Vegas Vendetta

"What'd you say, Vito?" the icy bastard asked him.

"I said… if you want something big, I mean really big … how about the carousel? You onto that yet?"

Something flickered there in the big guy's eyes, an interest maybe. Aposti

"Back up and try it again," Bolan said, the blaster still centered between Vito's eyes.

"Try what?"

"What kind of carousel?"

"You know, a merry-go-round, that kind of carousel."

The big guy's eyes got speculative, and he said, "Something like the California carousel, eh?"

"Nah, that's just the L.A. end, that's nothing. The Caribbean is where it's all at now, Bolan, that's the next big one."

"Okay. Keep trying."

"Hell, that's all I know right now. They don't let small fish like me in on details like that. But I've personally dispatched sixteen mil down there in the past year."

"Sixteen million dollars?"

"That's it. And that boodle you heisted out there tonight was headed for the same place."

"The Caribbean, eh."

The guy was interested. Aposti

"For what?"

"I don't know for what. I'm leveling with you, Bolan."

"Suppose I give you a reprieve, Vito. For twenty-four hours. Think you could come up with something a bit more worthwhile?"

"Sure, I know I could."

"You're small fish, remember?"

"To live, Bolan, I can get big damn quick."

"Okay, you've bought yourself a day, Vito. Honor the deal and I'll make it a full pardon."

Aposti

"Okay."

The guy just stood there, staring at him from behind the blaster. Aposti

"Right here will be fine."

The guy just stood there. The boss of the Gold Duster got to his feet and crossed carefully to the door. Was the hick dumb-rube bastard going to let him actually walk out of there?

Vito carefully placed his hand on the door mechanism and, with every nerve of his body screaming for control, told Bolan, "You want me to go on ahead and, uh, clear a path for you?"

"Okay," said the jerk-probably hophead, unbelievably stupid dummy.

Aposti

The tagman was out of his chair and lunging toward the boss, the rod in his hand, trying to surround his personal god with his own lone body.

"Wait, waitami

The casino boss punched the intercom button and yelled, "Okay, dummy, that's all for you. That's a regular vault you're in there, you dumb shit!"

A wave of humanity was surging up the stairway, pistols waving all over the place, and towards the rear of the wave Joe the Monster was pushing people this way and that and fighting his way to the front.

"What the hell is it, Vito?" Sta

"That nut, that Bolan dummy, I got 'im locked up inside my joint!" Aposti

"Well shut off the fuckin' alarms, huh?"

A full sixty seconds were required to still the pandemonium outside "Vito's joint" and to line up a wavy wedge of gun soldiers, and then another twenty seconds to override the electronic lock. Then the door was flung open and six of Joe the Monster's best dived through the opening, guns blazing in every direction.

It took less than three seconds to completely shoot up Vito's joint.

And when the firing ended, Joe the Monster stepped warily into the room, gazed stupidly around at his boys, and then called out, "Mr. Aposti

"Didn't you get him?" Vito asked in a hushed voice.

Another voice sang out from inside. "Nobody in the bathroom, Joe."

Aposti

"Who shot Bruce Serena, Mr. Aposti

"They didn't do it!" Aposti

"Should we look under the rug, Mr. Aposti

"I'm telling you he's in here!" the casino boss ranted. "There ain't no way out! He's in here!"

"Mr. Aposti

"I'm telling you he's in here! I ain't sleepin' in here until you find him!"

"Somebody pull Bruce Baby down from there," Sta

"Look, Joe, I'm not off my marbles," Vito declared, his voice now cold and controlled. "I didn't drill Bruce, I'm telling you..."

"Hey boss!" cried an excited voice from the security platform. Two hardmen had gone up to bring Bruce Baby down. Now one of them was leaning forward with something in his hand. "This was in his lap."

Sta

Sta

"See, I told you," Aposti

With cold frustration, Sta

The men on the tower were intensely occupied with another find. "What's this up here on the wall?" one cried. "Boss! This thing is loose! It's…"

"What is it?" Sta

Aposti

"The what?"

"You know," Goldhearted Vito whispered. "Air conditioning, power cables, TV lead-in, all that."

"Well where does it go to?" Joe the Monster fumed.

"Out back I guess, Joe."

"You guess? Sta

But it was too late, Aposti

The guy had just casually dropped in, allowed Vito to hand over his black book, and then just dropped the hell back out again.

Some men made their chances, others merely rode with them.

And Heart of Gold Vito would never again be absolutely certain as to which category he himself fit into.