It Was a Very Bad Year rp-7

by Robert J. Randisi

  ‘There’s a lot of stuff here, Jerry,’ I said. ‘I doubt he’d want to leave it behind. In fact, I doubt that he’s even leavin’ town.’

  ‘He ain’t as scared, or as stupid, as we thought,’ Jerry said.

  ‘No, he’s still stupid. Or else why leave this stuff lyin’ around?’

  ‘It ain’t lyin’ around,’ Jerry said. ‘It’s under lock and key.’

  ‘Still,’ I said, ‘this kidnap stuff, and the note I found in his desk drawer. . not smart.’

  ‘OK,’ Jerry said, ‘but he’s tougher than we thought. He tried to have us both killed, tried to set us up again in that warehouse.’

  ‘He’s still in town,’ I said. ‘Maybe the Rienzas know where.’

  ‘How do we find out?’

  ‘We ask ’em.’

  ‘I hope that don’t mean goin’ to a police station?’ Jerry said.

  ‘No,’ I said, ‘I’ll just call Hargrove. Come on, let’s lock up and get out of here.’

  The combination lock wouldn’t close again, but we managed to hang it on the door so it looked locked. Only Irwin, when he came to get inside, would know.

  As we went down the back stairs I said, ‘We’re gonna need somebody to sit on this place and watch for Irwin to come back.’

  ‘Not me.’

  ‘No,’ I said, ‘I’ll ask Danny to find somebody.’

  We took the kidnap folder and a roll of film with us. I put them in the back seat while Jerry got behind the wheel.

  ‘Where to?’ he asked.

  ‘Phone.’

  ‘Pay phone?’

  I thought a moment, then said, ‘My house.’

  ‘Is that smart? I mean, what if Irwin sends somebody after us again?’

  ‘You’ll take care of ’em.’

  ‘As long as there’s not more than three.’

  When we walked into my house Jerry got a beer from the frig while I called Danny.

  ‘Yeah, I got a guy who can sit on the place,’ he said, after I told him everything we found. ‘Stag films, huh? I hate those things. Most of the girls look strung out on somethin’.’

  ‘For all we know Irwin’s dealin’ in drugs, too. The guy’s real good at playin’ dumb.’

  ‘Well, maybe he’s a pro when it comes to fuck films and drugs, but he’s still an amateur when it comes to kidnapping.’

  ‘Ain’t that the truth. Listen, give your guy all my numbers and have him call as soon as he sees Irwin.’

  ‘I’ll have him tail him, and then call.’

  ‘OK. Thanks, Danny.’

  I hung up, called Hargrove at his office. He was there.

  ‘You’re running out of time, Eddie.’

  ‘What about the Rienzas?’ I asked. ‘How are they doin’ on time?’

  ‘Better than you,’ he said. ‘They’re out.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Hit the streets hours ago.’

  ‘How did that happen?’

  ‘Their alibi checked out.’

  ‘You said yourself about alibis-’

  ‘Hey, if it checks out, it checks out,’ he said. ‘There’s nothing I can do about it. I had to cut them loose.’

  ‘That’s great.’

  ‘Watch your back,’ Hargrove said. ‘I think they were pretty mad at you.’

  I hung up.

  ‘So?’ Jerry asked. ‘They’re out?’

  ‘Yup.’

  ‘Want a beer?’

  ‘Yup.’

  He tossed me a can. I caught it one handed.

  ‘Now what?’ he asked.

  ‘I don’t know, Jerry,’ I said. ‘We got the word out on Irwin, and we got his storage unit covered. I seriously don’t know what else we can do. You got any suggestions?’

  His eyes brightened and he said, ‘Get somethin’ to eat?’

  SEVENTY-ONE

  Morning came and we had twenty-four hours left to find Irwin and prove that he was responsible for Wayne’s death. Also that he was involved in the kidnapping.

  I took Jerry and the folder we had found to Jack Entratter’s office at the Sands. We told him how we had come by it, and what we thought it meant.

  ‘So,’ Entratter said, ‘it’s not finished. Even if Irwin didn’t plan the kidnapping, it’s obvious he was involved and has to pay. Frank isn’t gonna let anyone get off scot free.’

  ‘He ain’t gettin’ off free,’ Jerry said. ‘Mr G. and me are gonna find him.’

