A week later, Rick drove the two of them down the Strip, laughing at Laurie's excitement over the lights of the casinos and the billboards.

"All right, darling. I can't help it, the signs are so beautiful, I love Las Vegas." She told him, beaming, then added as she put her head on his shoulder, "and I love you, you make me so happy."

"That's all I want, my princess." Rick replied, wrapping his arm around her. "You make me happy, too."

As they parked and went into the new Castle Hotel, Rick caught sight of a strangely familiar face, standing near the bell captain's desk.

"That looks like, naw, it couldn't be him." He thought, then turned his attention to the desk clerk.

"Simon, party of two for the weekend."

"Oh, Happy Anniversary, Mr. Simon, Mrs. Simon." The man replied, then gave them their room cards.

As they gave their suitcases to the bellman, the man Rick had noted raised his head, then stared at husband and wife.

"Simon, Rick Simon?"

"That's me. Is that you, Brassman?" the older Simon looked back at him, then extended his hand.

"Well, I'm still Brassman, but its Sergeant Brass now. Las Vegas P.D. owns me instead of the books.

How are you, Rick?"

The portly man shook his hand then thumped his back. As he stepped back his expression changed as he noticed Laurie.

"I'm fine, Jim, thanks to my wife. Laurie, this is Jim Brass, we met and traveled around one summer together. "

Smiling, Laurie held out her hand to the policeman, then blushed as he took it then told Rick, "You lucky dog, this beautiful girl married you? Wait a minute, is this the girl you were pining after, wouldn't even go check out the girls on the beach…"

"Whoa, you remember all that?" Now it was Rick who turned red, then he saw a look of tenderness on his wife's face.

"Sgt. Brass, he talked about me, oh, darling, bless you!" Laurie put her arms around him and embraced him.

Rick hugged her back, then snickered as Brass said "No wonder you waited for her, Mrs. Simon, it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Thank you, Sgt. This really makes our anniversary special, finding one of Rick's friends." Laurie beamed,

then laughed as Rick shook his head. "Only in Vegas, how long have you been here?"

"About eight years, mostly with the crime scene investigators. What do you do now?" Brass asked, then bust out laughing when he heard Rick had become a private investigator.

"Oh, god, Rick, that's funny. You and your little brother, I love it." He turned to Laurie, "So how do you live with this guy, packing a gun and all?"

"He always protected me when we were young; I just accepted it as part of him when we found each other again." Laurie answered, gazing at her husband. "You see, Sgt., he was hired to protect me on a book tour, and he's never stopped looking after me."

"As I said, Rick, you are lucky." Brass replied, then his beeper went off and he frowned. "Damn, I'm mean, excuse me, but I'm a case. It was great seeing you, Rick."

"Likewise, Jim. Say, we're in Room 233, why don't you give us a call later and maybe we can have dinner or something." Rick was disappointed when his old friend shook his head.

"Afraid not, looks like I'll have to go back to headquarters, but I'll call you before you leave town, I won't let thirty years pass again between hellos"

Shaking hands, he parted company with them and the two Simons headed for the elevators. As they went past the concierge, a distinguished looking man watched them go past, then picked up the phone.

"Rusty, I want you to keep an eye on the guests in Room 233; I think they will be of interest to us."

As Rick and Laurie reached their room, the bellman joined them and opened up the door. Bringing in the luggage, he smiled appreciatively at the tip Rick handed over, then discreetly exited as Laurie exclaimed over the view from their windows.

"I'm glad you like it, sweetheart." He came behind Laurie and enfolded her in his arms.

"It's beautiful, darling. Thank you for such a lovely beginning to our anniversary." She whispered, leaning against him.

"You're my beginning, Laurie." He breathed in her ear, then swooped her up in his arms. "Always, Rick", Laurie kissed him as he carried her into their bedroom. As they walked in, they were startled by the smell of something in the room, and he immediately put her down.

"Rick, I don't like this. That odor, you'd better call the front desk." Laurie warned, fearing that what her nose told her was that a dead someone or something was in their room.

