You Make Me Feel So Dead (6 page)

He tossed the suitcase into the back seat of the Caddy, like it was a feather, and slid happily behind the wheel.

‘The Horseshoe?' he asked.

‘The Horseshoe,' I said. ‘Know the way?'

He grinned and said, ‘I'll follow my nose.'

‘What's with the houndstooth jacket?' I asked as we started out.

‘I'm tryin to update my wardrobe,' he said. ‘You don't like it?'

‘Well … you're a big guy, Jerry, and that makes for a lot of houndstooth. Besides, it'll be too hot for that in the day time.'

‘Then I'll wear it at night.'

He drove directly to the Horseshoe with no wrong turns and we parked in the back. Along the way he asked about Frank, Dino and Sammy and when I'd last seen them in Vegas. I told him Frank was here now.

As we got out of the car to go inside he said, ‘How about the dick? He meetin' us to eat?'

‘He's one of the things we have to talk about, Jerry,' I answered.

‘And Elvis?'

I nodded. ‘And Elvis.'

When we got into the coffee shop we took a booth – which was able to accommodate his bulk – and he ordered a super stack of pancakes with a side of bacon, coffee and orange juice. I ordered some toast and coffee.

‘That's all you're eatin'?'

‘I had breakfast at home.'

‘So, what's goin' on, Mr G.?' he asked. ‘Sounds like we got some problems.'

I laid it all out for him, my agreement to do a favor for Frank, and a favor for Danny. While I was talking the waitress came over with the food, laid it down and he started plowing through it, but that didn't stop him from catching every word.

‘So how do you wanna do this, Mr G?' he asked, when I was done. ‘You want me on Elvis, or you want me to follow the girl?'

‘I've known Danny since I was a kid in Brooklyn, Jerry,' I said. ‘I feel like I should be helping him.'

‘Then I'll hang out with Elvis.'

‘I don't think that would sit well with Frank, or the Colonel, or Elvis,' I said. ‘As far as Elvis knows, I'm supposed to be showing him a good time in Vegas.'

Jerry frowned. ‘Don't know if I could do that.'

‘So I guess you should follow Penny,' I said.

‘Do I get to use the Caddy?'

‘Yeah,' I said. ‘I'll use cabs, or borrow a car. Or, if I know Elvis at this point, we'll have a limo.'

‘OK.'

‘But Elvis isn't here yet,' I said. ‘So I think today we'll both shadow Penny and see what's up. I followed her yesterday, but all she did was run errands.'

‘Did you watch her place to see if she got any visitors?'

‘I did,' I said. ‘I don't think she had any, unless someone came by much later last night.'

‘If we're thinkin' she's got a guy, maybe that's what happened,' Jerry suggested.

‘Then maybe one of us needs to stay outside her place a lot later tonight.'

‘Why do I think that's gonna be me?'

‘I'll get you a suite at the Sands while you're here,' I said. ‘But I think you're gonna be getting there very late tonight.'

‘Whatever you say, Mr G.'

‘Today's a work day,' I said. ‘She should be in the office.'

‘And the dick?'

‘He's working on a case, so he should be out.'

‘Did he ever think of, you know, just askin' her what's goin' on?'

‘Yeah, I don't think he wants to do that.'

He finished his last bite of bacon, washed it down with the last of his coffee.

‘I'm ready,' he said.

‘There's an arcade across the street from Danny's office,' I said. ‘We can watch from there, wait and see if she comes out.'

‘Ain't I gonna stand out in an arcade?'

I smiled at him and said, ‘Not on Fremont Street, big fella.'

W
e left the Horseshoe, crossed the street and walked to the arcade. It was not the kind of arcade you would see small kids in. There were bells, whistles, lights, street walkers, hustlers, homeless people and the occasional tourist who had wandered in carrying gross misconceptions with them. Not a pinball machine in the place, with some dubious items up for sale.

‘Hey big boy,' a teenage hooker said to Jerry, ‘lookin' for somethin' to do?'

‘Get lost, honey,' he growled at her in a tone that had her scampering away.

