Dead Money Run

by J. Frank James

  The company called Eclipse had struck a nerve with Hightower. Whatever they were up to it involved that company, but I didn’t have time to concern myself with that now.

  Stanton seemed to know a lot about the casino capers the Outfit was running. If it was true that the Outfit insured itself against losses at these casinos to launder money, then maybe Hightower and friends were looking to take over that piece of business. Yet, I didn’t see that happening. The Outfit was too big and too powerful. If the FBI couldn’t bring them to their knees with all the tools at their disposal, then Hightower and his small band weren’t going to do it.

  Then there was the Outfit itself. Whatever was going on here was happening at a local level. The head of the Outfit was in Chicago and this had to be a regional issue. Something that Sonny was doing himself. I wondered what would happen to him when we hit the Cumberland Island casino again and the Outfit got wind of it. Standing up, I planned to find out.

  Chapter 60

  Waking up, I couldn’t feel Hilary next to me. Looking at the clock next to the bed, it was almost eleven o’clock in the morning. I smelled food. Getting up, I grabbed my pants and put them on. I saw Hilary in the small break area lining up what looked like a buffet line.

  “Where did you get this stuff,” I said.

  “From the lobby. Breakfast is included with the room.”

  “Don’t say. Where is Crusher?”

  “This place has a pool, so he wanted to get his money’s worth. He said he was going for a swim before he ate.”

  Putting my arms around Hilary’s waist, I nuzzled the back of her neck. “How about we get our money’s worth while the child is out playing,” I said.

  “What if Crusher comes back and sees us,” she said.

  “We’ll lock the door from the inside. He’ll just have to knock.”

  When I woke up, Hilary’s right arm was draped over my chest and I was trying to focus my eyes on the room. I heard a pounding noise coming from somewhere and realized someone was banging on the door. Getting up, I walked over to the front door and looked through the security site. Removing the chair from under the doorknob, I saw Crusher standing there with a concerned look on his face. Turning the lock, I opened the door and he about knocked me over.

  “Crusher, what the hell is going on?”

  “There are two cop cars in the turn-a-round with their bubble lights on and another one out on the road in front of the exit.”

  While Crusher went into his room to put his stuff in a bag, I woke Hilary.

  “Time to go, babe,” I said.

  “What?”

  “Cops. We got to go,” I said again. The problem was where to go. We couldn’t use the car. I had to think. As I got dressed, it hit me. Move to another room. They would have it marked as unrented, but the question was how to get in. Opening the room door I looked for a maid and saw one working two rooms down. She had a door propped open to a room while she worked in another room down the walkway. Grabbing Hilary and our stuff, I walked her down to the vacant room with Crusher in tow. Pushing the door open, I stepped inside and shut the door, turn the little sign to the ‘Do Not Disturb’ display. Looking through the front window, I could see our car. There wasn’t a cop checking it out, which was a good sign. The other cop car was out near the road. After a few minutes it turned its flasher off and pulled away and then I saw the other two cars leave as well.

  “False alarm,” I said.

  “Now what?” asked Crusher.

  “We go back to our room and finish breakfast. I’m starving.”

  Chapter 61

  By the end of the day I had a plan I thought might work. While we needed a boat, we didn’t need one like last time. Benny had been lucky finding the Cigarette boat before and we had needed it because we had to run up the coast and speed was important. This time stealth was going to win the day, not speed. Picking up the telephone book next to the bed, I looked up sporting goods.

  “Here it is,” I said.

  “What’s here?” Hilary asked.

  “A sporting goods store. I need to pick up some things,” I said.

  “We going hunting?” Crusher asked.

  “Sort of,” I said. “We need three pairs of night goggles, about ten deer game bags, and some air guns along with tranquilizer darts. The tranquilizer has to be strong enough to put down a hundred and eighty pound deer.”

  “They got deer that big down here?” said Crusher.

  “They’re animals. If we can tranquilize a hundred and eighty pound deer, should work on a man. Don’t you think?”

  “Yeah, but what are we going to do with them once we knock them out?”

  “Listen up, Crusher,” said Hilary. “I think I see where this is going.”

  Hilary was gently patting Crusher’s shoulder

  “So, here’s the deal,” I said.” We go in at night disguised as workers at the Casino.”

  “I take it you’re not going as a maid?” said Hilary.

  “Where are we going to get the uniforms?” said Crusher.

  “Rent them or maybe look around here and see if there isn’t someplace in this hotel where they might keep them,” I said.

  “Hilary, you check around this place and see if you can’t find some clothes that fit you as a maid and me as a maintenance man. If not, then we’ll find a uniform store where we can buy them.”

  “What are you going to be doing?” said Hilary.

  “Buying a boat,” I said.

  Crusher and I left Hilary to her own devices. I knew she was pretty good with people, plus she spoke a little Spanish. Crusher, on the other hand, could hardly speak the King’s English.

  Chapter 62

  Being in South Georgia, it didn’t take long to find a sporting goods store and pawn shop that sold everything we needed. Pawn shops generally didn’t check anything in the way of a background, but since we were buying air propelled weapons, a permit wasn’t necessary.

