The Phoenix Blade: Project Justice

by Andrew Hess

  Walters signaled to a nearby waitress to bring over drinks for them as he grabbed Lilly’s hand; turning on the charm and catching a smile from her in return.

  The hairs on my arm stood on end; goose bumps covered my body as my hands became fists. My eyes were locked on to each guard and Walters and knew what each of them was capable of. The thought of Walters touching Lilly made my skin crawl to the point where if I had a gun on me, I would have shot him and his guards right on the spot.

  Walters stroked Lilly’s arm gently as he continued sweet talking her. I knew what he wanted and it made my blood boil. I didn’t care if I had a gun, a knife, or a weapon at all. I was ready to kill Kevin Walters with my bare hands.

  I lunged forward; ready to run to the slot machines and take on the casino, but my arms were pinned back by Joe and Mike before I could take more than three steps.

  “Drew, you need to calm down,” Mike said as his massive arms pinned mine behind my back. “If you go over there now, you’ll blow our cover and screw up the mission.”

  “Not to mention probably get us all killed while you’re at it,” Erik said with a sarcastic tone as he patted my shoulder.

  “I say we let it play out,” Joe laughed. The rage in my eyes told him not to joke as I tried fighting Mike off. “All joking aside, Lilly might be our way passed the guards.”

  “I’m not letting some slime ball low life drug dealing pimp put his hands on her just so we can get around a few guards.”

  Erik placed himself between us. “Joe’s right. We can use his infatuation with Lilly to get us the access we need.” Erik could see the anger and hatred in my eyes, but knew his reasoning was solid. But I wasn’t going anywhere until Walters was far away from Lilly. “Joe, take care of the situation while we get Drew some fresh air.”

  “My pleasure.” Erik and Mike took me towards the exit as Joe marched up to Lilly; pushing Walters out of the way. “Excuse me buddy. Lil, we need to go.”

  “Forget it pal,” Walters replied. “She’s with me now; go take a hike.”

  Joe took Lilly by the hand to lead her away, but Walters held on to her other hand; letting his guards draw in closer around them.

  “I said she’s with me now. I suggest you beat it before I have you removed from the building permanently.”

  Joe watched the guards cracking their knuckles; ready to take him out the moment Walters gave them the signal.

  “I’d rethink that statement if I was you. You’re talking to my sister.” Joe brought himself nose to nose with Walters. “So I suggest you take your hands off of her before you lose them.”

  “Do you have any idea who you’re talking to?”

  “Some guy in a tacky cheap suit.”

  “My name is Kevin Walters; I own this casino. And I’ll have you know, this suit cost me three thousand dollars.”

  “Am I supposed to be impressed?”

  Walters brought his hand up to his nose; pinching it as he glanced back at his guards. He was done playing games.

  Lilly saw the exchange between Walters and his men as she shook her hand free and pushed her way between Joe and Walters.

  “I’m sorry about all of this. I really should get going.”

  Walters held his hand up; stopping the guards from moving forward. He released the tension from his face; letting his eyes and mouth relax almost turning them into a smile.

  “You can make it up to me by having dinner with me tomorrow night. How about eight o’clock?”

  “Maybe,” Lilly replied as she walked away. “I’ll leave my response at the front desk in the morning.”

  Walters gave a devilish smile as he watched Lilly walk away. His eyes focused on her long tan legs as they strutted towards the exit before grabbing Joe by the front of his shirt.

  “If you ever talk to me like that again, it’ll be the last thing you ever do; understand?”

  Joe pushed Walters off and laughed. “Don’t worry; after tomorrow night, you’ll never hear from me again.”

  Chapter 71

  We met back at Joe and Erik’s house an hour later. Every seat in the living room was occupied by someone refusing to discuss what happened at the Roosevelt. We all knew what needed to be done, but no one wanted to talk about it.

  Joe clapped his hands together loudly; waking everyone up and laughed. “So, how did everyone do tonight?”

