David Robbins - Nevada Run

Ozzi turned and opened the stairwell door. He took the stairs two at a stride.

Hickok stuck with the trigger man. He was puzzled by the mobster’s evident sincerity, and he decided to go with his instincts. If Mindy was in the Palace, he intended to rescue her. And no passel of mangy city slickers was going to stand in his way!

Ozzi passed the landing for the ninth floor.

Hickok drew his left Colt.

As the landing for the tenth floor loomed overhead, Ozzi slowed slightly.

What if he was making a fool of himself? What if Kenney was just checking on Mindy’s welfare? He was behaving rashly, and a wiseguy needed a cool head at all times. What had Don Giorgio said in Minnesota?

“If you blow your cool, you’re a fool.” His best bet was to confirm Mindy was okay on the sly, a task he could not perform with the Warrior in tow.

No sooner did the realization dawn upon him than he threw himself backwards, hoping to catch the gunman unawares.

He nearly succeeded.

Hickok’s lightning reflexes served him in good stead. He dodged to the left to avoid the hit man’s hurtling body, but Ozzi grabbed his right arm and yanked, causing him to lose his balance and to topple backwards.

The pair tumbled down the stairwell for eight feet.

Hickok’s head smacked onto the edge of one of the concrete steps, and he wound up on his left side, dazed. He saw Ozzi come out of a roll and dive toward him, and he managed to lash out with his right foot and kick the button man in the face.

Ozzi was knocked for a loop. He landed on his back, four steps below the Warrior.

Hickok surged erect as Ozzi was rising. He took a stride and slammed the barrel of his right Python across the mobster’s mouth.

Ozzi, staggered, reeled.

Hickok closed in, battering the hit man again and again. First the left Colt, then the right, then the left once more.

Ozzi, his mouth and chin a bloody, pulpy mess, sank to his knees, then collapsed.

Hickok was tempted to plug the varmint, but the shot might attract other gangsters. He holstered the Colts and glanced up the stairwell. Was Mindy really in the building, or had Ozzi fabricated the story to augment his chances of turning the tide? Hickok knew he couldn’t afford to leave without verifying whether Mindy was in the Palace, whether she actually was on the tenth floor.

He jogged up the stairs.

If Ozzi had been right about everyone being down in the casino, finding an alternate exit from the Palace should be a piece of cake. A side door would suffice, or a window close to the ground.

Hickok reached the tenth floor landing and halted, peering through the window in the door.

The corridor was vacant.

Warily, his ears straining, Hickok opened the door and stepped into the hallway. He advanced slowly until he came abreast of the nearest door on the right. His right hand closed on the doorknob.

The danged thing was locked!

Hickok frowned as he surveyed the corridor. There were over a dozen rooms. Which one was Mindy in? He walked to the next door, which was on the left, and touched the knob.

A piercing, terrified scream abruptly shattered the stillness.

“How did you persuade all of your customers to leave so quickly?” Blade asked.

“Would you want to be caught in the middle of a war?” Don Pucci rejoined.

Blade grinned, “I see your point.”

They were in the center of the casino, watching the preparations being made by the Don’s soldiers. Over three dozen armed trigger men were industriously piling furniture and wooden crates several feet from the ten glass doors, erecting a makeshift wall.

Mario approached. “The calls have all been made,” he announced. “All the troops will be here within the hour.”

“Weapons?” Don Pucci queried.

“All the weapons and explosives are being brought up from downstairs,” Mario replied.

“What if Giorgio attacks before you’re ready for him?” Blade inquired.

“He won’t attack,” the Don responded.

“Why not?”

“Giorgio is scum, but he’s not stupid,” Don Pucci said.

“Right now he’s doing the same thing I’m doing, fortifying his casino and calling in his button men. This will be a war of attrition.” He paused.

“Constructing his casino next to mine was a stroke of genius.”

“How so?” Blade probed.

“Years ago, Giorgio and I were on friendly terms. His ambition was not so obvious, but he was planning ahead, even then,” Don Pucci detailed.

“He asked to build his casino across the boulevard, and I assented. Now his reasons are obvious. No one will be able to enter or leave by the front doors. Our business will grind to a halt, and our financial reserves will be severely depleted the longer the war continues. If I run out of funds, I will be seriously weakened. Money talks in this town. Giorgio is in a position to keep tabs on every activity around the casino.”

“But it works both ways,” Blade noted. “And you’ll still have the rear exits you can use.”

“Unless Giorgio tries to surround the Golden Crown, to cut it off from the rest of the city,” Don Pucci said. “Our provisions will not last indefinitely.”

“Will you take the offensive?” Blade questioned.

“Not until I can find a weak link in Giorgio’s defenses,” Don Pucci responded.

Blade looked over his right shoulder at Geronimo and Helen.

Geronimo nodded.

“What if we were to weaken his defenses for you?” Blade asked, staring at the Don.

Pucci studied the giant for a moment. “I can’t ask you to do that.”

“Mindy and Hickok are in the Palace,” Blade said. “We must go after them.”

“You’ll be cut down before you cross the boulevard,” Don Pucci commented.

“Perhaps,” Blade stated. “But if we can punch a hole in his defenses before he’s ready, if we can keep him occupied, you’d have the advantage you need.”

“Hmmmm,” Don Pucci said thoughtfully. “Attack him now, before he’s ready, before he has the opportunity to call in all of his soldiers? He’d never expect a direct assault now, because he undoubtedly assumes I’m too busy mobilizing my forces.” He grinned. “It could work.”

Blade looked at Mario. “You mentioned explosives. What kind do you have?”

“Name it, we have it,” Mario replied. “Dynamite, grenades, plastic explosives.”

“Any smoke bombs?” Blade asked.

Mario nodded. “A crate or two.”

“We’ll need a crate of smoke bombs and four grenades apiece,” Blade stated.

Mario looked at Don Pucci, who nodded curtly. Mario hastened off.

“How do you propose to proceed?” Pucci queried the giant.

“We’ll go in first,” Blade said. “Hold back your men for several minutes.

We want Giorgio totally unprepared for your attack. If he’s involved with fighting us, he won’t notice our ruse until it’s too late.”

“You take great risks, my friend,” Don Pucci commented.

“Nothing ventured, nothing gained,” Blade philosophized.

“I just pray that Mindy is still alive,” Helen remarked anxiously.

“And Hickok,” Geronimo added.

Blade stared at the Don. “If Giorgio loses, what happens to his Family?”

“They will be absorbed into my Family,” Don Pucci answered. “They will owe their allegiance to me.”

“You won’t conduct reprisals?” Blade inquired.

“No. Why should I? Senseless reprisals are a waste,” Don Pucci said.

“The easiest way to kill a snake is to cut off its head, not chop its body into little pieces.”

“With Giorgio’s Family combined with your own,” Blade noted, “you’ll be the undisputable leader in Vegas. No one else will challenge you.”