Casino Capers

by Dan Kelly

  “Well, yes I am. Do you like going to the casinos?”

  “To be honest with you, I’ve never been inside a casino. Do you have a few minutes to tell me a little about what I could expect to find there?”

  Jillian’s thinking, “If this isn’t the Chameleon, I’m Tinker Bell”, but says, “Sure. Pull up a chair.”

  As soon as the woman pulls up a chair and sits down she softly says in the familiar voice Jillian heard over the phone yesterday, “Okay, we can dispense with the charade, Miss Prevot. Our whispering will be considered appropriate for two people who want to talk, but don’t want to disturb anyone. How shall we begin?”

  “Man, this guy could work in motion pictures and be in great demand. And talk about coo/. He’d be comfortable in an igloo without any heat. I wonder if Popeye realizes that I’ve made contact with the Chameleon and not just some patron of the library.”

  Pushing these thoughts aside, she launches into her memorized script. Ten minutes later she pauses to let everything she has said sink in and then asks the double barreled sixty-four dollar questions. “Would you be willing to try to work things out with Red, the casino owners and the police with me acting as liaison as well as work jointly with me to make up a list of things we could suggest to the arson investigators that might help them move forward more quickly with their investigation?”

  The Chameleon has been sitting on the edge of his chair staring intently at Jillian ever since she began talking. If he blinked once, she missed it.

  Suddenly, he stood up and walked away. “Oh, oh, he didn’t buy it. I guess I better not give up my day job. It looks like I’ve blown my audition for the role of Good Samaritan.”

  But the Chameleon didn’t leave. He went over to the water cooler, got a cup of water and came back to the computer station and sat back down. “You can forget the first part of your question for now. I’d be willing to work with you on trying to assist in the arson investigation and, if I’m satisfied with the results of our efforts there, then I’d entertain the idea of trying to work something out with all of the parties involved.”

  “Okay, that works for me. I think it would be a good idea though if we meet again someplace more private, someplace where we won’t have to worry about being interrupted or overheard. It should be someplace where we can see if anyone is approaching that might be a threat to us, but not be seen.”

  “Well, that’s very thoughtful of you, Miss Prevot. In fact, it’s apparent to me that you’ve given today’s meeting a lot of thought and have spent considerable time preparing for it. It won’t surprise me if you have a particular place in mind. Do you?

  “Oh, oh, have I come on too strong? He sounds suspicious.” Smiling sheepishly she responds with, “Well, to be perfectly honest with you, Mr. Carducci, I did spend a lot of time thinking about what I was going to say to you. I really want to help and believe the chances of our being successful are good enough to warrant the time and effort required for us to put our heads together and come up with ideas that will have a meaningful impact on the arson investigation.

  “In anticipation of my being able to convince you that we should work together, I did come up with the perfect place for us to meet again. It’s a winter fun spot not very far from here called the Pompton Ski Resort. At this time of year, very few people will be around and any cabin we rent will provide the privacy we want as well as the security of being able to see anyone approaching before they see us. All of the cabins are situated at the edge of a circular clearing a hundred yards in diameter which is surrounded by deep woods for miles around. It’s ideal for our purposes.”

  When she finished speaking, the change in the Chameleon was quite noticeable. He sat back in his chair, stopped staring at her and let out a long sigh. “Okay, let’s do it. When should we get together again?”

  Evidently he appreciated her honesty and she was beginning to earn his trust. “You pick the day and I’ll rent the cabin and put the cabin number at the end of my comments on my web site tomorrow. We’ll probably need a few days to put a list of ideas together for our meeting, so how about someday next week?”

  “The sooner the better as far as I’m concerned. Let’s make it Monday.”

  “Monday it is. I’ll be there at eight o’clock.”

  Standing up, the Chameleon said in a normal voice, “Thank you for taking the time to talk with me about casinos. You’ve got me real curious now, so I’m going to check out the Go For It the very first chance I get.” He returned to where he had been sitting, gathered up his things and left the library. As he was leaving, she momentarily made eye contact with Popeye, gave him a barely perceptible nod and followed the Chameleon out of the library. When she got to the front door of the library, the Chameleon was out of sight. She headed back to the Floating Fantasies, followed shortly by Popeye.

  Chapter 28

  While Jillian was at the library, Red and Bill were worriedly and impatiently waiting for her and Popeye to return in Red’s office. Bill is pacing back and forth and voicing his concern to Red. “They should have been back by now. What do you think has happened?”

  Before Red could answer, Jillian came bursting into his office with a big smile on her face and said, “We got him!” Popeye showed up shortly thereafter.

  Jillian filled them in on what had taken place and then Popeye followed up with, “Red, I didn’t have a clue that Jillian was talking with the Chameleon until Jillian gave me the nod as the guy was leaving. He was disguised as a woman and he sure had me fooled. I was getting nervous about this woman talking with Jillian for so long queering the set up and was getting ready to roll over and interrupt their conversation with a question of mine own, hoping the lady would then go back to her seat. Fortunately, I decided to stay put.”

