Chapter 29

 

 

It’s a pleasantly warm Saturday evening and Red’s sitting in the Floating Fantasies casino holding but not drinking his favorite Irish whiskey, Bushmills. He’s not in the mood for drinking, but it gives him something to do with his hands. It’s only seven o’clock and already the casino is packed with people looking to put the Floating Fantasies into bankruptcy. Like the old Scrooge McDuck comic books, you can almost see the dollar signs in their eyes. Whether docked or on the river, ever since Red came onboard as manager the casino has been attracting large crowds and making a bundle of money for Rex.

 

He should be happy with his success, but all he can think about is the Chameleon and the risk he’s letting Jillian take to get the creep off his back. Well, that’s not entirely true. The beautiful Jillian Prevot has been taking center stage in his thoughts more and more with each passing day.

 

“I’ve never met anyone quite like her before. She definitely stands out in a crowd that’s for sure. Her shoulder length wavy dark brown tresses, her deep blue eyes, her radiant full lipped smile, her model’s complexion and slinky body are like magnets, drawing the attention of everybody, male and female, when she enters a room. She definitely got my attention, but she stands out in a lot of other ways too. She’s very intelligent and well read, she has deep rooted values like caring about others and honesty, she has a great sense of humor, she’s easy to talk with and she’s one gutsy lady. I sure would like to get to know her better. Maybe I should call the meeting off. Gutsy or not, she could get hurt. Wow, what’s happening here? Red Borman, career bachelor, where’s all this emotion coming from?”

 

His thoughts are interrupted by none other than the lady herself and true to form she’s got every pair of eyes in the house glued to her. The word stunning fits her to a ‘T’. She’s wearing a deep burgundy off-the-shoulder cocktail dress with the center of the décolletage sporting a diamond starburst pin and her feet burgundy patent leather shoes.

 

“Hi, Red. Boy, this place sure is jumping. I just left the Go For It and although business is brisk we don’t have a crowd like this.”

 

“Hi, Jillian. Don’t you worry. You haven’t been there very long. Once you get your ideas in place, we’ll be playing catch-up to you. What brings you here? I would think Joe would want you on the job, especially on a Saturday night.”

 

“When I filled him in on what we are setting up for the Chameleon, he told me to take tonight and tomorrow off, rest up and think about nothing but what I’m going to have to do on Monday at the ski resort. His exact words were, ‘If you’re going to be matching wits with this yoyo, you’re going to have to be fully prepared and alert if you’re going to be able to yank his string hard enough to get him to walk his doggie right into the hands of the local constabulary.’ To be honest, Red, I didn’t know what he was talking about. He had to explain what ‘walk the doggie’ meant. I wasn’t into yoyos when I was a kid.”

 

“Well, apparently Joe was. If he’s any good, maybe you could get him to perform at the Go For It.”

 

They both laughed and then Red turned serious. “I want to thank you, Jillian, for all that you’ve done and for your willingness to put yourself in harm’s way. How are your nerves holding up? You know it’s not too late to call things off if you want to back out. I’d certainly understand and so would everyone else.”

 

Pulling on Red’s arm to turn him face-to-face with her, eyes flashing with anger, she lashed out with, “Let’s get something straight, Red. When I make a commitment, I keep it. When I see people getting hurt who don’t deserve it, I get involved. I don’t ignore what’s going on around me. This is my community now, my home. I have a responsibility to it. Don’t you dare suggest that I turn my back on it.” Clenching her fists and stamping her foot, she turned and walked off in a furious huff.

 

“Whoa. Obviously, this lady’s values are a lot deeper than I’ve imagined. I sure did hit a hot button. It’s also obvious that my having read ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ hasn’t helped my people skills any. The Commissioner wants my butt in a sling and out of the industry, the Chameleon wants me not only out of the industry, but out of work period, preferably standing in a bread line somewhere, and now I’ve alienated the key player in helping me deal with the other two. Way to go Borman! Humph. Maybe I should try to get some investors together and buy my old cab company. I could change the name to ‘Going Your Way Anyway’ and only employ drivers who are impervious to verbal abuse or too stupid to notice. That might be my way out. Ah, nuts, nuts, nuts!”

 

As Red is ruminating over his inadequacies in human relations and the mess he’s in generally, Popeye walks up behind him, taps him on the shoulder to get his attention and almost gets clobbered as Red swings around with his fist balled up, ready to belt whoever snuck up on him.

