Wild card, p.22
Wild Card, page 22
A young woman stood on the stoop of his house. Early twenties, dirty brown hair, wearing a fake fur coat. Definitely not a ‘I’d like to talk to you about Jesus’ nut. As he pulled up the driveway, she turned around. It was Sissy, the Visine Queen. Parking, he jumped out of the car. If he was seen with another hooker, Banko would have his scalp. Approaching her, he said, “What are you doing here?”
“Selling girl scout cookies.”
“Who gave you my address?”
She eyed him cooly. “I date a cop on the side. He told me.”
“What do you want?”
Sissy shot him a nasty look. “You’re not very hospitable.”
“I’m on suspension. What do you want?”
“It’s about Mona.”
“What about her?”
“She’s missing. I think she’s in trouble.”
He looked up and down the street for Hatch or any other detectives that might be watching his house. The street was empty, and he escorted Sissy inside. She slipped out of her fake fur, and threw it over a chair in the dining room. She wasn’t wearing trashy clothes, or anything particularly alluring; little make-up, and no perfume. She refused to sit down, and stood next to his dining room table. She was all business.
Sitting on the table was a box of family photographs that Lois planned to hang around the house to replace those destroyed by the burglars. The top photograph caught Sissy’s eye, and she picked it up. It was of Lois modeling a bathing suit when she was younger.
“This your wife?”
“That’s her,” he said.
“She’s a beauty.”
Valentine took a deep breath. Sissy was trying to be nice, but it didn’t matter. He wanted her to say what was on her mind, and get out of his house.
“What happened to Mona?” he asked.
Sissy continued to admire the photograph. “She’s disappeared. Went to the beach yesterday and never came home. We do buddy checks. When she didn’t answer her phone this morning, I went looking for her.”
“Any luck?”
“Just her car. It was parked in the lot of the Catholic church near the casino. I talked to the priest. He said it had been there overnight.”
“You file a missing person’s report?”
“No. Do you mind?”
Before he could object, Sissy removed Lois’s photograph, and picked up the one beneath it. It was of Gerry at his fifth birthday. He was dressed in a Batman costume and was blowing out the candles on a sagging ice cream cake. Sissy rubbed his face with her thumb, then seemed embarrassed and put the photograph down.
“Why not?” he asked.
“I’m leaving town. I did what I could.”
“I thought Mona was your friend.”
“You think a missing person report is going to make a difference?”
“It’s a start,” he said, growing angry with her.
She took her fake fur off the chair, and slipped it on. “I told Mona to stay off the streets until this sicko was caught. She didn’t listen. You know why?”
He shook his head.
“There’s an old expression. Quit the business, before the business quits you. Mona didn’t know when to quit.” Sissy walked to the front door, opened it, then turned and looked him square in the eye. “I do.”
He followed her outside to the curb. Sissy drove a baby-blue Mustang, and it was packed with everything she owned, the clothes and kitchen utensils thrown across the seats like she’d robbed a rummage sale.
“If you see her again, tell her I’m sorry,” Sissy said.
Valentine watched her drive away, then went back inside his house.
He sat at his kitchen table, and tried to decide what to do with the information Sissy had given him. The rules for being suspended were clear: No involvement in any active investigations. He couldn’t call Banko without getting himself in more hot water, only sitting on the information wasn’t an option, either. Not if he wanted to sleep at night, and live with his conscience. He picked up the phone and called Lois at work. His wife was on break, and he told her everything that Sissy had said.
“You have to call Banko, and tell him,” Lois said when he was finished.
“Even if I end up getting fired?”
“Yes,” she said firmly.
He’d thought of a dozen surreptitious ways of getting the information about Mona to Banko without getting involved. As if reading his thoughts, Lois said, “He may not be happy with you Tony, but he will believe you, and that’s what counts.”
It made him feel better, knowing his wife was behind him. He told her that he loved her, then hung up and called his superior.
