THE MAN WHO HUNTED HIMSELF

by Lex Lander

  ‘All right, James. Lunch and only lunch. Maybe we can cry on each other’s shoulder.’

  ‘Maybe we can at that.’

  The time and rendezvous were agreed. I was reluctant to break the connection, and sensed that she was too.

  Finally, I said, ‘Goodbye, Maura.’

  ‘Goodbye, James.’

  ‘Why the Stratosphere?’ I asked, after hellos were exchanged in the shadow of that soaring edifice. ‘You like heights?’

  ‘They terrify me,’ she said and her smile was rueful. ‘But I like to challenge myself, confront my fears.’

  ‘Then be my guest – just don’t pass out on me.’

  I had dressed for casual dining, in sport coat and chinos, and she was a knock-out in a shortish, scarlet woollen dress, with coordinated spiky-heeled shoes, and a black jacket. In the shoes, she was within a couple of inches of my height.

  The express elevator launched us into orbit, and less than a minute later we were disembarking at the Top of the World restaurant, one level below the observation deck.

  Maura had reserved a table by the window. It seemed she had influence, though it was only her second visit. I guessed the Heider name carried a lot of weight.

  We were seated and sipping Perrier water when she burst out, ‘Oh God, this is so weird.’

  ‘What is?’

  ‘Us meeting like this.’ She lowered her voice. ‘Having lunch with you, a ... a ... what are you people called? A hit man? I should be on to the police, not guzzling Perrier and chatting with you as if we were old friends.’

  ‘Why don’t you?’

  Her head had been turned sideways, scanning the skyline; now it snapped back and her eyes locked on mine.

  ‘Why don’t I call the police? That’s a very fair question, James. Why don’t I?’

  ‘Maybe it’s because you like me?’

  It was meant to be flippant. Instead, it seemed to twang a chord with her.

  ‘Yes ... in spite of all the reasons not to, I suppose I do quite like you.’

  ‘It’s mutual.’

  Her expression went from sunny to cloudy. Red spots bloomed on her cheeks. Very becoming they were too.

  ‘Did I speak out of turn?’ I said.

  ‘No, but just don’t draw any wrong conclusions. I like a lot of people, of both sexes.’

  I held up my hands in a warding off gesture. ‘Hey, I didn’t mean anything by it. We can be friends, only friends, and nothing but friends, so help us God.’

  For the first time that won me a real smile.

  ‘You’re a funny guy. I guess you could be good to be around. If no one else was available or we were the last two survivors after a cataclysmic event.’

  ‘Well, cataclysmic events bring out the best in me. I’m facing one at the moment, as it happens.’

  ‘Oh, how so?’

  I unfolded Silvano’s confession and laid it before her.

  ‘Is this genuine?’

  ‘If you mean did Silvano Tosi write it, yes, as far as that goes it’s genuine.’

  A waitress approached with menus, and I snatched the note back. By tacit consent, we dropped the subject while we chose our food, a salad for her, a seafood linguini for me. While we waited and while we ate, the talk between us was strictly small. Only when we were on our coffees did she bring up the Tosi note again.

  ‘About that note ...’ She swallowed hard. ‘Did you ... did you kill him after he wrote it?’

  ‘No. I should’ve. But I had a rush of conscience, partly thanks to you.’ Her face became a question mark. ‘You remember you said you were glad it would be on my conscience and not yours. It was, if you don’t mind clichés, my moment of truth. I was ready to pull the trigger. Tosi fulfilled my requirement as a victim whose demise would leave the world a better place. Then I discovered I couldn’t do it. Not because he didn’t deserve it, but because he didn’t deserve to be executed for a crime I had committed.’

  Maura’s chin was supported by her cupped palm, and she was studying me with an intensity that made me uncomfortable. Even when the check came, she didn’t change position.

  ‘Then there was you,’ I resumed. ‘You were against my doing it, and don’t ask me to explain why, but that seemed to matter to me. We barely know each other, and we didn’t exactly meet in favourable circumstances, but I wanted your respect.’

  ‘I see.’

  ‘No, I don’t think you do, but you made me think about my way of life. That’s why I said on the phone, suppose I wanted out.’

