She was down to her last two chips: one red, one blue. Frank winked at her and placed two chips over four numbers each. She didn't know what to do because she couldn't cover his bet. His two chips were on both black and red numbers: Frank was gambling for real now. He’d thrown their scheme out the window. The past three balls had come up red-black-black so Mary Lou went for broke with a fifteen dollar ride on red.
The ball hurtled along the edge of the wheel and settled down into a slot. Red. She’d up their ante by fifteen dollars. Then she looked up at Frank who was grinning from ear to ear. The croupier pushed four green chips over toward him - that was one hundred dollars off that single spin, along with the two hundred they’d already moved around the table.
Frank winked and stood up, followed by Mary Lou a moment later. They headed off to a poker game and perched with several spectators watching a round with over a thousand in the pot. A man with a beard won and they all applauded.
“Let’s wait awhile and do that again.”
“You confused me at the end.”
“Yeah? I had a good vibe about the number two and fourteen. No idea why, but it worked.”
“The important thing isn't the winning though, is it?”
“No, but winning sure feels great, babe.”
There was no answer to that because Frank was right. There was nothing in this world like knowing you've beaten someone. And beating the house on a roulette wheel is a mighty difficult task. They both knew the only way to succeed was to play for a short while - and stop if you ever look as though you’re sitting on a losing streak. Not following those simple rules makes you a terminal loser.
He placed all the green chips into his pocket.
“That’s what we walked in with so it’s safe. This time let’s play to win.”
“Just don’t bet against each other.”
“We can have some fun if you like. Don’t place any even bets.”
“No black-red or odd-evens?”
“Nope. If we lose what’s in our hands it won’t matter, so let’s earn ourselves a little scratch.”
Two minutes later they sat at a different wheel and placed a small bet. Frank covered four numbers each time and Mary Lou saw what he chose and picked other sets of a similar value. She reckoned that would maximize their chances of winning something.
The first time, the croupier took all their red chips but the second and third attempts, chips headed first to Frank and then to Mary Lou. For the next set of three, first Mary Lou won then they both lost with Frank chalking up a win at the end.
Mary Lou looked down at her chips: one hundred dollars minimum without counting and Frank appeared to hold about the same. She stared at him as he considered placing more chips onto the green baize. He looked up and saw her expression and nodded.
They both stood up, took their chips and strolled away from the table.
“I’ve got around one hundred fifty dollars. You?”
“Hundred forty plus the two hundred in my pocket.”
“Let’s cash out.”
“Shame we can’t do this with the whole half a million.”
“They’ll notice if we did and besides, shifting two hundred an hour would mean we’d be stuck in Vegas until a man landed on the moon.”
Frank and Mary Lou headed towards a different cashier counter and handed over their chips. The cashier counted them twice and fished out a bunch of notes.
“Small denominations please.”
The woman nodded and swapped out twenties for tens instead. She counted the notes and passed them over to Frank, who thanked her and walked away.
He looked around the casino and leaned into Mary Lou's ear.
“Looks like we’ve got trouble.”
26
FRANK LOOKED LEFT then right, grabbed Mary Lou’s hand and they headed straight ahead down the only aisle without a heavy stood in their way. Past the first table, he picked up the pace ever so slightly but not so much to make the casino staff figure they were about to bolt.
Two thickset guys in uniform walked along their own aisles in the same direction as Frank and Mary Lou.
“What we gonna do?”
“Gimme a minute, babe.”
She fell silent and kept looking all around her to spot a clear line of escape but nothing was visible. Frank was doing the same and reached the same conclusion. They carried on one step at a time, brushing past blackjack players as they walked. On each occasion, a head turned and someone else expressed their displeasure at being interrupted.
The two continued stomping down the aisle annoying patrons. The heavies were no nearer - but no further away - than when they’d collected the clean money from the counter. At the end of the blackjack tables were a set of roulette wheels. A lightbulb pinged on above Frank’s head.
The little white ball had just been thrown into a wheel on the left, so he leaned into another table, picked up a handful of chips and threw them up in the air. The players screamed - one of them tried to punch him but Frank sidestepped and dodged that bullet.
More usefully, everyone leapt to the floor to grab as many pieces of plastic as they could. Bedlam. A pile of people appeared from behind Mary Lou and Frank. The casino guys had nowhere to go. As much as they wanted to carry on pursuing the pair, their more immediate problem was to stop the fight breaking out right in front of their faces. Punches rained down on a young man and a middle aged woman. Every gambler grabbed at the free plastic money lying on the carpet.
Frank led Mary Lou past the rest of the roulette wheels until he caught sight of an exit. They hightailed toward the sign and out into the night. She looked back over her shoulder: no-one appeared for at least two seconds.
“Keep running.”
They did so until they vanished in the crowds marching along the strip and that was when they stopped, dusted themselves down and walked at the same pace as everyone else on the sidewalk. Sometimes the best way to hide is to melt into the crowd.
“Did they make us somehow?”
“Could have been the money we deposited, babe.”
