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

year-old man. He looked as if he were her devoted pet, one who was waiting to be fed, petted, pampered, and controlled. His black business suit was cut so well, Lori recognized it as custom made. His yellow silk tie glistened against a pristine white shirt. His watch contained more gold than her jewelry box.
    She didn’t know his name, but it didn’t matter. She’d already decided his nickname would be Mr. Gorgeous. She half-smiled at the look he was giving her. It suggested she’d never again have to open a door, pull out her own chair, or pump gas if he were with her. He’d do everything for her that she ever needed done.
    Men were like that around Lori. There was always a man waiting on the sidelines or standing nearby wanting to help, pleading to be of service. Her mom told her once that being beautiful made life too easy for Lori.
    You won’t know what to do once life gets hard , her mother had warned. The minute she started her first panic attack, she realized her mother had been right all along.
    Mr. Gorgeous stepped behind her and asked hopefully, “Are you heading to Minneapolis?”
    “Just to catch another plane,” she answered and walked away knowing his eyes were following her every move. To taunt him even more, she adjusted her normally slow, seductive wiggle to rapid.
    Lori chuckled bitterly to herself. She easily attracted most men and quite a few women. Everyone wanted to be near her, except for the one woman she really wanted—Lady Luck.
    Long legs and green eyes didn’t mesmerize Lady Luck. Nor did the Lady care that fate took Lori’s mom away from her when she was just a teenager. Or that Lori’s father had disappeared without a word when she was eleven years old. Or even that Lori was a survivor of childhood leukemia. Lady Luck didn’t give a damn that Lori often woke up in the middle of the night, sweating through her clothes, woken up by the recurring nightmare of cancer genes eating her alive. Nightmares reminding that neither DNA, nor luck, were in her favor. To Lori, everything ended far too quickly. There was even the chance that Aunt Betty would just vanish, just like her mom and dad. And then what would she be left with? Nothing, except for the chance to finally win at something.

Chapter 5
     
    “This sure beats breakfast at Denny’s!” Tillie cooed above the din of table chatter and silverware clanking. At 7:45 A.M. the 300-seat Hungry Moose Buffet was packed with salivating patrons. The casino’s patrons were either in line at each of eight different food stations, or happily chowing down at their table.
    Betty grinned. “Sure does. They’ve actually managed to out-Vegas Vegas.”
    She pointed upward to dozens of chandeliers lighting up the room. Each one featured twelve small Tiffany lanterns, with stained glass panels, suspended from bronzed shaped twigs and leaves.
    The ceiling was painted to look like a blue sky, filled with cumulous clouds that moved slowly across the horizon. The visual feat was accomplished by a series of clear ceiling tiles that allowed 3-D images to be projected upon them. In the evening, the blue would slowly change to black of night and glistened above with thousands of twinkling LED stars.
    “Is the food as good as the place looks?” Tillie asked, her green eyes roaming over the hand-painted Native American scenes on the walls.
    Betty nodded. “Yep. I rated it a five popped buttons.”
    When Betty made the decision to rate restaurants, she decided to forgo the traditional “five star” or even “five fork” rating systems. Instead, popping buttons from the strain of too much food made more sense to her. One popped button meant the food was barely edible. Five popped buttons meant not only would your pants fall down from eating too much, you wouldn’t even care.
    Betty saw that many of the diners were whispering to each other while staring at Tillie. Almost everyone, it seemed, was checking out the driver’s off-duty ensemble. Black spandex