Wyatt - 03 - Death Deal (13 page)

Nurse let outrage carry him through
the next few minutes in the bathroom. He came out feeling better physically,
bladder eased, the sleep washed from his face, but then it hit him that he was
in the middle of something nasty.

If the girl was working solo, shed
struck luckybut how did he explain it to Lovell?

If the girl knew he had the stuff,
then she was working for the people Lovell sold to, meaning Lovell had made
himself some enemies.

Nurse preferred to go with this
idea. It would take the heat off him for a while, distract Lovell from the key
issuethat he, Nurse, had been careless and let someone pinch seventy-five
thousand dollars worth of heroin.

Or had allowed it to happen. Nurse
went cold, knowing thats how Lovell would see it. Lovell was in the sort of
game where you expect the worst of everyone, where you suspect everyone of
trying to rip you off or inform on you, so when something goes wrong you hit
back and you make it hard and permanent.

Thats how Lovell would read the
facts and it terrified Nurse. He put on his pants. Then he removed them and got
into bed. With the covers to his chin he felt marginally more secure, but it
was all relative: he couldnt stay here forever.

A red light blinked away the seconds
on the bedside clock. Nurse was mesmerised. The numerals climbed to 14:59 and
dead on three oclock the telephone rang.

Nurse went through the
possibilities. Room service, wanting to know if maids could clean now.
Unlikely. Lovell had a permanent arrangement here. This room, 212, wouldnt be
touched until five.

Maybe one of the buyers. Nurse
thought hed heard knocking earlier. Three dealers, itching to get back on the
street and sell to the users, getting twitchy, more and more dangerous as they
saw the weekend slipping away from them.

He could bluff it out. Sorry, youve
got the wrong person, kind of thing. The handset seemed heavy and slick in his
damp hand. Hello?

It was Lovell.

Nurse? What the fuck are you doing?
Ive just had three very pissed-off messages on my answering machine. I thought
you mustve cleared off on me.

Nurses mouth was dryfear, and a
hangover from the drug. He coughed, tried to summon spit from somewhere. Something
went wrong. I

Not on the phone. Stop there, Im
coming up.

And the line went dead. This time
Nurse dressed fully. He put on a tie. It made him feel more in control. When
the knock came he stood near the door but didnt touch it. Yes?

Its me, arsehole. Open the door.

Nurse unlocked the door and it
smacked into his shoulder as Lovell and a second man came into the room. The
second man was small, quick and crouching: in five seconds he had checked the
room, the bathroom, the wardrobe, under the bed. Clean, he said.

Lovell had been watching from the
door, his hand on something in the side pocket of his jacket. Go down and help
the others. You know the drill.

The man nodded and slipped away.
Despite himself, Nurse had to know what was going on. Wheres he going?

You think Id go into a situation
like this without backup and counter surveillance? So what happened? The drug
squad get to you? Someone rip you off?

You could say that.

Lovell crossed the room and the
blows were hard, stunning, the flat of his hands
left, right,
like the
base of a frying pan across Nurses face. Nurse folded, contracting his limbs
protectively, bobbing before the sinewy pilot as if in prayer.

Either you were ripped off or you
werent, Lovell said. Dont muck around with me.

I didnt rip you off, I swear I
didnt.

Lovell was close and dangerous. Well
soon know, wont we? Unexplained wealth, your debt to Bone suddenly squared, Ill
soon know. Now, what the fuck happened? He jerked back. You stink. You look
like shit. What happened?

There was this woman.

Nurse waited for the explosion. It
didnt come. Instead, there was an iciness in Lovell, a glittering patience.

We came back here, Nurse
continued. She made me a drink. Im talking about last night. She made me a
drink he yawned and the next thing I know its half past two in the
afternoon and Ive been ripped off. Wallet, watch, cufflinks

Tell it to the insurance company.
She got the stuff, is that what youre trying to tell me?

Nurse nodded.

Show me.

They went to the wardrobe. Nurse had
upended the briefcase among the mothballs and his carpet slippers. Lovell
picked it up and did what hed done, shook it, put his hand inside it.

Im sorry, Nurse said.

Lovell ignored him. We need to find
her. Tell me about last night. Fucking leave anything out and Ill wipe the
floor with you.

His voice was hoarse with warning.
Hard knots showed at the corners of his jaw. Nurse swallowed and told him:
early floor show, a couple of drinks, dinner alone, a few dollars here and
there on blackjack and two-up, then this woman, Sonia.

Describe her.

Nurse described her.

And thats all?

What do you mean?

Come on, Nurse. Was she alone? Did
she slip anyone the wink? Did anyone see you who can verify your story?
Think,
for Christs sake.

Well, there was this one incident
at the roulette table. Management tried to chuck her out.

Why?

Nurse shrugged. I suppose they
thought she was sus.

But not you, eh? Anybody else could
tell she looked wrong, but you did your thinking through your prick.

Nurse kept his eyes on the floor.
Lovell stood very close to him and the mans long torso seemed redolent of
hard, rangy competence. It was like being back in the schoolyard bumping chests
with some bullyboy.

What are you going to do?

Me? Find her, what do you think? A,
she ripped me off. B, what if she talks?

All the concentration was on the
girl. Nurse began to relax.

That was a mistake. Lovell read it
in Nurses mind and body and stabbed a forefinger under his jaw like a gun
barrel. Not that youre off the hook. Profit and loss, you know what Im talking
about? Youre well and truly in the red.

* * * *

Twenty-one

Jesus
Christ, Lovell, youre stretching the relationship.

Come off it, Rice. You get your
cut.

Yeah, for turning a blind eye, not
for sticking my neck out.

