‘Geez, that’s the first time I ever talked to Mr LaBella. He’s sweet.’
‘Yeah, he’s great.’
‘And so famous!’
‘Didi?’
‘Huh?’
‘The key?’
‘Oh.’ She smiled, reached between her breasts and came out with the key. ‘For safe keepin’.’
She dropped it into my palm with a saucy wink. I closed my hand. The metal hadn’t had time to get warm.
‘Thanks a lot, Didi.’
‘Any time, Mr Gianelli.’
‘Just call me Eddie.’
‘OK,’ she said, ‘and you can just call me. . any time.’
I left the lounge and started back through the casino when I saw somebody I didn’t want to see. Detective Hargrove, who disliked me even more than Jack Entratter’s girl did. Every chance he got he tried to throw me in jail — and Jerry, too, if he happened to be around.
There was no way anybody could connect me and Jerry to the shooting of the two Chicago button men, and yet, there was Hargrove. And what other reason could he have to be there?
I had to get out of the building without running into him.
FIFTY-SEVEN
I couldn’t go through the casino. Hargrove and his partner of the moment were busily looking for me. I guess there could have been a chance they weren’t, but come on, who else would they be looking for? There was access to other doors, but I’d still have to cross the casino floor. I had to move fast, but I didn’t want to run. My only way out was back through the lounge, but I didn’t want to raise a ruckus.
I backed into the lounge, then turned and moved briskly along the wall. There was a door behind the bar, so that’s where I headed. By the time I got to the end of the bar, though, Didi was there picking up some drinks.
‘Oh!’ she squeaked when she saw me. ‘You forget somethin’, Eddie?’
‘Didi, I need to use the back entrance here to get out,’ I said. ‘There’s somebody in the casino I don’t want to see.’
‘Oh, well, I guess that’s OK,’ she said. ‘Not that you need my permission.’
‘No, I don’t need permission, Didi, but I may need your help.’
‘My help? Sure.’
‘There may be a man in here lookin’ for me,’ I said. ‘And he may be a policeman.’
‘Police?’
‘And I need you tell him you haven’t seen me for a few days.’
‘You want me to lie to a policeman?’ she asked.
‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘Is that a problem?’
She stared at me for a minute, then her face lit up in a smile and she said, ‘Hell, no, Eddie. Me and my girlfriends used to lie to the sheriff all the time back home.’
‘Back home? Where was that?’
‘Hannibal, Missouri.’
‘Well,’ I said, ‘the police are a little different here than in Hannibal, but the principle is the same.’
‘Don’t worry, Eddie,’ she said. ‘I can handle it.’
‘Can you get Lew the bartender to go along with you?’ I asked.
‘Eddie,’ she said, with a wink, ‘I can get Lew to agree to do anything.’
‘I’ll bet you can,’ I said. ‘Thanks, doll.’
I used the door behind the bar to get out of there.
‘Any trouble?’ Jerry asked as I got into the back seat of the car.
‘Maybe.’
‘What’s wrong?’ Ava asked. They both turned to look at me.
‘Did you get the key?’ Jerry asked.
‘I got it, but I saw an old friend of ours in the casino.’
‘An old friend of ours?’ Jerry asked.
I nodded.
‘Hargrove.’
‘What’s that sonofabitch want?’
‘Who’s Hargrove?’ Ava asked.
‘Detective Hargrove,’ I said, ‘Las Vegas Police.’
‘The police? Looking for you?’
‘That’s the only reason I can think of for him to be in the casino,’ I said.
‘We gotta find out for sure if he’s lookin’ for you, Mr G.,’ Jerry said. ‘And if he knows I’m in Vegas.’
‘Let’s get where we’re goin’, Jerry,’ I said, ‘and then I’ll call Jack Entratter and find out what’s what.’
‘OK, Mr G.,’ Jerry said, turning around and starting the Caddy’s. ‘Gimme some directions.’
FIFTY-EIGHT
Tony LaBella had given me directions and advice on the phone. I read them to Jerry, and when we got within a mile of the cabin I took Tony’s advice. We stopped at a small convenience store and stocked up on some groceries.
When we reached the cabin I realized that it was nearly perfect. It stood alone on the Lake, the nearest neighbor at least half a mile away. It was rustic, built on stilts, with a deck running completely around it. Jerry and I grabbed the groceries and followed Ava up the steps to the front door. She took a bag from me while I unlocked the door, and we entered.
We found ourselves in the living room; Ava pulled the drapes so we’d have some light to look the place over. We left her to it while we went out and got the bags.
‘Two bedrooms, and a nice couch,’ she said. ‘All three of us can stay here comfortably. And it doesn’t smell musty.’
‘No, Tony was here recently, before his Sands engagement,’ I said. ‘But we can open some windows and air it out, anyway.’
‘I’m going to put the groceries away,’ Ava said. ‘Jerry, put my suitcases in the big bedroom, will you?’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
Jerry did that, came out and made sure Ava wasn’t in the room before saying to me, ‘This place has a lot of windows, Mr G.’
‘I noticed,’ I said.
‘Later I’ll scout around, see where somebody might set up,’ he said. ‘That way I can keep Ava from certain windows. Or off the deck.’
‘Nobody should be able to find us here,’ I said. ‘She should be able to sit on the deck. But go ahead and take a look.’
‘That’s a big, solid sofa,’ Jerry said. He was right, it looked as if it had been hand crafted by somebody who knew what they were doing. ‘You take the second bedroom, I’ll take the sofa.’
‘OK,’ I said. ‘I’m gonna call Entratter now and see if he’s talked with Hargrove.’
‘I’ll put your suitcase in the bedroom, and then make some coffee.’
‘Sounds good.’
The phone was next to the sofa. I sat down, realized Jerry was going to be very comfortable. I dialed the Sands, got Entratter’s girl.
‘Is he in?’
‘Yes.’ So much disapproval in one word. Maybe I should have told her how the waitresses felt about me. Entratter came on the line.
‘Eddie?’
‘Yeah, Jack.’
‘Where are you? Wait, don’t tell me. I don’t wanna know. Is Ava with you?’
‘Yeah, Ava and Jerry. Jack, I saw Hargrove in the casino. Did he come to see you?’
‘Yeah, he was lookin’ for you.’
‘For what? I didn’t do anythin’ to attract his attention.’
‘Since when do you have to do somethin’ to get on his wrong side?’ Entratter asked.
‘He didn’t say why he was lookin’ for me?’ I asked.
‘No, just that he was. He warned me to tell you to call him.’
‘Yeah, right away,’ I said. ‘Jack, did he mention Jerry?’
‘No,’ Entratter said. ‘No mention.’
‘That’s good, anyway.’
‘What did you do, Eddie?’
‘I’m just tryin’ to keep Ava safe, Jack,’ I said. ‘And find out what’s goin’ on. Like Frank wanted.’ I knew all I had to do was mention Frank and Entratter would back off.
‘Yeah, OK,’ he said, ‘OK. Look, here’s his number.’ He read it off to me. ‘Just keep in touch. And stay safe. All of you.’
‘Sure, Jack,’ I said. ‘Thanks.’
I hung up, sniffed the air, smelled the coffee. Ava came into the room, also sniffing the air.
‘This must seem small to you,’ I said.
‘It’s nice.’
‘You’ve probably got a big villa in Spain.’
‘Big enough.’ She sat down beside me on the sofa, put her hand on my thigh. It was a sexual gesture that was decidedly non-sexual at the moment. ‘Are you all right?’
‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Just got off the phone with Jack Entratter at the Sands. The cops are lookin’ for me, but not Jerry.’
‘That sounds good and bad,’ she said.