I'm a Fool to Kill You

by Robert Randisi

  There was no way anybody could connect me and Jerry to the shooting of the two Chicago button men, and yet, there was Hargrove. And what other reason could he have to be there?

  I had to get out of the building without running into him.

  FIFTY-SEVEN

  I couldn’t go through the casino. Hargrove and his partner of the moment were busily looking for me. I guess there could have been a chance they weren’t, but come on, who else would they be looking for? There was access to other doors, but I’d still have to cross the casino floor. I had to move fast, but I didn’t want to run. My only way out was back through the lounge, but I didn’t want to raise a ruckus.

  I backed into the lounge, then turned and moved briskly along the wall. There was a door behind the bar, so that’s where I headed. By the time I got to the end of the bar, though, Didi was there picking up some drinks.

  ‘Oh!’ she squeaked when she saw me. ‘You forget somethin’, Eddie?’

  ‘Didi, I need to use the back entrance here to get out,’ I said. ‘There’s somebody in the casino I don’t want to see.’

  ‘Oh, well, I guess that’s OK,’ she said. ‘Not that you need my permission.’

  ‘No, I don’t need permission, Didi, but I may need your help.’

  ‘My help? Sure.’

  ‘There may be a man in here lookin’ for me,’ I said. ‘And he may be a policeman.’

  ‘Police?’

  ‘And I need you tell him you haven’t seen me for a few days.’

  ‘You want me to lie to a policeman?’ she asked.

  ‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘Is that a problem?’

  She stared at me for a minute, then her face lit up in a smile and she said, ‘Hell, no, Eddie. Me and my girlfriends used to lie to the sheriff all the time back home.’

  ‘Back home? Where was that?’

  ‘Hannibal, Missouri.’

  ‘Well,’ I said, ‘the police are a little different here than in Hannibal, but the principle is the same.’

  ‘Don’t worry, Eddie,’ she said. ‘I can handle it.’

  ‘Can you get Lew the bartender to go along with you?’ I asked.

  ‘Eddie,’ she said, with a wink, ‘I can get Lew to agree to do anything.’

  ‘I’ll bet you can,’ I said. ‘Thanks, doll.’

  I used the door behind the bar to get out of there.

  ‘Any trouble?’ Jerry asked as I got into the back seat of the car.

  ‘Maybe.’

  ‘What’s wrong?’ Ava asked. They both turned to look at me.

  ‘Did you get the key?’ Jerry asked.

  ‘I got it, but I saw an old friend of ours in the casino.’

  ‘An old friend of ours?’ Jerry asked.

  I nodded.

  ‘Hargrove.’

  ‘What’s that sonofabitch want?’

  ‘Who’s Hargrove?’ Ava asked.

  ‘Detective Hargrove,’ I said, ‘Las Vegas Police.’

  ‘The police? Looking for you?’

  ‘That’s the only reason I can think of for him to be in the casino,’ I said.

  ‘We gotta find out for sure if he’s lookin’ for you, Mr G.,’ Jerry said. ‘And if he knows I’m in Vegas.’

  ‘Let’s get where we’re goin’, Jerry,’ I said, ‘and then I’ll call Jack Entratter and find out what’s what.’

  ‘OK, Mr G.,’ Jerry said, turning around and starting the Caddy’s. ‘Gimme some directions.’

  FIFTY-EIGHT

  Tony LaBella had given me directions and advice on the phone. I read them to Jerry, and when we got within a mile of the cabin I took Tony’s advice. We stopped at a small convenience store and stocked up on some groceries.

  When we reached the cabin I realized that it was nearly perfect. It stood alone on the Lake, the nearest neighbor at least half a mile away. It was rustic, built on stilts, with a deck running completely around it. Jerry and I grabbed the groceries and followed Ava up the steps to the front door. She took a bag from me while I unlocked the door, and we entered.

  We found ourselves in the living room; Ava pulled the drapes so we’d have some light to look the place over. We left her to it while we went out and got the bags.

  ‘Two bedrooms, and a nice couch,’ she said. ‘All three of us can stay here comfortably. And it doesn’t smell musty.’

  ‘No, Tony was here recently, before his Sands engagement,’ I said. ‘But we can open some windows and air it out, anyway.’

  ‘I’m going to put the groceries away,’ Ava said. ‘Jerry, put my suitcases in the big bedroom, will you?’

