Chapter 16: The Plan

"Alright," I said. "We should have a plan before barging in there. It could lead to many more problems as we are on the clock here."

"That I do agree with," Boob replied.

"But where do we even start," questioned Potion.

"I have an idea," I answered. "Why don't you go in Boob and maybe look at places where Crystal may be locked up. Also when you are in there, don't bring any attention to yourself." Boob agreed with this.

"Why not me," questioned Horn.

"I thought Boob should do it because you look a lot like Crystal," I answered. "It would cause a lot of chaos." Horn agreed realizing that made perfect sense to choose Boob. Boob walked in the casino trying not to draw any attention to himself while looking at places Crystal could be. When he finished, he came out to where we were waiting. "Well, what did you find?"

"It seems there is a door in the back straight ahead to where I walked in," answered Boob.

"Did the door say anything in particular," I questioned.

"Not really," answered Boob. "It seemed to be an employee door only. Crystal has to be there because there were no other doors locked to the public. Or that's what I saw that is." I quickly took note of this.

"So what do we do now," questioned Potion. "Since we know my mom is in there."

"Now," I answered. "We plan. Since we have belief that Crystal is locked behind that door Boob saw, what if we pretend to be employees to give us access?"

"That's a good move detective," answered Horn. "I'm sure we will have to get some kind of key to unlock the door."

"Horn makes a good point," said Boob. "When I was in there, I noticed some people had keys in their pockets. They were also wearing black."

"Was there a logo anywhere on those uniforms," I questioned Boob again.

"Not that I'm aware of," answered Boob. I quickly took note of this too and looked in my bag. There happened to be four black uniforms. I handed one to each member of the group and we put them on.

"To continue the plan," I said. "We get a key and unlock the door where we can start investigating."

"What if someone asks what we are doing," questioned Potion.

"We'll just say we are new and were told to enter that room," I answered. "We get in, get out. If Crystal happens to be there, we try to find a back exit or we get a uniform for her. We don't this to backfire." Everyone agreed and we went in. I looked for the door Boob said was there. Boob pointed it out so it was easier for us to look at it. "Ok guys, walk to the door like normal." We walked to the door. I tried to turn the handle and just like Boob said, it was locked.

"Just as Boob said," said Horn. "The door is locked."

"We must get a key card," Potion replied.

"Sorry you can't get in there," said a dealer at a nearby table. "Only employees are allowed there."

"But we are," I said. "We are new."

"I don't believe you," said the dealer. "But I can get you a key card."

"You can," questioned Boob.

"Why yes," answered the dealer. "Four against one. At least one of you has to beat me at my game. If any of you succeed, then I'll give you this key card." He pulls out the key card from his deck of cards. "Oh and you only get one chance. You can either play me all at once or one at a time." We thought about it for a minute and decided what we were going to do.

"We'll play one on one," I said. "But I'll go last." I turned to the group. "Change of plans guys. We keep the main plan but this is a roadblock we need to overcome." And so the game has begun.

Who is the dealer? Is Crystal behind that door? Will one of us win the game? Will I notice the dealer's play style? Find out in the next chapter.

TO BE CONTINUED