Blood Money Read online

  “I won’t,” Kelton said with a soft chuckle. “I promise.”

  He hung up the phone, glanced at Jessica, and wondered if she had any idea what was going on here. He didn’t think so. He wished he could warn her, but knew it wasn’t worth the risk with all the surveillance in the hotel geared towards them. That was all right though, she’d find out soon enough.

  As long as everything went according to plan, of course.

  They headed back up to their room.

  Nicholas beat them there. He was waiting for them as they entered, this time standing in the center of the room when they opened the door.

  “Good to see you again, my friend,” Kelton said as they walked in. “Did you get everything?”

  “Yes we did,” Nicholas said.

  “Is the setup acceptable?”

  “Very much so. You did well.”

  “Thank you,” Kelton said. “Although we’ll see how well it truly went in a little while.”

  Nicholas tilted his head slightly. “Why do you say that? Do you think Walter may have seen through you?”

  Kelton shrugged. “No. But you never know with Walter. He’s a sly old bastard. I won’t feel comfortable until you guys have him in custody.”

  “Nor will I,” Nicholas said. “But do not worry. Everything will fall into place. You will see.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  The casino floor of the Cleopatra was a beehive of activity. There were at least 40 tables lined up in the center of the floor, and nearly every seat was occupied. Thousands of slot machines surrounded the table games, their bells, whistles and buzzers going off incessantly, people slipping bills into the machines as though they believed the world was coming to an end within the hour.

  All the aisles were filled with people walking around, talking, laughing, taking in the sights, and generally making fools of themselves. Their dress varied from suits and ties to t-shirts and shorts, their ages from 21 to 85.

  “Absolute craziness,” Jessica said as they walked through the aisles towards the area Walter had directed them too.

  “It sure is,” Kelton said.

  “What the hell compels all these people to give their money away? I’ve never understood it.”

  “Las Vegas is the embodiment of the American Dream distilled down to its most basic elements,” Kelton said. “One in a million get rich while everyone else loses, gets drunk, and goes off to look for sex.”

  “And the one winner just ends up gambling it away trying to double their winnings,” Jessica said as they snaked their way through the throngs of people. “I just don’t get it.”

  “Neither do I,” Kelton said absently. He had spotted a scantily-clad young woman walking down the opposite aisle, a tray full of cigarettes in her arms and a wide, impossibly bright smile on her face. He turned to Jessica, told her to hang on a second, then walked towards the cigarette lady.

  “How much for a pack of Kools and a lighter?” Kelton said as he approached her.

  “Seventeen dollars,” the young lady said, her smile nearly blinding Kelton with its radiating glow.

  Kelton reached into his pocket, pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and set it on her tray. She handed him the cigarettes and a lighter.

  “Keep the change,” he said.

  Still smiling, the young lady nodded and offered her thanks.

  “What the hell was that all about?” Jessica said when he was back within earshot. “I didn’t know you smoked.”

  “I was once known to throw a cigarette in every once in a while,” Kelton said. He pulled the cellophane off the box, dropped it in a trash can. “But this is the first pack I’ve bought in years.”

  She shot him a confused look. “Why now?”

  He tapped the top on his hand a couple of times, shook out a single cigarette. “What, you haven’t heard of having a smoke after sex?”

  “Of course,” Jessica said. “But usually it’s right afterwards. Not an hour later.”

  He put the cigarette in his mouth, lit the tip, and slipped the rest of the pack into his front pocket of his jeans, along with the lighter. “Hey, better late than never.”

  Kelton finished his smoke just as they arrived at the blackjack tables suggested to them by Walter. At the end of the row was a $50 minimum table that had just opened. They sat in consecutive seats near in the middle of the table. The dealer nodded towards them, waiting to exchange their money for chips. Kelton reached into his pocket pulled out some cash, set it on the table.

  While the dealer counted the money, Kelton let his eyes wander. He was trying to get a feel for which of the fellow casino patrons might be NDC agents, but as usual, it was impossible to tell. There were simply too many people in the cluttered area. He did however, let his gaze linger on the emergency exit directly across from them, about two hundred yards away. Nobody seemed to be paying it any undue attention.

  “Are you sure Walter will be able to find us in here?” Jessica said as the dealer waited for the pit boss to okay the transaction.

  “I’m sure he’s got his eyes on us already.”

  “So this is it, huh? The moment of truth?”

  Kelton nodded. The pit boss gave his approval and the dealer pushed the chips forward. Both Jessica and Kelton put out two $25 chips and then watched as the dealer turned over a blackjack on the first hand.

  “Typical,” Jessica said. She put out another $50 bet to replace the one the dealer had taken.

  This time the dealer turned over two kings. Once again, he took both their chips.

  Jessica snorted, shook her head. “This is why I don’t gamble.”

  Kelton said, “I had a friend once who, whenever anyone asked what he did, told them he was into trading. They would eventually ask what type of trading he did, and he’d tell them that he worked at a casino.”

  “How is that trading?” Jessica asked.

  “That was the question he always got,” Kelton replied as the dealer pulled yet another blackjack and took everyone’s money.

