"Maybe he was gay," said Tess. "Keep trying. Be a little more explicit."

Another man approached.

"Excuse me, sir," said Kyle. "Would you like to dip it into this cute, little blond?"

"How much?"

"Only fifty."

Tess stared straight ahead, seemingly unconcerned while she was being sold on the street like a side of beef.

"I'll pay her, not you," said the trick.

"Fine," said Kyle. "Have a good time."

The trick took Tess by the hand and led her away. She went willingly.

Max and Michael had already put a healthy dent in the casino banks of the Mother Load, King's Ransom, and Crazy Eight. Now they were playing at the Dirty Bird Saloon. Michael was at the roulette table. He was careful not to win all the time. When the crowd started to get too interested in him, he lost a bet. Max was into blackjack. Again he didn't win every hand but he won more than he should have. Now they had two dealers at the table. One of them shuffled the deck between hands while the other dealer dealt the round with another deck. Max still won. Periodically the pit boss checked the cards. He couldn't find anything wrong with them. He put new decks into the game nevertheless. Max and Michael had taken the house for about three hundred thousand. It was time to go on to the next casino.

The Monte Man saw the two young men walking toward the cashier's cage. One of them was slender with big ears. The other one was heavier. They looked like winners. That was the best time to take a mark.

"Think you can spot the pea? It only takes ten dollars to try."

The Monte Man was standing at a small table that came up to his waist. It was covered with green felt and had three walnut shell halves and a ten dollar chip on it. The heavier one stepped up to the table and put a ten dollar chip on it.

The Monte Man turned over each of the three shells to show there was nothing under them. He put a pea under the right shell then moved them around. The center shell was the obvious location. Michael pointed to the center shell. The Monte Man turned it over. There was the pea.

He was just about to suggest raising the stakes when the mark said, "Let's make this more interesting," and put two hundred dollar chips on the table. This was going to be easy.

The Monte Man put two hundred dollar chips on the table to match the bet. Again he put the pea under the right shell. This time he moved the shells faster, but the center one was still the obvious choice. The mark pointed to the left shell. Sometimes the marks tried to beat the Monte by doing the unexpected. It wouldn't matter. He wasn't going to find the pea under any of them.

The Monte Man turned over the left shell. There was the pea. The mark scooped up his winnings.

"Have a nice night," he said and walked off with his friend.

The Monte Man looked under the other two shells. There was a pea under both of them. That was impossible. He never carried more than one pea and that one was concealed between the fingers of his left hand.

By midnight the word had spread throughout Las Vegas. Max and Michael couldn't get into any casino in town.

"I guess that's it," said Max after they were refused admittance to the third casino. "What should we do now?"

"I think we can afford to take everyone to dinner," said Michael.

Ever the organizer, Michael made the arrangements. They had steak and lobster at the Pirate's Den. Max looked around the table. Considering their group it was an appropriate venue.

While they waited for the food, Alex took some souvenir photos with a camera he was carrying. Isabel arrived a bit late. Alex hurried over to show her to the table.

"I was hoping you would make it," he said.

Isabel was dressed in black. It was a strapless, vinyl dress that looked like it was painted on. Even after what he had done earlier that night, it still gave him a semi just to see her in it.

"I was at a party. It ran a bit late."

"Have fun?"

"Quite a bit," she said. She had decided not to tell him about gangbanging the groom, the best man, and the eight wedding ushers. For five hundred dollars they had wanted more then just nude dancing. Alex was a nice guy. He would never understand.

"What did you do?"

"I helped Maria audition for a gig."

"Did she get the job?"

"Yes. She sang at a club tonight."

He decided not to tell her about performing the human sex act with Maria DeLuca, naked and shameless, in front of fifty people. Isabel was nice girl. She would never understand.

After dinner they sat around their table and listened to the club's three-man combo.

"You clean up nice, Space Boy," said Maria.

"I'm thinking a cheeseburger would go down nice right now," he said.

"You had lobster."

"But I'm still hungry. I'm going to go hit the fast food joint across the street. Green, please."

Actually he didn't need it. He was carrying two thousand in cash. The rest was in the bank. He just liked to see Maria reach into her cleavage.

"Cheeseburger. Why do I even try?" she said after Michael had left.

"At least he wore a tie," said Liz.

"Liz, I'm worried. I plan on being a worldly woman. How can I be when Michael is still trapped in the world of armpit farts and Play Station? He's just so. . ."