,”
“Through your will power and imagination.”
“And let’s suppose that yes, that was how I did it. Your next remark would be two little words which would lead to years worth of discussion.” “Prove it; and naturally you wouldn’t.”
“Right, now can we drop the subject, and enjoy our food.” Finally the floor supervisor showed a large folio for Fran with her three hundred six thousand dollars. He gave receipts to David, Judy and Valarie showing the transfer of funds. A receipt for the balance of the monies that did not fit into the two stainless steel cases. He placed the two cases on the table and picked up the bill. “Each case carries three quarters of a million. That’s all that we could pack inside safely. They weigh about forty pounds each. Thank you for stopping by to play, and we hope you return soon.”
After leaving a tip of five one hundred dollar bills Evan said, “Well it’s been an interesting and enjoyable evening. Shall we head back to the Palace?”
“How about a night cap,” Majoe Hammons asked with a smile. “Well come on back to our suite! We have a bar with everything possible on the shelves,” Valarie said.
Evan was an inch away from strangling her, as they walked out of the main lobby.