Free Sammy Keyes and the Showdown in Sin City by Wendelin Van Draanen Page B

connections all over town and thinks he’ll be able to track her down.”
    “Seriously?”
    “Yup!”
    To me I sound way too enthused, but Marissa’s so wiped out she doesn’t notice. “Wow. So … how long will that take?”
    “He’s on it now. I’m supposed to check in in a few hours.”
    She squints at me. “Like, at three in the morning?”
    “Uh-huh. He’s doing his Elvis thing down on the Strip. Said he’d be up all night.”
    I guess I’d woven in enough truth, because she just says, “Wow.”
    “So I should probably set an alarm, huh?” And as I’m checking out the clock next to the couch, I add, “Man, I’m wiped out. Aren’t you?”
    “I don’t think I’ve ever been this tired in my life.”
    Just then Mrs. McKenze comes into the room with a towel wrapped around her hair. She’s got puffy eyes, too, but tries to smile when she sees me. “Oh, hi, Sammy. You had us worried.”
    “I’m sorry. I did leave a note. I just went to get some food.” Then I add, “Thanks again for letting me crash on your couch.”
    She looks from me to Marissa and back again. “You being here is actually a blessing.” She comes over and gives Marissa a kiss on the forehead. “I’m so sorry I put you through this. It was a horrible idea.”
    “You didn’t know, Mom.”
    She stands there a minute, then says, “Well, I’ll see you in the morning.”
    “Good night,” we tell her, and after Marissa hangs out for a few more minutes, she finds me a blanket and a pillow and drags herself to bed, too.
    Now, the truth is, I
am
wiped out. And I really don’t know what to do, but I’m sure not ready to leave Las Vegas yet. I mean, I found Elvis, right? He was out there connecting with … connections for me, right? And if Marissa’s mom was going to make me go home with them in the morning, it would be a total waste of everything I’d gone through!
    So I pretend to go to bed, but my head’s whirring around for some way to not get dragged home. It crosses my mind to call Casey—more because I want to let him know what’s going on than because I think his mom’s told him anything new—but all of a sudden an idea whacks me upside the head.
    I sit there for a minute just stunned because I know it’s crazy.
    Scratch that—it’s certifiably insane!
    And I know it’s risky.
    Make that treacherously dangerous!
    It’s also an enormous gamble.
    But really, what have I got to lose?
    And the more I think about it, the more
sense
it makes.
    Besides, I still have Marissa’s room key, and I can always come back.…
    So when I’m sure Marissa and her mom are asleep, I write a note that says,
Found her! See you back at home! Thanks for everything! Love, Sammy
.
    Then I slip out the door and head for the elevators.

TEN
    Yeah, it was almost one in the morning, and, no, I didn’t care.
    I knocked hard on the door.
    Now, normally I would never wake someone up like this, but a knock on the door at one in the morning didn’t come
close
to payback for the things they’d done to me.
    No one answered, though, so I knocked again.
    And again.
    And finally a sleepy voice on the other end goes, “Who is it?”
    “Urgent message,” I call through the door. “About the wedding.”
    The chain slides off and the door flies open, and there I am, face to face with Heather, who’s wearing shiny pink shorts, a white tank top, and a pained squint.
    Before she can even register that it’s me, I step in and head for the sitting room, which is a lot smaller than the one in Marissa’s suite. The whole place is. It’s basically one room with a half wall dividing the sleeping area from a small sitting area.
    “Mom!” Heather cries like she’s in the middle of a horrible nightmare.
    Candi clicks on a lamp and sits up in bed, so I know I’ve got to talk fast. “Look, Heather, I don’t want my mom marrying your dad any more than you do. I’ve met with a guy who has contacts all over Las Vegas. He’s going to get in touch