On my way home, I stopped at a CVS and got a new pre-paid phone. Once I got home, I handed most of my cash to Lorelei after taking out what I’d need for more poker playing and for a possible impromptu trip to Iowa.
She took the money and told me dinner would be ready in an hour. She’d found some fresh Mahi Mahi and wanted to try out a new recipe.
Closing the office door behind me, I unpacked the new phone and started charging it and pulling out the instructions on activation. Usually Lor did this kind of stuff for me, but I’d have to muddle through alone this time. I took all packaging and put it in my bottom desk drawer. I’d take it out myself some other time, not wanting to throw it in the trash.
I rummaged through the numbers on slips of paper in my desk drawer until I found one for Vince. I hadn’t called him in a long time, always going through Paulie when we needed to speak. I wasn’t even sure this number was still good.
After dinner – definitely a keeper new recipe – I declined Ben and Gus’ offer of cards, saying I needed to take care of a few things in my office. They didn’t say anything, but I saw the look they exchanged. “It shouldn’t take long,” I said a little defensively. “Keep a seat warm for me.”
“Of course, Hannah, darling,” Ben said a little sadly.
“Really, I just have a couple of calls to make, and then I’ll take all your money.”
Gus snorted, but Ben just gave me a small smile.
Back in my office, I activated the new pre-paid phone, secretly proud of myself for mastering something any thirteen-year-old could do. I called the last known number for Vince.
It went to voicemail. The voice was Vince’s but he didn’t give any name in his message.
I wondered if I needed to be as equally cryptic in the message I left. “Hello,” I said. “I’m not sure if this number is still active. But if it is, and you get this message, there’s something I’d like to talk to you about.” I gave him the number of my new phone and hung up.
Now what? Go out and play cards with the boys and take this phone with me in case Vince called back? And how to explain the phone when it rang?
I didn’t even have time to go through other scenarios before the new phone rang.
“Hello?” I said.
“Are you available now?” Vince said.
“I can be. I’m at home.”
“How about The Bellagio book room in an hour?”
“How about the gelato stand there instead?”
I could almost hear his smile through the line as he thought about why I wouldn’t want to go to the sports book room.
“See you then,” he said then hung up.
I put my phone in my pocket, made sure my iPhone was still in my other cargo pocket, and headed out of the office. I stopped at the door, turned and saw the stack of cash on my desk. Mocking me. Taunting me with the amount it could turn into if only I wasn’t such a baby and would place a bet already.
I tried to conjure up the serenity of the statue ladies, pictured their grace and fluidity. But the money won and I went back and grabbed it, shoving it in my leather jacket pocket.
It didn’t mean I had to place a bet. Or even that I would. It was just good to have in case…
Disgusted with myself, I didn’t finish the thought.
“You boys are in luck,” I said as I reached the dining room. I scooped up my car keys from the side table. “You’re going to be able to keep your money for one more night.”
Gus chuckled at my joke, but Ben’s concern shown in his face. “Is everything alright, Hannah, dear?”
“Fine. Everthing’s fine. I just need to run out for a bit. Does anybody need anything while I’m out? Gus, can I pick up anything at your place for you?”
I’d stopped with Gus on our way home, to pick up some clothes for him, when he’d first been discharged from the hospital. I knew Lor had made a couple of more stops since. I honestly didn’t know if Gus had officially moved in or what. Not that I’d mind that. It would be great for Ben to have Gus around.
Maybe he’d stop moping about Jack not coming around anymore.
“No,” Gus answered me, “I’ve got what I need.” I happened to notice that Lorelei had walked back into the dining room, and Gus had been looking at her when he spoke. She giggled.
Giggled!
“You’re going out?” Lorelei asked me.
“Just for a little while. Do you need anything?”
“No. But you must be exhausted after playing for so many hours.”
“I am. I’m going to crash for a day when I get back.”
“If you’re not up, do you want me to wake you for breakfast?” Ben asked. There was just a tiny bit of hurt in his voice.
My body needed the sleep, but harmony with Ben was better for my soul. “Yes, wake me. But I’ll probably be back before you guys hit the hay.”
Ben nodded, mollified, and he and Gus started shuffling cards without me.
Because I had to go take care of JoJo’s business. That bitch.
At the gelato stand I eyed the frozen treats, still stuffed from Lorelei’s dinner but willing to find some room. “The Amaretto’s my favorite,” Vince said from behind me.