  About a mile from our hotel we found Easy Hunting Gun and Pawn. The place reminded me of one of those five and dime stores where you could buy everything from soap powder to outboard engines. After our eyes adjusted to the inside, I heard someone say, “Hep you, gentlemen’s with somet’ing?”

  Crusher didn’t say anything. He was too busy looking at the knives.

  “Yes, I think so,” I said.

  “Well, Son, if it’s on four legs or has feathers, we got the weapon that will bag it for you.”

  “Me and my friend are looking to hunt feral hogs and we want to try our hand at darting them if we can.”

  “Dart them? You mean like an air gun?”

  “Something like that,” I said.

  At this point the conversation became a little one sided. Looking at me like I had a screw lose, he leaned forward and said, “Why don’ you and your buddy just tell me what you are trying to do? Maybe I can hep you?” So I did.

  Thirty minutes later Crusher and I walked out of the place loaded with everything we needed, and then some.

  “You think we need this mosquito shit?” said Crusher.

  “Look, he thought we were green horns and as far as I was concerned the greener the better.”

  “What’s the laxative for?” asked Crusher.

  “You,” I said. “I think there was a tracking device in those chicken wings you ate night before last. Need to get it cleared out.

  “ Now,” I said, “we need a boat.”

  We found what we needed at an old yard down near the St. Mary’s River. The boat, motor and trailer came to under three grand. The guy was so happy to make the sale, he threw in a portable trailer hitch for the Chrysler.

  “Hey, Lou, think we look like a couple of vacationers?”

  Crusher was standing there with an air gun over his shoulder, a pair a night goggles on and a fishing hat that the salesman at the pawn shop had thrown in.

  “Maybe me, but not you, Crusher. You look like you could lift this car.”

  “Yeah, ain’t it grea
t.”

  Hilary was waiting for us when we got back and she had some luck of her own. Walking into the room, she was looking at herself in the mirror. She modeled a uniform that she found.

  “May I clean your room, sir?”

  “Where did you get that?” I said.

  “I made a deal with the head maid to sell me a uniform. Fifty bucks and she threw in a shirt and pair of pants for you as part of the bargain.”

  “What a deal,” I said.

  My plan wasn’t much, but sometimes the simple ones were the ones that worked the best, and this was as simple as you could get. All we needed now was a truck.

  After a few hours of looking around St. Mary’s and not having any luck, I finally found what I needed in Fernandina Beach, just over the line in Florida. It was an old FedEx truck, but it was in good shape and the owner was willing to spray out the FedEx sign on the sides. The best thing was the van’s diesel Mercedes engine. It was big enough to haul just about anything we needed. While Crusher drove the 300, I drove the truck back to St. Mary’s, but I didn’t want to park it near the hotel. There was no sense in attracting unnecessary attention.

  My plan was to hit the casino place tomorrow night. That would be a day earlier than the date picked by Stanton. More than enough time to do what I needed to do.

  “Let me understand this,” said Hilary. “After we get the money, we’re going to hide it somewhere on Cumberland Island? Have I got that right?”

  “That’s about it.”

  “Why in the hell would we do that?” Hilary asked.

  “Four simple reasons. One, they won’t suspect that we would hide it. Two, the cash will be heavy and we won’t move that in a day. Last time we were able to pitch it into a creek and let it float out with the tide. We won’t have that luxury now. Three, no one is going to report it from the casino because why?”

  “They have the insurance with the company.”

  “Now you got it.” I said.

  “What’s the fourth reason?” said Hilary.

  “I don’t want to do another fifteen years in prison again as long as I live and I don’t want you two in there with me. If they can’t find the money and we don’t take it off the Island, who they going to arrest? Also, when and if we turn in the money, the worst that we end up with is the reward. When Sonny and his old man realize that the money was stolen again, and not by them, their future isn’t going to be worth two cents. Once the Outfit finds out that they are this vulnerable, they won’t mess around. They will have to make an example out of them.”

  “What about Susan’s killer?” said Hilary.

  “I’m still working that out,” I said.

  Chapter 63

  Carl stood up and took the two pictures out of the file folder and laid them on the desk in front of Sonny Cap. He took a step back. This was going to be a big score for him. He was expecting about a hundred grand and he needed the money.

  “You sure this is them?” said Sonny

  “On my mother’s grave,” he said.

  “Might be more than that if you’re wrong. Right, Fingers?”

  Bellay sat quietly in the corner of the room. He did not get up to look at the photos. He didn’t care one way or the other.

  “Right, Sonny.”

  Reaching over on the other side of his desk, Sonny hit the intercom for his assistant and told her to send in Silvio Chancez. When the door opened, a man in a cheap suit walked into the room. He looked first at Sonny and then at Bellay. He looked nervous. Sonny liked them nervous. It showed him that they feared him. Better to fear you than respect you, his father always said.

  “Mister Chancez, take a look at these pictures and tell me if you recognize any of these people.”