“Let me get this straight. A hooker drove to your house, and gave you this information?” Banko said incredulously a few minutes later. His tone was severe, and Valentine could feel an invisible noose tightening around his neck.
“That’s right,” he said.
“You entertain hookers at your house often?”
“She dates a cop. Said he gave her my address.”
Banko swore like he’d banged his thumb with a hammer. “Did she tell you this cop’s name?”
“No, sir.”
“Why —”
“I didn’t ask her.”
“If there’s a bad apple on the force, I want to know about it.”
Valentine was standing at his sink, looking at his postage stamp of a backyard filled with cheap kid’s playthings. It was what thirty-six grand a year bought you, and he said, “I was more concerned about Mona, if you want to know the truth.”
There was a long pause on the other end.
“All right, here’s what I’ll do,” Banko said. “I’ll file a Missing Person report on Mona, and distribute it to the force, along with her mug shot. In return, I want you to promise me you’ll stay off this case. If you get a lead, you’ll call me. No more rogue police work, understand?”
Valentine gripped the receiver and felt his vision blur. Banko had called him a rogue cop. He was finished as a detective, and they both knew it.
“Yes, sir,” he said quietly.
The phone went dead in his hand.
Putting his overcoat on, Valentine went outside, and got a shovel from the garage. Crossing his backyard, he stopped at the birdbath, and used his muscle to move it a few inches. It was ugly as sin, and had only stayed because he couldn’t afford to replace it.
Then he began to dig. Two feet down, he put the shovel aside, and used his fingers. The address book and video tape were buried in plastic zip-lock bags, and he removed them from the hole, then refilled it and went back inside.
He found a pencil and a legal pad in a kitchen drawer, and spent the next hour writing down everything he knew about the skim at Resorts. In language anyone could understand, he explained how the skim was being reported on the books, and included how Resorts’ hotel routinely over-charged customers, a practice which he’d known about, and now guessed let the hotel off-set giving away an occasional free room to a high-roller.
Finished, he wrote up the cast of characters, which included Crowe, Brown, Freed, Mickey Wright, Vinny Acosta, the names of the runners in the address book, and the names of hotel and casino employees who did the books, and who he believed were involved. Only one name didn’t make the list, and that was Mink. Losing Marcus was punishment enough for what he’d done.
Then he reread the report. It was four pages long. The crime he was painting would be easy for anyone to understand, including any of the local reporters he knew. But, there was also a problem. It contained a lot of insider information, and if the papers did publish it, people would know he’d written it, and he would be labeled a disgraced cop with an axe to grind. If that’s what it takes to get the truth out, so be it, he thought.
He found an envelope in the kitchen cabinet, and sealed the report inside of it. He knew the address of the Camden Union Register by heart, and was writing it on the envelope when the phone rang. Lifting the receiver to his ear, he heard Lois’s voice.
“I love you,” she said.
“I love you, too,” he told her.
“So, how did your talk with Banko go?”
Valentine stared down at the envelope in his hands.
“I think it’s time for a career-change,” he said.
Chapter 48
“I’ve got a cat in the hat,” Romaine called out.
It was midnight, and Fossil was running the surveillance control room. It didn’t happen very often, and usually for no more than an hour or two, but it was time that Fossil cherished. He’d worked for thirty years as a department store detective, and had always reported to some asshole upstairs.
Fossil came over to where Romaine was standing by the wall of video monitors. A cat in the hat was someone who looked out-of-place. Sometimes, the person was simply eccentric, or oddly dressed. Other times, it was a cheater hiding something illegal in their clothes, like a computer or a miniature camera or a hold-out device in their sleeve. Romaine pointed an accusing finger at a player at a craps table.
“Him,” he said.
Fossil stared at the suspect. Late thirties, wearing a cheap wig and tinted glasses. The high resolution black and white cameras saw through hair pieces, and Fossil could see that the man had all his hair. Which meant the wig was purely a disguise. Going to the bulletin board, he pulled down a sheet. Back at the wall, he compared the face on the sheet to the one on the screen. The guy in the wig was Izzie Hirsch.