  Erik nodded to Natalya as she pulled out a wad of cash. “I’d say a thousand dollars was a pretty good win for us. Would’ve had a lot more if someone didn’t rip us away from the table.”

  Natalya stretched out her long legs to the coffee table; posing one arm behind her head while biting sensually on the tip of the other hand’s index finger.

  “I think they were a little distracted. I wonder why.”

  Erik patted her lap. “Whatever gets the job done? How did things go at the Reece?”

  I threw my money down on the coffee table. “I think I’m better at blackjack. I would’ve had more, but I lost a hundred at the Roosevelt on a couple of poker hands.”

  Erik exchanged glances with Joe. “You didn’t go in?”

  I wondered if Joe clued Erik into his plan of sending me in to draw the target out.

  “Joe, told us you guys pulled a few jobs at the Reece.”

  “Oh yeah, I forgot about those. They weren’t anything big; just worked as private security for Sanders a couple of times. It was when we first started in the business. He hired us another time to get some asshole to pay his debt.”

  Joe saw my eyes slant towards him suspiciously. “If I walked in with you guys, he would have sent a few guards to stop us and bring us upstairs.” Joe walked around the room and placed a reassuring hand on my shoulder. “Trust me, I have something special planned for him, but will need most of the team to pull it off.”

  “Absolutely not,” Mike shouted. “We won’t have time to put two plans in motion and we can’t do them on separately either.”

  “Look if my plan works, we’ll be in and out of the Reece in about an hour; hour and a half tops.”

  “So what are we going to do about the Roosevelt,” Natalya finally said. Everyone looked away from each other staring at the walls or the floor.

  It was the conversation no one wanted to have; especially me. We all knew the only way to get to Walters was using Lilly as bait. She would have to get close to him; make him believe she wanted him. It wasn’t an easy task; not only for Lilly to be that convincing, but for me to sit back patiently and watch.

  Joe knew he had to be the one to be blunt about it. After all, no one else wanted to say anything. “Look, I’m just gonna say what we’re all thinking. Walters wants Lilly and I say we give her to him.”

  I knew he was right; it was the only way, but it couldn’t stop my blood from becoming a raging inferno.

  “What do you mean; just give her to him?”

  Joe put up his hands in defense; trying to get me to listen to reason. “Just hear me out,” he said while Mike and Erik pulled me to a chair. “Walters wants to have dinner with her tomorrow night. I say we let her go while Mike stays back at the hotel room. He can keep eyes on her while we pull off the mission at the Reece. By the time we’re done, they should be heading down to dinner. You can meet up with Mike on the casino floor to watch over her while we get things ready in the room.”

  “If you think I’m going to leave her with that slime ball for even a second…”

  “I’ll do it,” Lilly interrupted; her voice was soft, but loud enough to stop all of us from shouting and extinguished the fire burning in my eyes. She lifted her head in a drunken stupor. “If it’s the only way for us to eliminate him, then I have to do it.”

  Joe rested his hand on my shoulder and knelt down beside me. “I told you before; he has too many well trained guards. We need a way to get close to him so we don’t have to shoot our way through.”

  I stared at Lilly; knowing how scared she was. Out of all the missions we had completed, this was the one that wa
s the most dangerous and it all depended on her. It was just like the night we attacked the Mason house, but worse. She had to pretend to like some creepy guy with the worst intentions.

  “Fine,” I whispered. “But I want the rest of the team at the Reece by seven. Lilly, I want you to leave a message at the Roosevelt in the morning; telling them you’ll meet Walters for dinner at nine. That should give us enough time to get back.”

  Erik shot up with a burst of energy. “Great, now that we got that all settled, I think we should get some sleep. We need to be rested before tomorrow night.”

  Erik, Joe and Natalya exited the living room and headed up the spiral staircase. Mike put his arm around my shoulders.

  “Don’t worry; I’ll take good care of her until you get back.”

  I gave a faint smile and nodded. Mike was the one person I could count on to keep Lilly safe. The others were professionals; they knew the dangers of the job. I knew they would leave any one of us behind if it meant saving their own asses.