  ‘I see,’ she said again, brooding over her decaff.

  ‘That’s it? I see?’

  ‘Look, James, you’re an attractive man. I might even say dangerously attractive.’ Drawing out the first syllable of “dangerously”. ‘Your looks wouldn’t be out of place on the big screen. Especially your hair – it’s like a field of corn.’

  ‘I noticed,’ I said and wondered if she detected the note of weariness. ‘I see it every morning when I kiss the mirror.’

  She chortled. ‘Like I said, you’re funny. But reverting to the subject of your way of life, it’s not for me to comment or suggest what you should do about it. We’re not in a relationship, we’re not buddies, we’re not anything. So, please, don’t load all your troubles on my shoulders, you’ll find they’re not broad enough to bear it. I’ve enough troubles of my own, believe me.’

  She was right. I couldn’t expect her to get embroiled in the mess I had made – was still making – of my life. She owed me nothing, unless getting rid of a nasty husband put her in my debt. Which it didn’t, because I’d done it for reward, not for her.

  ‘Let’s go up to the observation level,’ she said. ‘The restaurant’s not challenging enough.’

  She had the check charged to her account before I could intervene. Maybe she didn’t want to be beholden to me, even for the price of a meal. I helped her on with her jacket.

  ‘Thanks,’ she said.

  ‘These days most women would slap my face for making such gentlemanly gestures.’

  ‘Not me. I’m not old, but I am old-fashioned. I like men to hold doors open for me, lend me a helping hand, etcetera.’

  ‘Doesn’t quite fit the image of the job you do – running a casino.’

  ‘Mmm,’ was all she said as we proceeded towards the exit.

  We had almost reached it when the doors slid open and Nick Heider walked through.

  The three of us stood by the window in a row, Maura in the middle. To our left the Insanity thrill ride, deployed from the top of the tower, was revolving slowly, all ten seats taken. The speed of rotation increased, and with it the squeals of the female contingent of the riders. A guy gave us the thumbs up. Nick waved to them. Maura shuddered.

  ‘Now that is where I would definitely draw the line.’

  ‘Don’t be a wuss,’ Nick scoffed. ‘Come on, Moya, let’s give it a shot.’

  Maura shrivelled him with a single look. No words necessary.

  ‘Moya?’ I said, my curiosity piqued. I remembered he had addressed her as Moya on a previous occasion.

  ‘Sort of nickname, just between us,’ Nick said. ‘So tell me, are you two dating now?’

  ‘That’s not funny, even as a joke.’ Maura said.

  That seemed to me an excessively harsh rebuttal.

  ‘Anyhow, Nick,’ she went on, ‘how did you know where to find me?’

  ‘You told the front desk.’ His swift response made it sound true. Maura’s frown said otherwise.

  ‘Funny. I don’t remember speaking to the front desk. Rhonda was on the phone when I went out.’

  That said, she let it go, pointed out the Pieces of Eight, just south of the T-shaped top of the Orleans Casino. The Insanity ride was slowing now, the squeals abating.

  ‘What did you want to see me about?’ she asked Nick, when he still hadn’t explained his presence.

  ‘See you about? Nothing at all, just thought I’d gatecrash your lunch. I was a bit late getting away, last
minute crisis.’

  ‘You mean you came to pry,’ Maura said tartly.

  ‘Well, our friend James here doesn’t exactly have a reputation as an upstanding citizen.’ He winked at me, to show no offence intended.

  ‘He’s right, Maura,’ I said, no offence taken. ‘Nick’s just playing big brother looking out for little sister. No harm done.’

  ‘Just wondering aloud, James,’ Nick said, ‘shouldn’t you be meeting up with my pa about now? You’ve overshot the time limit you agreed with him last week.’

  ‘No harm in relaxing,’ I said smoothly. ‘I already reported by email a couple of days ago.’

  Nick just nodded. Maura cast a worried glance in my direction, as if she knew something I didn’t.

  She glanced at her watch. ‘Time I was back at the office.’

  ‘Oh, don’t rush on my account,’ Nick said. ‘I’m going to grab a bite and leave you two lovebirds to get better acquainted.’

  ‘Cut it out,’ Maura said, a bite in her voice.

