The Dealer

By Robert Kelley

Every town has its secrets, but Chase Weston was nether aware or prepared for what he practically swan-dived into. What seemed like a few faulty blackjack games was building the foundation for something that he would've never wanted to be a part of, and worse, can't get free from. A single month changes his life metamorphically in a story about betrayal, revenge, and ultimately how much chaos one grudge can cause. One dealer who had everything, risked it all for just a little bit more, and let the past sneak up on him like he never thought it could.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Aug 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781304346360

Robert Kelley

Robert Kelley is Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and is the author of The Shaping of the American Past and several other highly esteemed books.

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The Weston Family Files: CONFIDENTIAL

FINAL CASE NOTES 06/22/2008

CHASE WESTON MISSING

Case: 3112935a

Status: INCOMPLETE

On May 19, 2008, the best blackjack dealer to set foot in Mississippi went missing along with his wife, Britney. It was so sudden, he was the kind of guy who knew everyone and it’d take at least ten minutes to think of a reason not to like him. Nonetheless, that harmless Friday night left nothing of Chase Weston’s untouched. His beach house was crackling embers by the time the fire patrol arrived and his car was totaled, as in nearly split in half by a towering palm tree less than 100 yards from his front door. The only sign that he had even been in this town is his pitbull, Ace, who sits on the porch of my office any day it’s not raining and growls at the occasional passerby. I don’t know why he chose my place, but I enjoy the company. And seeing a tourist jump every now and then at a bark doesn’t bother me much either. Detectives have come from all over the country and tried to solve this case, but nobody has come up with a theory that is in any way legitimate. They have tried to claim it was suicide but that simply couldn’t be. His life wasn’t perfect but it was swell. Chase had a gorgeous wife who had stood by him all the way though college even though he never managed to get a degree. He definitely was one to live in the moment. He loved his job at the Diamond Gulf Casino ten miles outside of the town. And he loved his best friend Tommy Columbo who had helped him get the interview. Although money was tight at times, he always managed to dress in outfits wild enough to justify playing a few hundred away at his table. They’ve claimed murder too but finding a suspect was a joke. I believe the closest they got was a bartender who had gotten a little carried away during a Final Four game. But nobody had anything against him. Seriously, not a soul. That’s why I couldn’t hold back the tears when his name ended up on my desk.

Officer Damon, Chief of Police

June 30, 2008. Oh, and there’s a theory some rookie in from Florida came up with. We used to have this wretched old man, Bruno Santiago, in our town. Bruno had no family, just a few guys he was always with who were equally as uncivil. He was filthy rich and had paid for the penthouse of the best hotel around for 3 years in advance. I knew he had some serious skeletons in his closet but I could never pin anything on him. I’d get a lead of some drug trade and he’d have paid off my investigators before I had even assigned the case. Beyond frustrating. Anyway, this guy asked me if Chase Weston had anything to do with Bruno. After I had looked at him like the punk had the IQ of my new alligator boots, I threw back a harsh No. Other than Mr. Santiago playing a few games at his table, the only thing that the two had in common was disappearing on the same night. But to think…to think that that has anything to do with Chase makes me sick. Bruno was bound to get what’s coming to him. I had seen some of the sketchiest people on the planet come out of his hotel at hours God isn’t even awake. Anyone who knew Chase like I did wouldn’t have even given that coincidence a thought.

August 17, 2008. There’s one more thing: A few weeks before the incident, Mrs. Bradley told me she saw Mr. Santiago and Chase having coffee through the upstairs window of the Westons’ house. I paid no attention to it because to be honest she’s a crazy old woman and would cut off her own toe if she thought it would make good news. She’s always trying to cause a ruckus. There’s also no way that the rendezvous could’ve happened. Bruno drove a flashy black Cadillac with red headlights that only a tool like him would have. Someone would have seen him. Couldn’t have missed it. And nobody drinks coffee at 12 o’clock at night, that’s ridiculous; I swear that lady’s insane.

1

Money To Burn

Nobody actually realizes how precious life is until they’re coughing out the last seconds of it.

Literally in my case.