“Or the mob tipped them off?”
“We were in one of their casinos but that’s true of almost every place in the city.”
“But they were after us, weren’t they?”
“Definitely. They were trying to corner us, for sure.”
“But was it the mob or the Feds?”
“No fucking clue, babe.”
Mary Lou nodded and fell silent to figure out quite who it was they’d escaped from.
“How much longer can we stay in Vegas, you reckon?”
“If we survive until tomorrow morning, we’ll be doing well.”
“Think we can make it?”
“Yeah. The crowds work in our favor and at most they've seen our hair color. Don’t mean they know who we are.”
“Could it have been the funny money?”
“The First Bank of Baltimore would have issued a list of the notes we stole and they’d have wired the serial numbers to anyone who wanted them.”
Mary Lou hoped he was right otherwise they were as good as dead.
“We shouldn't go back to the hotel.”
“Is there anything we need from there? Where d'you put your locker key?”
“It’s still by my rose, Frank. Where’s yours?”
“Heel of my shoe?”
“Doesn’t that hurt?”
“Once you’ve been in the joint, you learn to take the pain of hiding objects in places you hope no-one dares to search.”
The implication of those words soaked into Mary Lou and she stopped thinking about it because it created unpleasant ripples in the night. And things were bad enough without images of keys hidden in Frank’s crevices popping into her head.
“We need to get off the streets. If they’re a few hundred feet behind us, we’re sitting ducks out in the open.”
“Yep. Where to?”
“Another casino?”
“I wonder if there�
�s a movie house anywhere in this town.”
“For the locals maybe. Why?”
“Who’d be stupid enough to catch a film if you’re on the lam?”
“Dillinger and no-one else.”
“Exactly.”
For reasons that escaped her understanding, Frank’s argument made sense. In a warped way that defied logic, but in the absence of any other idea, this became the best plan they had.
At the far end of the strip, they turned left and walked up to the Rialto box office and bought two tickets for whatever had started most recently. They were in luck as The Thomas Crown Affair was about to begin. What better movie for them to watch than a tale of robberies, deceit and love.
They sat near the emergency exit in case of trouble but none came calling. They were right: no-one expected them to be in a cinema. All eyes were searching for a couple in a casino or in a restaurant.
By the time the end credits rolled, Frank and Mary Lou were tired and needed somewhere to sleep that wasn’t the Mint. They took the car out of town and turned off into the desert. When they couldn’t see the highway any more, he hit the brake.
“It’ll get cold later but no-one’ll find us here.”
Until the sun rose, they both slept fitfully but at least they got some rest. Only problem was they’d have to go back for the take before they could kiss goodbye to Sin City.
OVER THE LAST few days, Anthony had spent all his time with Bobby and Mickey. As entertaining as the guys were, Anthony would have been happy never to live another moment in their company ever again.
Anthony realized Bobby was okay: the fella whacked people for a living, so he wouldn't be the most fun guy to hang around. At least he kept his trap shut most of the time; the same could not be said of Mickey. He’d run off his mouth at a moment’s notice and keep going until no-one was listening. Then carry on for another minute at a bare minimum in case someone regained consciousness and needed an update on his views on life.
When this happened, Anthony would glance at Bobby who looked like he was planning to ax murder Mickey. With anybody else, this might have been a metaphor but Bobby’s expression showed he was giving the idea serious consideration.
As soon as Frank Senior received word from the Feds that Mary Lou and Frank were off to Vegas, Anthony and his merry men took the first plane over and holed up in the Sahara, next to the Thunderbird and on the edge of casino land. Two days in a row they’d toured the station and the airport to find zip. Then they walked around the casinos hoping to spot the pair but nada.
Now they were bored and tetchy. The only thing keeping Anthony together was the idea of catching them and dragging their sorry asses back to Frank Senior. If he was lucky, he’d get to torture them before he killed them. If not, the finder’s fee would keep him in clover for a while - long enough to buy two girls from the KitKatt Club for an entire night of debauched fun before he came home and bought a necklace for his girlfriend. He might take her to Atlantic City for a weekend too and he could win back the money he spent on the dancers. Everyone’d be a winner.
First, he had to get the pair of them - and the money. Bobby and Mickey needed to be separated for several hours as there was a limit for any human being to be in the same space as Mickey. Anthony made a mental note never to call on the guy again. A big mistake not to be repeated under any circumstances.
“Mickey, you walk the strip and see if you can find our pair there. Bobby, do you want to check out some casinos? Me, I’ll take a stroll toward the airport and then off to the railroad station. We can meet back at our hotel in three hours.”
“Why me?”
“Because I say so and I’m paying your wages. Don’t turn everything into a major case.”
“I’ll cover the Sahara, Thunderbird, Riviera and right on through to the Tropicana. Mickey, which end of the strip will you work first?”
“Dunno.”
“Decide.”
“Huh? Okay, I’ll go to the Hacienda.”
