Free Take Down by James Swain Page A

claim that he hadn’t known who Billy was. The casino boss was covering all his bases.
    “Tomorrow afternoon, you’ll check into the hotel using Pico’s ID, and will be comped into a high-roller suite in the main tower,” Doucette said. “Your suite has got hidden cameras and is wired for audio as well, so don’t even think about screwing with me.”
    “How about the john? Are you going to film me taking a crap?”
    “We just might.”
    He wasn’t surprised to hear the high-roller suite was wired. Many casinos wired their high-roller suites to make sure their wealthy customers didn’t go play at a competitor’s tables.
    “You’ll also be comped your food and drinks, and will be given twenty grand in chips to play with,” the casino boss said. “If you decide to cheat us, don’t even think about cashing in your chips, because you’ll be killed. Got it?”
    “You think I’d cheat you now?” Billy asked incredulously.
    “Damn straight I do. Cheating’s in your blood.” Doucette paused, then said, “You’re also going to have an entourage. Ike and T-Bird will act as your bodyguards, and will accompany you wherever you go. They’ll also be staying in your suite. If you stray, they’ll take you down. You’re going to be in our crosshairs every moment you’re here. You with me?”
    “Yeah, I’m with you.”
    “Good. If you’ve got any questions, ask them now.”
    He had questions, but he’d decided it was more important to get the hell out of here before Doucette or his crazy bride had a change of mind. They impressed him as the kind of people that could flip on a dime and turn into animals, and he didn’t want to be around when that happened.
    “I’m good,” he said. Then he added, “You can count on me.”
    “Why is it every time you talk, I think you’re lying to me?” Doucette said.
    “Beats me.”
    “Get him out of here,” the casino boss said, and went onto the balcony with his bride.

    “Let’s go, pardner,” Crunchie said.
    Billy rose from his chair and followed the old grifter out of the office. He had no idea how this was going to turn out, but as they rode the elevator down to the main level, he promised himself that he was going to pay Crunchie back for setting him up.
    The valet stand was jamming, and they waited in line for his car. The cool desert air was bringing him around, and he could not purge the idea of revenge from his mind. Perhaps he’d throw the old grifter under the wheels of the next vehicle that came up.
    “Stop looking at me like that,” Crunchie said.
    “Who said I was looking at you?” Billy said.
    “You think I don’t know? You want to kill me.”
    “Doesn’t everybody?”
    Ike and T-Bird laughed contemptuously. Billy edged closer to the old grifter. Feeling threatened by the proximity, the old grifter’s watery eyes narrowed with distrust.
    “You lied to me when you said you were talking to your daughter tonight,” Billy said. “You were talking to that crazy bitch, weren’t you?”
    “How’d you know that?” Crunchie asked.
    “You showed me three calls on your cell phone with a 310 area code, which is Southern California. Shaz told me she recently relocated from LA. Two plus two equals four.”
    “You don’t miss a trick, do you?”
    “Is she running things?”
    “Fuck no. Doucette’s running the show. She’s just window dressing.”
    A car came up that wasn’t his. There was something eating at Billy, and he decided to get it off his chest. “Why did you let her torture Ricky Boswell, and bash his head in with a baseball bat? Why couldn’t you have just shot him? The poor kid didn’t need to suffer.”
    “Who told you she tortured him?”
    “She made me watch a video of it. You were in it. Why didn’t you stop her?”
    “I couldn’t.”
    “I thought you said she wasn’t running things.”
    “It’s complicated. Do yourself a favor, and steer clear of her. If you don’t, she’ll end up snuffing you like that