“That’s exactly what I mean.”
Gerry watched his father take out his cell phone and get the number for the Micanopy casino from information. A minute later, his father was leaving a message on Running Bear’s voice mail. His father could be a world-class jerk when he wanted to, and Gerry listened to him tell Running Bear that if anything happened to Mabel while she was working for the Micanopys, his father was going to hold the chief personally responsible. Gerry tried to imagine Mabel notbeing in their lives. It was an unsettling thought, and he waved the waitress away when she asked if he was hungry.
Chapter 39
Running Bear heard his cell phone ring, but decided to leave it in his pocket. He was standing in the Micanopy casino’s surveillance control room, staring at a pair of monitors. The tribe’s elders were also in the room, as was Mabel Struck.
On one monitor was the crooked poker dealer Mabel had caught dealing a $10,000 hand to a player; on the other monitor, the player himself. They had been watching the two men for an hour, waiting for them to “hook up” and prove they were working in collusion. While watching the monitors, Running Bear had been smelling his visitor’s perfume, which reminded him of lilacs. He had not grown up around woman, and all his life he’d found their habits a mystery. How did they choose which perfumes to wear, or their hairstyles and clothes? Strange questions for an Indian chief to be asking, yet they’d always fascinated him. Mabel turned to stare at him, and he felt himself blush.
“Don’t you think you’d better answer that?” she asked.
Running Bear removed his cell phone and picked up his lone message. He erased it and hung up. “Your boss is not happy with me,” he said.
Mabel raised her eyebrows. The lights inside the surveillance control room were kept dim to make it easier to watch the monitors, and Running Bear tried to read the expression on her face. A little unhappy, he decided.
“Your boss thinks I have placed you in harm’s way.”
“Is that so?” she said.
“Yes. He’s afraid one of our crooked dealer’s friends might try to hurt you. To be honest, the thought never crossed my mind, but he’s probably right. This is not a safe environment for you. I think I should take you home.”
Mabel crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“But my job isn’t finished.”
“Your safety is more important than this job.”
Her face softened, and she touched his sleeve. “My boss told me that you were in the Special Forces in Vietnam.”
“That’s correct.”
“Well, then I’ll just stick by you, and I’m sure my safety will be fine.”
Running Bear was thankful for the muted light, and looked deeply into Mabel’s face. Growing up in the swamps of the Everglades had made his duty in Vietnam easier than for most soldiers, he supposed. Only that had been a long time ago, and he was not sure how well he’d fare in hand-to-hand combat if such a situation were to present itself. He’d grown old, not that he particularly wanted to tell his visitor that.
“I still would like to take you home when we’re done,” he said.
“ Onlywhen we’re done,” Mabel said.
Money talks.
Mabel had never understood what those two words meant until she’d gone to work for Tony. In the gambling business, it was always about money — who had it, and who was trying to get it.
This was particularly true for cheaters. You did a job, you got paid. There was never any waiting. Which was why Mabel was certain that the crooked poker dealer was going to get his share of the $10,000 from his partner sometime tonight.
Staring at the monitors, she saw the crooked dealer go on break. He bought a pack of smokes at the cigarette machine, then strolled past the casino’s bar. A giant electric guitar hung above the bar area, and patrons were swaying to the hard rock that played at blaring levels.
“Where’s our $10,000 winner?” Mabel asked.
“He’s in the bar,” Running Bear said, pointing at a table. “They just made eye contact. Look, he’s getting up from his seat.”
Mabel smiled to herself. Of course the crooked dealer had made eye contact with the $10,000 winner. That was what crooks and their partners alwaysdid. Running Bear picked up a walkie-talkie, and called the casino’s head of security. Within a few moments, four beefy security guards were following the two men across the casino.
“They’re going outside. I suggest you let them make the hand-off first,” Mabel said.
Still holding the phone, Running Bear said, “The hand-off?”
“Yes. The man who won the $10,000 will give the dealer his share. Get it on camera so you can show it in court as evidence.”
“How can you be so certain?”
“Why else would they be going outside? To exchange recipes?”
The elders, who’d been silent until now, laughed under their breath.
Running Bear relayed her instructions, then hung up. Mabel shifted her attention to the monitor showing the casino’s parking lot. She watched the crooked dealer and his partner enter the lot, and stand between a pair of parked cars.
“Can you get a close-up?” Mabel asked.
Running Bear played with a toggle switch on the monitor’s keyboard, and a close-up of the two men filled the small screen. They were chatting away, and Mabel brought her face up next to the picture and watched their lips.
“I wonder what they’re talking about,” Running Bear said.
“They just introduced themselves to each other,” Mabel said.
“How can you know that? The film has no sound.”
“I read lips. Tony taught me. It’s an old cop trick.”
“But how can these two men be in collusion if they don’t know each other?” Bowlegs asked, clearly confused.
“Easy. The dealer recruited the player during the game,” Mabel explained. “Maybe he winked at him, or kicked him under the table. We’ll never really know. The important thing is, they’re working together, and have cheated you.”
“I get it,” Bowlegs said.
“What are they talking about now?” Running Bear asked.
The crooked dealer and his partner were having a heated discussion. Mabel resumed watching. “They’re talking about the split. The dealer wants seventy percent of the money. The player is telling him he only deserves half.” She paused. “Looks like they’ve decided to settle on sixty/forty. Are you filming this?”
“Yes,” Running Bear said.
They watched the partner remove the $10,000 from his pocket, and give the crooked dealer his share. He took his time counting it, and all Mabel could think of was how terrific this would look in court.
“I think that’s enough evidence. Wouldn’t you agree?” Mabel said.
Running Bear called security on the walkie-talkie. On the monitor, they watched the guards run up to the two men, arrest them, and haul them back inside. Mabel felt immensely pleased with herself, and she gave Running Bear a tug on the sleeve.
“Now you can take me home.”
Chapter 40
Valentine and Gerry were leaving the Peppermill’s restaurant when Bill Higgins appeared. The director of the Nevada Gaming Control Board was not happy.
“Bronco’s flown the coop,” Bill said.
“He’s gone? I thought the Reno cops had the roads blocked off.”
“Bronco drove to Klinghoffer’s place, and stole a dirt bike from the garage. Klinghoffer’s kid knows all the paths in the hills, and told Bronco which ones to take. I’m heading out there right now. I figured you and Gerry would want to join me.”
It had been a long day, and it was about to get a lot longer. Valentine was exhausted, but he wasn’t going to let that stop him from running down Bronco. He would go to his grave before he let that happen.
“We’re in,” he said.
Bill drove them to the Klinghoffer place on the north side of town. Reno lived for the night, and its sidewalks pulsed with throngs of people, the casinos’ neon lights painting their faces in custom-car colors.