“Fine. As you’ll be at one end of the strip, I’ll start at the Sahara on the other side. That way we’ll have more eyes on more places. Right Anthony?”
“You said it, Bobby. For the same reason I’ll hit the station and hop over to the North Las Vegas Air Terminal. After that, McCarran Airport.”
“Jeez. You guys will be warm and comfortable indoors while I’m pounding the streets.”
“Let it go, Mickey. Now is not the time for belly aching.”
Bobby and Anthony stared down Mickey until even he understood to shut his mouth and headed out onto the street.
“Thank you for doing that.”
“No problem, Bobby. Wish I’d come up with it sooner. I had no idea Mickey would behave this way. Every other occasion I've used him, he might not be the sharpest tool in the box, but he’s always been effective.”
“I understand. We’ve all had dealings with his kind before.”
“But you get parole after a year.”
They both laughed and Bobby tipped his hat before heading out the door himself, followed by Anthony who headed for the station.
When he arrived, there was nothing to see. He stayed for an hour and two trains came and left. Four passengers in total made their way along the concourse. The only unusual activity was a solitary guy hanging around the platform gates.
He wore a normal suit - three piece with a tie - but he was noticeable by being there at all. Anthony was loitering in the station at a dumb time of the night, but no-one else spends an hour there for kicks. If you’re meeting someone you don’t turn up that early when fifty feet away is a hotel bar and casino. Made no sense.
Also, for a man stood by the gates, he showed no interest in any train on any platform. Instead, he spent his entire time facing the left luggage area. As much as he was leaning casually on a wall, Anthony gained the distinct impression those eagle eyes of his were trained on one location and no other.
He considered the suit some more along with the obsession over the lockers. Something clicked inside Anthony’s head. Frank Senior was right: they were not the only ones seeking the First Bank of Baltimore robbers. The New York mob must have dispatched their people too and he was staring at one of them as he stood and waited.
This sent Anthony into a flurry. Until this point he had assumed all they had to do was be in the right city at the right time and he’d make Frank Senior a happy man. But seeing the dude in the suit: Anthony knew they’d have to up their game and fight hard to be the ones to catch Frank and Mary Lou. Mickey was a eunuch in a harem so Anthony needed to invest in Bobby if they were to go back home with their heads held high.
THURSDAY JUNE 26
27
MARY LOU'S TEETH chattered her awake in perfect synchrony with Frank’s. The sun shone into the driver’s side of the car casting a Frank-shaped silhouette on her. He switched on the engine and waited before pushing warm air into the cabin. Ten minutes later, Mary Lou felt the tips of her fingers again, having placed them between her legs next to her crotch all that time.
“Can we get a coffee somewhere?”
“Sure thing, babe. It was Alaska in here last night.”
“You’re telling me.”
Frank drove back onto the highway and they headed further away from Vegas until they hit a diner and gas station, all isolated in the middle of the desert. Four trucks were parked outside and nothing else for miles.
Coffees, scrambled eggs, toast for two. They sat in silence for the start of their meal, thawing out. Frank gobbled down his breakfast faster than Mary Lou could blink. She took longer, not wanting to choke on each mouthful.
The heat from the warm food sunk down her gullet and landed with a splat in her stomach. Then she washed the mixture down with the mug of coffee. The waitress topped up their drinks twice before they declared themselves full.
“Needed that.”
“Me too. Warmer now?”
“And some. I'll have to shift the button on my skirt.”
Fr
ank smiled and thought about Mary Lou's belly and the rose beneath it. He smiled some more.
“We can rest here a while before we make our next move.”
“And what should that be?”
“Well, we need to collect our bags so first we’re going back to Vegas.”
“They’re on to us, aren't they?”
“Yep. For those casino guys to pick up on us so fast means the mob knows where we are.”
“And if the mob has us figured then the Feds will know.”
“Along with Uncle Frankie.”
“Last night you thought the casino had matched the serial numbers on our notes.”
“I did but I've been thinking about it. If it was just the serial numbers, I can’t see how they’d have spotted us so quickly by the tables. They had more information than that.”
“Jeez. And you want us to go back into the city?”
“We have no choice if we're to get our money. I don’t want to but we have no choice. Else all we’ve got is a few hundred dollars in our pockets. And we didn't come all this way to live off chump change until the end of time.”
“I don’t like it.”
“Who does?”
He reached out his hand and placed it on Mary Lou's. They stared at each other for a moment, not needing to express the thoughts their eyes conveyed instead.
“And if we get in, get out and survive. Where next?”
“What do you mean?”
“We’ve always said we’re heading to California, but that means Frankie knows too...”
“... and if he knows it then so do the Feds and the mob.”
“Right.”
“So they’ll be waiting for us again.”
“California’s a mighty big state.”
“Yes, but there’s only a handful of places to launder half a million. And they know them faster’n we can find 'em.”
Beat.
“Where should we go instead?”
Frank’s intonation implied a decision had been made but Mary Lou wasn’t sure she agreed with it herself: she was only voicing a concern.
The Lagotti Family Series Page 38
