Dead Man's Hand (17 page)

“
Lead? Dale, he
’
s our killer.
”

Dale smiled at Jimmy.
“
Now who
’
s jumping to conclusions?
”

Chapter 1
4

Late in the evening, Calvin took his car downtown for a bite to eat. He hadn
’
t felt this good, this free, in a long time. The prospect of starting a new life had put a jump in his stride. He parked at the curb, dropped coins in the meter
and
crossed the street to where a blind African
American street vendor sat on a stool.

“
Hey, Jarvis!
”

The man smiled around his toothpick.
“
Hey, Calvin, how
’
s my football star?
”

“
Not shining
,
”
he
replied with a grin.

“
Calvin, you been sayin
’
that same thing for the past two years. Somethin
’
good must be gonna happen to
you
soon.
”

“
Actually, Jarvis, my old friend. Things are starting to look up.
”

Jarvis took out the toothpick from pearly white teeth.
“
That
’
s what I like to hear. You
’
re a good friend, Calvin.
”

“
You
’
re easy to talk to, Jarvis
,
and
always the first with rational advice. You also know a lot of people and came through for me when I needed you. What
’
s with the new facial hair?
”

The man rubbed the tuft of hair under his lower lip and above his chin.
“
Are you mocking my soul patch?
”

Calvin chuckled.
“
I
’
ll miss you, Jarvis.
”

“
You leavin
’
us, Calvin?
”

“
That
’
s the plan.
”

“
Well
,
good luck, my friend.
”

Calvin grabbed a USA Today
and
tucked i
t under his arm. He pulled
two singles from his pocket and
stuff
ed them
inside the blind man
’
s pocket.
“
Keep the change, old man.
”

“
Much obliged.
”

He
entered Ed
’
s Diner.

“
Hey, Calvin!
”
The cook and owner nodded t
o Calvin
from the back.

“
Evenin
’
, Ed.
”

He
ordered a cheeseburger with the works.
S
kipp
ing
the front page
of the paper
,
he
went straight to the sports section. He sipped at his coffee, enjoying the quiet.

He
saw a picture of Toby Jenkins, his former roommate at college, on the front sports page.
Jenkins had been Calvin
’
s USC teammate and his backup. The only time Jenkins had seen the field was when the Trojans had a big lead and wanted to rest Calvin.
Jenkins, half the player that Calvin had been, had just signed a three-year contract for tw
enty-four million.

If Calvin ha
d done wh
at was best for his team, he
would have been the one to sign that contract.

He was thumbing through the rest of the section when he heard the news on the TV.
He glanced up.
“
Can you turn that up, Doris?
”

He
approached the counter.

The
newscaster
did a stand
-
up on the edge of a wooded area.
“
Doug Grant, owner and operator of
t
he Greek Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, was brutally killed and left for dead in the backwoods of Las Vegas late last night. Local police will not offer any details now
and
say this is an ongoing investigati
on
they cannot compromise.
”

Next came a short clip of the
m
ayor, praising Grant as a model citizen and pledging that the killer w
ould
be brought to justice.

Calvin returned to his booth in a trance.
Maybe the police were
already at his apartment. He
had opened the doors, used the phone
and
searched the papers on Grant
’
s desk. His prints were all over the office. He
’
d
be the primary suspect—tailor-made as a violent killer
and
an African
American one to boot.

The waitress dropped his meal in front of him.

“
I
’
ve
lost my appetite, Doris.
”

The waitress laughed.
“
Yeah
,
right.
Calvin Watters will not inhale his food in three minutes.
”

“
Just bring me the bill, please
.
”

Her
smile disappeared
.
“
What
’
s wrong
? Are you okay?
”

He dropped a twenty
-
dollar bill on the table and walked out like a zombie.

The sky had darkened.
He
pulled the hood over his head, jammed his hands into his pockets
and
hurried
toward
his car. He
’
d taken only ten steps when he was stopped by a voice at his back.

“
Hey, Calvin, wait up.
”

He
saw
Ed jogging down the sidewalk
toward
him.

“
What
’
s up?
”
Calvin asked.

Ed handed him a
twenty.
“
This one
’
s on the house.
”

A freebie from Ed wasn
’
t rare
. I
t was inconceivable.
“
What gives, Ed?
”

Ed took
him
by the arm and led him around the corner to an open space between two buildings.
Glancing around,
he whispered,
“
Listen, I know your story and I think you
’
re a good guy. So I have to tell you this.
”

Calvin was
silent. Ed did not say much and
he never wasted words.

“
I have a friend who works down at the police station. He overheard two homicide detectives talking and your name came up. You know that casino owner who was murdered?
”

Calvin nodded and said nothing.