“Didn’t Tony bust this guy?” Romaine asked.
“He sure did,” Fossil said. He remembered Valentine telling him about the bust. The Hirsch brothers had given up without a fight. Perfect, he thought. “I think we should take these guys in ourselves. You up for it?”
Romaine’s face lit up. He was twenty-five years old, and still lived with his parents. They were domineering people, and Romaine yearned to break free of their grasp. It was all he talked about, besides catching cheaters.
“You bet I am.”
Fossil jerked his desk drawer open, and removed two pairs of handcuffs. He showed Romaine how to clip the cuffs onto his belt. Then he pulled a blackjack out of the drawer, and slapped it loudly against his palm.
“Let’s go knock some heads,” Fossil said.
Fossil knew what the Hirsch brothers were up to. Valentine had explained how they pulled sheep off the floor, and took them back to a rented house for a shearing. He crossed the casino with Romaine glued to his side. Taking out his money, Fossil put the biggest bill on top, and sifted through the crowd until he found Izzie Hirsch. He grabbed Izzie by the arm and in a loud voice said, “Louie, how you been?”
Izzie gave him a funny look. Then he saw the wad of cash in Fossil’s hand.
“Terrific,” Izzie said. “How about you?”
“Great! This is my pal Romaine. He and I just won five grand playing craps.”
Izzie’s’s eyes popped. “You won five big ones? Can I shake your hand?”
“Ha, ha,” Fossil said.
Izzie’s brothers appeared, and soon they were all bosom buddies. Izzie suggested they go back to their house, and get some food. Fossil agreed, and he and Romaine followed them in his car to a neighborhood in Chelsea Heights.
Fossil had seen some cute set-ups, but the Hirsch’s house was something special. The downstairs was like a college frat house, with a cooler filled with ice-cold beer, a pool table, and two felt-lined card tables. He helped himself to two bottles of Budweiser from the cooler, while Romaine racked up balls on the pool table.
“Look what I found,” Fossil said, handing Romaine a beer.
“Boy, what swell guys,” Romaine said.
They started playing eightball. The Hirsch brothers were in the living room, playing poker. Occasionally, one would stick his head, and eye the pile of bills sitting on the table. It looked like they were playing for big money, and soon Izzie and Seymour were standing in the den, watching the balls fly across the felt.
“Who’s up for craps?” Izzie asked when their game was done.
“Sure,” Fossil said.
Izzie tossed a pair of dice onto the table. “You shoot first.”
Fossil picked the dice up, and shook them. They didn’t feel right, and without thinking, he turned them over in his palm to see where they’d been manufactured. It was something a sucker would never do. Realizing his mistake, he looked up, and caught Izzie’s fearful stare.
“Something the matter?” Izzie asked.
Fossil tossed the dice onto the felt, then slipped the blackjack out of his pocket, and came around the pool table to where Izzie and Seymour were standing. “Put your hands where I can see them. And tell your brother to get out here.”
“You a cop?” Izzie asked.
“Casino security.”
“You can’t arrest us,” Seymour said indignantly.
“Like hell I can’t!” Fossil exclaimed. “Arms in the air.”
Izzie hollered at the top of his lungs. “JOSH!”
The den’s lights flickered. Fossil stared at the dice sitting on the pool table. They were rolling backward and forward like a pair of dying fish. He reached for the handcuffs clipped to his belt, then left his feet, and flew through the air like Peter Pan.
Forty minutes later, Valentine pulled up to the address in Chelsea Heights and let his headlights illuminate the shadowy figures standing on the lawn. It was midnight, and the sound of the phone that had awoken him was still ringing in his ears. From the seat he picked up a baseball cap along with a pair of glasses. Putting both on, he appraised himself in the mirror. Not a great disguise, but it would do.
