Robert Randisi - It Was a Very Bad Year

‘You’ll get paid, Darla,’ I said. ‘You know you can trust me.’

‘We just have to agree on a price, Eddie,’ she said. ‘Then I’ll trust you for it.’

‘How about two hundred?’ I asked.

‘How about two thousand?’ she asked. ‘Is this important to ya?’

Important enough that I didn’t really want to haggle, but I was probably going to have to do business with her in the future.

‘Five hundred, Darla.’

‘A thousand and you got a deal.’

‘OK,’ I said. ‘A grand. Now give.’

‘He’s at the Sunshine Ranch.’

‘That’s just outside of Indian Springs, right?’

‘That’s the one.’

One of the things the casinos had to supply for their clients was women, which meant we had to know where the women were. And if they weren’t on the street, they were in the ranches out in the desert. Many had been closed down as public nuisances in 1951, but the ones that continued to operate had a ‘special’ relationship with the law.

‘Darla, is he there now?’

‘I been hangin’ on the phone for you a while, Eddie,’ she said, ‘but when I made the call, he was still there. That’s why I wouldn’t hang up till I talked to ya.’

‘And you’re positive this is a place he goes?’

‘He goes there a lot, Eddie,’ she said. ‘He owns it.’

Well, maybe that explained where Irwin got some of his girls for his stag films.

‘Baby, if he’s there you earned every penny,’ I assured her.

‘I’ll be waitin’, lover.’

I hung up.

‘What’s near Indian Springs?’ Jerry asked.

‘The Sunshine Ranch,’ I said. ‘It’s a brothel. A cathouse.’

‘Whores?’

‘Lots of ’em.’

‘And that’s where Irwin is?’

‘He was when she made the call.’

‘How far away is that?’ he asked.

‘Maybe an hour.’

We stood there and stared at each other for a few moments. The same thing was going through our heads. Call Hargrove and walk away, or drive out there and get Irwin ourselves?

‘Let’s do it,’ Jerry said, and I nodded.

For a long time I’d been of the opinion that prostitution in Las Vegas should be legalized. Not so much the street trade, like Darla, but the girls who worked the hotels and ranches out in the desert. Once that was done, Las Vegas would become the place people could go to get anything they wanted.

We kicked up a lot of dust as most of the drive was on dirt roads. Eventually, we came within sight of a structure and I put my hand on Jerry’s arm. He braked and let the car idle.

‘That it?’ he asked.

‘Should be.’

‘Don’t look like much.’

‘Some of them actually look like a ranch,’ I said, ‘but this one. .’

This one looked like a worn out double-wide. There were a couple of cars parked out front.

‘Let’s back up some, just till we’re out of sight,’ I said. ‘Then we’ll walk the rest of the way.’

He put the Caddy in reverse. We only had to go about twenty yards. I directed Jerry to pull off the road. If anyone came along maybe they’d think we’d gotten stuck and had to walk.

We got out of the car and, since we were in the desert, left our jackets in the car. I could see Jerry’s.45 tucked into the back of his pants.

Once we started out on foot I looked around, imagining that this was the same view a cowboy would’ve seen a hundred years ago when he was out here on a horse. That is, until we once again came within view of the trailer.

‘Let’s circle and come in from the back,’ I suggested.

‘Good idea.’

From that angle we could see how large the structure actually was. An extension had been built on the back, which probably housed rooms — or cribs — for the girls.

We couldn’t walk right in and pretend to be customers. Irwin had seen both of us, would know us on the spot. Of course, we could’ve taken the chance that he wouldn’t notice us till too late, but with girls and customers around some innocent people could have gotten hurt if there was gun play.

And there were customers. We saw a few cars parked alongside the trailer’s extension. And there were those two out front. Some of the cars must have belonged to employees, so I was hoping the interior wasn’t going to be too crowded.

There was a back door at the very end of the extension, but if we went in that way we’d probably have to bypass every room in the place.

‘There’s gotta be another door, maybe on the other side,’ Jerry said.

We circled completely around the building and, sure enough, found a side door about halfway up the extension. There were also three motorcycles parked there. Not only was Irwin probably inside, but the Rienzas, as well.

We’d done this before, even though neither of us was an expert at breaking and entering. There were windows on either side of the door. The window on the right was blocked with something, so it was probably a crib. The window to the left was clear, and the room appeared to be an office. We saw a desk, a lamp, and a sofa. We could only see half the sofa, though, so we saw half a man lying on it — the bottom half. However, that half was clad in lime green pants, and white shoes.

‘That’s him,’ I whispered.

‘Gotta be,’ Jerry said.

Instead of having the bad luck to have to use the back door, we ran into good luck. Once we got through this side door we’d be right next to the room Barney Irwin was in.

Jerry dropped to one knee and started working with his lock picks. I kept looking both ways — actually, all ways; left, right, behind us and above. I was sweating, and it wasn’t just from the sun beating down on us. The back of Jerry’s shirt was soaked through, but knowing him that was from the sun.

Irwin might still be dressing like a buffoon, but we’d discovered he was more than that. This might not be as easy as we’d hoped. It wasn’t necessarily just girls, customers, other employees and Irwin inside. He could have a couple of mugs with him.

I heard the lock go snick and patted Jerry on his damp shoulder. He was getting better at that.

He stood up, looked at me and indicated he would take the lead. I nodded. He slid his.45 from his belt, held it in his right hand, and put his left hand on the door knob.

He looked at me. Again, I nodded, and he opened the door.

We stepped inside, closing the door behind us. Irwin may not have spent much money on the worn outer shell of the place, but the inside was air-conditioned. My soaked shirt immediately felt like a coat of ice on me.

We moved down a short hall, which led to a longer one that ran the center of the extension. Jerry peered out to be sure we were clear, then waved me on with his left hand as he stepped out. At any minute a girl and her john could come walking up or down the hall. We quickly moved to the door of the office. Jerry grabbed the knob, turned it and the door opened. We sprang into the room; I pulled the door closed behind, quickly, without slamming it.

‘What the hell is it now?’ Irwin demanded from the sofa. ‘Can’t a guy catch a nap-’

He stopped when Jerry put the barrel of his.45 to Irwin’s cheek.

‘What the fuck?’ Irwin said.

I moved around so he could see me. When he did, he craned his head against the pressure of the.45 and saw Jerry.

‘Fuck me,’ he said.

‘That’s exactly what we’re here to do, Barney,’ I said.

‘Hey, guys, look,’ Irwin said, ‘there’s no hard feelins-’

‘Cut the crap, Barney,’ I said. ‘You tried to have us killed, and we saw what’s in your storage unit. So cut the crap.’

Irwin looked at me and asked, ‘Can I sit up?’