“
Your fingerprints were found at his office.
”

“
Hey…
”
His m
outh went dry.
“
I didn
’
t kill anyone!
”

Ed nodded.
“
But they know you were there. This is where, in the movies, the pal says
,
‘
Go to the cops. T
hat
’
s your best choice.
’
But I know the Vegas cops. So all I can say is that I
’
ll help you if I can.
”

“
Thanks
.
”

The restaurant owner left
him
standing in the alley alone.

Things had heated up.
He
’
d gone from free to hunted in ten minutes
.
He was now on the run, but
he
didn
’
t know in which direction and he hadn
’
t anticipated or prepared for it at all
.

Book Two: The House Always Wins

Chapter 1
5

During
the car ride to Grant
’
s private office, Dale read Watters
’
bio.

His
mother was deceased, his father unknown and his brother was a detective with the LAPD. Now that was interesting. Dale didn
’
t automatically love every cop family, but it showed the Watters brothers were not both thugs.

There was little about
his
past before college, when he
’
d been clean. Since leaving college,
he
’
d
spent some local jail time before
P
itt discovered him. That was over three years ago. Since that time,
he
’
d
been clean as a whistle, on paper anyway.

Jimmy knew from the street that Calvin was considered terrifying. But he couldn
’
t be dumb to have stayed so low
profile.

Dale looked at his partner.
“
Big fucker isn
’
t he?
”

Mark McAllister was waiting on the side of the road when the detectives pulled up.

Dale turned to Jimmy.
“
T
his guy
?
He
’
s the
‘
Vegas safe cracker
’
?
He looks more like an aging hippie.
What
’
s his story?
”

“
The department found him on the streets.
He was just a kid
in his twenties who had become
a
successful criminal
and
was looking at hard time
. The cops spent so much time tracking him, they made him an offer.
Go to prison, or join the team. McAllister took the deal. He
is
one of the best at what he does.
”

McAllister had a bald dome but a long ponytail. He jumped into the patrol car and seemed spaced out, a little bored.

The office was
already unlocked
and had been stripped clean
,
so they
showed McAllist
er where the safe was hidden
.
I
t took him only seconds to get inside.

On t
op of a stack of papers,
banded togethe
r and stacked in a pyramid, was
$100,000
in cash. Dale removed the money along with a sheaf of papers
and
spread the papers across Grant
’
s empty desktop.

“
Make sure you mark that money before we get into trouble,
”
Jimmy warned.

“
You do it. I hate all this paperwork.
”

Jimmy took the money and started filling out the papers.

Dale again found it hard to believe the amount of money that Grant had been worth. He lived a Spartan life. If the casino owner had owed Pitt funds, he would not be someone who had trouble paying the debt. All his records were
in order.

“
Hey, Jimmy.
”
Dale looked up from the small pile of documents in the safe.
“
Have you heard of Nick Trump?
”

“
The ex-cop?
”
Jimmy paused.
“
Not liked very well in the department. Had a reputation of being a rat. Quit the force a while back. I heard he opened a private investigation operation across town. Another ambulance chaser.
That same guy?
Why?
”

“
A receipt from Nick Trump and Associates. What would Grant need a PI for?
”

He
put the receipt to the side and continued sorting through the papers.

“
This is interesting,
”
Jimmy said, holding up a photocopied piece of paper.
“
The prenup.
”

They weren
’
t lawyers, but b
oth detectives got the gist. Linda had to be married to Grant for the real payoff.

The will was next.

“
Look at the date,
”
Jimmy said.
“
That was right after Grant
’
s marriage to Linda.
”

Now they knew that Linda would get a good share there—but that Shawn also had a reason to benefit.

“
You think he killed his own father?
”
Jimmy asked.

“
As I said, he
has the motive. I
’
m not counting anyone out.
”

He
opened his cell
phone and placed an urgent call.
“
H
ey
,
Duncan, it
’
s Dale. Have you talked to Grant
’
s son and daughter yet?
”

“
Not yet.
”

“
Good. Listen…
”
Dale asked
them
to see what Shawn knew about the will and those arrangements—judge his reaction. Then he hung up.

Nothing else
held their interest,
so they took the money and the documents with them
and
let themselves out.

They
got into the car. When Jimmy was seated, Dale said,
“
Tomorrow morning, early as possible, we
’
ve got to go to the bank and open that safe deposit box.
”

“
I
’
ll call Tina to set it up.
”

“
No, Jimmy. By the book. We
’
ll have to get one more warrant today. We are really pressing—but the
m
ayor will help us out if need be, on the quiet.
”