  ‘And we need to do it in the next twenty-four hours,’ I said, ‘or Jerry and I will be behind bars.’

  ‘Well,’ Entratter said, ‘you ain’t gonna find him sittin’ here. Let me know if there’s anythin’ I can do to help.’

  ‘Keep your lawyer on call, Jack,’ I said. ‘He may have to get us outta jail.’

  ‘You got it.’

  We left Entratter’s office, took the elevator down to the hotel lobby, where I stopped dead.

  ‘What is it, Mr G.?’

  I stared at him for a moment, then said, ‘I don’t know where to go next, Jerry.’

  ‘We could go sit on his storage unit,’ Jerry said.

  ‘Danny’s already got a guy on it,’ I said. ‘What’s the point of the three of us there?’

  ‘So is there any place else we can look?’

  ‘I figured with all the stops we made we would have gotten a call by now,’ I said. ‘We’ve got less than a day.’

  ‘You really think Hargrove would be that much of a dick?’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ I said, ‘I do.’

  ‘Maybe we should do some more drivin’ around, then,’ Jerry said.

  A bellman came walking over.

  ‘Mr Gianelli, hotel operator’s got a call for you. They won’t hang up until we find you.’

  ‘OK, thanks,’ I said. ‘I’ll get it on a house phone.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  I took Jerry over to a bank of phones and picked one up.

  ‘Operator, it’s Eddie Gianelli. You have a call for me?’

  ‘Yes, sir, I’ll put it through.’

  I waited only a few seconds and then a girl said, ‘Eddie? It’s Darla.’

  ‘Hey, Darla,’ I said, raising my eyebrows at Jerry. ‘We were just talkin’ about you.’

  ‘Good things I hope, love,’ she said.

  ‘Only the best. You got somethin’ for me?’

  ‘I’ve got a location where your guy might be hidin’ out,’ she said.

  ‘Where’d you get this info?’

  ‘I put the word out on the street, same as you. One of my people got back to me.’

  ‘OK,’ I said. ‘So where is this place?’

  ‘Out in the desert.’

  ‘The desert’s a big place, hon.’

  ‘Well,’ she said, ‘the exact location is gonna cost ya, Eddie.’

  ‘You’ll get paid, Darla,’ I said. ‘You know you can trust me.’

  ‘We just have to agree on a price, Eddie,’ she said. ‘Then I’ll trust you for it.’

  ‘How about two hundred?’ I asked.

  ‘How about two thousand?’ she asked. ‘Is this important to ya?’

  Important enough that I didn’t really want to haggle, but I was probably going to have to do business with her in the future.

  ‘Five hundred, Darla.’

  ‘A thousand and you got a deal.’

  ‘OK,’ I said. ‘A grand. Now give.’

  ‘He’s at the Sunshine Ranch.’

  ‘That’s just outside of Indian Springs, right?’

  ‘That’s the one.’

  One of the things the casinos had to supply for their clients was women, which meant we had to know where the women were. And if they weren’t on the street, they were in the ranches out in the desert. Many had been closed down as public nuisances in 1951, but the ones that continued to operate had a ‘special’ relationship with the law.

  ‘Darla, is he there now?’

  ‘I been hangin’ on the phone for you a while, Eddie,’ she said, ‘but when I made t
he call, he was still there. That’s why I wouldn’t hang up till I talked to ya.’

  ‘And you’re positive this is a place he goes?’

  ‘He goes there a lot, Eddie,’ she said. ‘He owns it.’

  Well, maybe that explained where Irwin got some of his girls for his stag films.

  ‘Baby, if he’s there you earned every penny,’ I assured her.

  ‘I’ll be waitin’, lover.’

  I hung up.

  ‘What’s near Indian Springs?’ Jerry asked.

  ‘The Sunshine Ranch,’ I said. ‘It’s a brothel. A cathouse.’

  ‘Whores?’

  ‘Lots of ’em.’

  ‘And that’s where Irwin is?’

  ‘He was when she made the call.’

  ‘How far away is that?’ he asked.

  ‘Maybe an hour.’

  We stood there and stared at each other for a few moments. The same thing was going through our heads. Call Hargrove and walk away, or drive out there and get Irwin ourselves?

