Heavenstone 02 - Secret Whispers

exchanged money for chips.
    “I played it a lot in high school. This will be a bit more formal.”
    We stood on the sidelines to watch a little. Ethan quickly explained what was going on. I listened, surprised at how much he knew and how anxious he was to get into the game. Before long, he was the shooter and began to toss the dice. When he won the first time, I knew he would be there for a while, so while he played, I walked around to look at more of the casino, watch some of the other people, and see some of the other ways they were gambling. Other rooms required entrance fees, and one room was for the very wealthy to play poker. I wandered back to where Ethan was, saw that he was still quite involved, and strolled toward the rear.
    A tall, thin man standing by a doorway thought I wanted to exit and opened it for me.
    “S’il vous plaît,” he said, nodding and bowing slightly.
    “Merci,” I said, nodding.
    I stepped out onto a terrace that was above beautiful well-lit gardens. As I looked out, the tall man stepped up beside me.
    “First time here?” he asked.
    I turned and looked at him as he lit a cigarette.
    “Yes. How did you know?”
    “You have that wide-eyed look American tourists wear the first time. Are you with family?”
    “I’m on my honeymoon,” I said.
    “Oh.” He widened his smile. “You don’t want to watch your new husband gamble?”
    “Not all night,” I said, and he laughed.
    “You see those lights out there?” He pointed with his cigarette.
    “Yes.”
    “That’s Bordighera, Italy.”
    “Really? I didn’t realize we were so close to Italy.”
    “Everywhere in Europe, you’re close to another country,” he said. “You should go see it if you can tear your husband away from the casino.”
    “Oh, I will,” I said. “Thank you.”
    He bowed. “Bonne chance, madame, ” he said. He put out his cigarette and went back into the casino. I looked out at the night and the lights of Bordighera. It was beautiful there, and it did fill me with new hope. I was anxious to get out and tour. I had read about everything and wanted especially to go to the palace and see Princess Grace’s tomb.
    When I returned to the casino, I saw Ethan had left the craps table and was at roulette.
    “Did you win?” I asked.
    He showed me his pile of chips, his face lit up like a Christmas tree. “Ten thousand dollars! I was up fifteen and lost five, so I decided to move to something else.”
    “Why don’t we quit while we’re ahead?” I suggested.
    “Quit? We just got here.”
    “A man showed me the lights of Bordighera, Italy. You can see it from the terrace.”
    “That’s nice.” He watched the roulette wheel, and when it stopped, he clapped his hands. “We’re on a streak.”
    I watched for a while. He lost and then won again and again. I could see pulling him away was not going to be easy, but I was actually bored and wandered about again. I looked for the tall gentleman but didn’t see him. When it was close to midnight, I returned to Ethan, who immediately told me we were up twenty-two thousand dollars.
    “I’m getting tired,” I said. “And we want to get up early to see things, don’t we?”
    “Sure, sure, but I’m not that tired. We slept so much today. Tell you what,” he said peeling off some euros. “Take a taxi back and get into bed. I’ll be there in about an hour or so, okay?”
    It wasn’t okay, but I took the money. This was Lucille’s fault, I thought. If she hadn’t given him that five thousand dollars, he wouldn’t be in there. A little annoyed but too tired to argue, I took the taxi andreturned to our suite. I tried to stay up, but when I lay down, my eyelids shut like automatic steel prison doors, and in moments I was asleep.
    Because I hadn’t shut the curtains tightly enough, the morning sunlight burst like an egg on my face and woke me. I moaned and then remembered I had fallen asleep before Ethan had returned. Feeling guilty, I turned to apologize and was shocked to see that he had not gotten into bed.
    “Ethan?”
    I looked toward the bathroom. The door was open, but I heard nothing, and there was no sign of him in the suite. There wasn’t a note anywhere, either, to indicate that he had gone out for something. I rose, got into my slippers, and went into the bathroom to be sure he wasn’t there. He wasn’t. I decided to shower and get dressed. Before I came out, I heard the door of the suite open.
    “Ethan?”
    I grabbed a towel and