It would be the place where this all would come to a climax—both the story and her career.The goodwill with Brandon ended about a half hour after the incident with Cortez, when he tried to leverage his hero status to get her back to his room for a “thank you.” She told him she was tired from the ordeal, but agreed to meet him later on at The Palms to have a drink at Ghost Bar. In the meantime, she planned her escape.She caught a break when Gutierrez dragged Brandon to the casino. She figured they’d lose what little money they had, and hit on cocktail waitresses they had no chance with, until the wee morning hours. It gave Jessi the opening she needed.Before the sun rose above the Nevada desert, she was on her way to the McCarran. All the non-stops were booked, so she had to settle for changing planes in Chicago O’Hare with a ninety-minute layover. But the ninety minutes turned into three hours, when the connecting flight arriving from Dallas had been delayed.After the flight finally took off, rising over Lake Michigan, Jessi’s attention gravitated to the laughter of an affectionate couple.