  ‘Yeah,’ I said, and, injecting a note of sarcasm, ‘Better stick around. I might need your help to fight her off.’

  Nick laughed and sauntered off, eyeing a pair of mini-skirted girls who had just emerged from the elevator.

  ‘He hit the spot there all right, Maura, about Carl. What do I tell him?’

  ‘Easy. You tell him you couldn’t find the ... the guy, and you’re quitting. Give him his money back and go home to Spain.’

  ‘Andorra, not Spain.’

  ‘What?’

  ‘I live in Andorra,’ I clarified. ‘The boat’s in Spain, which is where I spend most of the summer, when I’m not working.’

  When I’m not killing people.

  ‘Oh, right. I didn’t realize.’

  ‘In any case, Spain or Andorra, it’s all the same. Do you think if I quit, Carl is just going to throw in the towel?’

  Her sharp intake of breath told me she hadn’t considered that possibility.

  ‘I see what you mean.’

  ‘Which reminds me, you may not be aware of it but you have problems of your own.’

  ‘You don’t say. I think I know a damn sight more about my problems than you do.’

  I shook my head. ‘Another problem. The police are poking around the Heider family – you included.’

  ‘You’re joking,’ she said, but straightaway saw I wasn’t.

  ‘Before I went to Reno, that day you drove me to my hotel, they spotted us because they’ve put a tail on you. Some rackets issue. I don’t think they’re after you particularly, but as far as they’re concerned, you’re part of the family. You’re being scooped up with the rest of them.’

  She had lost colour. She gripped my forearm.

  ‘Listen, James, I’m not involved in the nasty side of the business. The casino is legit. That’s all I do, run the casino.’

  ‘Either way, we’re both in a bind. At least my bitch isn’t with the law, though they could start to get nosey if I keep making blips on their radar. If they decide to run my credentials through their central computer, I might not make the grade.’

  In these days of passports and driving licences with digital images and machine readable zones, Freddie’s fake IDs were not guaranteed to meet the required standards in sophisticated countries like the USA.

  ‘I must warn them,’ Maura said.

  ‘The Heiders? Really?’

  She finally released my forearm. Just as I was getting used to the physical connection.

  ‘What you should do,’ I said, ‘is distance yourself from them and their business. Protect yourself. Loyalty is a commendable thing, but it’s not worth going to prison for.’

  ‘It’s not loyalty, believe me.’

  ‘What is it then? Are you afraid of them?’

  But she clammed up, and a few minutes later we descended to the ground floor and split up for our separate destinations. Not before I’d obtained her cell phone number and a promise to keep in touch.

  Carl Heider flew in from Houston the next morning to remonstrate with me. I had communicated my decision to quit by email. His reply was abrupt:

  Flying to LV tomorrow. Meet me at the office noon.

  It wasn’t even signed “Love, Carl”. I was out of favour, and how.

  At noon on Monday, I presented myself to the Pieces of Eight front desk. They were getting used to me now. I didn’t even have to give my name.

  ‘Mr Heider is expecting you in Mrs Heider’s office,’ Ms Plastic Smile said.

  When I finally made it to the inner sanctum, I was surprised to find him alone. He didn’t enquire after my health or offer to clasp my hand. He didn’t even offer a seat; I sat down anyway.

  ‘What’s going on, Freeman?’

  ‘I came up against a brick wall’ I said.

  His glare alone was enough to freeze a fireball.

  ‘Is that so? What happened to all those fine words about strong leads and short shots and heads on fucking platters.’

  I shrugged. ‘It didn’t pan out. I was given a bullshit steer someplace along the line.’

  ‘So now you’re giving up.’

  ‘So now, if I went on looking I’d be burning your money under false pretences. Whoever did this job left a trail so cold it would give me frostbite trying to follow it.’

  The sun was in my eyes. I shifted my chair a few feet to the left. His scowl tracked me.

  ‘You may think you’re funny, but you’ll be laughing on the other side of your face when this gets back to du Poletti.’