  “Yes, well, this one is a picture of Lou Malloy. He’s the one who took the money from the Golden Slipper years back and the woman is Hilary Kelly. She used to work for us.”

  For a few moments Sonny thought he was hearing something.

  “You want to run that by me again?”

  “Yeah, sure. We hired the Kelly woman to get information on the money we paid off on the theft claim years ago. She’s a PI and she came highly recommended.”

  “She did, did she? What if I told you she was riding around with Malloy knocking off our people like they was in a shooting gallery. What would you say about that?”

  Chancez could feel the perspiration forming under his arms and down his back.

  “I wouldn’t know anything about that,” he said. His lips were dry. He needed a drink.

  “How about telling me what you do know?”

  “Well, she doesn’t work for us any longer. I know that much. I fired her a few days ago.”

  “You fired her? Why did you do that?”

  “She said she was going to go and help a friend find out who killed a relative of his.”

  Getting up, Sonny threw the file in the face of the man in front of him. “What the hell does that mean? She don’t fuckin’ work for us and that’s it. Nothing else. You didn’t think to ask what the hell she was doing? You just fired her and that’s it?””

  “She said she was going to help someone find out who killed his sister. That’s what she said.”

  Sitting down, Sonny looked at Bellay and said, “Get these two pieces of shit out of here.”

  “Mister Cap, sir,” said Carl sounding like a prisoner before the hatch opened under him. “I didn’t know anything about this.”

  Looking up, Sonny just smiled and said, “Goodbye Mister Willis. It’s been nice knowing ya’.”

  When everyone had left, Sonny called his father. The old man picked up on the first ring.

  “Yes, Sonny? What is it?”

  “It’s Malloy. He’s been seen near Cumberland Island and I think something is up. You know that PI we hired to get in close with Malloy? Yeah, that’s the one. She’s working with him now. And get this. She’s helping him find the killer of that babe that Bellay snuffed a couple of months ago.”

  “That’s not good news, Sonny,” said Nick Cappoleto. “ What are you going to do about it?”

  “I don’t know. I’m sort of asking you what we should do, you know. The Outfit gets wind of this they’re not going to be too happy.”

  “Yes. I think you’re right. Let me think about it. I’ll get back to you.”

  Hanging up, Nick Cappoleto dialed a number he never thought he would have to dial. When the voice answered, he said, “It looks like I will need you after all.”

  After talking with his father, Sonny Cap did not like the way the conversation went. The old man was too calm. It was like the calm before the storm. He called Bellay.

  “You get that handled?”

  “Yeah. I gave the job to Bones. He said he packed them in the trunk of a junked up piece of shit and took it to the yard to put in the compactor. Couple of months they’ll be a bumper on a Caddy.”

  “We got trouble. Come to my office. We need to speed things up a bit.”

  Chapter 64

  “Does anyone else know about the possibility that Malloy might hit the Indian casino on Cumberland Island again?” asked the voice on the phone

  “No,” said Stanton.

  “It would be interesting if we leaked it to the Tribal Police and let them pick them up for us. Are you still targeting the grab by Malloy for the anniversary of his heist?”

  “Yes,” said Stanton.

  “It would be interesting to have the Indians there when he hits the place.”

  “Yeah it would,” said Stanton. “But we would have to go down to make the pick-up and when we did, we could deal with Malloy and his dolly on our terms.

  “That Indian cop still thinks your name is Reynolds, doesn’t he?”

  “Yeah.”

  “We have tracked them to St. Mary’s, so they are in place. I think you need to be in the area when they make the grab. Call the Indian cop and give him a heads up. Time we got this show on the road.”

  “Very well Sabrina.”
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  Chapter 65

  “Officer Ramiro, please.”

  William Two-Tree was not looking forward to working with this white police detective. He was too lazy for his purposes, but working with him was a ‘must do’ according to the rules. Stopping these robberies was Two-Tree’s only real interest. The death of a few white eyes was nothing to him. Still, Officer Reynolds from the Federal Government was insistent that the Detective be called and be given the heads up, as the man had put it.

  “Detective Ramiro speaking.”

  “Sal, this is William Two-Tree over at the Tribal Police, you got a minute?”

  Ramiro hesitated, gathering his thoughts.

  “What do you need, Two-Tree?”

  “Might have a lead on those killings and I would like you to work with me on it. I think it would get you the killers of the Marks’s and the other killings you have on file.”

  “What do I have to do?”

  Get off your fat ass and get over here, thought Two-Tree.

  “I got a call from a contact that I have in Atlanta saying there’s going to be another robbery at our Casino on Cumberland Island by the same people as before.”

  When Ramiro heard about the robbery he sat up straight in his chair.

  “What are you saying, Two-Tree? That this Malloy is going to hit your Casino a second time?”

  “That’s what my contact said. Now, since it is our Casino and our jurisdiction, the Feds want our Department to be the lead on this. I thought you might want to be in on it. You might solve some of those homicide files on your desk.”

  Ramiro figured there had to be an angle in this. Why would this Indian be interested in helping him? It did not fit. The Indians almost never wanted the locals in their business.