“Tourist off the beaten path, eh?” the young woman said as she pushed herself off the tree. The glowing cigarette bounced closer to Melissa, almost as if nothing were holding it, until the owner of the voice graced the outskirts of the reach from the streetlight.
“Something like that.” Melissa regarded the girl suspiciously.
The girl exhaled a puff of white smoke and scanned Melissa from head to toe. “Nah. You a runaway.”
Melissa stepped backward and chortled. “I am not! My family is staying at the … the … the Golden Mirage!”
The girl clapped her hands together once. “Bah! You’re a runaway and a terrible liar. The Golden Mirage is a casino, not a hotel. So, if your family is staying there, it’s because the mob has them tied up in the basement.”
Melissa scratched a nonexistent itch on
