Dead Man's Hand (10 page)

“
Fine. Here
’
s your Winston Coburn
III
business card
, e
ngraved, embossed
and
on special
paper.
”

He
studied the card
. It was impressive
and
not something Pitt would have thought of or paid for.
What
the hell am I
walking into?
And who else i
s in
on
it? Grant
?
“
Anything else
?
”

“
In case there
’
s a problem with your listed appointment, you should know that Dixie called the front desk yesterday afternoon as your secretary.
She said Grant was very interested in meeting you on your brief trip here
and
he
’
s agreed to your request for an ea
rly
-
morning appointment.
”

“
How early?
”

“
Nine thirty
.
The front desk isn
’
t going to disturb a man like Grant to confirm an appointment until you show up. Then they
’
ll call him to confirm. If he doesn
’
t answer,
they
’
ll assume
he stepped out for a minute because he
’
s
intrigued by this unexpected opportunity to t
alk business with Mr. Coburn.
”

Calvin chewed on this information for a moment.
“
Why are you giving me so many details? You
’
ve never done that
with any jobs before.
”

“
This is the
big
one,
”
Pitt said
.
“
Whatever you have to do
to get in to that office, do it. Make sure you
’
re there
by
nine thirty
. Wait for his return if you have to. If you don
’
t make this meeting, I don
’
t know how long it
’
ll be before he
’
s ready to try again.
”
Pitt
stared at him.
“
You want this to be your last job
?
Then get it done right the first time. Once you get the money, come straight back here. I
’
ll give you the $30,000 balance on the spot
and
it
’
s
adios, a
migo
.
”

Cal
vin
gave a nod.
Adios
,
amigo
sounded good to him.

He turned his thoughts to
Grant
.
The man
was often in the local papers and
he
knew he
’
d recognize
him
anywhere.
“
Give me the address
.
”

While driving to Grant
’
s office,
Calvin
tried to still the uneasy thoughts that flickered through his mind.
He had known Pitt for three years and
t
he
man
wasn
’
t
acting normal
.
He
was nervous about something
.
And that didn
’
t sit well with Calvin.

Something
’
s
up
, or maybe it
’
s the size of the payoff
.

Calvin didn
’
t buy into Pitt
’
s story about
Grant owing him $200,000
. Not completely.
Most casino owners in Vegas hired men like Pitt to do
the dirty work and keep quiet
,
but
Grant hiring Pitt for various
illegal
jobs was inconsistent with the character and reputation of the casino owner. Through the decades that Grant had run
t
he Greek with his father
and
in the last fifteen years with his son, he
’
d had
a good reputation as a somewhat
honest man.
To Calvin, Grant was a man who wouldn
’
t get near such jobs.

So why does Pitt
want me to see Grant?

If there was something
going on here—
and
Calvin was sure there was—
he was going to have to improvise and be careful too. His instincts had never failed him before.
Calvin wanted to talk to Grant himself and find out what was really going on.

With most jobs, h
e
only knew his target by name.
It was easier if he didn
’
t know
the person
. This time he had no
personal
connection, but almost too much information.

He
remembered when the rich had welcomed him
into their group as a promising
,
clean-cut athlete bound for glory.
Now
he
was just an outsider looking in. Ju
st another thug.

The upscale building was located in
downtown Las Vegas, the city
’
s central business district. It was originally the town site and gambling district located in the center of Las Vegas Valley, but
it
ha
d
taken a backseat to the Strip,
which was
located just south.

When he arrived at
the
expensive office co
mplex
, he ignored the valet parking and parked on the street. He put on
the hat and
sunglasses
, stepped from the car and donned the
coat.

Surveying
the
crowded sidewalk, he
zigzagged through pedestrians hurrying to work. He
strode through the rotating door
into
a bustling
lobby, where men and women in tailored suits hustled to meetings
.

It was
9:12
a.m
.
He was a bit early.

Oh well. B
etter to be early than late.

He entered the building and
approached the counter
,
where a short, stocky security guard
held
a clipboard.

“
Winston Coburn III to see Douglas Grant.
”
Calvin handed his business card to
the
guard.

The guard
scanned
the clipboard
.
“
Yes, Mr. Coburn
.
I have you down for a
nine-thirty
appointment
.
I
’
ll notify
Mr. Grant t
hat
you
’
re here and see if it
’
s
okay
to send you
up.
”

“
No problem.
”

The guard called Grant
’
s office.
He listened for a minute, then hung
up.
“
Mr. Grant isn
’
t
in his office
.
He probably
stepped out for a few minutes
. Y
ou
are
a bit
early. Would you mind waiting until I
’
m able to reach him?
”

Calvin
’
s smile disappe
ared
. He remembered his boss
’
s words.

“
Listen
,
uh
…
”
h
e read the man
’
s name tag,
“
Gus.
Yes, I mind waiting. Grant knows that I
’
m flying back to Atlantic City this afternoon
,
which is why we made an early appointment. I don
’
t care if he
’
s there now or not. I
’
ll wait for him in his office, but absolute
ly not in this miserable lobby.
”

“
But Mr. Coburn,
”
the man stuttered,
looking at his partner.
“
Do you think Mr. Grant would mind?
”

The partner shook his head.
“
Nah, he
’
s
okayed
it before, plus he made the appointment so he is expecting him.
”

Gus still looked uncertain when Calvin jumped in.
“
If you don
’
t get me to an elevator in the next thirty seconds, I
’
m leaving. And when Grant calls to ask why I miss
ed
such an important meeting, I
’
ll tell him that
Gus
wouldn
’
t let me go up.
”

“
Fred,
”
Gus
called to another guard w
ho
’
d just joined him
. He explained the issue to
the man.

“
Right this way, Mr. Coburn
.
”

They
took Calvin through the metal detector and used the manual detector to scan his bo
dy
as fast as they could
,
without a word
.
He was probably the only collector in Vegas who had never carried a weapon.

T
hey
escorted him
to the nearest open elevator.

“
Please don
’
t say anything about the delay
to Mr. Grant
,
”
Fred
mumbled
.
“
We could lose our jobs.
”

“
I
’
ll think about it.
”
Calvin stepped into the elevator.
“
Penthouse
,
”
he said to the elevator operator.
“
Doug Grant
’
s office.
”

He
was pleased with how he
’
d gotten in. He might be only a bill collector
,
but he knew how to act with the arrogance of the very
wealthy
.

Ace was parked in a modest rental car. He
’
d been waiting for half an hour in a distant corner of the parking lot where no one would recognize him, but where he could see everyone leaving or entering the building.

He
’
d called Pitt twenty minutes before and had confirmed that Watters was on his way and that he
’
d agreed to wear the hat, sunglasses and coat before he went into the lobby.

Ace had spotted Watters as soon as he walked down the sidewalk to the front entrance
and
entered the building. He was impossible to miss and would not be forgotten.

Killing Grant in his office or transporting him there after his death would have been too risky and
probably
impossible with the state of the art security system in the complex. Watters was the perfect fall guy, but Ace had to link Watters and Grant somehow and that was the challenge. A guy like Grant wouldn
’
t be caught a hundred yards from Watters. This was the only way Ace could see connecting Watters and Grant and it could also potentially implicate Pitt. There was no other way to associate Watters with Grant and still lead the cops to connect the dots.