Robert Randisi - Hey There (You with the Gun in Your Hand)

We had some coffee and Jerry had two pieces of apple pie.

“Are you full yet?” I asked.

“That should hold me for a while,” he said. “So what do we do between now and the meet?”

I sat back.

“I’ve never done this before. Have you?”

“I ain’t never made a blackmail payoff before,” he said, “but I been to some meets.”

“What did you do leading up to them?”

“I went and checked out the places that was picked,” Jerry explained. “You never wanna walk into a situation like that blind.”

“That sounds like a sound idea.”

“And you wanna do it in the daylight,” Jerry added, “because the meet’s gonna take place at night.”

“Well, why don’t we go and do that right now?” I proposed.

“I drive?” he asked, brightening.

“Yep,” I said, “you drive.”

Just blocks away from the glitz and glamour of the Las Vegas strip the town can change drastically. Industrial Road is one of those streets. In fact, Jerry and I had already had an experience along that road, finding a body in a Dumpster while we were trying to find out who was threatening Dino last year.

“This looks familiar,” Jerry said.

I told him and he nodded.

“This is in a different area, though,” I said. “Much worse.”

“I can see that,” he said. As we drove along, the conditions worsened. Still warehouses and other businesses, but a lot of the “transactions” being done in parking lots and back alleys-you get my drift.

“Over there,” I said. “Pull in.”

Jerry turned into the parking lot and cut the engine. We were looking at an abandoned warehouse with a large, crumbling parking lot and an open field behind it. There were some rusted out Dumpsters, but not much else in the way of cover. There were also plenty of beer cans and food wrappers against the walls.

“The roof,” Jerry said.

“What?”

“If they get here first they can put somebody on the roof.”

“Like … with a rifle?”

“That’s what I mean.”

“But why?” I asked. “We’re just makin’ an exchange, right?”

“As far as anybody knows,” Jerry said, “but Mr. G., these people are gonna be careful. They don’t know if you’re gonna show up with the cops.”

“You know,” I said, “I may be too naive for this stuff.”

“You live in Vegas,” Jerry said. “You ain’t naive, you just ain’t had all the good kicked outta ya yet.”

“I’ve been here thirteen years.”

Jerry shrugged.

“Maybe you had a lotta good in you.” He slapped me on the back. “But don’t worry, we’ll make a thug outta you, yet.”

“So what do we do?” I asked. “We’re going to be out in the open here.”

“Not we,” he said, “you.”

“But I asked you here to … to back me up.”

“I can watch your back without bein’ out in the open with you,” he said.

“So what do you suggest we do?”

“The meeting is set for after dark,” he said. “There are no lights here, so they’re probably counting on car lights-yours and theirs. You’ll have to drop me further down the street and I’ll come the rest of the way on foot.”

“What about the trunk?” I asked. “You could be in the trunk.”

“Even your car doesn’t have a trunk big enough for me,” he said. “Besides, they might check it.”

“So where will you be?”

“Out there.” He pointed to the field behind the parking lot.

“In the open?”

“In the open in the dark,” he said. “They won’t see me.”

“What about the moon?”

“That’s a chance I’ll take,” he said. “What’s the moon been like, lately?”

I had to admit that I hadn’t noticed.

“Well,” Jerry said, “we’ll know before we come out here.”

“What if they get here first?”

“They will,” he said, “but like I said, they’ll have a man on the roof, or in one of these Dumpsters, and he’s gonna be watchin’ you.”

“So that’s it?” I asked. “Now we just wait until tomorrow night?”

“We’ll take a drive around the building,” he said, turning the engine back on, “just to have a look.”

He drove completely around the building and we spotted several ways in-a front door, a back door, and a loading dock door, all closed.

“What if they take me inside?” I asked.

“They’ve got no reason to do anything to you, as long as you show up with the money,” Jerry said. “The only thing they might do is double-cross you and Mr. Davis by making copies of … of whatever it is you’re tryin’ to buy. So if they wanna take you inside, don’t panic.”

“Easy for you to say.”

“You hungry?” Jerry asked. “I’m hungry.”

“Sure, let’s go,” I said. “I know of a good diner right near here.”

“You know,” I said to Jerry when we reached the diner, “I think we spend half our time together with me watching you eat.”

“You eat, too,” Jerry said.

“Yeah, but you don’t watch me,” I said. “You’re so intent on your food.”

“And you don’t pay attention to your food?”

“I pay attention to a really good meal,” I said. “You pay attention to every meal.”

He looked confused.

“But every meal is a good meal,” he said.

“Come on,” I said, opening the car door, “I’ll buy you some fries.”

“I love fries….”

After Jerry had eaten his fill of fries-really good diner fries-we went back to the Sands.

“I’ve got some calls to make,” I said. “I can come with ya.”

“I don’t need you to watch my back, yet,” I said. “You remember where the race book is?”

“Oh, yeah.” His eyes lit up. “I remember.”

“I’ll meet you there.”

“Okay, Mr. G.,” he said.

We split up. I went to Jack Entratter’s office to use his phone. His girl told me he wasn’t there, but she let me sit at an empty desk. I called Sammy in Tahoe, first.

“I made the arrangements for the money, Eddie,” Sammy said. He gave me the name of the bank and the man I should see when I got there.

“Have you heard anything else?” I asked.

“Not a peep,” he said. “No calls, no notes.”

“Okay, I’ll be in touch.”

“Thanks, man,” Sammy said. “I know I’m in good hands.”

I almost said, “I hope so,” but didn’t think that would go over real well.

After that I called Frank in Palm Springs and gave him a rundown.

“I’m glad you brought big Jerry into it, Eddie,” he said. “He’s a good man to have on your side.”

“I know it, Frank.”

“Listen, I’ll be back in Tahoe on Friday, so I’m gonna fly to Vegas for Dino’s show. Why don’t you and Sam meet me there?”

“Fine by me, Frank.”

“I’ll talk to Sammy,” he said. “See you then.”

When I hung up, Jack’s girl was waving me over to her desk.

“I’m not supposed to be taking your messages, you know,” she said.

“Messages? From who?”

“Just one,” she said. “And I only took it because it was Mr. Martin.”

“Dino?”

“He’d like you to have dinner with him tonight, if you have the time.”

“Dinner with Dean? Sure. I’ll call him-”

“I’ll return the message for you,” she said. “The Garden Room okay?”

“No,” I said, “I’ll take him someplace off the premises.”

“Our restaurants aren’t good enough for you?”

“I’ll call Dean-” I said, but she cut me off. “No,” she said, “I’d like to … please.”

That was when I realized how much she wanted to talk to him again.

“I’ll have a car out in front waiting for both of you,” she said. “Just tell me what time?”