“I’ll let you know.”
Going outside onto the balcony, he found a shady spot and waited fifteen minutes before placing a call to Night Train on his cell phone and getting sent to voice mail. “I saw you on ESPN. Glad you’re feeling better. Let me know if our deal’s back on.” A minute later, he got an answer in the form of a text. Can’t talk. Deal’s on. Sorry I smacked you.
The deal was on. It made every bad thing that had happened in the past two weeks seem worthwhile. His next call was to Cory and Morris. They’d gone to Cancun to work on their tans and had e-mailed him photographs of the bikini-clad women they’d met on the beach.
“Hey, Billy, long time no talk,” Cory answered. “How’s it going?”
“Great. You guys still hanging in Mexico?”
“We are. It’s boring. You’ve seen one perfect body, you’ve seen them all.”
“Did you scalp those fifty-yard-line tickets for the Super Bowl?”
“We’re trying to. We put them on Craigslist.”
“Don’t sell them. Get on the next plane to Phoenix. The fix is on.”
“It’s on? That’s awesome.”
“One more question. Is your web still good?” A web was a network of gamblers spread around the country who placed bets on fixed sporting events. By using a web, a cheat could place large sums on an event and spread the pain around without drawing heat to himself.
“They’re good,” Cory said. “Do you want them to bet on the prop bets we discussed?”
“Yes. We’ve got a new bet to add. The Rebels to win.”
Cory howled disapprovingly. “Have you watched TV recently? The Rebels’ defense is like something out of Animal House. They’re going to get wiped off the field.”
“No they’re not.”
“You know something I don’t?”
“Yes I do.”
“This is huge. How much do you want to bet on them?”
“The farm,” he said.
His next call was to Victor Boswell. Victor ran a bowling alley in Sacramento that acted as a front for the family’s illegal activities. It was here that Billy found Victor working the front desk, the thunder of crashing pins filling the background.
“How’s it going, Billy? Did things work out with the super con?”
“Afraid not. We got caught.”
“Let me put you on hold. Kat, take over for me.” Victor came back on the line a few moments later. “You got caught? Are you calling me from jail?”
“I managed to wiggle my way out of it. I’ll tell you the bloody details over a drink someday. I wanted to pass along a hot tip. You should bet on the Rebels this weekend.”
Victor whistled into the phone. “Can they make the spread?”
“Screw the spread. The Rebels are going to win the game.”
“You’re sure about this?”
“I’ve never been more sure about anything in my life.”
“I’m looking at the Vegas odds on my computer,” Victor said. “The Rebels are a huge underdog. The Vegas bookmakers have been right in picking the winner for fifteen of the last sixteen Super Bowls. They’re not dummies, Billy.”
“I didn’t say the bookmakers were dummies. They just don’t know the deal for this particular game. If you don’t want in, just say so, and I’ll call someone else. No hard feelings.”
“Of course I want in. I just want to make sure this is on the level. What do you want us to cover? I know plenty of bookies in Northern California we can hit, and I can send my kids to Reno and Lake Tahoe and have them place wagers with the sports books there.”
“That works. I’ve got Vegas covered, and my guys have a web that will cover the bookies in the rest of the country. We’re going to make a killing, Victor.”
“I would say so. Let me jump on this. Thanks for thinking of me.”
“Anytime, my friend.”
His last call was to Grimes. He would have liked to be in Phoenix this weekend to make sure nothing went wrong with the rigged coin toss, but there was a chance that his face might show up on a camera during the game, and that would look bad, considering he was going to testify in front of a judge about the game being fixed. The smart call would be to stay home, and he decided to rent a suite at a fancy Strip hotel and party with the members of his crew not at the game, so they could dine on great food and drink the best booze. But before he made preparations, he needed to be sure no more men with scorpion tattoos were looking for him.
A receptionist answered Grimes’s line. The special agent was in a meeting and could not be disturbed. Billy told her it was urgent. Grimes called him back within seconds.
“Lay it on me,” Grimes said.
“Is it safe for me to leave my condo?”
“It’s safe. We interrogated the bellman and got him to confess. The first hit man was a decoy, just like you thought. The bellman was the real assassin. I took the precaution of putting Broken Tooth in solitary so he can’t make any more phone calls and hire another killer.”
“You’re my hero.”
“Up yours, Cunningham.”
Billy tried to end the call but Grimes stopped him.
“Before you step foot outside of your building, I want you to promise me that you’ll keep your nose clean until Broken Tooth is charged with trying to fix the game,” the special agent said.
“I already told you I would,” he said.
“I want to hear you say it again.”
“I promise to stay out of trouble until Broken Tooth is charged.”
“Why are the hairs standing up on the back of my neck?”
“Maybe it was something you ate,” he said.
Sixty-Two
Sunday, the Super Bowl
If you weren’t living on the edge, you were taking up too much space.
By Sunday morning, the Rebels were fourteen-point underdogs. No one who followed football believed they had a chance to win. Billy got on the horn and persuaded a loan shark he knew to lend him half a million bucks, which he wagered on the Rebels with a local sports book.
Then he went to work on planning his Super Bowl party. The Flat Suites at the M Resort were his favorite accommodations in town, the views from the top-floor suites spanning more than 270 degrees. Securing one at this late date set him back thirty grand.
He checked in early Sunday afternoon. First job was to inspect the bar that came with the suite. He’d called in his order, and he wanted to make sure the hotel had gotten it right. There was a bottle of aged Glenlivet with Leon’s name on it. Pepper and Misty drank Porn Star cocktails made from Blue Curacao and Sour Puss raspberry liqueur, and the bar had enough to keep them happy. In the fridge was a six-pack of award-winning craft beers that he was looking forward to sampling. A short while later, room service delivered a tray of shrimp cocktail, lobster tails, and appetizers with exotic names. He sampled every item, wanting nothing but the best.
Misty and Pepper were the first to arrive. They’d driven five hours from LA and were exhausted. The food and drinks quickly brought them around. When they were finished, he explained the deal. “We’re rooting for the Rebels. If they win, you win.”
“How much do we win?” Misty asked.
He told them the number. It was the same amount they would have made with Victor’s super con. Misty let out a whistle. Pepper also approved.
“What if they lose?” Pepper asked.
“Then we go on food stamps,” he said.
Leon showed up not long after the girls. Billy’s driver looked like a new man. His broken ribs had healed, and he’d gotten his busted nose straightened.
Billy fixed everyone drinks, and they clinked glasses in a toast. A few minutes later, he received a text from Cory and Morris that included a selfie taken at University of Phoenix Stadium where the big game was being held. The accompanying message said they were in their seats on the fifty-yard line, ready to try out Gabe’s latest creation.