The End of Me: And 11 Other Sinful Stories

By Darrin Atkins

There's a lot of sin out there and "The End of Me: and 11 other sinful stories" brings it all together. Meet the drug dealer in Vicious Alley. The demented drifters in Losing It. The runaway stockbroker in Dark City Nights. The hardened kidnappers called The Vegas Guys. The murdering lieutenant in No Future. Gun-Crazy Johnson struggling to survive in Koreatown. The inexperienced female cop in The Unexpected. The workmen's comp fraud investigator in Lies. The guy Abandoned by an old friend. The man Looking for Work in an evil city. The couple Without a Home. And an old man wrongfully accused of murder in The End of Me.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jan 27, 2000
• ISBN: 9781469102344

Darrin Atkins

Darrin Atkins was raised in Stockton, California. He graduated from the University of the Pacific in 1993 and then studied in a Ph.D. Program in Social Psychology at the University of Nevada. He has worked at Premiere magazine, Nevada magazine, the Reno Gazette-Journal, Investor’s Business Daily and The Record. “You Always Lose” is his fourth book.

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Copyright ©1999 by Darrin Atkins.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any

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or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing

from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the

product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to

any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

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Contents

DARK CITY NIGHTS

THE VEGAS GUYS

VICIOUS ALLEY

NO FUTURE

THE UNEXPECTED

GUN-CRAZY JOHNSON

LOSING IT

LIES

LOOKING FOR WORK

ABANDONED

THE END OF ME

WITHOUT A HOME

DARK CITY NIGHTS

1

The city is quiet, still, seemingly empty. The buildings are dark. The streets are vacant and the alleys are silent.

I should’ve known, said the man. I should’ve seen it all coming. There were indications and warning signs, but people are just too optimistic. Nobody wants to believe the worst. I was just like everyone else. Then he started remembering it all.

It began on a sidewalk in front of a large building owned by a major corporation. ATM Man looked down as he walked on the sidewalk. He passed Embezzling Man who walked by him and was just past the entrance to an alley.

Stockbroker landed hard onto his back on the dirty sidewalk after having been tossed out of a dark alley by two mean roughnecks. His black suitcase popped open and all the papers inside flew out onto the sidewalk and into the street. These papers were all the memos he had received that day which described the financial downfall of the company where he worked.

Embezzling Man turned around to see what had happened. He gave a look of indifference and then turned back around and continued to walk.

The roughnecks reached for the stockbroker to continue to punish him but he swung his open suitcase forward and slammed it hard against them. Then he took off down the street with the two close behind. Stockbroker was frantic and desperate. After a few blocks he looked toward the sidewalk and recognized someone. He made a sharp turn, raced as fast as he could, and came up to the chief financial officer of the corporation for which he worked.

Stockbroker gestured and tried to quickly explain something but the chief financial officer simply shook his head and backed up. He didn’t want to hear anything. Stockbroker turned and saw the roughnecks as they approached closer. Then he took off again. He raced down the street, through a parking lot, over some trees and bushes, and then madly through another alley. Always the roughnecks gained on him. Stockbroker knew he couldn’t run forever.

Nearby a beat cop walked on his route, always on the lookout for criminal acts. Stockbroker raced down another sidewalk, barely out of the grasp of the roughnecks. The beat cop approached the end of a city block. Stockbroker sprinted past the end of that same block, directly in front of the beat cop who screamed at him to halt. Stockbroker continued so the beat cop started after him. Stockbroker glanced behind him, saw the cop and increased his pace.

The two roughnecks stopped in order to coordinate their chase in light of the fact that now there was a cop involved. Roughneck 1 directed Roughneck 2 to run down a nearby alley, while he went in a different direction. The two took off and after five minutes nobody knew where anybody else was.

