Free JC2 The Raiders by Harold Robbins Page B

as an executive
secretary, in the office of the state auditor of the State of
California. I've had eleven years of secretarial experience, six of
them as a confidential and private secretary to an executive."
    "What are you doing in Las Vegas?"
    "I'm stranded here," she said.
    "How so?"
    "I came here on a romantic trip with a friend. He wanted to
gamble. So did I. I signed a chit to buy some chips. He promised me
he'd pay my chit, just as soon as a check he'd given the hotel
cleared. He lost everything he had with him, panicked, took off, and
left me with an unpaid chit. I'm working it off as a waitress."
    "How much is it?"
    "Five hundred dollars. I've paid off sixty-five."
    Jonas shook his head and picked up the telephone. He dialed Morris
Chandler. "Morris, this is Jonas. Put the balance of Mrs.
Wyatt's chit on my account."
    "You hired her, then," said Chandler.
    "We'll talk about that later."
    He put down the phone and looked up to see her frowning at him, her
chin high.
    "That's how you do things, I imagine,"
she said. "Quick decisions. The only thing is, now I owe you four hundred and thirty-five dollars. That's how I do
things."
    Jonas grinned. "I guess I have to hire
you, then. Otherwise, you can't pay me."
    "Well ... You're not a Las Vegas casino. You don't hold people
prisoner until they pay off their chits. Do you? You don't break legs
either, I imagine."
    "You think Chandler would do that?" he asked.
    She shrugged. "He's your friend."
    "Do you know why I'm here?"
    She nodded. "I also know if I told anybody
you're here, I'd be lucky if all I wound up with is two broken
legs."
    "I don't do business that way, Mrs. Wyatt," said Jonas
coldly.
    "No. I don't suppose you do. But Chandler does. Why do you think
he trusted me, telling me who was up here and sending me up?"
    "Maybe I'm an innocent," he said.
    "Maybe you are. Were you ever in Vegas when Bugsy Siegel was
running the Flamingo?"
    "No, as a matter of fact, I never was."
    She nodded. "I was. I've always liked to come
here. My husband brought me here and introduced me to gambling. Bugsy
was dangerous. Bugsy killed people. The town has changed since they
got rid of Bugsy Siegel. They had to kill him. He was bad for
business. But only because he was too public. It wasn't that he beat
up on people and killed them — or had them killed — that
got him his death sentence. It was that he did it too openly. When
it's done now, it's done quietly."
    Jonas shook his head. "I can't think Morris Chandler — "
He stopped. What he had in mind was that he couldn't believe a man
Nevada Smith trusted could be what she suggested.
    "He doesn't make all the decisions here," she said. "He's
a partner, not the sole owner." She sighed. "I'm being
stupid. You want a secretary that won't blab everything she knows,
and here I am doing it."
    "You're not Chandler's confidential secretary," said Jonas.
    "I won't kid you. I'd like to be yours. Uh ... Chandler spoke of
... other requirements."
    Jonas smiled. "Well. Let's say what he mentioned isn't required.
It would be appreciated."
    She stared at him evenly for half a minute, a quizzical smile on her
face. Her tongue flicked out between her lips. "Would you want
me to live here?" she asked.
    "I have two bedrooms."
    She grinned. "Yeah. You have a certain reputation, Mr. Cord."
    "The job is yours," he said. "I'll appreciate your
calling me Mr. Cord when others are with us. When we're alone ...
Jonas."
    "My name is Angie," she said.

6

1

    ANGIE MOVED INTO THE SUITE THE AFTERNOON AFTER her interview. She
slept in the second bedroom that night. The next night she slept with
Jonas.
    That the new executive secretary was an exceptionally attractive
woman and lived in the suite with Mr. Cord came as no surprise to the
four young executives who arrived in Las Vegas within the week. As
Angie had said, Jonas had a certain reputation.
    Making all the arrangements took some time, but by the end of his
second week in Las Vegas Jonas was firmly in control