Sometimes I wish bad situations would walk up real nice and polite and warn a guy that it was on its way. But no, they pounce, like a cold-blooded lion. I was on top of the world and now the credits of my life are rolling and they’re scrolling fast. Money always seemed to be the most important thing, but money can’t save you. I have a 6-figure check in my wallet right now and it’s not doing a damn thing. It can’t stop the fact that I’m in a locked room on the second floor of a stranger’s house. It can’t stop the fact that everybody who I thought were my friends left with the man who put me here. And it certainly can’t stop the fact that flames as tall as me are lapping at the cedar door. Or that smoke as black as the tie I’m holding over my mouth is filling the room. I’ve never been threatened, I’ve always been the threat, and now for the first time in my life I’m scared. I’m gonna be honest I don’t have much time and so much has happened in the last two weeks, but I’m going to do my best to clear my name. It wasn’t personal. He didn’t read the fine print.

I don’t deserve to be here.

Chase Weston moved into Biloxi, Mississippi a few days after Valentine’s Day. He had surprised his wife, Britney, by finally getting out of their scrappy apartment in Memphis and going to live in a smaller town. Both of their jobs were beyond easy to quit. He had been working the graveyard shift at a local gas station and she was an artist trying to get discovered. She’d always complain about how she wanted to live somewhere where people cared about each other. Britney wanted to have people she could go to lunch with and not always have to wait up for Chase if she needed someone to talk to. She had this idea that all the good people live in Mississippi. I wish she’d been right.

Chase and Britney spent the entire first week exploring the town and meeting anyone who sent a smile their way. They were one of the best-looking couples I’ve ever seen. Chase was a man who was going to have as much fun as possible and nobody was going to stop him. He was going sixty over the speed bumps of life, and he could care less about the alignment. The first night, the new family moved into a little white house three blocks down from the diner. Chase ended up at the pool hall and in a matter of no time he was hustling a game of billiards and making comments his mom wouldn’t have smirked at. A small fistfight and half a dozen beers later, he had already made two friends: the sheriff, Officer Damon, who happened to be there to break it up, and Tommy Columbo. Tommy was the boy that the moms in this town warned their daughters about. The town was never good enough for him, he had always dreamed of something bigger, which couldn’t have fit Chase better.

The two of them exchanged stories of what they’ve done and how they ended up in Mississippi and both had the same reason: women. Chase quite simply blamed it on his wife. Tommy had a girlfriend who wouldn’t leave their hometown if a hurricane was coming. He had offered to take her to any other place on Earth, but her roots weren’t budging. Eventually she ended up leaving with a soldier who was just passing through to his next base, and Tommy was never able to get out. He had just enough money to coast on with a simple life. Anytime he tried to initiate change, his life would unravel. So he stayed at status quo. Tommy was the absolute last person anybody thought would still be there on his 30th birthday. He had ranted about how he was going to see all the landmarks they’d let him get near, and how he planned to get a little bit of knowledge from every country and be smarter than anybody else. But none of it happened. He sat in the town he was sick of, working a job he didn’t want, and watched his potential get snuffed out like an old Zippo.

Until he found Diamond Gulf Casino.

The thing about Biloxi is you can’t even walk down the sidewalk without every person you pass wanting to know your business. It’s cute the first or second time but after that, not the slightest bit. Sometimes Tommy would just want to think. He didn’t want to talk, he didn’t want to be whined to by drunken acquaintances, he merely wanted to sift through his life and wonder what could have been different. He liked to smile about the fun times, and give the bad times their respect, and the best place to do that was the city bus.

It only stopped in our town twice a day. At 9 am and 7 pm, so if you were going somewhere it had to be a all-day trip, otherwise you needed to bring a suitcase. Tommy had made it an occasional habit to get on the 7pm with just pajamas and a cigar and not return until the following morning stop. He would see what the rest of Mississippi had been doing and enjoy his alone time. One particular night he stayed up a few extra hours, and saw one of the most amazing things he had ever witnessed. Where there had once been a huge crane and piles of equipment, stood a giant complex lit up in extravagant colors from the foundation to the roof. On the edge of the gulf. It had a giant diamond made of mirrors rotating in the center of the sign and in big letters it read: OPENING NIGHT: HIRING EXTRA DEALERS. He thought he was dreaming, there was his ticket out. And it was only 10 miles away from his doorstep.