With irritation, Lovell took three
fifties from his wallet and shoved them into Rices suitcoat pocket. The
detective jerked away as though hed been fouled, fished out the notes and
folded them into his wallet.

What if they refuse?

Sweet-talk them. If that doesnt
work, suggest youll wander around frisking the patrons.

Theyve got clout. Theyll laugh in
my face. Id be busted back to uniform duty in fucking Ipswich if I hassled the
patrons.

Lovell was exasperated. Youre the
cop. You know how to get cooperation out of people. Look, just tell them some
flash types from the States have been working a scam in the casinos out here
and you need to see if theyve hit the Monte Carlo yet.

Rice tapped his fingers on the
steering wheel of his unmarked Sigma and thought about it. Lovell was in the
front seat with him. The car was parked in a side street adjacent to the
casino. Three young women flashed by the car on roller blades. They were leggy
and deeply tanned, licking ice-creams. Their bikinis were brightly coloured scraps
of cloth that might as well not have existed, and both men groaned, collapsing
flesh and ice-cream into one serviceable image. Nurse saw them too. He was
waiting outside the car, sitting palely fat and selfconscious on a wood and
cast-iron municipal bench under a young palm tree.

Lovell nudged Rice. Look at him.
What a prick.

Rice looked but it meant nothing to
him. Who is he anyway?

He can ID the woman.

I dont know about this, Lovell.
How do I explain the pair of you to their security people?

You flash your badge, they wont
want to see if weve got badges too. Just say were part of the task force,
whatever it is you bastards play at.

Rice looked hard at Lovell. The
detective was overweight, neckless, fair-skinned, and he wore a prickly,
carroty moustache and metal-frame sunglasses ten years out of date. He shook
his head. You two are the least likely cops Ive ever seen.

Lovell looked out at the soft, fat
banker and then down at his own long frame, his jeans and boots. Lets just
try it, okay? So long as they think its for their own protection and we arent
there to hassle the patrons, they wont think about us.

They got out of the car. Lovell
motioned to Nurse, who wriggled his backside to the front edge of the bench,
placed his hands on his knees, levered himself to his feet. He looked pink and
damp and exhausted. Where are we going?

Youll see.

Saturday, five oclock in the
afternoon. The Monte Carlo operated twenty-four hours a day but Saturday
afternoons and evenings were the most popular times. The three men pushed
through to the main room, Rice flashing his badge a couple of times to force a
path. The air was heavily scented with perfume, tanning oil and aftershave
lotion. The Monte Carlo was small and downmarket. Lovell saw men and women in
shorts and running shoes; one woman wore a halter top, one man a pair of
thongs. There were plenty of potted plants and marble surfaces in the main
gaming room. The carpet was spongy, in shades of stain-concealing red and
brown. And no clocks, no windows to the outside, in this
twenty-four-hours-a-day world.

Rice led them to a set of steps
against a wall at the side of the room. A sign said Private. Up here, he
said.

They came to a mirror-glass
observation platform that ran around all four sides of the big room. A couple
of still, silent men in tuxedos stood looking down at the gambling tables.
Other men watched banks of video monitors. A glass door was set in the wall
next to the monitors. The sign on it said Security Manager.

Rice knocked and went in, showing
his badge. Lovell and Nurse crowded in behind him. Detective Constables White
and Brown, Rice said, waving his hand at them. I wonder if you could help us.

The security manager had the word Security
monogrammed to his shirt. His tie had tiny dice all over it like insects.
Pinned to the tie was a nameplate, Wayland. He stood, frowning at them. Depends.

Weve had word that a ring of scam
artists is in town. They milked a couple of million off some places in Reno and
Las Vegas before they got barred. Now theyre trying it here. We need to look
at your tapes. See if we can spot them.

The security manager looked
appalled. Which ones? We run eight tapes, continuous twenty-four hour loops.
Could take you days.

Weve narrowed it down to early
last night, Lovell said, say, between eight and ten, one of the roulette
tables. He turned to Nurse, who was watching glumly. DC White was here with
his wife last night and thought he recognised one of them. Which table was it,
Danny?

They ushered Nurse to the
mirror-glass wall. He looked down, pointed wordlessly. Table Five, the
security manager said.

He turned away to confer with a man
watching a screen. Lovell dug his forefinger hard into Nurses flank. Brighten
up, for Christs sake. Try to act the part.

Nurse shook himself, breathed in
heavily, tried to smile.

Wayland came back carrying a tape. We
can watch it in my office.

Lovell took the tape from him. Im
afraid this is still a covert operation from a police point, of view. Perhaps
if you could show us how to work the machine and then leave us to do our job?
Wont take long, and if we see anything that concerns the casino, youll be
informed straightaway.

Wayland shrugged. Suit yourself.

When he was gone, they played the
tape. The time was displayed in the top right corner. It read 18:00 at the
start. Lovell fastforwarded until it read 20:30, then slowed it to one and a
half times normal speed. At 20:40 Nurse stiffened. There.

Lovell froze the image. It showed
the roulette table, Nurse arrested in the act of staring into the cleavage of a
young woman wearing a cocktail dress. There was a grimace on his face that
might have been a leer, a ghastly smile on hers.

Cant tell a thing, Rice said. Move
it on.

Lovell pressed the play button
again. Faces and bodies became clearer in movement. The men watched for a while
in silence.

Not bad, Lovell said. Did you
dick her, fat man?

Nurse seemed to struggle with the
question. Sure.

Bet you didnt.

Lovell concentrated on the screen
again. Wonder who she is.

I know who she is, Rice said. The
big detective stretched, easing a kink in his back. A gust of body odour
escaped with it. Her names Carol Something. Used to work for an escort service
in the city. Came down here about six months ago.