The casinos knew these tricks. The wheel used in Wang’s sky palace would be tested for special varnishes and weights. If nothing improper was found, the wheel would be sent to the gaming board lab, where it would be tested again. If the gaming board discovered even the slightest bias, it would instruct Carnivale not to pay Wang off. Wang would then be forced to take the Carnivale to court to get his dough.
Billy had taken these things into consideration when devising his roulette scam. Neither the casino nor the gaming board would find anything wrong with the wheel, and they would not have grounds to deny Wang. Tomorrow afternoon, a pair of Loomis armored trucks would pull up to Carnivale’s entrance and deliver Wang his money. End of story.
Wang was done filling out the forms. The look on his face was one of relief. Wang would go back home, settle his debt with the Chinese gangster, and live happily ever after. If he were smart, he’d take up another hobby and never gamble inside a casino again.
Two beautiful cocktail waitresses appeared. Each held a tray of champagne flutes. The drinks were passed out. Lamb had on his brave face, and he offered a toast.
“Congratulations on your incredible win,” Lamb said.
The three other orangutans raised their flutes and offered their congratulations.
Billy sipped his drink, smelling a rat. Wang was already liquored up; Lamb had made sure of that back in the sky palace. If Lamb kept feeding Wang booze, Wang could be convinced to return to the tables and start gambling again. If the Carnivale was desperate enough, they might rig the game and steal some of their money back. It happened.
“Get your boyfriend away from these goons,” Billy told Pepper.
“Maybe I’ll put him to bed. He’s looking a little worn out,” Pepper said.
“You’re really in love with him, aren’t you?”
“I’m afraid I am. Have you ever fallen in love on a job?”
Billy smiled. The first scam he’d ever pulled, he’d fallen in love with Maggie Flynn. “Stay with him. Just in case a hooker gets sent up and tries to talk him into going downstairs and gambling.”
“Will do. You still haven’t told us how we get our money. You going to rob him?”
“I told you in Lake Tahoe that wouldn’t happen. Wang keeps the money.”
Pepper nearly dropped her drink. “All of it?”
“All of it.”
“What about our share?”
“That comes later.”
Billy handed his empty flute to a waitress. The adrenaline that came from scamming the casino had burned off, and he was spent. He was going to remember this day for the rest of his life, not only because of the score, but because he’d killed a man and felt no regrets. He hoped he’d never have to do it again but wasn’t making any promises.
He bid good night to Wang and his crew and headed for the elevators.
Fifty-Three
“How you two gentlemen doing?” the bartender asked.
Grimes was doing shitty, thanks for asking. The gaming agent pointed at the empty shot glass on the bar. It looked lonely, and the bartender filled it to the brim.
“How about you?” the bartender asked.
Tricaricco put his hand over his shot glass to say he was done. The bartender returned the bottle of Johnnie Walker to the shelf and took a sawbuck from the stack of bills on the bar.
“Keep the change,” Grimes said.
The bartender left to wait on another thirsty customer. Grimes took a deep breath and slammed back the drink. He hadn’t eaten and it hit his empty stomach like a hand grenade.
“You should get some food,” Tricaricco suggested.
“Screw that. I’m heading home and hitting the sack,” Grimes said. “There’s no reason to rush this. I’ll deal with this situation tomorrow.”
They were sitting in the darkened bar in Frankie’s Tiki Room, a Polynesian-themed cocktail lounge on Charleston. The evening shift at the casinos had ended and the joint was filling up with dealers looking to end the day on a high note. Tricaricco still wore the clothes he’d had on earlier in the day, as did Grimes. The gaming agents had not gone home to their families, but instead had phoned their wives to say an emergency had arisen.
“Fuck tomorrow. You’ll deal with it now,” Tricaricco said, barely able to control his anger. “This is your problem, Frankie boy, and you’re not going to walk away from it.”
“Is that an order?” Grimes asked.
“Don’t be a wiseass. I’m here to help you.”
“Is that why you paid for the kerosene?”
Tricaricco stopped talking and looked over Grimes’s head into the bar. “A guy who used to work for the gaming board just came in. Let’s get out of here before he makes us.”
Grimes slid off his chair and followed Tricaricco outside. His head was spinning and the cool night air hit him like a slap in the face in the parking lot. They went to his car and he fumbled pulling his car keys from his pocket. Tricaricco took the keys from his hand.
“I’ll drive, you navigate,” Tricaricco said.
“You taking me home?” Grimes asked.
“No, Frank, I’m not taking you home.”
“You can’t make me do this.”
“What other choice do you have? This is the only way it can end. Now, get in the car and we’ll go get it done.”
“What if I mess it up? What then?”
“You’re not going to mess it up. Now, get in the car.”
The alcohol had thickened Grimes’s tongue and fogged his brain. He went to the driver’s door before realizing that he wasn’t driving. He walked around the back of the car, and before getting into the passenger side, he halted and puked his guts out on the pavement.
“You okay?” Tricaricco asked when Grimes was settled in.
“Not really,” Grimes said.
Grimes had never been to the house at night and it took him a while to find it. The neighborhood south of Nellis Air Force Base was ground zero for criminal activity and drug dealing, and he knew they were taking a risk coming here.
“This is it,” Grimes said.
Tricaricco parked at the curb and killed the engine. They sat in silence and watched cars pull up to different addresses and people jump out and run in, to emerge only moments later.
“I can’t do this,” Grimes blurted out. “I’m going to get caught. Look at how many fucking people there are out there. Someone’s going to spot me.”
“Do you know how many people got whacked in this neighborhood last year? Half the murders in the city happened here. It’s an everyday occurrence,” Tricaricco said.
“What are you saying — that no one will notice?”
“No one cares, Frank. These people are animals. Let’s get this over with.”
The two men got out of the car. Tricaricco popped the trunk and removed the paper bag with the stacks of hundred-dollar bills that he’d withdrawn from the branch of the Nevada State Bank where he kept his personal account. The five-gallon can of kerosene was also in the trunk and still had the sticker from True Value. He handed Grimes the money bag. “Whatever you do, don’t drop it. The magazine’s fully loaded and the safety’s off.”
“Right.”
“I’ll be here waiting for you. Trust me, Frank, it’s the right thing to do.”
“No, it’s not.”
Drunk and breathing hard, Grimes headed up the front path clutching the bag to his chest. He’d always wondered what it felt like to be a soldier in combat and realized he was about to find out. Before he could knock on the front door, the sickly yellow overhead light came on and the door swung in.
“It’s a little late for a house call, don’t you think?” Junior Haney said.
“I’ve got another job for you,” Grimes said.