  ‘Yes, ma’am.’

  Jerry did that, came out and made sure Ava wasn’t in the room before saying to me, ‘This place has a lot of windows, Mr G.’

  ‘I noticed,’ I said.

  ‘Later I’ll scout around, see where somebody might set up,’ he said. ‘That way I can keep Ava from certain windows. Or off the deck.’

  ‘Nobody should be able to find us here,’ I said. ‘She should be able to sit on the deck. But go ahead and take a look.’

  ‘That’s a big, solid sofa,’ Jerry said. He was right, it looked as if it had been hand crafted by somebody who knew what they were doing. ‘You take the second bedroom, I’ll take the sofa.’

  ‘OK,’ I said. ‘I’m gonna call Entratter now and see if he’s talked with Hargrove.’

  ‘I’ll put your suitcase in the bedroom, and then make some coffee.’

  ‘Sounds good.’

  The phone was next to the sofa. I sat down, realized Jerry was going to be very comfortable. I dialed the Sands, got Entratter’s girl.

  ‘Is he in?’

  ‘Yes.’ So much disapproval in one word. Maybe I should have told her how the waitresses felt about me. Entratter came on the line.

  ‘Eddie?’

  ‘Yeah, Jack.’

  ‘Where are you? Wait, don’t tell me. I don’t wanna know. Is Ava with you?’

  ‘Yeah, Ava and Jerry. Jack, I saw Hargrove in the casino. Did he come to see you?’

  ‘Yeah, he was lookin’ for you.’

  ‘For what? I didn’t do anythin’ to attract his attention.’

  ‘Since when do you have to do somethin’ to get on his wrong side?’ Entratter asked.

  ‘He didn’t say why he was lookin’ for me?’ I asked.

  ‘No, just that he was. He warned me to tell you to call him.’

  ‘Yeah, right away,’ I said. ‘Jack, did he mention Jerry?’

  ‘No,’ Entratter said. ‘No mention.’

  ‘That’s good, anyway.’

  ‘What did you do, Eddie?’

  ‘I’m just tryin’ to keep Ava safe, Jack,’ I said. ‘And find out what’s goin’ on. Like Frank wanted.’ I knew all I had to do was mention Frank and Entratter would back off.

  ‘Yeah, OK,’ he said, ‘OK. Look, here’s his number.’ He read it off to me. ‘Just keep in touch. And stay safe. All of you.’

  ‘Sure, Jack,’ I said. ‘Thanks.’

  I hung up, sniffed the air, smelled the coffee. Ava came into the room, also sniffing the air.

  ‘This must seem small to you,’ I said.

  ‘It’s nice.’

  ‘You’ve probably got a big villa in Spain.’

  ‘Big enough.’ She sat down beside me on the sofa, put her hand on my thigh. It was a sexual gesture that was decidedly non-sexual at the moment. ‘Are you all right?’

  ‘Yeah,’ I said. ‘Just got off the phone with Jack Entratter at the Sands. The cops are lookin’ for me, but not Jerry.’

  ‘That sounds good and bad,’ she said.

  ‘Good for Jerry,’ I said. ‘Definitely.’

  ‘What about you?’

  ‘I’m gonna have to talk to Hargrove sooner or later and see what he’s got,’ I said. ‘I can’t run from him. He’s not the kind to give up.’

  ‘So what are you going to do?’

  ‘I’ll have to drive back to Vegas, leave you guys stranded here.’

  Sudden
ly, her hand tightened on my thigh and the situation became very sexual. She also leaned over so that her shoulder was against mine, she lowered her voice.

  ‘I’m getting pretty horny, Eddie,’ she said. ‘If we don’t do something about that soon your friend Jerry might be in jeopardy.’

  I turned my head and looked into her eyes. I almost said that I’d bet she could not get Jerry into bed, but I didn’t want to challenge her. But I was pretty sure Jerry’s loyalty to Frank would keep that from ever happening – unless, of course, Ava pulled out the big guns.

  So I just gave her a stern look and said, ‘Behave,’ and slapped her hand away.

  ‘Fine,’ she said.

  FIFTY-NINE

  I had something to eat with Jerry and Ava, then Jerry took a walk before it got dark, while Ava and I sat on the deck with glasses of wine.

  ‘Franks and beans,’ Ava said. ‘I can’t remember the last time I had that.’

