Grimes took a step back to admire his handiwork. The button was heavier than the other buttons and created a crease in Billy’s fancy shirt. Billy could see the crease but hoped no one else would.
Grimes moved to a desk on the other side of the room. Picking up a pair of headphones, he fitted them on his head. “Start talking in your normal voice.”
Billy started talking in a normal voice. Grimes shut his eyes and listened. Then he nodded and removed the earphones. “Clear as a bell. How good is Broken Tooth’s English?”
“It’s chipped,” he said.
“Meaning what? That he sounds like the illegal taking your order at a Chinese restaurant?”
“It’s a little better than that.”
“We need to be able to understand what Broken Tooth’s saying, otherwise the case will get thrown out of court. You’ll need to stand right next to him and get him to talk in a clear, concise manner. Otherwise, this won’t work.”
“He’s holding Leon against his will. Doesn’t that count for something?”
“The fact that Broken Tooth kidnapped your driver doesn’t mean he’s trying to fix the Super Bowl. Broken Tooth can tell the judge that your driver borrowed money from him and refused to pay it back. I’ve had that happen in kidnapping cases before. Does your driver have a record?”
“Yeah, Leon’s got a record.”
“The judge will take that into account. Look, Cunningham, I’ve played the game long enough to know what the rules are. Your job is to get Broken Tooth to discuss how he plans to fix the Super Bowl and that he’s giving you money to bribe the players. That information has to come through on the recording, otherwise this won’t fly.”
“Got it.” He fingered the button on his shirt. “What’s the range on this thing?”
“More than a quarter mile.”
“Does that take into account that Broken Tooth is inside a building, and that the transmission will have to go through walls?”
“Can’t you get Broken Tooth outside?”
“That’s a bad idea.”
“Why?”
“Broken Tooth’s a pro. He knows about wires. If we go outside, he’ll want to take a drive, and your transmission will be lost.”
“Then what’s your plan?”
“Broken Tooth will be contacting me soon. I’ll go pick up the money and make sure Leon’s okay. I’ll engage Broken Tooth in conversation and get him to drop his guard. I’ll steer the conversation to the fix and get Broken Tooth to implicate himself. Once that’s done, you and your posse can come to the rescue. That work for you?”
“Good enough. You going to be carrying?”
“Look at the clothes I’m wearing. A gun would stick out. No, I’m not carrying.”
“I just wanted to be sure.”
Billy glanced down at the crease in his shirt. He followed the maxim that the people he did business with were just as smart as he was. If he thought the button looked funny, Broken Tooth would think it as well. And if that happened, Broken Tooth would go berserk and have his goons tear Billy’s arms out of their sockets and beat him to death with them.
“Sure you can’t do anything about this button?”
“Tuck your shirt into your pants and tighten your belt. That will hide it.”
Billy gave his suggestion a try. The crease went away. It was as good as he could hope for. Grimes said, “I’ve got some people you need to meet.”
The special agent picked up his headphones and transmission equipment and walked out of the room. Billy followed him, looking down to see if the crease reappeared. It didn’t, and he forced himself to put it out of his mind.
Grimes escorted Billy to the building’s subterranean level where the weaponry was stored. Four gaming agents awaited them. The agents — two white, one Latino, one black — were lean and mean, all of them clean shaven with cropped hair and no visible tattoos. They looked like grown-up choirboys.
Introductions were made. Billy acknowledged each agent with a curt nod. The agents were not his friends and never would be. Billy had stolen so much money from the casinos that the gaming board had taken to plastering Billy’s face in every surveillance room while accusing him of more thefts than any human being was capable of committing. They were desperate to bring him down, and the irony of their working together was not lost on him.
Grimes explained how the bust would go down. Grimes and the agents would be in an unmarked van and would tail Billy to the meeting. The agents would wait outside on the street in the van, electronically eavesdropping on Billy’s conversation with Broken Tooth. Once Broken Tooth had handed over the money to bribe the Rebel players, the agents would show their faces and make the bust.
“Any questions, ask them now,” Grimes said.
There were no questions. With Grimes in the lead, the agents crossed the hall to a room where the heavy weapons were stored. A clerk working the counter assigned each agent a sawed-off shotgun along with a bulky bulletproof vest and a ballistic helmet. It occurred to Billy that he would be the only participant in this little drama who would not be armed or have a way of defending himself if things went south. He was trusting Grimes with his safety, and he hoped it wasn’t a mistake.
The gaming agents fitted on their body armor and loaded their weapons. Grimes watched them as they did this, then got dressed and loaded up.
“Let’s roll,” Grimes said.
They took an elevator to the main floor and piled out. Beads of sweat did a slow death march down Billy’s face. Grimes questioned him with a lifted eyebrow. Billy didn’t want to admit his fear and said, “Why the sawed-off shotguns?”
“They work better in close quarters,” Grimes explained.
Thirty-Six
The gaming board parking lot faced the intersection of North Las Vegas Boulevard and East Washington Avenue. Miles away from the glitz and glitter of the Strip, the most action you were going to find here was a tumbling sagebrush or a blue hair trudging back to his apartment carrying a sagging bag of groceries.
Billy sat in his car with the AC blowing on his face. Across the lot, Grimes and his posse stood next to an unmarked white van, going over last-minute details on how they planned to bust Broken Tooth and his gun-toting goons. Despite its Wild West culture, Vegas had strict gun laws, and agents of the law did not take kindly to criminals who used firearms while committing crimes. Often, these criminals got shot and killed for their trouble.
Billy’s cell phone lay on his leg. Using one hand, he texted different members of his crew to make sure they were ready to help bring their buddy Leon home.
You got the counterfeit money?
he texted Gabe.
Yessir. In two suitcases, like you said,
Gabe wrote back.
Billy had to tell Gabe something only once for it to get done right. Next up were Cory and Morris, the two members of his crew he was most worried about. They were both stressed out over Travis’s shooting and didn’t need the added worry of dumping his body.
Did you put T in your car?
Billy texted.
Yeah. Wrenched our backs dragging him,
Cory replied.
Anyone see you?
No. Put a screen in front of the unit like u said. Worked great
This will be over soon. You guys okay?
Cory didn’t respond. There was no doubt in Billy’s mind that he and Morris were both hurting. A few weeks from now, after this debacle had played itself out and they were home free, the three of them would get together for a long weekend and party up a storm. It was one way to start the healing process and get Cory and Morris back on track. Bad shit happened in their line of work; how a person dealt with it defined their careers and their lives.