CASINO SHUFFLE (40 page)

“How about I have the Chief Fire Marshall disengage the magnets so the doors move?”

Antonio said, “That would require me picking up the gun, so that
Brandon
is unable to retrieve it.”

There was much shouting of profanities and echoed banging from
Brandon
’s side of the door.

“Okay,” said Mark.
 
“Pick up the gun.”

Antonio hefted the weapon.
 
“It’s a striking piece of craftsmanship.”

“Do you know how to eject the magazine?”

“I believe so.
 
Ah, yes I do.”

“Of course you do.”

“And I have checked the chamber for a bullet.
 
The gun is safe.”

“Are you sure you aren’t a retired Navy Seal?
 
A spy?
 
Something?”

“You may disengage the magnets.”

“I’m on it.”

The doors swung outward as the magnets were disengaged.
 

Brandon
immediately shoved his way through with a resounding crash and charged towards Antonio.
 
“Who the
fuck
do you think – ”

Mark was suddenly by his side and pressing the end of a stun gun baton against
Brandon
’s chest.
 
An electronic sparking noise emitted,
Brandon
’s body produced a spasm in mid-step, and he crumbled to the ground.

Antonio arched an eyebrow at the short baton.
 
“Has the Security Department become armed and dangerous?”

Mark shrugged.
 
“Got it on Amazon.
 
Came with a free holster.
 
I’ve been dying to try it out.”

Brandon
moaned, a puddle of drool forming on the carpet.

Down the hall Max opened the door to his suite.
 
He yelled loudly, “I quit!”

Chapter
Thirty-Four

They were at the dining room table in the Sachem Suite.
 
Across from Antonio and Mark sat Marty Kline, sweaty and moaning worriedly, and
Brandon
, sweating and moaning painfully.

Antonio placed a packet of burn salve on the table.
 
“This will help with the inflamed area where the baton prongs came into contact with your skin.”

Brandon
sneered at him.

Marty eyed the nearby wet bar before asking Mark, “Is he going to go to jail?”

Mark reached out and got a second apple fritter from the platter on the table.
 
“Anybody else want one of these?
 
Good stuff.”
 
He shrugged and took a large bite.
 
Flakes of sugar glazing sprinkled the table as he spoke.
 
“What we got is a man carrying a weapon with no license.
 
Also he had it in a public area, not a residence.
 
Also he was threatening to shoot a guy.
 
Two guys, actually.”
 
Mark wiped his mouth with his jacket sleeve.
 
“Oh, and he woulda attacked Antonio here if I hadn’t electrocuted him.”

Brandon
twitched in his seat.

Marty ran a hand through his hair.
 
“Look, is it too early to have a drink?”

“Have an apple fritter,” said Mark.
 
“So what I’m thinking is we have enough to have
Brandon
arrested and arraigned.
 
He might be released on bail, but then again, they might hold him since he’s not local.
 
Might be good press considering his bad boy image.”

“My concern,” said Antonio, “is that the presence of
Shannon
may be revealed in the findings.
 
An explanation would have to be provided as to why
Brandon
was waving a gun at another person’s door.
 
This explanation would include his infidelity with a member of his fan club…”

“You can’t prove that,” said Marty.

“Actually we have a picture,” said Mark.
 
“From Ang Wang’s camera.”

“Bullshit,” said
Brandon
.

Antonio removed a digital camera from his jacket pocket and placed it squarely on the table.

Brandon
and Marty both reached for it at the same time.

Antonio placed his hand over the camera.
 
“I feel it’s necessary to inform you that the BranFan, as it were, shown in this picture is seventeen years old.
 
Her birthdate has been confirmed by our Security Department.”

Brandon
slapped the table with his hand.
 
“She showed me her ID!
 
Her eighteenth birthday was that
same fuckin night
so you can kiss my ass.”
 
He grabbed his crotch below the level of the table and said, “She got a helluva present.”

Antonio asked, “Are you aware of what time she was born, by any chance?”

“I just told you dumbass – last night was her birthday.”

Mark was picking his teeth with a wooden toothpick.
 
“She was born at 11:57pm on that date eighteen years ago.
 
Problem is you did the nasty with her sometime between 10:25pm and 11:40pm.
 
We got the time stamps on our surveillance equipment.”

Brandon
’s mouth hung open.
 
