“Lou-”
“All I got to do is finish you and I can blow town.”
“Blow town anyway, Lou. I won’t say a word.”
“Sorry, Eddie,” Lou said. “You’re a decent guy, but I can’t afford to take the chance, ya know?”
“Yeah,” I said, “yeah, I know.”
“Here comes your waitress,” Terazzo said. “She your girl?”
“She’s got nothin’ to do with anything, Lou.”
“Well, you walk on out of here with me and she won’t get hurt. Capice?”
“Yeah, Eddie, I capice.”
“Here’s your drink, Eddie,” Bev said, reaching the table.
“I just remembered I’ve got an appointment,” I said to her.
“Don’t I know you?” she asked Terazzo.
“Naw, you don’t know me, girlie. Come on, Eddie.”
Terazzo slid out of the booth. There was no gun in his hand, so I assumed it was in his belt.
“No, I think I recognize you-”
“No, you don’t.” I grabbed her hand, stuffed a twenty into it.
“You don’t know him.”
We started for the door with Terazzo behind me when Bev called out, “Yeah, I remember. Lou Terazzo.”
“Hold it!” Terazzo said.
“Forget it, Lou.”
“Just stop. Turn around.”
We both turned, and when we did I saw that Terazzo did have his gun in his belt, at the front of his pants.
“C’mere, sweetie,” he said to Bev.
Suddenly, Beverly looked uncertain, as if she realized something was going on she didn’t understand.
“I–I got to finish my shift-”
“Your shift is finished.” He pulled his jacket back to show her his gun. “Now c’mon over here, or your boyfriend gets it.”
“Lou, let ’er go-”
“She knows me, Eddie,” Lou said. “I can’t.” He looked at Bev. “Now, sister. Move!”
Bev looked around the lounge, but everybody was listening to the fresh-faced kid on stage go into his next song. Nobody was paying any attention to us.
She sidled over to us and Terazzo made her stand next to me.
“Now we’re all leavin’, nice and quiet,” he said. “Like three happy friends. Got it?”
“Eddie-” Bev said.
“Just do as he says, Bev,” I told her, “It’ll be all right.”
We left the lounge and Lou said to me, “Take us out a back way,
Eddie. Come on. You know this place inside and out.”
I tried to think of a way to get Bev away from him, but he wouldn’t give me the time.
“If we run into somebody in security, or anything like that,” he told me, “I’m gonna start shootin’. You got that?”
“I got it.”
I led the way, deciding to use what was the least-traveled path in the casino. I took him down the hall leading to the stairs that went down to the Rat Pack’s steam room. Only instead of going down we continued on until we got to a back door. When I opened it and we stepped out we were in the parking lot behind the Sands. Terazzo looked around and, satisfied that we were alone, took out his gun.
“Right here, Lou?” I asked.
“It’s as good a place as any. Plenty of cars for me to grab.”
“You’d have to shoot us and then hot-wire one,” I said. “Why not just take my keys?”
“Nice try, hot shot, but I blew your car up, remember?”
Shit!
“Wait,” he said, looking at Bev. “Where’s your car?”
“It’s out here, but my keys are in my purse.”
“Where’s your purse?”
“In the lounge, behind the bar.”
“Fuck!”
“Lou-”
“Shut up,” he said. “I’m tryin’ ta think.”
Bev looked at me, biting her lower lip, and I winked with a lot more conviction than I felt.
“Okay, we’ll hot-wire a car and then I’ll take care of you two. Come on, I like that red one over there. Both of you, move.”
“Red?” I asked, as he pushed us along. “That’s kinda conspicuous, ain’t it, Lou?”
“Don’t matter,” he said. “I’m headin’ right outta town. Nobody’s gonna be lookin’ for me.”
“What about your bosses?” I asked. “They’re gonna be pissed when they find out what you did.”
“Whatta they care? Besides, they ain’t gonna find me, either. Stop.”
We stopped by a red Corvette.
“You’ve got expensive taste, Lou.”
“Look,” he said, “it ain’t even locked. I’ll bet some high roller left his key in it. Take a look.”
I peered into the car.
“No luck,” I said. “You’ll have to wire it.”
“And I’ll need both hands,” he said. “Nice try. You do it.”
“Me? I can’t hot-wire a car.”
“Didn’t I heard you say one time you were from Brooklyn?”
“That doesn’t mean I can steal a car.”
“I can.”
We both looked at Bev.
“What?” Terazzo asked.
“I can jack a car. I used to do it when I was in college.”
Terazzo grinned.
“My kinda girl.” He laughed. “Maybe I’ll take you with me, honey. How would you like that?”
“I’ll get the car started,” she said, “but to tell you the truth I’d rather you shoot me with him then take me with you.”
Terazzo lost his smile. Suddenly, he backhanded her across the face.
“Bitch! You’re all bitches. Don’t move, Eddie. Don’t be a hero.”
My muscles had tensed and I might have jumped him but he stuck the gun in my face.
“Open the door for the lady, Eddie,” he said. “She’ll get the car started, and then we’ll decide who gets a bullet first, you or her.”
I opened the door. Next thing I knew I heard Terazzo grunt. I turned and saw that a hand had come over his shoulder and grabbed his gun hand by the wrist. He was turned around abruptly and before he could react a fist crashed into his face. He went limp and as he slid to the ground the hand holding his wrist came away with the gun.
“I don’t know what this is about, pally,” Dean Martin said, “but I hate to see a lady get hit.”
Fifty-eight
I finally got to drink my bourbon, only this time I made it a double. To Bev’s credit she insisted on continuing her shift.
“If I go home I’ll just sit in a corner and shake,” she said. “But as scary as it was, at least I get to know that my life was saved by Dean Martin!”
That was looking on the bright side, all right.
Dean had come back from the Riviera after filming before the other guys. He spotted me with Bev and Lou Terazzo, started across the parking lot towards us, but increased his speed when he saw Lou smack Bev. He waited around long enough to hand the gun to a cop, then went to his suite, where he said he’d be available to make a statement. He told me to come up and see him when I was done.
True to his name, “Unlucky Lou” had picked the wrong day to come at me head-on, and was on his way to jail. I was nursing my bourbon, waiting for Detective Hargrove to come and question me for what I hoped was the last time. While I was sitting there Jerry came walking in.
“What’s goin’ on?” he asked. “I seen cops outside.”
“Have a seat and a drink,” I said, “I’ll tell you all about it.”
By the time I finished he was staring morosely into his beer.
“You coulda got killed,” he said, “and it woulda been my fault.”
“First of all,” I said, “I’m not dead, and second of all, don’t try to take all the credit. I let him walk right up to me.”
“This was my job,” he said. “I’m the pro, not you.”
“Jerry,” I argued, “you did your job, kept me alive in that fleabag and got hauled in for it.” I picked up my glass and raised it to him. “Here’s to pros.”
He raised his glass, but still wasn’t completely satisfied.
“I guess I better check out and head back to New York.”
“Stay an extra day,” I said. “I’ll show you some of Vegas you didn’t get to see.”
“I s’pose I could stay one more night. I’ll just have to tell Frank-”
“I’ll arrange it with the hotel,” I said. “And come to the show tonight.”
“Frank said I should come whenever I wanted,” he told me. “So, okay. I’ll see the show. I heard they’re hilarious together.”