Ill Gotten Gains: Diary of a Gentle Grifter, page 31
I saw Sammy bristle out of the corner of my eye.
“We won’t be doing that, Mom. Please, will you just trust me?”
“Well, excuse me if I have trouble trusting you right now, young man,” she cried. “Or ever again!”
“I know, I know.” I guided her to the car. “Let’s go see Dad.”
I ushered my mother into the front seat, directed Sammy to get into the back, then I walked around to the trunk. I put the gun inside, but before I closed it, I texted Drucilla.
Pack everything up. I have Mom. Gotta leave that house ASAP.
41
EXIT, STAGE EAST
There were two things I wasn’t looking forward to. One, how the hell was I going to explain this debacle to my parents and keep them from going straight to the authorities? And, two, I knew I had to find yet another place to call home. I couldn’t risk a return of some unknown cohort of Elizabeth’s that I wasn’t aware of…like the murderous fake gardener at Lucia’s. Unlike Elizabeth and her goon Chad, I assumed the gardener wasn’t dead as a doorknob. He was still out there somewhere…along with Elizabeth’s boss.
After dropping Sammy off at the Golden Cactus at his insistence, I returned to the rental house and found my father and my girlfriend—man, I was loving using that word—sitting among several packed suitcases.
My mother flew right into my father’s arms as soon as we walked into the room. “I want to go home, Jim. Right now,” she demanded.
My pops looked at me over his wife’s shoulder. “What in tarnation happened? She’s shaking like a leaf.” He pushed her gently away and looked into my mother’s face. “Carol? Honey? Are you okay?”
I felt like a guilty little kid who’d drawn all over the newly painted walls with crayons or crashed the family station wagon after taking it without permission. “She’s fine. And she’s safe,” I said.
After hugging her tight yet again, my father looked her up and down. “Safe? Were you hurt somehow?”
“Not really. But I was kidnapped by some hoodlum named Chad, of all things, and then I was tied up by some horrid woman in a bad wig. Jim, your son won’t tell me what this is all about. He knows these people.” She turned to me. “Why do you know people like that?”
“Is this a joke?” my father asked through a half laugh. He turned to Drucilla. “Is this some kind of elaborate Las Vegas prank? I’m not finding this very funny if it’s supposed to be.”
“Dad,” I said calmly, “I can’t tell you anything else. You’ve got to trust me. It’s a very sensitive operation and unfortunately, it went terribly wrong. Not at all as we had planned. And I’m sorry, but I’m not at liberty to say anything else right now.”
My father looked as if he couldn’t process what I’d said. He took a few long moments while he literally scratched at his head. Then, breaking the dead silence, he blurted out, “You’re not an outdoor lighting salesman, are you?” He glared at Drucilla. “Are you a stewardess?”
She shook her head. “Not so much.”
“That’s enough!” I yelled. I put my hands out in front of me in an attempt to calm everyone down, including myself. After a few moments of uncomfortable silence, I said, “There won’t be any more explanation. Not today. It’s in everyone’s best interest. And that’s that. We’re all safe, and we’re all going to go check into a fabulous resort.”
“No, we are not,” my mother spit. “I don’t know who you really work for, Macon Montgomery Lence, but your father and I are leaving this godforsaken city of sin right this minute.” She turned to my father and grabbed at his hands. “I saw two people get shot to death, Jim. Macon killed one of them. With a gun, Jim. With a real gun!”
My father’s eyes grew very wide. “What?! What are you talking about?”
“I saved her life,” I said.
“You’re the one who put her life in danger, it seems.” My father started collecting their bags. “I can’t believe you let us fly all the way out here if you knew it would be so dangerous. What a waste. What a complete, utter waste and an unqualified deception on your part, young man.” He then suddenly slammed the bags back down to the floor and came right up into my face. “I’m calling the police. Do you hear me? We need to know what this is all about. I’m going to get to the bottom of this. This is not normal. None of this is normal behavior. People died?! And your mother had to witness that? I demand you explain yourself. The police must be involved. They must be notified. I just…I just…”
“Jim, your heart,” my mother squealed. “Calm down.”