We took up positions on either side of the entrance, from where we could easily see the front of Danny's building, and the doorway to his office.

Some of the pickpockets who were taking a break from working the casino crowds decided to leave when they saw us, probably thinking we were cops. That actually worked in our favor, keeping any of the other street girls from approaching us.

After about forty minutes Danny came out the door. I checked the window that overlooked the street and didn't see Penny there, so I stepped out and waved at him.

‘Hey, big guy,' he said, when he saw Jerry.

‘Shamus.'

‘What's he doin' here?' he asked me, keeping his voice low.

‘I'm gonna use him for the Elvis thing,' I said. He nodded, accepting that. ‘Is Penny inside?'

‘Yeah. Did you follow her yesterday?'

‘I did, but all she did was run errands and grocery shop.'

‘She's not very talkative today,' he said. ‘That's another tip-off that somethin's goin' on.'

‘Danny, what about just askin' her?'

‘You could do that, maybe,' he said. ‘Not me. She'd think I don't trust her.'

I didn't point out that it seemed like he didn't.

‘What's on the agenda today?' I asked.

‘Same as yesterday,' he said. ‘She's supposed to do some paperwork and stay in.'

‘And you?'

‘I'll be gone all day.'

On the spur of the moment I said, ‘Give me a key to the office.'

‘Why?'

‘I want to take a look at her desk.'

‘Yeah, OK.' He took two keys off his key ring, one for the downstairs door, and one for the door to the office.

‘OK,' I said. ‘I'll be in touch.'

Danny tossed Jerry a wave and took off. I walked over to stand next to Jerry.

‘I'm gonna get the car and bring it around the corner. Yesterday I got lucky and found a cab. I don't want to take that chance today.'

‘OK.'

‘I won't be long, but if she comes out while I'm gone, tail her.'

‘OK, Mr G.'

I left the arcade and rushed to the rear of the Horseshoe to bring the Caddy around. When I got back to the arcade my heart sank. Jerry was gone. Penny must have wasted no time after Danny left. I took a quick look up and down the block, hoping to spot Jerry's houndstooth coat, but to no avail.

They were gone.

I let myself into the offices of Bardini Investigations.

Penny's desk was right out front. The door to Danny's office was open, and I could see a mess on top of his desk, but that was his business. I crossed the room and sat myself down behind Penny's desk. I went through the drawers, found a lot of candy but otherwise nothing incriminating. I checked her calendar, which was meant to hold appointments for Danny. I checked the past month, though, to see if she might have made some notes for herself. I found a few references to someone with the initials R.F. I wrote down the initials, the dates and times in a small notebook I carried. I went through her Rolodex, did not find any numbers for someone with those initials. Before leaving, I checked the top of her desk, including her blotter. Not finding anything tucked into the sides, I lifted it and peered underneath. There I found a slip of paper with a series of numbers on it. The grouping told me it was not a phone number. I wrote them down in my notebook.

I did a quick circuit of the room, didn't find anything on the walls or the tops of the file cabinets. The last thing I did was check the wall calendar. Obviously, she made all her notations on her desk calendar.

I left the office, careful to lock the door behind me. When I got down to the street I peered out first to make sure I didn't walk into Penny, then stepped out and locked that one, as well.

There was nothing else I could do about Penny except wait to hear from poor Jerry, who was on foot and didn't even know if he had a hotel room yet. I decided to go to the Sands and make sure that when he needed it, he did.

A
t the Sands I went right to the front desk and arranged a suite for Jerry. Then I had a bell boy – one of the bigger ones the hotel had – take his bag up to it.

After that I took the elevator to the office floor. I figured if Jerry was going to call me he'd call Entratter's office and leave a message. That meant I had to check with Jack's girl, who hated me.

As I entered the outer office she gave that look she reserved especially for me. I never try to describe it. I just know it always made me feel cold inside.

‘I was wondering if you had any phone messages here for me?'

‘No,' she said, coldly.

‘Is Jack in?'

‘Yes.' She picked up her phone. ‘Mr Gianelli is here.' She hung up. ‘Go in.'

‘Thanks.'

I shook off the icicles and entered Jack's office.

