Chapter 57
The honorable Franklin E. Smoltz arrived in his private helicopter at McCarren International Airport at two-thirty in the afternoon. To be governor of a state whose tax base came primarily from legalized casinos and prostitution, you had to have a special view of the world, and Smoltz was the right man for the job. A former federal prosecutor, he had never tried a case where he hadn’t considered how its outcome would affect his career. He exited from his chopper spewing obscenities at his two aides.
“How many god damn times do I have to tell you?” Smoltz bellowed, his voice rising over the chopper’s blades. “I am unavailable to the media at the present time. Got it?”
His aides had short haircuts, wore matching pin stripes, and looked like they’d been ordered out of the same catalogue.
“Yes, sir,” they chorused.
Smoltz stood on the edge of tarmac as if looking for a cab. Seeing Bill standing nearby with Valentine and Gerry, he hustled over and shook his fist in Bill’s face. The blood in his cheeks had risen to the surface, and he looked ready to explode.
“What the hell is going on? Every casino boss in Las Vegas has called me. They’ve got more video poker players than they can handle. It’s pandemonium.”
“Fred Friendly and his gang corrupted ten thousand video poker machines in Las Vegas,” Bill explained. “In thirty minutes, they’re all going to pay jackpots.”
“That’s horsegarbage!” Smoltz said, breathing down on the shorter man’s head. “Our games can’tbe corrupted. What are you doing, drinking your own bathwater?”
Bill jabbed his thumb in Valentine’s direction. “Tony confirmed it.”
Smoltz looked angrily at Valentine. They’d disliked each other since the first time they’d met, and the governor said, “Is this shit true?”
“Shit’s true,” Valentine said.
Smoltz’s face contorted like he was about to have a seizure. He angrily stomped the ground. “This is your god damn mess, Bill. I wanted to cut a deal with Bronco Marchese from the start. But you said no. Well, your ass is on the line, my friend.”
The wind was blowing off the runway, and it pulled Bill’s eyelids back as he spoke. “Governor, I just told you that a quarter of all the video poker machines in Las Vegas are corrupted. It’s your responsibility to deal with it, not mine.”
“What are you suggesting I do?”
“Las Vegas’s casinos are connected through a special intra-net called Secure Internal Network,” Bill said. “SIN lets the casinos make each other aware when there are gangs of card-counters and cheaters running around. You need to contact the casino owners through SIN, and tell them their video poker machines have been rigged, and not to pay out any jackpots which occur after 2:59 this afternoon.”
“That’s your solution?”
“Yes,” Bill said. “We’ve proven that the video poker machines are corrupted, so it will hold up in court if anyone tries to challenge us.”
Smoltz’s face changed colors. “That’s insane! Do you have any idea what type of shit storm that will cause? I have a better idea, Bill. I want your resignation on my desk tomorrow morning. Now, get out of my face.”
Bill walked away without saying a word. Brushing him off, Smoltz turned to his aides. “We have to keep a lid on this story. If it does leak out, here’s what I want you to tell the media. This afternoon, a major conspiracy was unearthed at the Nevada Gaming Control Board. A gang of GCB agents tried to destroy us. These people are…”
“Traitors?” one of his aides suggested.
Smoltz snapped his fingers. “They’re traitors! But we headed them off at the pass, and averted a disaster. Be sure to tell the media that no video poker machines were corrupted in Las Vegas. Understand?”
One of the aides spoke up. “But Governor, a quarter of the video poker machines were corrupted. Bill Higgins just told you that.”
“I didn’t hear that, and you didn’t hear that. Understand?”
His aides nodded like wooden soldiers. Smoltz turned to Valentine and his son. “You didn’t hear that, either.”
“Right,” Valentine said.
Smoltz came over to where the Valentines stood. The governor was a big man, and used to getting his way. “Don’t smart mouth me, Tony. You know how the game is played in this town. I have to protect the integrity of our casinos, at any cost.”
“Protect them how? If you don’t do what Bill just suggested, your casinos will lose ten billion dollars,” Valentine said.
“Bill’s a fool,” Smoltz said. “I can never admit our games are rigged, even if they are. Keep your mouths shut, and let me handle this. Now, I want your word that his conversation will go no further. Understood?”
Valentine and his son exchanged looks. The governor clearly had come up with another plan of attack. It was his problem now, and they both nodded.
“Good,” Smoltz said.
Valentine and his son found Bill inside an empty hanger with a dejected look on his face. Bill had spent his entire career working for Gaming Control. He didn’t have any family or close friends. He lived for his work, and now it was a thing of the past.
“Smoltz tell you what he’s going to do?” Bill asked.
“No,” Valentine asked.
“Guess we’ll find out at three o’clock.”
“Guess so.”
“What are we standing here for?” Gerry said impatiently. “Let’s go find Bronco.”
“He’s long gone Gerry,” Valentine said. “Let it go.”
“Like hell he is,” his son replied matter-of-factly. “Bronco’s in a casino, trying out the Pai Gow scam.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because he’s got a new toy, and he wants to play with it.”
“You think so?”
“Damn straight,” he son said. “He threw on a disguise, drove to the other side of town, and went into a casino where he knew they had Pai Gow. Trust me. He’s ripping someone off right now.”
“Then he shouldn’t be too hard to find.” Bill said, punching numbers into his cell phone. “I’ll alert the SIN network that a white male is cheating at a Pai Gow game, and ask them to alert the casinos. Since most people who play Pai Gow are Asian, Bronco will stick out like a sore thumb if your theory is true.”
“It isn’t a theory,” Gerry said. “Just wait.”
Ten minutes later, Bill got a call back. A white male playing Pai Gow at the MGM Grand had taken the casino for twenty-five grand in less than an hour. A surveillance photo of the player appeared on the screen of Bill’s cell phone.
“You think this is him?” Bill asked.
Valentine took the phone out of Bill’s hand and had a look. The player in question wore a baseball cap and tinted sunglasses. Most of his face was hidden, and Valentine couldn’t be sure if it was Bronco or not. But the shades bothered him. Only poker players wore shades in a casino, or cheaters using infra-red marks to beat the house. Maybe that was the secret of the Pai Gow scam.
He showed the photo to Gerry. “What do you think?”
“That’s him,” Gerry said after a pause.
“You sure?”
“Positive. Look how he cups his hands. He did that in the car in Reno.”
“Hell,” Bill said, “he’s right across the street.”
The MGM’s sparkling emerald green buildings were visible from where they stood. Valentine felt a tinge of excitement knowing that Bronco was so close. He listened as Bill called the MGM’s head of security and ordered him to put guards at every exit.
“I’ve got my job until tomorrow,” Bill said, ending the call. “Maybe I can end it on a high note.”
Gerry ran over to an airport employee driving a luggage cart, and talked him into giving the cart up. Jumping behind the wheel, Gerry drove over to where they stood, and Bill and Valentine hopped in.
“What did you tell that guy?” Valentine asked.
“Don’t ask,” his son said.