  “And what did he tell them?”

  “That people traded him their money for chips, and then their chips for unhappiness.”

  Jessica smiled. “That’s not half-bad,” she said. “But what does it have to do with anything?”

  “It doesn’t,” Kelton said. “I’m just trying to keep myself from thinking about what’s going down right now.”

  A young man in a shirt and tie sat down next to Jessica. The dealer paused, waiting for the money to hit the table. The man told her to go ahead, he’d get in on the next hand.

  “What time is it anyway?” Jessica said. “They never have clocks in these places.”

  The man to her right looked at his cell phone, which he had set on the table in between him and Jessica. “A couple minutes past six.”

  She said thanks and flashed him a smile.

  He returned the smile. “My pleasure.”

  “I think you just made his night,” Kelton whispered to Jessica.

  She giggled softly and gave him a kick under the table.

  Kelton smiled and had just started to reach out with another two green chips to bet on the next hand when he heard the braying of an alarm. It was followed immediately by another, then another, until the whole casino was filled with the sound, drowning out even the slot machines that dominated the floor.

  The alarms were followed by what sounded like a thousand showers being turned on at the same time. Suddenly water was falling in sheets as the fire sprinklers that were set in three-foot intervals along the ceiling all went off at once. The casino was filled with screams—some panicked, some angry, most indiscernible—and then the floor started to rumble as the masses of people ran for cover.

  Kelton immediately understood what was happening. He grabbed Jessica’s arm, turned, and headed through the mass of people towards the emergency exit he’d been eyeing when they’d first sat down.

  “What’s going on?” Jessica said, yelling over the rising din.

 
“Just keep your head down and your face covered,” Kelton said. “I’ll explain later.”

  With Jessica in tow, he made his way around a large group of Japanese tourists who were trying to escape the torrent by huddling together, over a young couple who were cowering on the floor, and past a 25 year old kid in a suit and tie who was standing directly under one of the sprinklers with his hands up in the air, yelling obscenities.

  People were running in all directions, trying desperately to find some respite from the flood of water coming down on them from the ceilings, but there was nowhere to go. The water from the sprinklers covered every square inch of this section of the casino floor, drenching everything below them with impunity. Security guards ran through the aisles recklessly, while pit bosses stood in the middle of the downpour, screaming at dealers to cover the chips and stand guard.

  Kelton negotiated the chaos, knowing he didn’t have much time before everything got straightened out and hoping the NDC had momentarily lost track of them in the confusion.

  They snaked their way through the slot machines, bobbing and weaving between people, until they reached the door. Kelton slammed his hands into the emergency bar and the door crashed open. Another alarm started to go off, but it was drowned out by all the other noise inside the casino and nobody seemed to notice.

  Kelton had just started to close the door behind them when somebody crashed into it from the casino side. The door slammed open and a man stumbled through, soaking wet and off-balance. Kelton recognized him as the man sitting next to Jessica at the blackjack table, the one who had given her the time. He had a pistol in his hand. It was pointed at the ground.

  Before the man had a chance to raise the pistol, Jessica snapped off a kick, her shin connecting with his groin. The man fell to his knees, wheezing like a deflated bagpipe. The gun fell out of his hand, dropped to the floor.

  Kelton picked it up, checked to see that the safety was engaged—it was—then cracked the man in the back of the head with the butt of the pistol, knocking him out. He stuffed the gun into his waistband, closed the door, and dragged the unconscious man over so his body was blocking the doorway.

  Kelton turned towards Jessica and together they started down the stairs. Their footsteps echoed loudly in the narrow stairwell, making it impossible to tell if anyone was following them.

  “I don’t think this was part of their plan,” Jessica said as they turned a corner and started down another set of metal steps.

  “Screw them,” Kelton said. “I’ve got plans of my own.”

  They negotiated two more sets of switchbacks before the stairs ended. Painted on the wall in front of them, in big, black letters, were the words: FLOOR ONE. To their left was a door with a glowing green exit sign above it. Jessica started for it.

  Kelton grabbed her arm. “Not that way. They’ll have that exit covered by now.”

  She spun towards him. “What?”

  “We’re taking another way out. Follow me.” He moved past the exit, towards a door set on the opposite wall, and gave it a push. A long, straight hallway opened up behind it. He started jogging down it.

  “Where the hell does this go?” Jessica said, her breath slightly ragged.

  “The parking garage.”

  “And what makes you think we’ll be able to get out through the parking garage?”

  “You’ll see.”

  At the end of the hall was a pair of elevators, and next to them, a door leading to another stairwell. Kelton opened the door and started down. Soon enough, they reached the bottom floor. This time there was only one exit to choose from. Kelton stopped in front of the door and turned towards Jessica.

  “If they’re waiting for us out there, we’re done for,” he said, talking quickly. “But if not, as soon as we exit this stairwell, take an immediate left turn. Stick to the wall as best you can, keeping the cars to your right. Once we pass the last row of cars, there will be an eight-foot high fence with NO TRESPASSING signs on it. We’re going to climb over the fence and keep going.”