  ‘Me, neither.’

  ‘It was good.’

  ‘Surprisingly good,’ I agreed.

  ‘But because I’m eating, and trying to keep up with you and Jerry, I’m getting fat.’

  ‘You’re not fat, Ava,’ I said.

  ‘What am I?’ she asked, sipping her wine. She batted her eyes at me over the rim.

  ‘Oh no,’ I said, ‘you’re horny enough without me making it worse by telling you how beautiful and sexy you are.’

  A self-satisfied smile spread over her face.

  ‘Thank you, Eddie, for not telling me.’

  We clinked glasses.

  ‘What’s he doing out there?’ she asked.

  ‘Making sure there’s nobody in the bushes with a gun,’ I said.

  ‘Really?’

  ‘Kinda,’ I said.

  ‘Are you staying here tonight?’ she asked.

  ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘I was planning to, but now that the cops are lookin’ for me I should call the detective and see what he wants.’

  ‘And?’

  ‘He might want me to come back to town.’

  ‘Tonight?’

  ‘Maybe. If he does, it’s not that late, and only thirty miles.’

  ‘Why can’t it wait until morning?’ she asked.

  ‘Maybe it can,’ I said. ‘That’s what I’m going to find out. I’ve had trouble with him before,’ I said. ‘Me and Jerry both. He’s got it in for me.’

  ‘Fuck him, then,’ she said. ‘Don’t call him.’

  ‘Well, if it was just me I might do that, but there’s you and Jerry to consider.’

  She tapped the nail of her forefinger against her glass.

  ‘Well then, why don’t you go and call him now and get it over with?’ she suggested.

  ‘You know what?’ I said. ‘That’s what I’m gonna do.’

  ‘Do you have his number?’

  ‘Yeah, Entratter gave it to me.’ I stood up, left my glass on the deck rail. ‘I’ll be right back.’

  As I headed for the door Jerry came up the steps.

  ‘What’d you find?’ I asked.

  ‘Nothin’. Looks good so far.’

  ‘I’m gonna make a call,’ I said. ‘Go ahead and sit with Ava.’

  ‘OK, Mr G.’

  I went inside. I’d left the number on a piece of paper next to the phone, so I sat and dialed.

  ‘Detective Hargrove,’ he said, after four rings.

  ‘If you’re lookin’ for somebody, Detective, maybe you should answer your phone on the first or second ring.’

  There were a few moments of silence and then he said, ‘Fuck you, Gianelli. Where the hell are you?’

  ‘I’m around,’ I said. ‘Not far. What’s goin’ on? I heard you were lookin’ for me.’

  ‘I’m lookin’ to throw your good for nothin’ ass in jail, that’s what I’m lookin’ for,’ Hargrove said with not a hint of humor.

  ‘What for?’ I asked. ‘What did I do now? Or what didn’t I do that you want to pin on me?’

  ‘Never mind,’ he said, ‘just get your ass in here so we can talk.’

  ‘OK, I’ll be there first thing in the mornin’,’ I said.

  ‘No, not mornin’,’ he said. ‘Now, so I can call off my men and not waste their time lookin’ for you.’

  ‘What, you got an APB out on me? Am I gonna be charged with somethin’?’

  ‘I told you, I just wanna talk.’

  ‘No, you said you wanted to throw my ass in jail, but I thought you were just talkin’ like you always do, in general. You got somethin’ specific you wanna toss me in a cell for?’

  ‘Eddie,’ he said, ‘if you run I’ll find you.’

  ‘What the hell, Hargrove,’ I said, ‘what reason do I have to run? Look, I’ll be there in an hour.’

  ‘I thought you said you were nearby?’

  ‘I’m an hour away,’ I said. ‘I’m on my way. Call off your dogs so they don’t shoot me on the way.’

  ‘Don’t worry about that,’ he said. ‘If you need to be shot I’ll do that myself.’

  SIXTY

  Jerry wanted to go with me.

  ‘If this is about poppin’ those two Chicago goons I should tell ’em I did it,’ he said. ‘I can’t let them pin that rap on you.’

  ‘They’re not gonna pin anythin’ on me, Jerry, because I didn’t do it. And I’m not about to give you up.’

  ‘I never thought you would, Mr G.,’ he said.

  ‘OK,’ I said, ‘so I’m gonna drive back now, and I’ll return tomorrow.’