I put my hands on each of his shoulders. “If we go to the police, Dad, the entire operation will be ruined, and Drucilla and I will certainly be killed. That’s all I can tell you. That’s it. I’m sorry. I didn’t know this would touch you and Mom. I had no idea. If I had even the slightest inkling before you got here, I wouldn’t have let you come. But I think Mom is right. You should go home. This was a huge mistake.”
He backed away from me and took a big breath. He seemed to be calming down, albeit slowly. “Is this the work of the CIA or something? Are you two spies? Real life spies? Do you two work for the goddamned CIA, son?”
I shook my head. “I can neither confirm nor deny that, Dad.”
He flipped his head around to look at my mother. “Our son is a freaking CIA agent, Carol. He didn’t even finish college, for Christ’s sake!”
“We recruit all types,” Drucilla said.
I almost laughed out loud. Then I threw her a look that clearly said, “what the fuck!?”
“I don’t care what you are or who you work for. You know, all this tomfoolery could have given your father another heart attack. Just imagine that, will you?” My mother picked up her purse and tucked it under her arm. “I bet there’s a redeye to Dallas tonight, and we’re darned tootin’ getting on it. Then Jim and I’ll get a connection to Richmond, I’m sure. Or whatever. Or wherever. But we’re going to be on a plane leaving Las Vegas today; I promise you that.” She turned and glared at me. “You just wait until your brother hears about how you almost killed both your parents.”
“Oh no. No way, Mom.” I waved my hands at her. “Randy cannot know about any of this. Just keep it to yourself, I implore you. My life and Dru’s life depend on you and Daddy’s silence. And I promise you, I will make this up to you soon. I really will. I’ll take you on a cruise next fall. An expensive one. The best ship known to man. To Alaska. You’ve always wanted to go to Alaska.”
My father had been biting at his bottom lip. “I guess you are leaving us no choice but to believe you, son.” My exasperated father collected the bags again as he shook his head from side to side. “Let’s go back to the goddamned airport.”
Drucilla and I dropped my parents curbside at LAS a few hours after sunset. There were no hugs for me, which felt strange, but they both embraced the woman they’d just met nine hours earlier. And then they were gone, lost in a sea of people leaving Las Vegas.
“I feel horrible,” I said as we drove out of the airport. “How could I do that to them? I can’t believe I allowed that to happen. To my parents! They are seriously never going to forgive me for today. They will never, ever trust me again as long as they live.”
She contemplated that for a few moments. “Perhaps…and this is a very sad thing to say to you, hon…but perhaps they’re safer anywhere but here, and away from you, and deep down inside, you know it.”
“Yup. I know that.” But I wasn’t sure we were safe. I wasn’t sure we’d be truly safe anywhere for the foreseeable future. At least not if we used our real names or any of our recent aliases. If we really in truly wanted to stay alive, we needed to disappear.
I drove aimlessly for a while. Neither of us spoke. It took about five miles before I decided where we needed to go. “The Golden Cactus.”
“You can’t be serious. That’s hardly a good place to disappear, Macon. What’s there that’s so important?”
“Not what. Who. Sammy.”
“Well, yes. Sammy does have some explaining to do.”
“Exactly. And there’s a bank account we need to break into.”
42
OSCAR MIKE FOXTROT GOLF
I took a chance and knocked on the hotel room door where I first encountered a nude Samuel Marinelli, but a young Asian woman holding an infant answered the door instead. “My apologies,” I said with a slight nod. “I must have the wrong room.”
“Do you, Mr. Lence?” She smiled knowingly. “Do come in, please. You, too, Ms. Fortuna.”
Dumbfounded, I stepped into the front hall past the woman as she held the door open. Dru followed. There was no one else in the small room who I could see, but the connecting door was open.
“Through the door there,” the woman said. “Into the suite’s living room, Mr. Lence.”