“I don’t get it.
 
What are they talkin about Uncle Marty?”

Marty sighed.
 
“They’re saying that even though it was her birth
date,
she wasn’t legally eighteen years old until 11:57pm that night.
 
So she was still seventeen when you fucked her.”

Antonio said, “If you view the photographic evidence on Mr. Wang’s camera, you are legally obliged to confess as much in a court of law.
 
Of course, if you do not see it, and the evidence is erased, your only concern is the word of the young lady.”
 
Antonio removed his hand from the camera.

Brandon
said, “She’s got no complaints.”

“Shut-up,
Brandon
, you idiot.”
 
Marty stared at the camera for a moment, and then stood up and walked over to the wet bar.
 
As he built himself a tall scotch on the rocks, he said, “How do we make this go away?”

Antonio crossed his legs at the knee.
 
“
Brandon
plays his concert tonight at Twilight
gratis.
 
In exchange for this, we do not press charges, and we wipe the memory card from this camera clean.”

Brandon
said, “What the hell is grotus?”

“
Gratis
means free.
 
We don’t get paid.”
 
He took a slug of scotch.
 
“Sixty grand.
 
That’s a lot of hush money, fellas.”

Mark snapped his toothpick in half and dropped it on his plate.
 
“What are your fines and legal fees going to be when we press charges for the weapon, the threats of violence, and inform little miss BranFan’s parents?
 
They might jump at the chance to get some compensation for having a slutty daughter.
 
Also not to mention the shows you’ll have to cancel because the stud over here is in and out of court or sitting in a holding cell somewhere.”

Marty drained his drink, ice clanking.
 
“Okay, it’s a deal.”

Brandon
grabbed the digital camera.
 
“Who gives a shit?
 
Rappers get off all the time, nobody cares.”
 
He thumbed the buttons angrily.
 
“There ain’t even a single picture on this thing – the camera is busted.”

Marty spun around so fast ice avalanched from his glass.
 
“You’re kidding me…”

Antonio reached into his jacket pocket and produced a folded sheet of paper.
 
He placed it on the table.
 
“We have a printed version for your review.
 
The digital copy is in a safe place.”

Brandon
reached for it but Marty stepped over and snatched the paper.
 
He unfolded it warily and his face contorted and reddened.
  
He shoved it into an inside pocket of his jacket.
 
“I’ll want your agreement in writing.”

Mark went to work on his BlackBerry.
 
“I’ll have our legal department work up a draft right now.
 
Our entertainment coordinator will have it ready for you to sign before the show.”

“We will require that signature, witnessed and notarized by one of our administrative assistants, before we allow the show to proceed.”
 
Antonio rose from his seat.
 
“Our security team will return to escort you both to the venue this evening.”

Mark stood up and dusted crumbs off his pants.
 
“You can keep the camera,
gratis.
”

As they walked down the Villa hallway Mark chuckled.
 
“I’m surprised they called our bluff on the camera.
 
I gotta remember to thank Chewie for that picture.”

“Yes,” said Antonio.
 
“It was a stroke of genius to see if any BranFans had visited Uncle Marty’s suite that evening.
 
The picture of the seventeen year old girl entering his room with him in full view wearing only a slightly crooked smile was the game winning move.”

“And you knowing that Uncle Marty would be more easily blackmailed than
Brandon
was a tribute to your devious nature.”

“I prefer stratagem over blackmail, and cunning over devious.”

“You would.
 
Me, I like them other words.”

Antonio’s BlackBerry buzzed.
 
“Hello, this is Antonio.”

“I’m driving Trixie into the valet port right now,” said the limousine driver.
 
“You on your way?”

“I’m meeting Max at his suite and we will be there in moments.”
 
He ended the call.
 
“Want to come see Trixie?”

“Send her my love,” said Mark.
 
“I gotta go buy the girl in legal some flowers.
 
She’s saved our butts twice this weekend, all working from home.”

“Please put them on my account in the gift shop,” said Antonio.
 
“But no more Stradivarius Churchill cigars.”
 
He pondered for a moment and then said, “Mark, would you mind purchasing one more item for me and having it delivered to the hospital?”

“Sure, I love to shop with your money.”

Antonio gave him instructions as to what he wanted purchased and its delivery, then he made a phone call outside Max Allen’s corner Villa before knocking on the door.