  Lilly reached for my hand; taking it gently in hers. “Can you just hold me tonight?”

  Behind the drunkenness I could see the fear building up inside. “Yeah, I can do that.”

  Mike walked off; letting me drape my arms around Lilly as I pulled her in close. “I won’t let anything happen to you; I promise.”

  Chapter 72

  I entered the Reece Casino after dropping Erik and Natalya off upstairs in the hotel room to get our weapons and explosives ready. My job was to sit out in the open as the bait. I decided to take a seat at the bar first; drinking a rum and coke to calm shakiness of my hands; knowing this was the biggest mission and most dangerous one for Lilly.

  I didn’t know where Joe was. I figured he would have been walking the casino floor with me; hoping to draw Sanders out of his office, but he was nowhere to be found.

  I continued walking around the casino floor; settling in on the same blackjack table from the night before; finding the same dealer that signaled for the guards when I was on a winning streak.

  “Back for some more,” the dealer said. His eyes were expressively green and told me he remembered how much I stole from his table by counting cards.

  I placed a two hundred dollar bet immediately; knowing the end result before the dealer had a chance to look at his cards.

  The dealer flipped his cards over; revealing a seventeen as I displayed my twenty. “You win again sir.” He pulled back as he grabbed chips to hand me and nodded to the pit boss off to the side. It was the same look he had given him the night before.

  I searched the room; finding the double glass doors opening with two muscular black men exiting them and walking with a purpose towards my table.

  “Sir, you need to come with us,” one of the guards said sternly as he gripped my left arm with his sausage like fingers.

  “I’m actually pretty comfortable where I am thanks.”

  “Too bad; Mr. Sanders wants to see you and he doesn’t like to be kept waiting.” His grip was like a vice; crushing my arm as he pulled me away from the table.

  I tried to shake him off but to no avail. “Tell whoever this Sanders guy is that if he wants to talk, then I’ll be right here. Besides, I’m on a hot streak.”

  “Not anymore you’re not.” The other guard wrapped his massive hands around my right arm and dragged me away from the table with the first guard. I fought them the entire way; not knowing what was in store for me as they threw me through the double doors and shoved me into an elevator.

  When the doors opened, I saw two men staring at me with smiles plastered across their faces. The first was the slime ball with the lime green tie that I knew to be Mr. Sanders. The other was a short stocky Italian man that I called my friend.

  Sanders held the door to his office open; ushering Joe and I inside. “Come in Mr. Lancaster and have a seat.” I didn’t know Joe’s full plan; just knew I was an important piece of the puzzle. “Your friend here told me your story and asked me to hire you.” Mr. Sanders sat down in his chair across from me; resting a finger on his lips. “Give me one good reason why I should.”

  “I-I’m sorry; I wasn’t expecting this. I came to Vegas to start over and asked a few friends to help me get on my feet. I had no idea that Joe came here on my behalf.”

  “And why did you need to start over?”

  I knew Sanders was trying to get me to admit to being the Phoenix, but didn’t understand why. I decided to keep my answers vague until I could figure out what he wanted; telling him I ran into problems back home.

  “Well from my understanding, you are the man known as the Phoenix; a man wanted by police all over the country, the F.B.I. and the President of the United States. Just you stepping foot inside my casino poses an incredible threat to me and my business.” Sanders glanced towards the phone; keeping a steady hand hovering above it.

  Joe blocked his hand instantly. “With all due respect sir, that could work to your advantage. Think about it. If anyone were to find out you had the Phoenix working here as your personal security guard, they’ll know you have the best and would never consider messing with you or your casino.”

  Sanders tapped his finger on his lips repeatedly as his eyebrows raised with intrigue. “You make an excellent point, but I think he needs to prove himself as a worthy member of my staff before he becomes part of my personal security team.”

  “Understood,” Joe said as a low ringing came from his pocket. He looked down at the caller ID. “Excuse me, I have to take this.”

