Free 3 Sin City Hunter by Maddie Cochere

was going to have to try and find a middle ground somewhere. My friends from the racquetball club were a lot of fun, and we all had a good time together , but we d id some crazy things which usually involv ed drinking . I didn’t want to put myself in situations where I would embarrass or upset Mick - like with Dell Grady – so I was going to have to find a happy medium.
    “Ok,” I told Darby. “I’m going to grab a quick shower and change. I won’t be too long. Are you going downstairs?”
    “No,” he said. “ I think I’ll crash on the bed and surf for cooking shows until you’re ready.” He picked up the remote, flopped on the bed, and turned on the television. Darby and I watched a lot of cooking shows when we were together at home, and we were frequently in my kitchen trying out new recipes. He kept a box in his apartment with all of the keeper recipes we had tried and given a thumbs-up to.
    After a lightning- fast shower, I blow dried my hair, and changed into dark navy jeans tucked into black suede knee boots. I finished the outfit with a red , v-neck , cropped cardigan with long sleeves. I buttoned up the four buttons, quickly applied my makeup, and I was ready to go.
    When I emerged from the bathroom, Darby was dressed, and I laughed out loud. He was wearing dark navy jeans with a red sweater.
    He laughed, too, and said, “It’s Vegas, and anything goes, but let me break up our matching color scheme.” He whipped off the red sweater and grabbe d another soft, cashmere one from the dresser drawer. It had a crew neck and the blue-gray color made his blue eyes pop. Now we were ready.
    We walked down the hall and knocked on Mom and Dad’s door. They were ready, and we all stepped into the elevator together.
    I turned to my dad and said, “Tell me again who we’re seeing, Dad. This is just a short magic show , right?”
    We’re seeing Fitch’s Incredible Feats,” Dad said with flair.
    Mom chimed in, “Fitch is Tom and Bitsy’s nephew, and this is his big break in Vegas. He’s doing a f orty -minute magic act in the small theater around the corner from the front desk. It’s free, and this is his first night. If it goes well for him, he might have some opportunities to do a longer act and open for some of the headliners in the hotel.”
    We exited the elevator and made our way to the theater. Only the lower section of seating was being used, and Dad led us down the aisle to a booth in the front. The theater was abou t one third full, but a steady trickle of people w as coming through the door.
    We ordered fun, fruity rum drinks and a couple bowls of popcorn. There was an intimate atmosphere to the theater, and the crowd seemed upbeat and ready for some entertainment. The available seating was nearly full when the curtain went up.
    Fitch was good. Really good.
    The show was high energy with music to match. He occasionally used two beautiful assistants, but he was definitely the main event. He started with some fun tricks you would expect from a magician , to include hat tricks and flashy card tricks , where even tiny bits of torn cards blown all over the stage were pieced back together. There was a hilarious bit where Fitch had four people from the audience on stage, and while he was having all of them shackle his hands securely b ehind his back, he was taking watches, wallets, and car keys from all of them. He did an amazing trick with items disappearing from a box on stage and reappearing in the audience. For his final trick, the two girls wheeled a large, colorful, upright box onto the stage. With a lot of fanfare, Fitch began telling the audience what he was going to do.
    I lost my focus for a few m oments because I noticed Dudley was sitting at a table in the front row. Dad had blocked him from my view f or most of the show, but he shifted in his seat, and when I looked Dad’s way again, I saw Dudley. A woman was at the table with him . Was this his wife?
    Mom and Darby broke into my thoughts