Five minutes later, a uniformed security guard was in the entry way taking notes as a housekeeper stood gagging in the hall way.

"I'm very sorry, Mr. Simon. We'll move you and Mrs. Simon to another room of course." He beckoned a bellman to come in and pick up their suitcases.

"You've called the police of course, do you want us to wait to give our statement." Rick offered, a funny feeling in his gut.

"Uh, no, I'll send them to you, we'll put you in Room 331 on the third floor. Ramon, take them up please.'

The guard spoke to the bellman who quietly led the way.

As Ramon quickly checked out the rooms for them, Rick held tight to Laurie's hand, suddenly wishing they were home. Something wasn't right.

"I'm sorry your stay started out so badly, if there's anything I can do…" the bellman offered, then left when Rick politely thanked him.

As the door closed, Laurie put her arms around him. "Rick, I don't like this, how could that body not be found by housekeeping when they cleaned?"

"I don't know, sweetheart. But I mean to find out, I don't want us having anymore of those kind of surprises." He told her, dropping a kiss on her head.

"Thank you, darling. Please don't be sorry we came, it's been worth it to have found your friend." She replied, then met his lips with hers.

After a moment to catch his breath, Rick gazed down at Laurie. "You're my best friend, angel. I'm glad too, but you're the one I'm celebrating seventeen years of love with." He watched her eyes tear up, then she put her face next to his, whispering, "Seventeen years of happiness, Rick."

Just then there was a knock on the door, and they both laughed nervously.

"Just like home, darlin'," Rick moaned, then went to the peephole. "Who's there, oh hey, Brass."

Opening the door, Rick let his friend in. At once Laurie noticed his stiff demeanor, and looked at her husband.

"I'm sorry I have to put you two through this, but since you found the body, or at least its smell, I need to know what you saw." the policeman began.

"It's okay, Brass, sit down. We'll tell you what we found, but, first, do you know who it is?" Rick asked, then his face fell as Jim shook his head.

"Not yet, guy had been dead at least a couple of days. We think it might have been a botched kidnap or robbery, but it's too soon."

As Brass took out his notebook, Rick explained about entering the bedroom and immediately smelling something dead. When Laurie added how nervous the security guard was and the sense of impending disaster, Jim made a few notes, then stood up.

"You did a good job, Rick. I'm just sorry your anniversary got messed up like this." He smiled ruefully at Laurie, "Seventeen years, huh? I bet this is one you won't forget!"

"Oh, we've had a few that are a little more memorable." She admitted, taking her husband's hand and squeezing it.

Rick shook his head and laughed. "That's an understatement, darlin'. One of these days, Brass, I'll tell you a little about my sweetheart here. She's been my back up more then once." He kissed her cheek as she blushed

"This I want to hear." The policeman closed his book, then handed Rick his card. "If you think of anything else or if something happens, you call me at once. In fact, call me before you leave town and we'll have coffee or something."

"Will do, Brass. Be careful, something just seems strange about all this." Rick told him, shaking hands.

"I will. As a matter of fact," Brass paused, then hugging Laurie, added "Do me a favor, folks. If you win any money or jackpots, please don't make a big deal about it and don't advertise your winnings. I'll tell you why later."

Puzzled, the Simons said goodbye to their friend, then after the door closed, Rick cleared his throat.

"That was odd, Laurie. I wonder if that's why he was here to begin with?"

"I don't know, darling. I do know one thing." Laurie put her arms around his neck.

"What's that?" Rick grinned down at her.

"I love being your back up, I will always be there for you." She promised, then giggled as he picked her up and kissed her, tasting her sweet breath.

Releasing her lips, Rick whispered "me too. And I want our anniversaries to be memorable for what we do, not what someone else does." He carried her into the bedroom and set her down on the bed.

"Now we have reservations for dinner in a couple of hours, but…" he sat down next to her, then kissed her neck. "how about celebrating a little bit by ourselves."

"You have the best ideas, darling." Laurie replied, smiling as she nestled against him. "Let's make some more memories for us."