  ‘Let’s do it,’ Jerry said, and I nodded.

  SEVENTY-TWO

  For a long time I’d been of the opinion that prostitution in Las Vegas should be legalized. Not so much the street trade, like Darla, but the girls who worked the hotels and ranches out in the desert. Once that was done, Las Vegas would become the place people could go to get anything they wanted.

  We kicked up a lot of dust as most of the drive was on dirt roads. Eventually, we came within sight of a structure and I put my hand on Jerry’s arm. He braked and let the car idle.

  ‘That it?’ he asked.

  ‘Should be.’

  ‘Don’t look like much.’

  ‘Some of them actually look like a ranch,’ I said, ‘but this one. .’

  This one looked like a worn out double-wide. There were a couple of cars parked out front.

  ‘Let’s back up some, just till we’re out of sight,’ I said. ‘Then we’ll walk the rest of the way.’

  He put the Caddy in reverse. We only had to go about twenty yards. I directed Jerry to pull off the road. If anyone came along maybe they’d think we’d gotten stuck and had to walk.

  We got out of the car and, since we were in the desert, left our jackets in the car. I could see Jerry’s.45 tucked into the back of his pants.

  Once we started out on foot I looked around, imagining that this was the same view a cowboy would’ve seen a hundred years ago when he was out here on a horse. That is, until we once again came within view of the trailer.

  ‘Let’s circle and come in from the back,’ I suggested.

  ‘Good idea.’

  From that angle we could see how large the structure actually was. An extension had been built on the back, which probably housed rooms — or cribs — for the girls.

  We couldn’t walk right in and pretend to be customers. Irwin had seen both of us, would know us on the spot. Of course, we could’ve taken the chance that he wouldn’t notice us till too late, but with girls and customers around some innocent people could have gotten hurt if there was gun play.

  And there were customers. We saw a few cars parked alongside the trailer’s extension. And there were those two out front. Some of the cars must have belonged to employees, so I was hoping the interior wasn’t going to be too crowded.

  There was a back door at the very end of the extension, but if we went in that way we’d probably have to bypass every room in the place.

  ‘There’s gotta be another door, maybe on the other side,’ Jerry said.

  We circled completely around the building and, sure enough, found a side door about halfway up the extension. There were also three motorcycles parked there. Not only was Irwin probably inside, but the Rienzas, as well.

  We’d done this before, even though neither of us was an expert at breaking and entering. There were windows on either side of the door. The window on the right was blocked with something, so it was probably a crib. The window to the left was clear, and the room appeared to be an office. We saw a desk, a lamp, and a sofa. We could only see half the sofa, though, so we saw half a man lying on it — the bottom half. However, that half was clad in lime green pants, and white shoes.

  ‘That’s him,’ I whispered.

  ‘Gotta be,’ Jerry said.

  Instead of having the bad luck to have to use the back door, we ran into good luck. Once we got through this side door we’d be right next to the room Barney Irwin was in.

  Jerry dropped to one knee and started working with his lock picks. I kept looking both ways — actually, all ways; left, right, behind us and above. I was sweating, and it wasn’t just from the sun beating down on us. The back of Jerry’s shirt was soaked through, but knowing him that was from the sun.

  Irwin might still be dressing like a buffoon, but we’d discovered he was more than that. This might not be as easy as we’d hoped. It wasn’t necessarily just girls, customers, other employees and Irwin inside. He could have a couple of mugs with him.

  I heard the lock go snick and patted Jerry on his damp shoulder. He was getting better at that.

  He stood up, looked at me and indicated he would take the lead. I nodded. He slid his.45 from his belt, held it in his right hand, and put his left hand on the door knob.

  He looked at me. Again, I nodded, and he opened the door.

  SEVENTY-THREE

  We stepped inside, closing the door behind us. Irwin may not have spent much money on the worn outer shell of the place, but the inside was air-conditioned. My soaked shirt immediately felt like a coat of ice on me.

  We moved down a short hall, which led to a longer one that ran the center of the extension. Jerry peered out to be sure we were clear, then waved me on with his left hand as he stepped out. At any minute a girl and her john could come walking up or down the hall. We quickly moved to the door of the office. Jerry grabbed the knob, turned it and the door opened. We sprang into the room; I pulled the door closed behind, quickly, without slamming it.

