When Somebody Kills You

by Robert J. Randisi

  I looked at his closed door. That was unusual.

  ‘Thanks,’ I said and walked over to knock on the door.

  ‘Come!’ Jack yelled.

  I held the door, allowed Judy to go in first. Jerry followed me in.

  ‘What the—’ Jack jumped up from behind his desk. ‘Miss Garland. I didn’t know … Eddie? What the—’ He stopped himself again.

  ‘Jack, I don’t know if you’ve ever met Judy Garland before,’ I said.

  ‘Once or twice,’ Judy said, before he could speak. ‘How are you, Mr Entratter?’

  ‘I’m fine, Miss Garland. Eddie, you wanna explain?’

  ‘Judy needs a suite, Jack, and I don’t want anyone to know. You’ll have to tell your whole staff, because a couple of them have seen her already, but I don’t want them to talk.’

  ‘The first one who talks gets fired,’ he said. ‘I’ll see to it. But what’s this about?’

  ‘I’ll have to tell you later,’ I said, ‘but it’s important. Are Dean and Frank in town?’

  ‘No, but Frank’s in Tahoe. He can be here in a hurry if you need him.’

  ‘I’ll call him there,’ I said. ‘Meanwhile, Jerry and I have some other things to do.’

  ‘Leave Miss Garland with me,’ Jack said. ‘I’ll see that she’s taken care of.’

  I looked at Judy. She said, ‘Go ahead. I’m sure I’ll be fine with Jack.’

  ‘All right,’ I said. ‘I’ll check back in with you after you’re settled.’

  ‘Take me to dinner,’ she said. ‘Maybe Jack can join us?’

  ‘Deal,’ I said. ‘Jack, I’ll be back.’

  ‘You better,’ he said. ‘You’ve got a lot of explainin’ to do.’

  ‘I can fill you in on some of it,’ Judy said, then looked at me for approval.

  ‘Sure,’ I said, ‘tell him as much as you know.’

  She nodded and smiled.

  ‘I’ll take you to a suite personally,’ he told Judy.

  ‘Come on,’ I said to Jerry.

  We went out past the girl, who was still awed by Judy’s presence.

  ‘Where to?’ Jerry asked in the elevator.

  ‘Well, first we’ll get that car you’re so worried about taken care of, then we’ll make some calls – get ahold of Danny and see what he’s got.’

  ‘And then?’

  I looked at him. ‘You’re worried about eatin’, aren’t you?’

  ‘Well …’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ I said. ‘We’ll get somethin’, and then we’ll come back later to have dinner with Judy.’

  ‘And Mr Entratter.’

  ‘I doubt he’ll be there,’ I said, ‘but Frank might. Once he knows Judy’s here, he’ll probably chopper in.’

  ‘Where are we gonna make them from?’

  ‘Jesus, Jerry,’ I said, as the elevator doors opened on the main floor, ‘all right, we’ll make the calls from the Garden Café.’

  FIFTY-SEVEN

  When we got a booth at the café, I had a phone brought over and plugged in. Jerry ordered for both of us. I called Danny’s office, got lucky and found him there.

  ‘I’m playin’ some phone tag,’ he said. ‘You back?’

  ‘Yeah, we’re at the Garden Café. Come and join us.’

  ‘On my way.’

  I looked down when the waitress arrived with the food. Jerry had ordered exactly what I would have ordered for myself – a burger platter. I looked at him.

  ‘I pay attention,’ he said.

  I took the top of the bun off to have a look and said, ‘Yeah, you do.’

  We started to eat and were only halfway through when Danny appeared.

  ‘You started without me,’ he said, sliding into the booth beside me.

  ‘Order what you want,’ I said. ‘It’s on the Sands.’

  ‘I won’t take advantage,’ he promised, and ordered the same thing I had.

  ‘Now what brings you back to Vegas?’ he asked. ‘I haven’t found out who put that contract out on you yet.’

  ‘Well, they found us in LA,’ I said. ‘They killed Kenny Boyd.’

  ‘Boyd was OK,’ Danny said. ‘I’m sorry to hear he’s dead. But why kill him?’

  ‘I think they were sendin’ me a message.’

  ‘My guess is you received it loud and clear,’ Danny said. ‘What about Judy Garland?’

  ‘She’s here,’ I said. ‘We brought her back with us and put her in a suite.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘Because we haven’t solved her problem yet.’