  ‘If you’re not in jail,’ Ava said.

  ‘I won’t be in jail.’

  ‘If you are,’ she said, ‘it’ll be my fault.’

  We were sitting on the deck, staring out at the darkening sky.

  ‘I leave now I can make most of the drive before it gets dark,’ I said. I handed my wine glass to Jerry.

  Ava stood up abruptly, set her glass down, and put her arms around me. Once again, what could have been a sexual situation was really just a warm one.

  ‘Be careful.’

  ‘I will.’ I hugged her back. ‘Look after the big guy.’

  ‘I will.’ She let me go and stepped back. ‘Call if you’re not in jail.’

  I smiled.

  ‘See ya, big guy.’

  ‘Mr G?’

  ‘Yeah?’

  ‘You got Miss Ava’s gun on ya?’

  ‘I do.’

  ‘Don’t take it into the police station with you.’

  ‘Thanks for reminding me,’ I said. It was so light in my pocket that I might have done just that.

  I drove to the police station on West Russell, just off Las Vegas Boulevard. Inside I asked for Detective Hargrove. When the desk Sergeant asked me my name I gave it to him, half expecting to be handcuffed moments later and dragged to the floor. Instead he said, ‘Wait here.’

  Moments later Hargrove’s partner of the month came out. I recognized him from the casino. He was young, white and polite.

  ‘This way, Mr Gianelli,’ he said. ‘My name is Detective Holman.’

  ‘Really?’ I asked.

  ‘I’m afraid so,’ he said.

  I followed him to an interview room where, I knew from experience, Hargrove would let me cool my heels for up to an hour.

  ‘Detective Hargrove will be with you in a minute.’

  ‘Yeah, sure,’ I said. ‘Tell him to bring coffee, black, no sugar.’

  Holman nodded and backed out.

  Fifty minutes later Hargrove came walking in. To my surprise he had two cups of coffee with him. To my further surprise, he pushed one across the table to me.

  ‘Black, no sugar.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  He sat down across from me.

  ‘What’s this about, Hargrove?’ I asked. ‘It’s been awhile since you came lookin’ for me.’

  ‘I know,’ he said. ‘You been keepin’ your nose clean, huh?’

  I shrugged.

  ‘I’ve pretty much been bein’ myself.’

  �
��Which, to me, is enough reason to throw you in jail,’ Hargrove said.

  ‘Luckily, you need more than that,’ I said. ‘You need evidence that I did something illegal.’

  ‘You’re right, I do.’

  ‘Do you have it?’

  ‘I have some questions.’

  ‘About what?’

  He sat back in his chair. I sipped the coffee. It was hot, and toxic. I put it down on the table. Maybe he was trying poison so he wouldn’t have to figure out how to jail me.

  ‘I’ve got two dead wise guys from Chicago on my hands,’ he said. ‘What do you know about them?’

  ‘Dead? How?’

  ‘Shot,’ he said. ‘In the front seat of their car, with a .45’

  ‘How do you know who they were?’

  ‘We found the hotel they were stayin’ in,’ Hargrove said. ‘Their registration card said Chicago. We found their guns on the roof of their car, more in their room, and their names. Checked them out with Chicago P.D. Wise guys.’

  ‘Workin’ for who?’ I asked.

  ‘Whoever has the money to hire them, apparently.’

  ‘Did you ask Jack Entratter about them?’

  ‘No,’ Hargrove said, ‘I wanted to talk to you first.’

  I’d been trying for a couple of years to convince Hargrove that I was no wise guy just because I worked for the Sands casino.

  ‘Why me?’

  ‘Because of where we found them.’

  ‘Where?’

  ‘The same place you and your big friend found a body in a dumpster a couple of years ago, when your buddies were here makin’ Ocean’s Eleven.’

  ‘And you think that’s enough of a reason to try to connect me to this? That’s not evidence, Detective.’

  Now he leaned forward.

  ‘You’re at the top of my list, Eddie, for whenever somethin’ happens in this town that concerns the mob, the boys, whatever you want to call them. This was enough for me to want to ask you some questions.’

  ‘And that’s it? That’s all you’ve got to?’

  ‘No, I’ve got one more thing,’ he said.

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘I checked on your buddy, Jerry Epstein, in Brooklyn. He’s not there. You got any idea where he is?’