I looked over my shoulder. He looked as handsome as usual, totally put together, even with only an hour’s notice. I, on the other hand, looked like I’d played seventeen straight hours of poker. Probably smelled like it, too.
“Sounds good,” I said.
“Two Amarettos,” Vince told the clerk, then proceeded to pay for mine over my objection. He waved me away. “Don’t worry, it’s not going on your tab.”
“I don’t have a tab with you,” I reminded him, though I knew Vince would know to the penny what anybody owed him.
“So far. But we haven’t finished our dessert yet.”
“I didn’t call for that. Our friend from the Midwest called me.”
“Ah,” he said as he led the way to a table far away from anyone else.
“Yeah,” I said.
“You’re disappointed in him,” Vince said.
“I guess,” I said, then took a spoonful of my treat.
“But you more than anybody should understand his…need…to call.”
“His need is financing his little sister’s drug rehab.”
“He’s made enough to cover that by now.”
“Who knows? Maybe she needs to be in longer. Maybe they needed to get her in a better one, a more expensive one.” There was almost a desperation in my voice. Like if there was a reason Raymond was hooked, maybe there would be a pin-pointable reason for me, too.
“You’re making excuses for him, now?” He took a bite of his gelato and looked at me with penetrating eyes.
I pushed my dish away; it suddenly seemed way too rich. “No. You’re right. He made the call because he wanted to.”
Vince just nodded and took another bite.
“Do you understand?” I asked him.
He shook his head. “Not really. I deal with gamblers, obviously, and I get that there’s a…need.” He looked at me closely. “But no, I don’t really get it.”
“Lucky you,” I said quietly.
“Yes, I’ve always thought so.”
I smiled. “He says he wants thirty this time.”
“That’s a jump,” Vince said.
I shrugged. “The more he does it, the higher risk of exposure.”
“Are you making his case for him?”
“He knows that. He’s a sharp kid, Vince.”
Vince took another bite, looked around the nearly deserted room. “Would he take twenty-five, do you think?”
“Yes,” I answered.
“Fine.”
“Half up front.”
“Fine. When will you be flying out?”
I shrugged. “I’ll call him tonight. Probably Friday.”
“Friday’s Paulie’s funeral.”
“Oh,” I said. Was I expected to go? Was that done, attending the funeral of your loan shark’s muscle? The man who beat me to a pulp thirteen years ago?
Where was Miss Manners when I needed her?
“You weren’t going to go?” Vince asked.
“I guess I really hadn’t thought about it.” And I hadn’t. Beyond the first few hours, after being questioned by Jack, I hadn’t given Paulie’s death much thought. I knew Vince ran a clean operation, but who the hell knew what else Paulie was into? Who else he dealt with? Or, like I originally thought, maybe he’d just broken one too many kneecaps and somebody came after him.
“I think you should go,” Vince said, but didn’t explain why. “In fact, I was hoping you’d go with me.”
“Like a date?” I blurted out before I could stop myself.
A small smile quirked over his olive-toned face. “I don’t think a funereal is a great first date, Anna.”
“No, probably not,” I said not testing his assumption that there may be a first date for us.
The truth was I’d always thought Vince was an attractive man. I’d put him in his mid-forties, and I admired the way he’d worked himself up, hadn’t sold out. Although he was a loan shark, he ran his business with a certain degree of integrity. Though he always treated me professionally, I kind of got that he liked me, too.
But this was the first time he’d ever even mentioned the words date and me in the same sentence.
“But I do want your take on things, I’d like your opinion at the funeral.”
“My opinion of what?”
“Things. People. You’re a professional poker player, Anna, you can read people.”
“Yeah, I can read someone to know if they’re holding pocket aces, not a smoking gun.”
He chuckled. It was a nice melodic sound. His laugh was much easier to come by than Jack’s.
Shit. I did not want to think of Jack right now.
“Whatever you can observe, I’d appreciate your thoughts.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Paulie always really liked you, you know,” he said.
“I know.” And I did, but unlike Vince, Paulie had creeped me out. “Right when he was breaking my foot, I could see the admiration in his eyes.”
Vince looked around again, then leaned across the small table toward me. “You know the order to do that came from me, and yet you hold Paulie responsible. You never seemed to hold it against me.”
He was right, and I had no basis for that reasoning. I shrugged. “You can’t even begin to imagine the things that don’t make sense in my life, Vince.”