  ‘And what is her problem, specifically?’

  Up to now we’d only told Danny about my troubles, so I filled him in on Judy’s.

  ‘And you don’t think Jacks’ death and the death of his girlfriend are a message to you?’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘For one thing, Jacks was probably killed even before we got to LA.’

  ‘And you never did call the police and report it anonymously?’

  Sheepishly, I said, ‘We never got around to it.’

  ‘Well, you might as well do it from here,’ he said, meaning Vegas rather than the Sands, specifically. ‘Let the cops get involved. Maybe they’ll find out something.’

  ‘Maybe they will,’ I said. ‘We did tell them that we were comin’ back here.’

  ‘I’ll bet they call the Vegas cops to check up on you,’ he said. ‘You know what that means.’

  ‘Hargrove will get involved.’

  Danny nodded as the waitress set his platter down in front of him. ‘A red flag goes up for him every time your name is mentioned.’

  ‘Yeah,’ I said, picking up a French fry, ‘I’m sure he’ll show his ugly face soon enough.’ I popped the fry in my mouth, then reached into my pocket. I came out with the envelope Boyd had left for us. ‘I have another favor to ask.’

  ‘Shoot.’

  I passed him the envelope.

  ‘Boyd was workin’ on findin’ out who owned the house where Jacks was killed. This was what he had so far, until—’

  ‘Somebody killed him,’ Danny said, accepting the envelope. ‘I’ll see what I can do. I’ll put Penny to work.’

  ‘Remember what you just said,’ I replied. ‘Somebody killed him.’

  ‘I’ll put her to work on the contract,’ he said, ‘and I’ll work on this. What about Entratter?’

  I swallowed a mouthful of hamburger before answering. ‘What about him?’

  ‘Is he tryin’ to help find out who put the contract out on you?’

  ‘I haven’t asked him.’

  ‘Doesn’t mean he’s not tryin’.’

  ‘I’ll ask,’ I said. ‘It might be time to ask the hard questions.’

  ‘Momo?’ Jerry asked.

  ‘Momo,’ I said.

  ‘I’ve got a question,’ Danny said.

  ‘What?’

  ‘What if it turns out to be Momo Giancana who’s responsible for all this shit? And if it is him, then it came from the top.’

  ‘If Mr Giancana put the contract out,’ Jerry said, ‘then Mr G. is as good as dead.’

  ‘Not if we have anythin’ to say about it, right, Big Guy?’ Danny asked.

  ‘Right,’ Jerry said, but he didn’t seem all that sure about it.

  FIFTY-EIGHT

  After we ate, Danny took off to put Penny to work on the contract while he followed up Boyd’s work on the house in LA. Finding out who owned that place was going to go a long way toward telling us who was behind the whole mess. Judy’s mess, anyway. My mess was still up in the air.

  I made the call I should’ve made days ago, to the LA police, reporting a disturbance at the Laurel Canyon house.

  ‘OK, that’s done. I have to talk to Jack again,’ I said, after hanging up.

  ‘About Mr Giancana?’ Jerry asked.

  ‘Among other things,’ I answered, ‘like makin’ sure you still have a room.’

  ‘Thanks, Mr G. If I do have one, I think I’d like to go to it. I’ll get our bags out of the car.�
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  ‘Good idea,’ I said. ‘Just put mine in your room for now. I’ll take it home later.’

  ‘You ain’t goin’ nowhere near your house, Mr G.,’ he said. ‘At least, not without me.’

  ‘OK,’ I said. ‘We’ll talk about it later. Let me get you situated.’

  I picked up the phone and called the front desk, got Jerry a suite.

  ‘They’ll send somebody up with your key.’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘Then you might as well go up,’ I said. ‘I’ll be OK as long as I stay inside. I don’t think anybody’s gonna try for me here.’

  ‘Let’s hope not.’

  As Jerry left, I picked up the phone again and dialed the Cal-Neva in Tahoe.

  ‘Mr Sinatra is not in his room,’ the desk clerk said.

  ‘Who is this?’

  ‘Henry, sir.’

  ‘Henry, this is Eddie G., from the Sands.’

  ‘Oh, yes, sir.’

  ‘Track Mr Sinatra down and get him on the phone to me as quick as you can,’ I said. ‘I’ll be standin’ by in the Garden Café.’

  ‘I’ll do what I can, sir.’

  ‘Do more than that, Henry – much more.’