  With an appreciatively touch of her hand on Popeye’s arm she said, “Well, I’m glad you stayed put, but I was also glad that you were close by. This guy is very strange. In talking with him, it’s instantly obvious that he is very intelligent, very articulate, very cautious, but his demeanor barely cloaks a deep anger over what he perceives as a major injustice surrounding the death of his brother. This is a very dangerous man and the more time that goes by without things going his way the more dangerous he will become. I strongly believe that it won’t take much to set him off on a wild rampage of revenge. This man is hurting and needs help badly. In his present state, he definitely shouldn’t be free to walk about and do his thing. If he’s not captured soon, he’s going to wreak havoc and people are going to get hurt.”

  Red nodding his agreement with Jillian started issuing orders. “Jillian, get together with Sylvia right away and have her rent a cabin at the resort and get the cabin number to Bill. Bill, as soon as you get the cabin number pass it on to Chuck along with the date of the meeting and ask him to install the bugs in the cabin by Sunday evening and arrange for the required surveillance to be in place by six o’clock Monday morning. Jillian, get together with Sylvia and compile a preliminary list of suggestions to bring to the meeting. When you’ve done that, set up a meeting for all of us to review what you’ve compiled and add any ideas Bill, Popeye and I might come up with.

  “Alright, the fat’s in the fire and things should start popping pretty soon. Let’s hope nobody gets burned but the Chameleon.”

  Chapter 29

  It’s a pleasantly warm Saturday evening and Red’s sitting in the Floating Fantasies casino holding but not drinking his favorite Irish whiskey, Bushmills. He’s not in the mood for drinking, but it gives him something to do with his hands. It’s only seven o’clock and already the casino is packed with people looking to put the Floating Fantasies into bankruptcy. Like the old Scrooge McDuck comic books, you can almost see the dollar signs in their eyes. Whether docked or on the river, ever since Red came onboard as manager the casino has been attracting large crowds and making a bundle of money for Rex.

  He should be happy with his success, but all he can think about is the Chameleon and the risk he’s
letting Jillian take to get the creep off his back. Well, that’s not entirely true. The beautiful Jillian Prevot has been taking center stage in his thoughts more and more with each passing day.

  “I’ve never met anyone quite like her before. She definitely stands out in a crowd that’s for sure. Her shoulder length wavy dark brown tresses, her deep blue eyes, her radiant full lipped smile, her model’s complexion and slinky body are like magnets, drawing the attention of everybody, male and female, when she enters a room. She definitely got my attention, but she stands out in a lot of other ways too. She’s very intelligent and well read, she has deep rooted values like caring about others and honesty, she has a great sense of humor, she’s easy to talk with and she’s one gutsy lady. I sure would like to get to know her better. Maybe I should call the meeting off. Gutsy or not, she could get hurt. Wow, what’s happening here? Red Borman, career bachelor, where’s all this emotion coming from?”

  His thoughts are interrupted by none other than the lady herself and true to form she’s got every pair of eyes in the house glued to her. The word stunning fits her to a ‘T’. She’s wearing a deep burgundy off-the-shoulder cocktail dress with the center of the décolletage sporting a diamond starburst pin and her feet burgundy patent leather shoes.

  “Hi, Red. Boy, this place sure is jumping. I just left the Go For It and although business is brisk we don’t have a crowd like this.”

  “Hi, Jillian. Don’t you worry. You haven’t been there very long. Once you get your ideas in place, we’ll be playing catch-up to you. What brings you here? I would think Joe would want you on the job, especially on a Saturday night.”

  “When I filled him in on what we are setting up for the Chameleon, he told me to take tonight and tomorrow off, rest up and think about nothing but what I’m going to have to do on Monday at the ski resort. His exact words were, ‘If you’re going to be matching wits with this yoyo, you’re going to have to be fully prepared and alert if you’re going to be able to yank his string hard enough to get him to walk his doggie right into the hands of the local constabulary.’ To be honest, Red, I didn’t know what he was talking about. He had to explain what ‘walk the doggie’ meant. I wasn’t into yoyos when I was a kid.”

  “Well, apparently Joe was. If he’s any good, maybe you could get him to perform at the Go For It.”

  They both laughed and then Red turned serious. “I want to thank you, Jillian, for all that you’ve done and for your willingness to put yourself in harm’s way. How are your nerves holding up? You know it’s not too late to call things off if you want to back out. I’d certainly understand and so would everyone else.”

  Pulling on Red’s arm to turn him face-to-face with her, eyes flashing with anger, she lashed out with, “Let’s get something straight, Red. When I make a commitment, I keep it. When I see people getting hurt who don’t deserve it, I get involved. I don’t ignore what’s going on around me. This is my community now, my home. I have a responsibility to it. Don’t you dare suggest that I turn my back on it.” Clenching her fists and stamping her foot, she turned and walked off in a furious huff.