  “By all means,” Sanders said; clapping Joe on the back. “I’ll make sure to take good care of your friend.” He walked Joe to the door and waived one of the guards to enter. “Take our newest staff member and show him the ropes for a bit.” Sanders checked the time on a gold plated pocket watch. His face lit up as he popped a breath mint into his mouth. “Oh it’s time to check out the action on the floor.”

  Chapter 73

  I was taken down to a lower level of the casino. From the loud cheers and bells ringing, I assumed I was right beneath the casino floor. The guard took me down a corridor of lockers; stopping just outside a light wooden door.

  He entered; returning with an armful of clothes. “Here’s your shirt, pants, and hat.” He reached back disappeared while I quickly threw on the oversized clothes. The large guard returned; handing me a baton, a radio and a small gun placed in the holster of a belt. “Hurry your ass up. Your shift starts in five minutes.”

  I was more confused than ever before. Was this all part of Joe’s plan or had this been a setup all along? Thanks to Joe my cover was blown and now I was working security detail for a man I was supposed to kill. I had no idea how I could get back to the Roosevelt without being more suspicious than I already was, but I had to trust Joe knew what he was doing.

  As I walked down the hall towards the elevator, I placed the com in my ear whispering to the others, “Are you there?”

  “We read you,” Erik’s voice echoed in my ear. “Are we all set for phase two?”

  “What are you talking about? Joe gave me up to Sanders and now I’m working security.”

  “Good, the plan’s working perfectly then. Natalya should be walking the floor any minute. We need you to keep an eye on the guards while we get in place.”

  “Why didn’t you tell about this?”

  I found myself in front of the large guard as he waited for the elevator to return. “Tell you about what?”

  My mind raced as I wondered how much he heard. “Why didn’t you tell me the uniform runs big?”

  He laughed while playfully smacking me in the back; nearly knocking me over. “Mr. Sanders usually hires bigger guys to get the job done.”

  “I didn’t know there was a height or weight requirement for this job.”

  The guard laughed heartily again. “I like you. You got spunk. Come on kid; I’ll show you around.” The elevator doors slid open as we entered and felt the elevator lurch as it catapulted us up to the casino floor
.

  He took a few minutes to walk me around; introducing me to some of the guys. They were all six foot heavy set muscular men. Some were in their late twenties but most were in their early to mid-thirties.

  Finally he stopped at the bar. “Here’s your station for the night. Just make sure no one gets out of hand. If someone causes any trouble, use your radio to call us over and we’ll help you throw them out.”

  I nodded in agreement and watched him push through a crowd of gamblers near the roulette wheel. I scanned the room nervously; searching for any sign of Natalya or Sanders.

  “Where are they,” I muttered.

  “Relax,” Erik replied through the earpiece. “Natalya just hit the casino floor and is approaching the bar as we speak.”

  “That’s where they have me working.”

  “Great, then you can keep an eye on her for a few minutes.”

  I turned to see if there were any other guards around, but found a pair of long luscious legs in gold four inch heels strut passed me. My eyes nearly popped out of my head when I realized it was Natalya. Her gold dress reflected bits of light; drawing everyone’s attention; including Sanders.

  Natalya placed her matching clutch handbag on the counter and signaled the female bartender. “Excuse me.”

  “What can I get ya?”

  “Jack on the rocks.”

  Sanders closed in on Natalya as she ordered her drink. His two large goons stood behind him; ensuring no one else would get close to Sanders or Natalya. I stared and wondered how a guy like Sanders thought he stood a chance with someone like her.

  “That’s a pretty strong drink for such a pretty you lady like yourself.” Sanders signaled to the waitress as she slid the small cup in front of Natalya.

  “It’s how I like my men; strong and gets right to the point.”

  “A woman who knows what she wants. I like that. You plan on drinking that alone?”

  “I’m never alone for long.”

  “Consider this on the house.”

  Natalya caressed the top of his hand gently with hers. “Are you some big shot around here or something?”

  Sanders grinned; believing he was on the fast track to getting laid by the hottest woman at the casino that night. “I own this wonderful establishment.”