  “Where?”

  “Into the storm drains,” Kelton said. He opened the door and ushered Jessica through before she could ask any more questions.

  The garage was devoid of people. There were a few cars parked this far down, but the vast majority of the spaces were empty.

  Kelton reached the fence first. He interlocked his hands and held them near the fence, at thigh level. After only a moment’s hesitation, Jessica slipped her foot into the makeshift platform and he gave her a boost. She scrambled to the top of the fence with ease, swung her body over, and jumped down. Kelton was right behind her.

  “Are you sure you know what you’re doing?” she said as Kelton landed on the pavement next to her.

  “Positive,” he said, grabbing her hand. “Now come on. It’s time to disappear.”

  They turned and took off in a jog down the slightly declining floor of the tunnel.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  The light filtering in from the parking structure was fading with every stride they took deeper into the tunnel and soon it would be but a memory.

  “We’re going to be blind here in a minute,” Jessica said, her voice echoing in the enclosed area.

  “That’s all right,” Kelton said. “I know the way.”

  Jessica stopped short, pulled her hand from his grip. “Wait a minute, are you telling me we’re going to make this whole trip in the dark?”

  “Not the whole trip,” Kelton said. “Just part of it. Most of the time, enough light will get in through the storm drains above us that we’ll be able to see where we’re going.”

  “And what about when there’s not enough?”

  “Why do you think I picked up those cigarettes earlier?”

  “I thought it was because you wanted a smoke?”

  Kelton shook his head. “It was for the lighter.” He grabbed her hand and started moving forward. “Now let’s go. We have to keep moving.”

  A couple of hundred yards later, they were in near-total darkness. No storm drains were within view. The temperature had dropped at least 25 degrees and the air was stale and reeking of mildew. It was nearly silent; the only noise coming from the thin sliver of water trickling down the center of the tunnel.

  “Are you going to break out that lighter or what?” Jessica said.

  “Sure,” Kelton replied, noting the terror creeping into her voice. “No problem.”

  He pulled the lighter from his pocket and flicked the two-inch flame to life. The light it provided was meager, illuminating no more than a ten-foot wide bubble around them.

  “That’s it?” Jessica said. She laughed nervously. “I don’t know if I can continue on like this.”

  “Relax,” Kelton said. “We don’t have much further to go.”

  “Are you sure, because—”

  “I’m positive,” he said, cutting her off. “Another twenty minutes, tops.”

  “Twenty minutes? Are you serious?”

  “Maybe fifteen,” Kelton said, hoping her mind was too occupied to hear the lie in his voice. “But we’ll come to a storm drain in a minute or two, and then we’ll be able to see again without the lighter. And not long after that we’ll be out of this tunnel and free of the NDC. This time for good.”

  “You don’t think they’ll figure out we came down here?”

  “Eventually they might,” Kelton said. “But even if they do, they’ll never be able to track us. The tunnel we entered connects up with three more up ahead, and each of those connect up with numerous others. It’s like a spider web down here, with almost three hundred miles of tunnels and more than fifty exits scattered throughout the valley. We’ll be fine as long as we keep moving and keep quiet. At least for a little while. Can you handle that?”

  Jessica took a deep breaths. “Yeah. I think so.”

  “Good,” Kelton said. “Then let’s go.”

  They continued to make progress along the tunnel, moving as quickly as possible without putting the
mselves in danger, the light varying depending on where they were in relation to the storm drains above them but usually just enough to see by. Occasionally they would run into a narrow stream of runoff, sometimes even a decent-sized puddle, but for the most part, the tunnels were dry.

  They had come to three different forks in the path so far, and with at least four more ahead before they exited, Kelton was confident that there was no chance the NDC could catch up with them.

  “We don’t have to be quiet anymore,” he said as they came upon another storm drain. The light outside was fading as the sun made its slow march towards the horizon, but it was still easily bright enough to see by. On the wall beneath the drain, in bright red spray paint, someone had written: IN CASE OF RAIN, SWIM LIKE HELL. The sounds of traffic were louder here, the smell of gasoline overpowering.

  “Do you know where we are?” Jessica said, her voice much steadier than it had been when they’d first entered the drainage system.

  “This part of the tunnel goes right under The Strip,” Kelton said. “The last few minutes we were walking directly beneath some of the largest casinos in the world.”

  “Jesus, I bet they don’t like that getting out.”

  “There’s a reason why hardly anyone knows about these tunnels. The casinos don’t exactly go around bragging about their existence.”

  “I can understand why,” Jessica said. “How’d you find out about them?”

  “Walter.”

  Jessica chuckled under her breath. “I should have known.”

  “I did a job for him here in Vegas a couple years ago, and used this exact same route to make my escape then.”

  “So the whole evening up to this point was just a set-up, leading to this point?”

  “Pretty much,” Kelton said.

  “Since when? From the beginning?”

  “No. Just since I called Walter from Baker.”

  Jessica narrowed her brow. “But the NDC has been listening in every time you’ve talked to him since then, right?”