He had been working there for 3 months when Chase moved in. After talking to him for only a week he knew they had a common interest—being in the town as little as possible. Chase had always loved big cities, but Britney preferred peace and quiet. She had compromised for him and lived in Memphis the entire time he was in school so he felt obligated to return the favor. However, he said just because he had to live in Biloxi didn’t mean he had to work there. Chase’s personality was always a little rowdy; he liked to surprise people and turned everything into a show. This certainly didn’t help him in college. He would sign the syllabus and after a few witty remarks, his classmates loved him and the professors couldn’t wait for him to fail out.

Chase wasn’t meant for a nine-to-five job. He felt like he had a gift and any job that was behind a desk would never satisfy him. He loved to do what nobody expected him to pull off. He moved to Pearwater High during Britney’s senior year.  The two things he discovered almost immediately was that Britney was the most stunning girl he’d ever seen, and her boyfriend drove a black Nissan Maxima. He knew he had just got there and enemies aren’t what you want right off the bat, but he had Physical Fitness with her second period. She had dark brown hair and her voice was the sweetest thing he’d ever heard. With graduation in two months he couldn’t risk not being able to tell her how he felt.

One Saturday night, he took a leap of faith and drove into her driveway with his navy Nissan Maxima at around 9:30 pm. The Sun had called it a night a few moments before, so he was banking on that entirely. He honked his horn and, sure enough, she came running down the front stairs and slid into the passenger seat of Chase’s car.

Who the hell are you!? Britney asked frantically.

Sorry I must’ve pulled in to the wrong driveway, he said quickly.

Really? Because I know for a fact, nobody from Pearwater High lives in my neighborhood. Who were you looking for…uh…I’m sorry what’s your name again?

It’s Chase Weston, I honestly didn’t think you’d call me out like that, he said jokingly, I’ve got nothing to lose, and I just wanted to see if you wanted to go out some time.

I’m flattered, but I have a boyfriend, who’s on his way over, by the way. And this isn’t exactly the best first impression.

Yeah I get it. Well it was nice talking to you, Derek’s a lucky guy.

She stepped out of the car and walked slowly back to the house. Then just as she was turning to close the garage door, a small smile flashed across her face. That was enough for him. The ironic thing was that he would kill to be Derek, and the following Monday, Derek tried to kill him. A fat lip was worth it for Chase eventually, because him and Britney just had their fifth anniversary and he still sports the honeymoon glow.

2

Finding Ace

February 23, 2008

Chase: Hey babe! Could you pick up a bag of Jack Links on your way home? (:

Britney: I honestly can’t! We’re running short on cash; I haven’t bought anything outside of essentials in like a week.

How!? We both sold our cars less then a month ago there is no way we’re out of money.

Furniture is expensive…

Says the girl who bought two couches for the living room. WHY WOULD WE NEED TWO?

For when we have guests over!! You’re being ridiculous, I gotta go.

Yeah have fun at that art show haha

Fun?! I’m out here selling my paintings to pay off YOUR student loans. You seriously have no room to talk! You don’t even have a job yet.

Farming isn’t my thing lol

I finished off the last few Cheez-its and was rinsing out a plastic bowl when the door slammed. It was going to be one of those nights. Britney kicked her shoes off by the screen door and marched into the bathroom.

Britney come on. I was just tired this morning, you know your art is just as important to me as it is to you, I said softly.

She leaned her head out the door in the midst of brushing her teeth and said, This isn’t the first time this has happened. I don’t know why you think it’s alright to just sit around and leave all the money problems for me!

I told you I have my eye on a job, my interview is next Tuesday! Tommy put in a real good word for me. I said putting my hand on her hip.

That’s good. Guess where you’re going to be until next Tuesday? she replied, spitting in the sink.

Britney..

The couch. Lucky for you, you have two to pick from! she yelled pushing my chest back with way more force than I thought was feasible.

My back hit the coat rack behind me hard, and I walked away showing as little pain as possible. She went to our bedroom and slammed the door. Considering we hadn’t bought the bed frame yet, our usual sleeping spot was just a mattress in the corner of the yellow-speckled sunroom. In my opinion, the couch is more comfortable so jokes on her. I get in these weird moods after a fight where I like to have the last word, even if I know it is in no way going to help my situation. So despite my better judgment, I waited 5 or 10 minutes when I was sure she had fallen asleep and said, Baaaabe you hurt my backkkk!

She screamed like a wild animal into her pillow. I always take it a step too far. It didn’t used to be like this. I remember when I used to forget when we had fought last. It’s not that I love her any less than I did. I love her more. Sometimes you can live in the same house