  “Whoa. Obviously, this lady’s values are a lot deeper than I’ve imagined. I sure did hit a hot button. It’s also obvious that my having read ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ hasn’t helped my people skills any. The Commissioner wants my butt in a sling and out of the industry, the Chameleon wants me not only out of the industry, but out of work period, preferably standing in a bread line somewhere, and now I’ve alienated the key player in helping me deal with the other two. Way to go Borman! Humph. Maybe I should try to get some investors together and buy my old cab company. I could change the name to ‘Going Your Way Anyway’ and only employ drivers who are impervious to verbal abuse or too stupid to notice. That might be my way out. Ah, nuts, nuts, nuts!”

  As Red is ruminating over his inadequacies in human relations and the mess he’s in generally, Popeye walks up behind him, taps him on the shoulder to get his attention and almost gets clobbered as Red swings around with his fist balled up, ready to belt whoever snuck up on him.

  “Gee, Popeye, I’m sorry. You scared the daylights out of me. If my nerves were strung any tighter, I’d snap in two. This upcoming Chameleon meeting really has me worried for Jillian’s safety. I was thinking about calling the whole thing off and even suggested to Jillian that it would be alright with me if she wanted to back off and she nearly decked me for asking her to go back on her word. She’s a very special and courageous lady and I don’t want anything to happen to her on my account.”

  “That makes two of us, Red. She’s going to be face-to-face with a major screwball and the nearest help will be over a hundred yards away. If this guy detects anything out of whack, he’s liable to do anything. I wish we could hide someone inside the cabin.”

  “I thought of that too, Popeye, but Sylvia says that although the cabins are a good size for something called a cabin, they are just one big room containing a double bed, dresser, two night stands, a floor to ceiling stand- alone oak wardrobe, a couch, two easy chairs, a coffee table and a kitchenette which is adjacent to a nook containing a table with padded bench seats on either side which can seat four comfortably. In a corner in the front of the cabin is a place to hang wet ski clothes and put ski boots and skis.

  “The only other room with a door is a small full bath off the sleeping area. All of the cabins have a gas and wood burning fireplace in the wall facing the couch and easy chairs, but the chimney is so small even a midget couldn’t hide in there if it was safe to do so. The only use it has for us is that’s where one of the bugs will probably be placed.

  “There are four windows in each cabin, one on each side of the solid wood front door, one in the kitchenette area and one in the sleeping area. Their placement allows a lot of daylight inside and a 360 degree view of what’s outside. This should put the Chameleon at ease with respect to his surroundings. There just isn’t any place where someone could hide.

  “Chuck looked into putting some of his men on the roofs of the adjacent cabins, but the only things they could hide behind are the chimneys which are just too narrow.”

  “Red, what about placing some of those grounds keeping sheds behind and between some of the cabins? They’re made of some kind of heavy duty, all kinds of weather type of plastic and are portable. They come in sizes large enough to conceal a couple of men. We could place some of them nearby the cabin where Jillian is meeting with the Chameleon. At least we’d have some of the surveillance team a lot closer than a hundred yards or more away.”

  “That’s a great idea, Popeye. Let me call Bill and have him run it by Chuck. We have enough time to get them installed before the meeting takes place.” Red called Bill and instructed him to call his brother in-law with Popeye’s idea right away and get back to him with Chuck’s response.

  Ten minutes later Bill was rushing into the casino with his thumbs up saying, “Chucks arranging for the sheds to be installed as we speak. That’s some sharp thinking, Popeye. As head of security, I should have thought of it, damn it.”

  Somewhat annoyed Red came back with, “Knock it off will you, Bill. Stop putting yourself down. Just because you’re our head of security doesn’t mean that you should have a corner on the market for all the good ideas pertaining to security. I’m building a team here and good teamwork involves every member contributing to the best of his or her ability so we can reach our goal and it doesn’t matter where or who an idea comes from. You got that?”

  “Yeah.”

  Good. Lecture’s over. I’ve got to circulate.” Having spoken his mind, Red headed for the poker tables to press some flesh and spread some good will.

  “Uh, oh. I think I ticked him off.”

  “I don’t think so, Bill. Red was just doing his job, managing one of his staff who is putting way too much pressure on himself. Stay cool and keep on doing what you’re doing which is a hell of a good job. In the merchant marines, I’ve seen some real losers in my
time when it comes to security and you’re definitely not one of them.”

  “Thanks, Popeye. I guess the reason I’m so uptight is that Red and I have been trying to put the kibosh on this Chameleon character for some time now, first at the Palladian Palace and now here and have failed miserably. I guess I’m letting myself get psyched out.”

  “We all just have to keep on swinging, Bill. Eventually, we’ll connect and send this gooney bird off to birdie, birdie land and a nice cell for a very long time.”