He got his flashlight from the trunk and flicked it on. The street lights were out, and he walked up the from path and then around the house. He found Doyle in the back yard, talking to a uniform. His partner broke free and pulled him aside.
“Sorry to wake you up,” Doyle said.
“No problem.”
“I know your coming over here is a risk, but I figured you’d better see this.”
“Is Banko here?”
“Naw, he’s home sleeping.”
Doyle entered through the back of the house with Valentine behind him. The interior was lit up by Coleman lanterns. They found Fossil in the kitchen, walking off whatever had knocked him silly.
“Tony, that you?” the older man asked.
Valentine put a finger to his lips. “Keep it down. How you feeling?”
Fossil was favoring his right side, and grimaced every time he took a step. He stopped and put his hand on the kitchen counter, breathing deeply. “I’ll live.”
“You should have called me,” Valentine said. “I would have told you how to handle them.”
“I didn’t think they were dangerous.”
“Think again.”
Fossil looked away, embarrassed as hell. “Guess I blew it, huh?”
“Happens to the best of us,” Doyle said.
Valentine went into the living room, and found Romaine sitting on a bar stool. Romaine looked like he’d just gone ten rounds with George Foreman, and pressed a bulging ice pack to his misshapen skull. Talking under his breath, Valentine said, “Romaine, it’s me. What the hell happened?”
“Tony?”
“Don’t use my name.”
“Sorry. I tried to grab one of them, and he smacked me over the head with a bottle.”
“Let me see where he hit you.”
Romaine lowered the ice pack, and showed Valentine the tiny purple map of the United States now imprinted across his forehead. It was funny how bad bruises always resembled something familiar.
“You ought to get a photograph of it,” Valentine suggested.
“A keeper, huh?” Romaine asked.
“Yeah. Did Fossil really fly through the air?”
“Yup. I didn’t know he had a steel plate in his leg.”
“Neither did I. He get it in Vietnam?”
“That’s what he said.”
Valentine went into the den, and saw two vice detectives dismantling the pool table. It was a Brunswick model, and he remembered Izzie begging to let them take the table when Valentine had run him out of town. Izzie had claimed it was his father’s.
Valentine watched the detectives strip away the table’s felt to reveal coiled, rectangular masses of copper wire hiding underneath. It took a few moments before he realized what he was looking at. The pool table was a giant electro-magnet.
Kneeling, he shone his flashlight beneath the table, and saw a suspicious black cable running down one of the legs. With a little bit of searching, he found the cable’s outline in the cheap carpet. It led to a wall, then vanished. He went into the next room, found a closet, and opened it. The closet was empty, except for a green power box hugging the wall. With his flashlight, he saw where the black cable came through the wall, and entered the box. He flipped the box open. It contained a single switch for 220 volts. With one quick surge, the steel coils in the pool table became electro-magnets, and made loaded dice flip. Left on for too long, and men with metal plates flew through the air, and power boxes on the street blew up.
He didn’t want to hang around too long, and went outside and stood on the front lawn. It was cold, and his breath clouded the air each time he exhaled. He stared at the full moon, which looked like a hole in the sky, and imagined the Hirsch brothers sitting in an all-night diner somewhere, laughing their heads off at Fossil and Romaine’s expense.
Thinking about them made him angry. He’d been soft on the Hirsch’s because it seemed the right thing to do — Izzie had spilled his guts out to him, and they’d known each other as kids — but in reality, it was the wrong thing to do. He’d shown weakness to men who preyed on weakness, and so they’d come back, and struck again.
He thought about going back inside, and apologizing to Fossil and Romaine. Neither man was at fault for what had happened. He was. He had screwed up. No wonder Banko wanted him off the force.
Climbing into his Pinto, he pulled off his disguise, and drove away.
Chapter 49
Valentine’s house was as still as a church when he got home. He entered through the back door, took off his coat, and poured himself a tall glass of cold milk in the kitchen. The clock over the fridge said it was two A.M. He drank the milk slowly, knowing it would be several hours before he felt like going to bed.