I instinctually grabbed Dru’s hand and we slowly walked around the bed and through the doorway.
And then we froze. I heard Dru gasp for air, but I didn’t dare look at her. My eyes were transfixed on the three people sitting on the large u-shaped sectional.
“Don’t just stand there with your mouth wide open looking like a retard,” Lucia Marinelli said. “Come have a drink with us. Sit down, sit down, you two.”
I looked at Sammy, who was sitting next to his living and breathing mother. He had a shit eating grin plastered on his stupid squared off face. “I wasn’t allowed to tell you, dude,” he said. “Sorry ‘bout that.”
My stomach did somersaults. I gripped Drucilla’s hand a bit tighter as to ask, are you friggin’ seeing what I’m seeing!?
“You’re a good actor,” I said to Sam as I eased down onto the opposite end of the sofa, together with Dru. I then stared at the mob matriarch for a few more moments before simply saying, “Why?”
She waved a dismissive hand in the smoky air. “All in good time.” She gestured with her cigarette toward the middle-aged man sitting on the other side of her son. “This is Kim Yon Woo. And you already met his pretty wife Jenny, and their son…what’s his name again, Kim?”
The distinguished Asian gentleman sat forward in his seat. “Chang. It means, an unhindered spirit, in Chinese. He is my pride and my joy.” He turned to face Dru and me. “It’s nice to meet you both. I have heard a lot about you two, especially you, Mr. Lence. I look forward to working with you.” He pulled a silver case from his breast pocket and lit a long, thin brown cigarette.
I glanced back at Lucia. She seemed to read my face, so I didn’t have to ask. “Kim is taking over Sin City,” she said. “Sammy agrees that he’s not quite prepared for a role that large. But my son will be ready someday. Especially under Mr. Kim’s expert guidance. Right, Samuel?”
Sammy shrugged his shoulders like a preteen kid might have done when asked a question. He’d surprised me that week for sure, but…well, duh…everyone knew he wasn’t ready to take over the family business. Not by a longshot.
“We shall see,” Kim said flatly through a puff of smoke. “Time tells all things.”
“I’m off to Jersey tomorrow, Macon, just like I said I would be. It seems that tales of my death were just what we needed to smoke out Elizabeth’s client. And it worked like a charm. I know this must be a shock to you, and I am truly sorry if I upset you in any way.”
I felt dizzy. “And the client is who?”
“Does it matter?” Lucia asked. “She won’t be bothering any of us again. Not if she knows what’s good for her and her reckless family. Sammy and you took care of that. We sent that message loud and clear when you took out Elizabeth and her sidekick.”
It suddenly became clear. I nodded my head. “Your sister.”
Lucia winked at me, then struggled to get to her feet. Sammy jumped up to assist her. When Mother was upright, she came over toward us. Dru and I dutifully stood up.
“You two are leaving now. I have much to discuss with Mr. Kim.” Lucia uncharacteristically hugged each of us. She then stood back and examined us up and down. “You’re gonna make a cute couple. Handsome babies, I suspect. Now be gone. Have a nice life.”
I shot Sammy a look. He quickly nodded. Then I glanced at the Chinese gentleman—are you really my new boss? I wanted to ask. He smiled and bowed slightly, as if he was answering my unspoken question. “We’ll meet again very soon, Mr. Lence. You, too, Miss Fortuna. Very soon.”
We were hurried out of the suite by Sammy, a firm guiding hand on each of our backs. When we were in the hallway, he winked at us. “Sorry guys. She threatened to cut off my nuts if I told you.”
I was dismayed. “You were in cahoots with your mother from the beginning?”
He just shrugged his shoulders and didn’t say a word.
“Does she know you’re gay?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah, dude. Since I was fifteen. She doesn’t love it, but she accepted it years ago.”
“What about the pictures Elizabeth was blackmailing you with?” Drucilla asked.
“That was my mother’s idea.”
“Jesus Christ,” I said, just as we heard Lucia scream Sammy’s name from inside the suite.