He put his hand over mine, and it was smooth and cool. “No, but I wouldn’t mind getting to know them. Getting to know you better, Anna.”
It was a gut reaction to pull my hand back, but I didn’t. Hell, I was a free agent. Jack had thrown me over. I admit, my ego was still a little bruised and could use a little stroking. And while I was still gambling, I didn’t stand a chance of getting Jack back. Vince knew what I was, knew about JoJo – was the reason I created JoJo – and still wanted to be with me.
“I’d like that,” I said honestly.
He took his hand back, nodded slowly. “But first Dubuque, and then the funeral.”
“Right,” I said.
“And then finding out who did this to Paulie,” he added.
“Right,” I said again although I honestly didn’t care about that other than idle curiosity and what it would mean to both Jack and Vince to find Paulie’s killer.
Though they would surely deal with the culprit in different manners. Jack with handcuffs, Vince with cement shoes. I didn’t much care about that, either. In their world, Vince had every right to avenge the murder of one of his own.
The circle of the under life.
Jack’s livelihood as a homicide detective would never be in jeopardy.
“So I guess I’ll head to Iowa tomorrow.” I was already thinking about flight schedules and leading Lor and Ben to believe that I was out playing poker without outright lying to them if I could.
“I can have the cash to you whenever you like.”
“He’s probably going to want his other half bet on the game. He has before.”
“Would you like me to bet that for him, or would you rather?”
Not wanting to tempt myself to bet on the game myself, I answered, “If it wouldn’t be too much trouble….”
“No trouble at all. I’m obviously placing a bet of my own.”
Right. Of course. Why would you pay a kid to throw a game then not bet on it? Only I’m that stupid. “Thanks.”
“What works for you for the first end?”
“Let’s see,” I thought out loud, “I’ll take Ben and Gus to breakfast first thing…”
“Can you hang around here for about a half-hour, and we can take care of this right now?” he interrupted.
“Sure.”
He nodded. “I’ll be back,” he said, then got up and left.
I didn’t know anything about Vince’s private life. Did he live nearby? Did he have a stash somewhere? Or was he just walking to the cash cage here at the Bellagio and writing a check for twelve thousand? He probably had that kind of account here. Here and several other places on the strip.
I used the time by calling Raymond and telling him it was a go. As I expected, he settled for twenty-five after an initial balk. And as I’d told Vince, he wanted the back end bet on the game. I told him I’d call him when I arrived in Dubuque tomorrow evening and set up a meet.
Vince came back with five minutes to spare, handed me an envelope which I put in my inside jacket pocket.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you with a purse,” he said.
“And this is only the second time I’ve seen you without a book.”
“Things are a bit…up in the air…for me right now.”
Besides being Vince’s strong arm, Paulie, with Carla, also ran Vince’s after-hours, backroom poker games for high-rollers. I didn’t know what had happened to those games in the last few days since Paulie had been killed. “Yes, I imagine they are.”
“You looking for a job?” he teased. At least, I think he was teasing.
“Running games, or enforcing?”
He snorted, which seemed so out of character.
“Should I be complimented or insulted by that?”
He threw his hands up. “Take it how you want to.”
I got up to leave, and so did Vince. “I’ll call you tomorrow with the details for Paulie’s funeral,” he said.
“Okay.” I started to walk away but then turned back to him. “Call me on my other phone about the funeral.”
“What’s that number?” He took out his own phone and programmed my number in when I told him. “Which number do you want me to use to…” he looked over his shoulder.
“The one I called you on tonight for any of the JoJo stuff.”
“JoJo stuff? Who’s JoJo?”
I suppose he was thinking I had an accomplice, or maybe JoJo was my cute pet name for Raymond Joseph. “That’s the name I use when I…”
“To the players, you mean?”
I shrugged. “To them, to myself.” His brow furrowed. “It’s easier for me that way,” I tried to explain. “I’ve come to think of her – of her actions – as a different person. I can remove myself from it that way.”
He looked closely at me. I bit down the urge to hang my head. He brushed a finger lightly across my cheek. “One of those things about your life that I can’t imagine?” His voice was soft, understanding, and for just one moment I wanted to believe that I could be normal, that a man – any man – would find that side of me, the JoJo side, acceptable.
“Yeah,” I said.
He nodded, started to leave but then stopped. “Believe me, I can imagine that. It even makes a certain kind of sense. Give me a chance to imagine your worst.” He turned then and walked away.