Stockbroker looked behind him to see who was still chasing him. There was nobody in sight so he stopped. When he looked forward again, Roughneck 1 punched him hard and Stockbroker fell backward from the blow. But, lightning quick, Stockbroker lurched forward and delivered a quick right-and-left cross combination punch to Roughneck 1, who then returned with a kick to Stockbroker’s stomach. Stockbroker blocked a second punch and knocked the roughneck against the brick wall. Then he glanced quickly to the side and saw the beat cop who approached them.

Stockbroker raced off again, desperate and crazed. He ran down a few blocks, dripping in sweat from the heat and humidity of the city night. He saw a sign for a subway stop and ran down the concrete steps. He thanked the stars that a car approached the stop at that minute. It was still a fair distance away and he knew he wasn’t safe yet. He continued to glance behind him and saw the beat cop and roughnecks still after him. Stockbroker closed in on the subway car. He had to hurry now because the car had just stopped and he only had a minute to board it. He raced across the waiting area and lunged into the car as the doors crashed shut.

He stood inside at the entrance and watched as the beat cop and roughnecks looked in at either side of the tracks and watched the subway car depart. An exhausted Stockbroker sat down and tried to compose himself.

2

Stockbroker walked alone in the quiet city. He wandered aimlessly then, suddenly, he approached a train station and realized that it might be the answer. He walked through the parking lot, into the building, and over to a counter. There he picked up a train schedule. He sat down and opened his wallet which contained only two dollars. He knew he wouldn’t be able to take a train because he didn’t have enough money so he didn’t want to be at the train station anymore. He got up and headed for the exit.

Once outside he looked around the area. He saw a lovely lady who stood off by herself. She smoked a cigarette. He walked over to her and asked for one.

Something told me not to talk to her, thought the man later. I needed to concentrate on getting out of town. But she seemed like she could use the company and she was pretty. So I talked to her and she talked about how she was getting blamed for something at work and how she’d like to escape and just take the first train anywhere. But then she said that running away never solved anything.

The lady finished her cigarette, said goodbye and left the stockbroker. He walked back downtown, in and around the creepy, mysterious, empty buildings.

I didn’t know what to do next. Without money, I couldn’t escape to anywhere.

After a while he stopped and waited at a corner near an ATM machine. ATM Man approached the ATM machine to withdraw some money. Stockbroker watched the ATM Man as he withdrew his money and then walked by Stockbroker, who quietly stepped behind ATM Man and pushed him forward hard. Stockbroker then tore the man’s wallet out of his pocket and took off and ran in the opposite direction.

I never thought I’d resort to robbery, he said later. But desperate people do desperate things sometimes.

Stockbroker got about a block away and then almost ran right into the beat cop who saw him. The cop also saw ATM man who pointed after Stockbroker. The beat cop pulled out his nightstick and raced after Stockbroker again.

Stockbroker ran in and out of the alleys and easily lost the beat cop. After that, he just walked around for a while. Then he realized that he was back in the ally near his company where he was first attacked by the roughnecks. He saw his papers on the ground and picked them up. He studied each of them but was too nervous and scared to think straight. Then he became frustrated and crumpled them up and crammed them against the wall.

I wasn’t sure what to do now. I had enough money to get away because of how much was in the wallet I had just stolen, but none of the money was really mine. And even if it was, the woman at the train station wasn’t going to run away, so why should I? Then I remembered what street the lady had said she worked on. It was late, very late, but maybe she went back there. It wasn’t far away.

Stockbroker walked the few blocks, found the building and looked up at it. There were a few lights on so he went to the back and waited for an opportunity to get in. He waited until a janitor exited, then he quickly walked through the door while it was open and while the janitor’s back was to him. He walked up the stairs and down a hallway.

I wasn’t sure what I was doing or if she wanted to see me again. I opened a door and she didn’t recognize me at first.

She looked at him with suspicion and then remembered him from the train station. Stockbroker went over to her and they started to talk.

Her problem wasn’t going away like mine wasn’t. She showed me how her accounting books had been altered and how a dozen company checks were missing. Looked like embezzlement to me. She said that the company was too big and that it would take too long to figure out who was doing it.