  ‘What the hell is it now?’ Irwin demanded from the sofa. ‘Can’t a guy catch a nap-’

  He stopped when Jerry put the barrel of his.45 to Irwin’s cheek.

  ‘What the fuck?’ Irwin said.

  I moved around so he could see me. When he did, he craned his head against the pressure of the.45 and saw Jerry.

  ‘Fuck me,’ he said.

  ‘That’s exactly what we’re here to do, Barney,’ I said.

  ‘Hey, guys, look,’ Irwin said, ‘there’s no hard feelins-’

  ‘Cut the crap, Barney,’ I said. ‘You tried to have us killed, and we saw what’s in your storage unit. So cut the crap.’

  Irwin looked at me and asked, ‘Can I sit up?’

  ‘Let him up, Jerry.’

  Jerry moved the barrel of the gun far enough to let Irwin upright.

  ‘You guys are in trouble,’ Irwin said, his entire attitude doing a one-eighty. ‘You don’t think I’m here without back-up, do you?’

  ‘We don’t care,’ Jerry said, ‘We seen the kinda help you hire.’

  Irwin looked at Jerry, then surprised me by smiling.

  ‘You’re right, of course,’ he said. ‘Maybe you’d consider coming to work for me?’

  ‘Sorry,’ Jerry said, ‘I don’t work for guys who wear white shoes.’

  Irwin looked down at his feet, still smiling.

  ‘Barney,’ I said, ‘you know who Jerry is and what he does, right?’

  ‘Oh yeah,’ Irwin said, ‘I checked him out after that day in the warehouse.’

  ‘Then you know he’d kill you.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Then get up,’ I said. ‘We’re walkin’ out of here. And if you make a ruckus, Jerry’s gonna pull the trigger of that forty-five. It might even blow your head completely off your shoulders.’

  ‘I doubt that, Eddie,’ Irwin said, ‘but I’m sure it would blow the top of my head off, so I get your point.’

  He stood up. Now that he wasn’t playing the lecherous photographer
he even stood differently.

  ‘Where we goin’?’ he asked.

  ‘I’m gonna deliver you to a detective named Hargrove,’ I said. ‘With the Las Vegas PD.’

  ‘You can’t prove anything.’

  ‘That’s his job,’ I said. ‘He’s gonna prove that you either killed Wayne or had him killed. I’m sure he’ll get one or both of the Rienza brothers to admit you hired them to kill me. He won’t be able to prove you sent three hoods to Brooklyn to kill Jerry. But he will be able to prove that you were involved in the kidnapping of Frank Sinatra Jr. In fact, he might even prove you planned the whole thing.’

  ‘What?’ He’d still been grinning until I mentioned the kidnapping. ‘What the hell? That was my brother’s thing, not mine.’

  ‘We found the floor plan of Harrah’s in your storage unit, Barney,’ I said. ‘And a note in your desk drawer. Silly of you to keep those things.’

  ‘None of it,’ Irwin said. ‘You can’t prove any of it.’

  ‘I only told him I’d deliver you,’ I said. ‘Proving anythin’ is his job. Let’s go.’

  ‘You heard him,’ Jerry said.

  ‘The Rienzas are here, you know,’ Irwin said. ‘With a couple of the girls.’

  ‘Let’s hope they stay busy,’ I said. ‘For their benefit as much as yours.’

  Irwin patted his pockets, as if he’d forgotten something, then looked around.

  ‘You won’t need a jacket,’ I said. ‘Let’s go, out the side door.’

  He nodded, and headed for the door. Jerry put his hand out to stop him, went to the door first. He looked out, then waved us to follow. He kept his gun in his hand.

  We could hear girls laughing and men moaning, but we made it out the side door without running into anyone. We headed to the front of the building, intending to walk him to my car. But as we passed the front door it opened and a Rienza brother stepped out.

  ‘Hey, boss, where you goin’-’ he started to shout, but then he saw Jerry.

  ‘Get ’em!’ Irwin shouted, and dropped to the ground.

  The other Rienza came through the door and they both pulled their guns.

  ‘Jerry, get down!’ I yelled, but he had a gun and I didn’t. Jerry knocked me down, then turned to face the Rienzas in what seemed like an Old West gunfight.