  As I hung up, the waitress came by.

  ‘Anything else, Mr Gianelli?’

  ‘Coffee,’ I said, ‘although I need somethin’ stronger.’

  ‘I can get you something to spice it up,’ she offered.

  I looked at her, couldn’t dredge up her name, so she must have been fairly new.

  ‘Lexi,’ she said, smiling prettily, ‘my name is Lexi.’

  ‘Well, Lexi, thanks for the offer, but for now coffee will have to do.’

  ‘Yes, sir.’

  I kept my hand on the phone, willing it to ring. If Frank would come back to Vegas and spend some time with Judy, it would free me and Jerry up for other things.

  By the time Lexi brought me a fresh pot of coffee, the phone had still not rung. I was trying to decide who else to call – who needed to be called – when it finally rang. As ready as I was to pick it up, my first reaction was to pull my hand away as if it was hot. Feeling foolish, I answered it.

  ‘Eddie?’

  ‘Hey, Frank. I’m glad they found you.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘The desk clerk at the Cal-Neva. I told him—’

  ‘I’m not at the Cal-Neva, Eddie. I’m here, in the lobby. You still in the Garden Cafe?’

  ‘I’m here.’

  ‘Order me a cup.’

  ‘You got it.’

  Lexi had another pot on the table by the time Frank got there.

  ‘Hoya, doll,’ he said, and she giggled and went off. ‘Eddie.’

  ‘Frank. What are you doing here?’

  ‘Jack called me, and I got a chopper. My feet are still vibrating.’ He sipped his coffee. ‘He said you had Judy with you. What’s up?’

  ‘Quite a bit, actually,’ I said. ‘It all started …’

  FIFTY-NINE

  ‘First of all,’ Frank said, when I’d finished, ‘why didn’t you tell me about this contract?’

  ‘It was my problem, Frank. And I didn’t want you to think I couldn’t help Judy.’

  ‘The point is,’ Frank said, ‘I could’ve helped you.’

  ‘Well, I thought I’d have more time to find out who’s behind it if I went to LA,’ I said. ‘Guess that was stupid. It didn’t take them long to find me there.’

  ‘I’m sorry about Greg,’ Frank said. ‘I’ll check in on him, see how he’s doing.’

  ‘Is he a friend?’

  He shrugged. ‘Just a driver I use sometimes when I’m in LA. So, where’s Judy?’

  ‘Jack put her in a suite.’

  ‘Is Jack trying to find out about this contract?’

  ‘I didn’t ask him to,’ I said. ‘I’ve got Danny workin’ on it.’

  ‘I can ask around.’

  ‘I was thinkin’ …’ I said, and then stopped.

  ‘About what?’

  ‘Not what,’ I said. ‘Who. Momo.’

  Frank sat back. ‘You think Momo would put a contract out on you? Why?’

  ‘I don’t know why,’ I said, ‘but does an open contract go out without him knowin’ about it?’

  ‘It shouldn’t.’

  ‘That’s what I’m thinkin’.’

  ‘You want me to ask him?’

  ‘It might be better if I did,’ I said.

  ‘If you do it, you better do it in person.’

  ‘That means goin’ to Chicago.’

  ‘I’ll stay here and look after Judy, if that’s what you want me to do,’ he said. ‘Take Jerry with you.’

  ‘Definitely,’ I said. ‘I don’t think he’d let me go to the corner without him.’

  ‘I mean,’ Frank said, ‘Momo kind of likes him.’

  ‘Oh.’

  ‘I’ll fill Dino in,’ Frank said. ‘He might have some thoughts.’

  ‘OK,’ I said, ‘thanks.’

  ‘You got any idea?’ he asked. ‘I mean, aside from Giancana?’

  ‘Not really. Unless …

  ‘Unless who?’

  ‘Johnny Roselli?’ I said.

  ‘That thing with Elvis?’

  I shrugged.

  ‘I don’t think Johnny would do it, but him I can ask straight out.’

  ‘As long as you don’t get jammed up.’

  ‘By Johnny Roselli? Don’t make me laugh. You piss anybody else off, lately?’

  ‘No.’

  ‘Husbands? Boyfriends?’

  ‘Nope.’

  He hesitated a moment, then asked, ‘Cops?’

  ‘The only cop who hates me that much is Hargrove,’ I said, ‘and he’d never do it that way. If he wanted me dead, he’d do it himself … and I don’t think he hates me all that much – yet.’

