Michael Connelly - Void Moon

"Nothing's easy, Leo. Not in Las Vegas."

That made her think about going back to the Cleopatra again and a foreboding came over her.

"If he's leaving Thursday, why don't we wait and see where he goes and hit him at the new place? Why does it have to be the Cleo?"

"Because we don't know if he's going anywhere else. He might be going back to Texas, for all we know. His briefcase might be full and he's going home. Besides, we have the inside man at the Cleo. Who knows if we'll get lucky like that if he moves on."

Cassie nodded. She knew Leo had thought about all of this and had decided that hitting the mark at the Cleopatra was the only way.

"I read that the Cleo's for sale," she said, just to be saying something that would take them away from her thoughts.

"Yeah, three thousand rooms and half of them empty on any given night. Big white elephant is what it is. Seven years old and already for sale. I heard Steve Wynn took a look at it but then took a pass. You know something must be fucked up there if he didn't see a way to turn it around. He touches something, it's gold."

"Maybe the place never got over the bad publicity – you know, with Max."

Leo shook his head.

"Old news. The problem is they made that place as cheap as Mother Hubbard's flophouse and now it's falling apart and nobody wants to stay there. Too many other nice places on the Strip for the same dough. You got the Bellagio now, the Venetian. The Mandalay Bay down at the end."

He was naming places that hadn't even existed the last time Cassie had been to Las Vegas. She finished her first sandwich and immediately moved on to the next after taking a swig of cold soda from the bottle. She went back to laying out the plan, talking with her mouth full.

"Unless things have changed, the Cleo is on magno-cards. That means I have to get over there early tomorrow to work on the maid. I finesse my way into the room, set things up and come back at night through the air-return vent – just like last time."

She gulped down a mouthful and felt it hit her stomach with a thud.

"I don't know, Leo. They might have changed the design of those ducts after me and Max used them."

She looked over at him. He was looking over his glasses at her and smiling.

"What?"

"You're not listening to me," he said. "I told you the spotter is an inside man. Forget the ducts. And the maid, too. No soshing on this one. You'll have a complete package waiting for you at the VIP desk."

He looked down at the notes.

"Under the name Turcello. You'll have everything you – "

"Why Turcello? Who's that?"

"That's you. Who cares why? It's just the name the spotter gave me. In the package will be everything you'll need. You'll go in through the front door to the room because you'll have a pass key. And you'll also have a room nearby. So you can set up and watch. Also there'll be a pager. You put it on and you'll get a buzz the minute the mark starts cashing out for the night."

"A pass key only gets me halfway there. I'll need to change out the deadbolt. It's been so long I can't remember the make. Did you get – "

"Got it right here. Relax. I told you, I've got everything. This isn't amateur hour."

He referred to his notes.

"The deadbolt is a Smithson Commercial. Same as last time. That a problem?"

"I won't know until I get there. Like you said, when they built that place they went cheap in the places you can't see. They used half gears in all the deadbolts. I guess using halves instead of wholes in three thousand locks saved a nice piece of bread. The question is, did they go back and change them all out after that night with Max?"

"What if they did?"

"Then it's trouble. It means I'll have to take out the whole and cut it in half. "

"In the room?"

"No. I'll have to leave and come back. I'll bring a cutting torch with me and leave it in the trunk. But if I have to go down to use it, I'll have to find a place out of sight. Meantime, the guy could go up to the room and end of story."

"What about the other room? You could take the gear out of that lock, cut it and then take it into the mark's room."

Before Cassie could say he was right, Leo shook off the possibility that the locks had been changed.

"I tell you, don't worry about it. That place has been losing money since the day it opened its doors. They wouldn't have gone out and changed three thousand deadbolts because one guy – who wasn't going to be doing it again – finessed a lock. Forget about it."

"Easy for you to say. You're staying here."

Leo let that go and reached into the file. He pulled out the stack of money and put it down next to Cassie's plate.

"Our partners are serious people. They know there are equipment costs. That's ten grand there. For camera shopping and whatever else you need."

"I've already spent close to nine hundred on the basics."

"Let me ask you something, how up to date are you on all of the cameras and stuff? You know what you want?"

"I'll go see my guy at Hooten's. If he's still there. It's been a long time."

"Sure has."

"If he's not, I'll go to Radio Shack. I've kept up. I'll make it work, Leo. Don't worry about that part."

Leo studied her over his eyeglasses again.

"So what happened, Cass? Why'd you wait so long to call me? I had given up hope of you ever turning up again."

"I don't know, Leo. I guess at first I just thought I was going to make a run at it, you know?"

Leo nodded.

"The straight and narrow," he said. "But it wasn't there for you."

"One day everything changed."

"Well, welcome back. We could use you on our side."

He smiled. Cassie shook her head.

"Leo, this is a one-shot deal. I mean it. I'm not on your team. I'm going to disappear after this."

She knew the money wouldn't be enough. It would only be a start. But that was all she wanted, the promise of a new start.

Leo nodded and looked down at the yellow page of notes.

"Well, this little caper should get you to wherever it is you want to go."

"Did you make that call on the passports?"

Leo raised his eyes to hers without raising his face.

"I did. I'm told they're on the way. I'll check the drop later. I like going late, after the counter's closed."

"Good. Thanks for doing that."

"No problem. I want you to get to where you want to go, Cassie."

She picked up the money and stood up.

"I guess I better get it in gear if it's going to be tomorrow. I have to – "

"Wait. One more thing. This is important."

He pushed his plate aside although his second sandwich was uneaten. From the rear pocket of his pants he pulled an appointment book. It was the size of a checkbook but thicker. He took a rubber band off it and opened it to a page marked with a pink Post-it sticker. Cassie could see it was the current month's calendar. Many of the blocks denoting the days were filled with Leo's printing. Leo ran his finger along the blocks until he found what he was looking for. He spoke without taking his eyes off the page.

"I want you to humor me on something when you're over there."

"Fine. What?"

"Promise me."

"I'm not going to promise you anything until I know what you're talking about. What is it, Leo?"

"Okay, this is it. Whatever you do, no matter what happens, don't be in that guy's room between three twenty-two and three thirty-eight in the morning. Okay? That's Wednesday night going into Thursday morning. Write it down if you think you'll forget."

Cassie felt a bemused, questioning smile come across her face.

"What are you talking about?"

"It's a void moon."

"A void moon…"

"This is my astrological calendar, okay? I work with those books I showed you in the office and I chart things, including the moon."