 

“Gee, Popeye, I’m sorry. You scared the daylights out of me. If my nerves were strung any tighter, I’d snap in two. This upcoming Chameleon meeting really has me worried for Jillian’s safety. I was thinking about calling the whole thing off and even suggested to Jillian that it would be alright with me if she wanted to back off and she nearly decked me for asking her to go back on her word. She’s a very special and courageous lady and I don’t want anything to happen to her on my account.”

“That makes two of us, Red. She’s going to be face-to-face with a major screwball and the nearest help will be over a hundred yards away. If this guy detects anything out of whack, he’s liable to do anything. I wish we could hide someone inside the cabin.”

 

“I thought of that too, Popeye, but Sylvia says that although the cabins are a good size for something called a cabin, they are just one big room containing a double bed, dresser, two night stands, a floor to ceiling stand- alone oak wardrobe, a couch, two easy chairs, a coffee table and a kitchenette which is adjacent to a nook containing a table with padded bench seats on either side which can seat four comfortably. In a corner in the front of the cabin is a place to hang wet ski clothes and put ski boots and skis.

 

“The only other room with a door is a small full bath off the sleeping area. All of the cabins have a gas and wood burning fireplace in the wall facing the couch and easy chairs, but the chimney is so small even a midget couldn’t hide in there if it was safe to do so. The only use it has for us is that’s where one of the bugs will probably be placed.

 

“There are four windows in each cabin, one on each side of the solid wood front door, one in the kitchenette area and one in the sleeping area. Their placement allows a lot of daylight inside and a 360 degree view of what’s outside. This should put the Chameleon at ease with respect to his surroundings. There just isn’t any place where someone could hide.

 

“Chuck looked into putting some of his men on the roofs of the adjacent cabins, but the only things they could hide behind are the chimneys which are just too narrow.”

 

“Red, what about placing some of those grounds keeping sheds behind and between some of the cabins? They’re made of some kind of heavy duty, all kinds of weather type of plastic and are portable. They come in sizes large enough to conceal a couple of men. We could place some of them nearby the cabin where Jillian is meeting with the Chameleon. At least we’d have some of the surveillance team a lot closer than a hundred yards or more away.”

 

“That’s a great idea, Popeye. Let me call Bill and have him run it by Chuck. We have enough time to get them installed before the meeting takes place.” Red called Bill and instructed him to call his brother in-law with Popeye’s idea right away and get back to him with Chuck’s response.

 

Ten minutes later Bill was rushing into the casino with his thumbs up saying, “Chucks arranging for the sheds to be installed as we speak. That’s some sharp thinking, Popeye. As head of security, I should have thought of it, damn it.”

 

Somewhat annoyed Red came back with, “Knock it off will you, Bill. Stop putting yourself down. Just because you’re our head of security doesn’t mean that you should have a corner on the market for all the good ideas pertaining to security. I’m building a team here and good teamwork involves every member contributing to the best of his or her ability so we can reach our goal and it doesn’t matter where or who an idea comes from. You got that?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

Good. Lecture’s over. I’ve got to circulate.” Having spoken his mind, Red headed for the poker tables to press some flesh and spread some good will.

 

“Uh, oh. I think I ticked him off.”

 

“I don’t think so, Bill. Red was just doing his job, managing one of his staff who is putting way too much pressure on himself. Stay cool and keep on doing what you’re doing which is a hell of a good job. In the merchant marines, I’ve seen some real losers in my time when it comes to security and you’re definitely not one of them.”

 

“Thanks, Popeye. I guess the reason I’m so uptight is that Red and I have been trying to put the kibosh on this Chameleon character for some time now, first at the Palladian Palace and now here and have failed miserably. I guess I’m letting myself get psyched out.”

 

“We all just have to keep on swinging, Bill. Eventually, we’ll connect and send this gooney bird off to birdie, birdie land and a nice cell for a very long time.”

 

Smiling, Bill turned and left the casino and Popeye tried his luck at the black jack tables. An hour later he was up $900 bucks and quit while he was ahead. As many sailors are, Popeye is very superstitious and is thinking that maybe his winning is a good omen for success come Monday. For insurance, he’s made up his mind that he’s going to be in one of those sheds come hell or high water.