“That can be taken care of as well.”
“Can I bring a few extra people?”
“Name your number, Mr. C.”
“I think a party of sixteen would fit the bill.”
“Consider it done.” A cell phone appeared in DeSantis’s hand. “What dates would you like? I’ll reserve a block of suites for you right now.”
Billy threw out some dates and DeSantis booked a block of rooms. It seemed too good to be true, and in a sense it was. DeSantis was a hustler, no different than Billy and his crew. DeSantis stole whales from the Rio and brought them to Carnivale, where they were sure to lose lots of money. If for some reason the whale couldn’t or wouldn’t pay up, DeSantis would turn the markers over to the Bad Check Unit at the Clark County District Attorney’s office, the official collection agency for Vegas’s casinos, and the whale would go to court. Eventually, the whale would lose his house, his cars, and his business, all in the name of paying off his debts. That was DeSantis’s scam, and it was perfectly legal.
Not every Vegas casino worked this way. Most were content to make money off slot machines and daily poker tournaments. Carnivale was a different breed of cat. It had cost a fortune to build and could not survive on chicken feed. For Carnivale to survive it needed whales, and it needed a lot of them. And it needed those whales to lose.
“I could get used to this,” Pepper whispered during the flight back.
“Enjoy it while it lasts,” Billy said.
They sat in facing leather seats in the back of the Sikorsky. Soft rock was playing over the hidden speakers and champagne was flowing. DeSantis had gone up front to talk to the pilot. Billy used the opportunity to reach in his pocket and remove a pair of matching jewelry boxes, which he handed to Misty and Pepper.
“For me? You shouldn’t have,” Misty said.
“They’re on loan. You don’t get to keep them,” Billy said.
“Spoilsport.”
Misty flipped open the lid of her box and gasped at the diamond necklace with a pear-shaped jade stone. The stone was of a vibrant emerald green color and nearly translucent.
“It’s beautiful. Can I put it on?” Misty asked.
“That’s what it’s for,” Billy said.
Misty fitted the necklace on and admired it in the window’s reflection.
“How much is this little baby worth?” Misty asked.
“Half a million big ones. One of Gabe’s buddies owns the Tesorini jewelry store inside the Bellagio. The necklaces are on loan,” Billy said.
Pepper’s box also contained a jade necklace, the stone carved as a leaf and encrusted with sparkling diamonds. She followed Misty’s lead and put the necklace on.
“These look too perfect,” Pepper said. “Are you sure they’re not fakes?”
“Of course they’re not fakes,” Gabe said. “The stones are called jadeite. They come from Myanmar and are the most sought-after jewels in the world. The royal court of China once had a standing order for all available jadeite. The Chinese believe jadeite brings good luck.”
“Let me guess. These necklaces are part of why we’re here,” Misty said.
Billy picked up the remote from the armrest of his chair and raised the music inside the cabin. He didn’t think the pilot was eavesdropping from the cockpit, but there was no such thing as being too careful. He leaned forward in his seat and dropped his voice.
“Yes, they are,” he said.
“What do Pepper and I have to do, beside wear them?”
“Nothing yet.”
“Why won’t you tell us more? I’m dying to know.”
“Me, too. You can’t keep us in the dark forever, you know,” Pepper said.
Pepper’s powers of persuasion went beyond that of most beautiful women, and Billy knew that she and Misty would have little trouble in extracting the desired information from him, if they chose to. He’d slept with both of them, and at the end of their lovemaking he would have recited the alphabet backward if they’d asked him to.
“All will be revealed. Just be patient,” he said.
“Can we try to guess?” Pepper asked.
“You won’t figure this one out, trust me,” Gabe said.
“You’d be surprised at what Misty and I can figure out. Bet you we do.”
“What’s the wager?” Billy asked.
Pepper slapped her hand on Billy’s knee and gave it a squeeze.
“I’ll think of something,” she said.
DeSantis returned from the cockpit a few minutes later. He’d been gone too long, and Billy didn’t think their host was schmoozing with the pilot. More than likely Fast Eddie had been on the phone with his boss at Carnivale talking over their strategy of how to reel Billy in.
“How about if we stop at Carnivale before I take you back to the Rio?” DeSantis suggested. “We have some fantastic accommodations that I’d like to show you. People say there’s nothing like them in all of Las Vegas.”
The invitation sounded forced. The boss had told DeSantis to go for the kill.
“Nicer than the Rio?” Billy asked.
“I would have to say yes. Much nicer,” DeSantis said.
“We have a dinner reservation at the Rio. We’ll have to take a rain check.”
“I’ll comp you to dinner as well. Carnivale’s gourmet restaurants are considered the finest in all of Las Vegas. Name your pleasure and you’ll be eating it in an hour.”
DeSantis wasn’t going to give up. It was bush league and lacked class. DeSantis was smarter than that, which meant it was his boss’s doing. DeSantis’s boss was a bean counter and wanted an immediate return on the investment Eddie had made on Billy and his crew.
“Italian,” Billy said.
“La Madia,” Eddie shot back.
“Is it good?”
“It’s considered the best Italian food in town. I’ll make the reservations right now.”
DeSantis got on his cell phone and booked a table at La Madia. It was playing out exactly as Billy had hoped. Every casino had a flaw that could be exploited. Some printed their own playing cards to save money. A great idea, unless the cheats went to the printing plant and altered the presses so the cards were marked during the printing process.
Other casinos didn’t properly train their dealers on correct table etiquette, allowing players to add chips to their bets after a game’s outcome was known.
And some casinos even let security guards on the casino floor take private phone calls during working hours. Cheats would call these guards’ cell phone numbers and talk to them while their crews were working scams in the casino.
These flaws cost casinos millions in losses every year and happened because someone wasn’t doing his or her job right.
Carnivale’s flaw was more serious. The owners were letting accountants run the show, and accountants didn’t know jack about operating a casino. Because of the accountants, Carnivale was dependent upon whales to make their nut. That was fine, unless a whale got lucky. If that happened, the casino could suffer losses so catastrophic they’d go into the red.
It had happened in Monte Carlo a hundred years ago when eight Italian aristocrats had taken the fabled casino down. And it had happened in Biloxi, Mississippi, twenty-five years ago when a party of rednecks had gone on a tear and had owned the joint by the time their incredible run was over. It was going to happen again, only this time it would take place on the Las Vegas Strip, where it had never happened before. History was about to be made, a new chapter written.
Billy’s haul would be in the neighborhood of ten million. But Carnivale would lose much more. He got excited just thinking about it.
Eleven
The next few hours passed in a blur for Billy and his crew.