“Gotta go, dudes. Stay safe.” And then he was gone.
I grabbed Dru’s hand again and we walked to the elevators.
When were safely inside the car and headed down to the casino level alone, I finally said, “It’s time for a big fat vacation. Out. Of. This. Town.”
“Agreed,” she whispered. “Immediately, if not sooner.”
We were still hand-in-hand as we navigated through the bustling casino, down the back corridor past the high-end stores and restaurants, and then finally out into the parking garage. When we were back in the rental car with the doors closed, Drucilla looked at me and asked, “Do you really think Sammy was in on it from the beginning?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. Maybe not. I mean…” I tried to recall all the times I’d interacted with the fellow over the past few weeks. “…he partied with us when we told him about the money. But that was after he supposedly found her body and had the ambulance cart her away. So, I don’t know. He’s either a very good actor or…geez! I just...I don’t know. He might have been let in on a few secrets and not others? Maybe he…”
“I think we both underestimated him,” she said, interrupting me.
“Clearly.”
She suddenly slammed a fist down on the center console, startling me. “I’m not working for some Chinese gangster, Macon. I won’t do it. It’s too much. That’s not the life I want.”
I started the engine and backed out of the parking space. “No. That is not going to happen.”
43
P.S.C.A
While there were still plenty of unanswered questions rattling around in my head, there were three things I knew for sure, even in the incredibly uncertain, dangerous world I’d created for myself. For the first time in my life, I had a ton of disposable cash on hand, my very own house, and a woman who loved me at the same time I loved her. It was a trifecta of perfectness that made the insanity of the previous few weeks almost melt away.
Despite the fact that my parents were still not speaking to me, I was the happiest I’d ever been, and I slept very soundly at night.
It might have helped that, when out and about in Palm Springs, California, I was known as Jay Cooper, and Dru was Brooke Porter, and neither of us felt a great need to be Macon and Drucilla again anytime too soon.
We were sitting by our very own swimming pool with happy hour cocktails, listening to 1980’s pop music, enjoying an early-evening breeze, when the doorbell rang back inside the house.
Drucilla jumped up. “I’ll get it. I think that might be UPS with the new bath towels I ordered.” She padded off barefoot into the house.
The hummingbirds flitted around the feeder on the other side of the pool. I looked up at the majestic mountain in the near distance. Then down at the ripples in the pool a dragonfly caused when he swooped down for a drink. It was all so serene, and I felt like I was in…
The ground shook.
The glass wall behind me shattered into a million pieces.
I dropped my cocktail to the ground.
It all happened at the same time.
I jumped to my feet and spun around. Through the dust and smoke, I noticed the entire front hall and surrounding rooms had collapsed in on themselves.
Not an earthquake. Too violent. Too loud.
A bomb detonated near the front door, I feared, and Drucilla was nowhere to be seen.
I fell to my knees and screamed into the cement of the pool deck.
Um, no.
That’s not what happened.
Sure, I daydreamed about scenarios like that all the time—I constantly feared we were still on someone’s radar. But the house didn’t really explode into smithereens.
That’s totally stupid and overly dramatic of you, Macon, I said to myself for the umpteenth time.
I forced myself to curb my over-active imagination and looked over at the ravishing Drucilla as she sat back down in the chair next to me. “Was it the towels?” I asked.
“No. Just a neighborhood kid collecting money for some soccer team trip to Sacramento. I gave him twenty bucks. He was super cute.”
“Cool,” I said with a nod. “You know, it’s been four months. Four months as of yesterday.”
She took a sip of her cocktail. “Do you think it would be cool to go back? I’ll always love it here, and we’ll drive back down whenever we want, but I miss it something awful.”
I knew exactly what she was talking about. That damned city called out to me. “Then it’s settled. Back to Vegas we go.” I sat back in my chair and stared at the last sliver of sun slipping down behind the mountain. “I’m ready to get back to business. We just need to scare up some fresh new aliases.”
THE END
