Murder by Chance (Betty Chance Mystery) by Pat Dennis Read Free Book Online

but also fun for our clients .”
    As she hit the send key she realized it was the first time she’d lied to her readers. She wasn’t sure she and her passengers were safe at all.

Chapter 4
     
    A little after dawn, Lori checked her reflection in the airport’s bathroom mirror. Her appearance reminded her again how different she was from her mother. If it were up to her, she would have been born a brunette like her mom or her Aunt Betty. She always thought dark-haired women appeared not only exotic but also more intelligent than blondes. Brunettes did not look “movie star dumb” like the first man she dated said she did. Apparently, it was meant as a compliment.
    Lori flipped her hair around a bit, just enough to test its bounce appeal. Good enough, she decided. If fate had deemed she was meant to look like she couldn’t add one plus zero, she might as well look the part.
    Grabbing the handle on her Louis Vuitton luggage, she wheeled it out the door toward the ticket counter. It didn’t bother her in the least that she was disobeying her aunt’s instructions on staying put in Chicago.
    Although Betty told Lori she didn’t need her, there was always the chance her aunt would. Lori needed something too: a break. She had to get away from Chicago and her day-to-day—no, make that night-to-night—activities. Perhaps breathing in a bit of frigid, fresh air would give her a chance to clear her thoughts.
    Struggling as she pulled the wheeled cargo down the marble floor, she realized she’d packed too many clothes, as usual. Inside the case were a half a dozen cocktail dresses, each one a sophisticated eye-catching number that revealed very little, but promised so much more.
    There were also three Donna Karan business suits, five pair of designer jeans and dress pants, six silk tops, and Ann Roth shoes. The only outrageous apparel she carried with her was a gift from Tillie, a silver lamé bikini that could double as Christmas tree tinsel in an emergency.
    She hadn’t told her aunt of her travel plans because Betty would have tried to stop her. But, their company never had a client murdered while in their care. If necessary, Lori could spend part of the time sweet-talking the casino heads, convincing them that it would be advantageous to continue a relationship with Take A Chance Tours.
    According to Tom Songbird, half of the male staff at Moose Bay had a crush on her. So if a sly smile and imported stilettos would help mend a business relationship, so be it. She had little choice: she was, after all, nearly bankrupt.
    Everything Lori had left was riding on Take A Chance bringing in a profit until the next fiscal quarter. The extra money would help her shield the losses she’d carefully hidden from her aunt. With any luck, and a small amount of creative accounting, the company could stay afloat.
    But luck hadn’t been her friend for a long, long time.
    Before Take A Chance Tours was established, Lori never gambled. She’d never bought a lottery ticket or played bingo at her Catholic church. Even raffles tickets seemed silly to buy. The money could have been more wisely spent on facials or in a bookstore. There wasn’t one thing about gambling that attracted her, until she tried it for the very first time.
    During their first month of operation, Take A Chance was offered a familiarization trip to one of the largest casinos in the Midwest. “Fams” were a continued and treasured perk of working in the travel industry. The entire cost of a familiarization trip was covered by the gaming establishment trying to impress the travel agencies or tour operators.  The first casino fam Take a Chance accepted provided free travel, hotel, food and three hundred dollars in chips to wager. There were only three employees at the time: Betty, Lori and their part-time, recently retired public librarian, Gloria.
    Once the trio arrived at the casino, Gloria turned her chips in for cash and squirreled away the proceeds at the bottom of