‘What's going on?' Entratter asked as I approached his desk.

‘Can I sit?'

‘Go ahead,' Entratter said. He had a cup of coffee at his elbow. ‘Want somethin'?'

‘No,' I said, ‘I won't be here that long. I was really just checking for messages.'

He raised his eyebrows. ‘Are we your message center now?'

‘I lost contact with Jerry,' I said. ‘I thought he might call here to check in.'

‘You talk to the girl?' I don't think I had ever heard her name. I could be wrong.

‘I did,' I said. ‘I got no message and the cold shoulder.'

‘What are you and Jerry doin'?' Entratter asked. ‘Elvis ain't in town yet, is he?'

‘No,' I said. ‘I think he might be coming tomorrow, but I haven't heard, yet.'

‘Should I alert my girl to take that message, too?' he asked.

I almost said no, but instead said, ‘You know, maybe you should.' I wondered what the Ice Lady would do if she picked up the phone and Elvis Presley was on the other end, again?

‘Yeah, I suppose so,' he grumbled. ‘What about the Colonel?'

‘Still on the lake, I guess.'

‘And Frank?'

‘In his suite,' I guessed. ‘He says he's gonna hang around to go to Elvis' show.'

‘That should be interesting.'

‘Yeah, Elvis says he's gonna introduce Frank.'

‘
That
should be interesting,' Jack said again, with a different inflection.

Entratter's phone rang several times, but his girl did the answering.

‘So why are you still here?' he asked.

That was my cue. I stood up.

‘Keep me up to date on where you are and what you're doin', Eddie,' Jack said. ‘And try to stay out of jail.'

‘What's that supposed to mean?'

‘That means that when you and Jerry and your friend Danny mix, one of you always ends up in jail.'

I couldn't argue with that.

But …

‘What makes you think Danny's involved?'

‘History,' Entratter said.

I couldn't argue with that, either.

‘I'm out of here,' I said.

‘Good,' he said, and turned his attention back to whatever was on his desk.

When I got to the outer office his girl looked up at me. She seemed to have something to say, and was unhappy about it.

‘You do have a telephone message, Mr Gianelli,' she said. ‘It came in while you were with Mr Entratter.'

‘Thank you,' I said. I waited, and she finally handed me a slip of paper from a pink message pad, with a pained look on her pretty-but-stern face.

That done, she immediately put me out of her mind.

I took the message out to the hall with me, just to get to a warmer climate. I looked at the slip, expecting it to be from Jerry. It wasn't.

‘Please come to my suite as soon as you get this,' it read.

Underneath was the name of the person who had left the message: Frank Sinatra.

I went directly to the elevators and took one to Frank's floor. When the Chairman of the Board calls, you answer.

T
his time when Frank offered me a drink I accepted. In minutes we each had a bourbon in our hands, although Frank would have preferred a Martini or a Manhattan.

‘I heard from the Colonel,' Frank said, leaning on his side of the bar. ‘So far he's pretty happy with you.'

‘Is he?' I asked. ‘I haven't done anything, yet.'

‘He heard you went to Graceland,' Frank said. ‘Elvis liked you. What did you do there?'

‘We shot targets, ate, and watched movies.'

‘Interesting,' Frank said, sipping his drink. ‘I've never been there.'

I didn't know what to say to that, so I sipped my drink, too.

‘The Colonel said that Elvis is comin' in tomorrow.'

‘I thought one of them would call and let me know,' I said.

‘Parker said Elvis tried to call you at home,' Frank said. ‘So the Colonel decided to call me and leave you a message.'

Apparently Frank didn't object to being a message center the way Entratter did.

‘He'll be at the Riviera,' Frank went on.

‘I'll call the hotel and see when he's gettin' in,' I said. ‘I'll be there.'

Frank eyed me for a minute and then said, ‘What's goin' on?'

‘What do you mean?'

‘There's somethin' else on your mind besides Elvis Presley.'

‘What makes you say that?'

‘Come on, Eddie,' Frank said. ‘We've been friends long enough. I can tell when my friends have somethin' on their minds.'