  ‘All right,’ Frank said, ‘then I’ll go and see Judy. You go and see Momo. You want my plane?’

  ‘Yeah,’ I said, ‘I’d rather do that than fly commercial. I’d be too big a target that way.’

  ‘I’ll have it waiting whenever you’re ready for it.’

  ‘I’ll have to check with Jack, first.’

  ‘Sure,’ Frank said, ‘he’s your boss.’

  We got up and left together, leaving a large tip for Lexi.

  ‘Eddie,’ Frank said, as we walked to the elevator, ‘trouble.’

  I looked across the lobby and saw Detective Hargrove, his partner and two uniformed policemen walking purposefully toward me.

  ‘Oh, yeah,’ I said.

  ‘Want me to stay?’ Frank asked.

  ‘No,’ I said, ‘go to Judy’s room. I’ll deal with Hargrove. You might let Jack know, though, that I might need springin’.’

  ‘I’ll call him from Judy’s suite.’

  ‘Thanks.’

  The elevator doors were closing on Frank when the cops reached me.

  ‘Well, well,’ Hargrove said, ‘look who’s still in one piece.’

  ‘I guess you must’ve heard from the LA cops already, huh?’

  ‘You should come with us for a little talk, Eddie,’ he said. ‘Whataya say?’

  ‘Lead on.’

  ‘Damn,’ Hargrove said, ‘and here I was hopin’ you’d resist.’

  SIXTY

  They let me cool my heels for an hour or so in an interrogation room. That was OK with me; it gave me time to collect my thoughts.

  When the door opened, Hargrove entered without his new partner, Holliday.

  ‘Thought you’d at least bring me some coffee,’ I complained.

  ‘Sorry,’ Hargrove said, ‘we’re not in the habit of supplying creature comforts.’ He sat across from me and folded his arms.

  ‘That’s OK,’ I said, sitting back. ‘I don’t expect to be here very long.’

  ‘That’s not up to you.’

  ‘Well,’ I said, ‘I assume I’m not under arrest.’

  ‘What makes you say that?’

  I spread my hands. ‘No cuffs.’<
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  ‘Well,’ Hargrove said, ‘actually, you’re just here for a little talk. Shouldn’t take long at all.’

  ‘Talk about what?’

  ‘Murder.’

  ‘I haven’t even been in town for the past few days, and you want to pin a murder on me?’

  ‘I’m talking about murder in LA.’

  ‘Isn’t that the job of the LA police?’

  He grinned. ‘Well, they gave me a call and asked me some questions – about you.’

  ‘That must have made you happy,’ I replied. ‘What terrible things did you tell them about me?’

  ‘I told Detective Franklin that you were a troublemaker,’ he said. ‘I told him anythin’ bad that might be happenin’ in LA while you were there was probably your fault.’

  ‘You give me a lot of credit.’

  ‘But rather than you killing somebody,’ he went on, ‘he told me somebody was tryin’ to kill you. Seems somebody’s put out an open contract on you.’

  ‘Now that,’ I said, ‘must’ve made you laugh.’

  ‘Actually,’ he said, ‘I’m still laughin’. But I don’t want any innocent people gettin’ killed while they’re tryin’ to kill you – like with a bomb.’

  ‘So … what? You want me to leave town?’

  ‘I want you to give me some idea who you think hates you enough to put a contract out,’ Hargrove said. ‘Maybe I can find them.’

  ‘You’re kiddin’, right?’

  ‘Why would I be kiddin’?’

  ‘You hate me,’ I said. ‘You’d love it if somebody blew me up. Why would you go to any trouble to find out who’s got it in for me?’

  ‘I’d blow you up myself if I could figure out a way to get away with it,’ he said, ‘but I’d make sure no innocents got killed in the process. Now,’ he leaned forward, ‘who’s on your list?’

  ‘Well,’ I said, ‘you were at the top.’

  ‘Who else?’

  I thought a moment. ‘Nope, that’s it. Only you. And you’re sayin’ you didn’t do it?’

  ‘Not a chance.’

  I shrugged. ‘Then I’m stumped.’

  ‘Come on, Eddie,’ he said, ‘you work for the mob. You’ve got to have some idea who’d put this kind of contract out on you.’

  ‘I’m still tryin’ to figure it out.’

  ‘You and that big idiot from Brooklyn?’

  I nodded. ‘Me and Jerry.’