  His threat to report my failure to Giorgy didn’t in itself worry me. Failure doesn’t earn you any merits with Il Sindicato but, if it’s a rare event, they’ll let you off with a rap over the knuckles. Just don’t do it twice. The real concern was how it would affect the Heiders’ relationship with Il Sindicato. If it caused a schism, I would be held culpable, and Giorgy, conversant as he was with the facts, would have no choice but to spill them to his masters. And that might well have terminal consequences.

  ‘If I were to continue, it would be a farce. Nobody knows anything, and if they do they aren’t talking. Short of interrogating every thug in Vegas at the point of a gun, I can’t make any progress.’

  ‘Did you expect it to be easy?’ he said, his tone contemptuous. ‘Did you expect it to drop into your lap? A million bucks for a couple of weeks’ work. Jesus Christ, Freeman, even if it took a year, you would be well paid.’ He snorted. ‘Overpaid is more like it.’

  ‘The money is beside the point. Don’t forget how this works. If I do my damnedest but fail, you lose your deposit. In this instance, you won’t be losing your deposit. Not even for my expenses. I don’t take money under false pretences.’

  Somewhat mollified, he ran agitated fingers through his hair.

  ‘I should be grateful for that small mercy, I guess. It doesn’t make the problem go away though. I’ve put a contract out on this mystery man, and I intend to go all the way.’

  That was what I had feared he would say.

  ‘Then you’ll have to go with someone else.’

  The sneer was hoisted back in place.

  ‘They told me you were the top dog in your profession. Some top dog.’

  ‘If you cast your mind back, Heider, I told you you needed a detective. This is really a two-phase job: first seek, then destroy. Two different skills. You could hire every private dick in Vegas for a year for half a million.’

  He subsided into a resentful mutter at the logic in what I said.

  ‘The money will be back in your account by the end of the week,’ I told him. ‘Now, if we’re done here ...’

  ‘Why are you hanging out with my sister-in-law?’ he demanded suddenly, as if he were desperate for something to make a fuss over.

  ‘Do you own her?’

  A twisted smile pulled his mouth out of shape.

  ‘In a manner of speaking, you could say that.’

  I leaned forward over his desk. ‘Now look, Heider, you and I aren�
�t friends, but at least we’re not enemies. Let’s not become enemies. If Maura doesn’t want to see me, she can say so, and I’ll respect that. If you tell me to stay away from her, I don’t respect that.’

  ‘We don’t want her associating with a fucking hit man.’

  ‘If it was any of your business, I could relate to that. Who are you to make rules and regulations? You’re not exactly churchgoing role models yourselves, you and your son and nephew.’

  ‘She’s family, that makes it our business. Plus, she runs a major component of our operation, so we want to avoid any gossip.’

  This dialogue was going nowhere. I understood his position and his fears, but I wasn’t going to fall into line on his say-so.

  ‘Again, tell Maura, not me. Not that there’s anything going on between us that should concern you.’

  The intercom on Maura’s desk buzzed.

  ‘Yes?’ Heider barked into it.

  ‘You have an appointment at half past twelve,’ Maura’s secretary informed him.

  ‘Okay, we’re done here.’ To me he said, ‘Just be sure the money is back in my account before the weekend. Oh, and Freeman ...’

  My hand was on the door handle, ready to turn it. I looked back over my shoulder.

  ‘Yes?’

  ‘Screw you.’

  That night, having a void of supreme inactivity yawning ahead of me, I went to the Pieces of Eight again. Subconsciously maybe hoping for a sighting of Maura, and even of sharing bar space with her. Otherwise, just passing the time.

  It was packed with the gambling public, from blonde rinses with their coin cups, toiling away at the machines, to the poker tables, with their circles of five or six, usually guys, cards close to their chests or face down on the baize. All studiedly impassive. Poker was my favourite card game, but I never played against strangers.

  I homed in on a blackjack table. Three players plus the dealer. I stood to one side for a while, earning frowns of encouragement to join in from the dealer, who was African-American with a thin moustache linked up to a goatee beard, forming a square of hair around his mouth. The players were all male, all white, and all overweight by varying amounts. One of them, the fattest, was sweating. The bank was winning. I amused myself doing a card count, a practice that casinos discourage, usually physically. I used the basic Hi-Lo system, nothing fancy, subtracting one point to all cards with a value of ten or above, adding a point to all of six and below, and zero to the rest.