Forty
The gaming agents split up. While the posse transported Broken Tooth to the jail in old downtown in the van, Grimes climbed into the back of the ambulance and took Leon to the ER at Summerlin Hospital Medical Center to get checked out with Billy accompanying them.
The staff at Summerlin wasted no time going to work on Leon. Leon’s nose was broken, and he had four cracked ribs that made breathing difficult. His heart rate was also elevated, and the doctor in charge suggested that Leon stay the night.
“I want to sleep in my own bed,” Leon said. “I haven’t seen it in a while.”
The doctor prescribed medication that would help Leon sleep and wished him a speedy recovery. Leon climbed into a wheelchair, and Billy wheeled him out of the ER. Grimes had not left Leon’s side and seemed genuinely pleased that Leon was going to be okay.
“Are you still up to giving a statement tonight?” Grimes asked. “We really need to hear your side of things while it’s still fresh in your mind.”
“I can do that,” Leon said. “Can we stop and get some food? I’m starving.”
“Not a problem. What’s your pleasure?” Grimes asked.
“Anything but Chinese.”
A cruiser picked them up and took them to the jail, stopping at a BK on the way. Leon hadn’t lost his appetite, and his order set Grimes back twenty bucks. Grimes didn’t seem to care; the gold ring was in his grasp, and he was not going to let it out of his sight.
When Las Vegas was originally built, the founding fathers had deliberately not built a jail, preferring to use the decrepit police station in old downtown to process criminals. This way, tourists visiting the Strip were not exposed to the town’s underbelly, the offenders shoved into police cruisers and whisked away from the neon playground.
The jail was a toilet. Tiny cells, bad food, über-mean cops. Leon gave his statement in a second-floor interrogation room while Billy sat on a stiff wooden bench in the hall. It felt strange to be here not wearing handcuffs.
Billy was up next. Grimes focused on Broken Tooth approaching Billy to fix the Super Bowl and how Leon ended up being kidnapped when Billy refused to play along. Grimes was building his case, and he kept his questions straightforward and simple. As they neared the end of the questioning, one of the gaming agents from the posse entered the interrogation room and whispered in Grimes’s ear. Grimes shut off the tape recorder sitting on the table.
“You and your driver need to wait downstairs,” Grimes said.
Billy hated being in the jail. He’d been brought here many times for questioning. Even though the charges had never stuck, every employee of the jail knew who he was.
“For how long?” he asked.
“Until I come and get you,” Grimes said.
“Something wrong?”
“Who said something was wrong?”
“Just a hunch. You’d make a lousy poker player.”
“Be a good boy and go downstairs and wait with your driver. I won’t be long.”
Billy decided not to push his luck. He found Leon fast asleep on the bench in the hall. He gently shook his driver awake, and they took an elevator downstairs to wait in the lobby. Leon was strong enough to walk and managed a brave smile.
The lobby was filled with the worst miscreants that Sin City had to offer. People who got arrested tended to be losers, and their families and immediate friends were bigger losers. Billy and Leon parked themselves on two plastic chairs in a corner.
“Who took out Travis?” his driver whispered.
“Morris,” Billy whispered back.
“Man, that’s a surprise. Didn’t think he had the balls.”
“Me neither.”
“I saw Grimes holding Travis’s phone. What if he finds our phone numbers on it?”
“Not going to happen.”
“You scrubbed them?”
Billy nodded. Cory had gone through Travis’s phone and erased all ties to Billy and the crew, including contact info, phone calls, and text messages. The only person who could be tied to Travis through his cell phone was Broken Tooth. It was a nice, tidy package, done up in pretty wrapping paper and tied with a bow. Billy hoped Grimes appreciated the effort.
Twenty minutes later, Grimes came downstairs and motioned for them to follow him outside. Standing on the curb, Grimes glanced in both directions before speaking. “I’ve been told to keep a lid on this. How good are you two gents at keeping your yaps shut?”
Billy laughed under his breath. So that was why Grimes had gotten pulled out of the interrogation room. His superiors had caught wind of the bust and were afraid of the ensuing negative publicity. When it came to keeping secrets, the city of Las Vegas had no equal.
“For how long?” Billy asked.
“Until the Super Bowl’s over,” Grimes replied. “My boss spoke to the head of league security with the NFL and told him of Broken Tooth’s plans. My boss said that no players were involved, but do you think that mattered? No sir. It didn’t matter one bit.”
“The head of league security told you to put a lid on it, and you agreed?” Billy said skeptically.
“Hardly. The head of league security called the commissioner of the NFL, the commissioner called the mayor, the mayor called my boss, and my boss ordered me to put the kibosh on this until the game’s over. You know what they say. Shit flows downhill.”
“So you’re not charging Broken Tooth with fixing the big game,” Billy said.
“That will come later,” Grimes said. “Right now, Broken Tooth is charged with killing Travis Simpson. We have enough evidence to make that charge stick. When the Super Bowl’s over, we’ll add the other charge of conspiracy to fix a sporting event. Until that happens, you boys need to keep quiet as church mice. You can’t breathe a word of this to your friends or anyone else. That goes for your crew. Think you’re up to the challenge?”
“Sure,” Leon said.
“I don’t have a crew,” Billy said.
“Then why do you need a limo driver for your jobs?” Grimes snorted.
Billy didn’t have an answer for that one. Grimes gave them a parting snarl and went back inside. Billy took out his wallet and handed Leon some money. “Do me a favor and take a cab home. I need to talk to Grimes in private.”
Leon stuffed the money into his pocket. “When I first went to work for you, I thought you were a prick, didn’t care about nobody but yourself. Thanks for proving me wrong.”
Leon walked down to the corner of the street. There was usually a yellow cab trolling the area around the jail looking for an easy fare. Billy went back inside and spotted Grimes punching an access code into a door reserved for law enforcement.
“Hold on,” he said.
The special agent turned to face him. “What do you want?”
“Five minutes of your time.”
“I’m busy.”
“You changed the terms of our deal.”
“As I just explained to you, I didn’t have a choice.”
“I brought this deal to you, remember? I held up my end of the bargain and delivered Broken Tooth, and now you’re changing the terms.”
“It was out of my hands,” Grimes said, his mouth growing tight.
“You change the deal, I want something in return, or I won’t play ball with you.”
“You can’t bolt now.”
“Try me.”
Back outside they went. Leon was gone, and the air pulsed with the blare of a distant police siren. Grimes was at his best when he was calling the shots. That wasn’t the case now, and the special agent squirmed beneath the glare of the harsh streetlight.
“Spit it out, before I choke it out of you,” Grimes said.
Billy crossed his arms in front of his chest, savoring the moment. When he felt Grimes had had enough torture, he told the special agent what he wanted.