Author's Note: This story is completely fictional and did not happen. All characters and names are fictional and were made up. I do not make money from these stories. Please do not copy and plagiarize my work.
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Las Vegas, Nevada
The morning sun could only evaporate so much of the cold air from a night now in distant memory. For anyone who was used to hot weather, low temperatures were seen as a relief after long heated days. In the early morning hours, one could still feel what was a temperature below sixty degrees outside. For one man, cooler weather would be a wonderful feeling after spending his life in southern Florida. This was a good way to start off a Tuesday morning by stepping off a plane. With a suitcase in his hand, he stepped through the inner gates of the McCarran airport while glancing up and reading the neon lit sign. 'Welcome to Las Vegas: Clark Couty, McCarran International Airport'. The bright lit words hung in a hue of orange and yellow. Seth Dupree was just the kind of man to see those words and wonder where this journey was going to take him. Stepping to the escalator, he stood idle while the machine moved to send him down.
Vegas was a place that Seth had dreamed of visiting some day in the future. At thirty-one years old, he had lived through what was a relatively successful career in journalism thus far. Born in Georgia, he had ventured down to southern Florida after finishing his time in college. Sports was his forte as a beat writer. It had been something he had been now for over seven years living in Miami Beach. Basketball had been the first major sport he covered, documenting the rise of the 'big three' Miami Heat before he eventually crossed over into reporting golf. This trip to Nevada had been bought and paid for by an associate with a major publication whom claimed he had a specific 'major story' that would cause shock waves over the media. Seth accepted the booked flight and reservation without question. The plane had landed in the early hours of the morning, just after eight, leaving plenty of time to get settled in before the afternoon hours.
With vague details from his contact, Seth could only wonder just what the truth of this matter was. Michael Johnson had been known to drop tips to him in the past about golf related stories, but this was apparently a huge deal to warrant a trip all the way to Las Vegas for a special meeting. The old man had been a retired manager of several golf courses spread out the east coast of the U.S. Seth had learned pretty early on that he had connections to important people and knew just where to dig in for the juicy stories in headlines. In the past, Michael had given him a breaking story about a sex scandal involving two golfers and an escort in California. It was a story that landed Seth on ESPN for a special, gaining his name to a status of prominence for a short brief time. From that memory, Seth wondered just what this deal was over to meet in Vegas of all places.
Stepping through the front doors to the McCarran airport, he clutched the suitcase in his hand while gazing out to see a line of taxi cabs waiting for passengers. Seth was a short man with a skinny frame beneath a black pinstripe suit jacket with a blue T-shirt underneath. He wore a pair of stone washed blue jeans down below that didn't match his upper dress code by any means. Over his feet were a pair of white tennis shoes that may have stuck out more than his pants. His hair was brown, cut short and fixed up with a light wave. Seth always kept his face clean shaved, as he wasn't fond of growing facial hair. Feeling the cool breeze of air, he stepped his way around while holding off his hand, hoping to flag down one of the waiting yellow taxi cars. He could see one driver waving his hand in response beyond the visible windshield, signaling to him that he was waiting for a fare. Seth made his way over to the cab, opening the right side passenger door as he was greeted to a friendly voice.
"Good morning there! Looks like you need to get somewhere."
"I sure do."
Seth replied as he sat the fat suitcase down over the left side seat and then sat down. He shut the door as the cab driver leaned back and got a look at his fare from the rear view mirror hanging above.
"Where I can take you?"
"Ruby Plaza. I don't exactly know where it's located."
The driver laughed. Seth couldn't quite see his face, though he knew the man had a black beard and short black hair. He was obviously older and had probably been working as a cab driver for an extended period of time, as Seth guessed.
"it's on the Strip, just across from the Flamingo. I'll get you there, no problem."
After his subtle response, the driver shifted gears and pulled the yellow taxi car out from the airport. He proceeded to roll the vehicle a little bit through traffic, all while his passenger sat cool, calm and collected in the back seat. Seth's eyes wandered around his surroundings, examining the interior of the black seats and glancing out the window. The cab itself was neatly clean the car was. Over the years, he had been in the back of many taxi cars, some of the worst memories popping up in his mind from a trip to New York City about three years ago. Sitting back in the seat, he didn't notice the driver studying him from the rear view mirror. He soon spoke up to strike a conversation.
"I take it that this is your first time in Las Vegas?"
From the back seat, Seth nodded his head before answering the driver back.
"Yeah. I guess you could see I don't know my way around this town at all."
The driver chuckled briefly.
"I could tell that you were a first timer given that expression on your face when you looked around outside the doors. So, are you here for vacation or business?"
"Business. I'm only here for a week on a job."
"Ah, so you're not a tourist. If you don't mind me asking, what is that you do?"
"I don't mind at all. I'm a sports journalist coming out here to see an old friend about a story. If you follow golf or basketball, you may have read my articles before. My name is Seth Dupree."
"Dupree, huh? Sorry I've never heard of you. I don't watch golf or basketball, sorry. I used to watch football, back when the Niners were good."
Seth went quiet for a few seconds as the driver turned the steering wheel of the car and continued on piloting down the streets. Traffic was visible beyond the windows, but he paid it no attention. The driver carried on, keeping his focus on the traffic in front of him and navigating the roads. Seth's mind was already wandering onto the Ruby Plaza itself and what kind of guest room he would have at the casino and luxury hotel resort. After a few moments of considering it quietly, he spoke up to the driver.
"Do you know anything about the place that I'm staying at?"
"The Ruby Plaza?"
"Yeah. Have you ever been there before?"