Stockbroker heard something and motioned to the lovely lady. Then they put everything away and hid in a closet. Stockbroker and the lady had to stand close together inside the closet. He stole wicked, lustful glances at her body.

Embezzling Man entered the room, walked over to the desk and took out the accounting books and checks. Stockbroker and the lovely lady could see him through the cracks in the closet door. Embezzling Man grabbed some checks and headed for the door.

The lovely lady jumped out of the closet and confronted him. The man shoved her away but Stockbroker quickly intervened and the two began a nasty fight. The man got in a few good punches but Stockbroker retaliated and quickly subdued him with a series of powerful punches in a dramatic flash which caused the man to crash unconscious against the wall.

The two tied up Embezzling Man. Then the lovely lady indicated to Stockbroker that he needed to leave because she had to call the police, and it wouldn’t look right for him to be there. She wrote down her address and asked him to meet her there in an hour.

3

Stockbroker walked around the city again, to kill time. He stopped at a mailbox and took out the wallet he had stolen. He dropped it in the mailbox and knew that the post office would make sure it got back to the man he had taken it from. He had no money again, but he felt better about himself. He walked around town some more and finally made his way to the lovely lady’s house.

He knocked on the door and she opened it and let him in. He sat down in the kitchen as she got him a beer. He started to drink and casually gave her his card from work, as he explained what his job had been at the company before he was fired that day. Then he followed her into the living room where she put on some music. He put down the beer and they started to dance to a slow song. They danced as Stockbroker glanced around her apartment.

He looked at a table in the corner of the room, and then he stopped dancing. He walked over and looked at an antique scale that was on the table. The lovely lady came over beside him.

Then Stockbroker remembered being in her office an hour before. She had explained her situation and had held up two papers that showed financial graphs. Then Stockbroker remembered similar graphs that he had held in his hands when he had been in that alley the second time, right before he had become frustrated and crumpled up the papers.

Back in her apartment he looked at the scale a moment longer. Then he said goodbye to the lady and rushed off down the street.

I had the answer. Our stock price at my company had gone way down but I knew that there were some companies whose stock had gone way up on the same day. It was five thirty a.m. and the morning paper had just hit the newsstands. I popped in a quarter and bought one as I raced back to my company. I found the stock listings in the paper and found the companies whose stock had gone way up. Our company was so diversified that we had a small plant somewhere that made the same products as those companies. All we had to do to get our stock back up was to hold a press conference and announce that we would focus our efforts in that area. But I had to get back and tell the financial officer before six which was when the markets opened.

Stockbroker ran down the street with the financial section clutched in his hand. Then he stopped running and turned toward his building. But then, out of an alley, Roughneck 2 appeared and punched Stockbroker hard and caused him to tumble down to the ground.

Stockbroker then looked up from the ground and saw the two roughnecks who stood over him. He started to get up slowly but then popped up and smashed Roughneck 1 with the paper right into his face. However, the roughnecks subdued him and tossed his paper into the dirty, wet gutter.

The paper with the important stock prices floated away down the gutter. Stockbroker looked dejected as he was dragged away for another beating. But then he saw a vehicle pull up nearby. The chief financial officer got out and headed toward his building. Stockbroker looked at the paper in the gutter and then back at the financial officer.

The roughnecks continued to drag him away. He thought fast and then leaned a little one direction. In a fit, he elbowed one of the roughnecks hard into his ribs which sent him reeling into a pole. Then he knocked the other one with a solid right cross. He was free. He sprinted down the sidewalk and picked up the newspaper out of the gutter.

He could tell the roughnecks were on their way after him again. He gunned it over to the financial officer who neared the entrance of the building.

I quickly told the financial officer how we could save the company. I showed him the stock prices in the paper and what I thought about them. I saw the roughnecks coming toward me, so I quickly told the man how we should concentrate our resources and hold a quick news conference.

I knew there was no chance of me saving my job, but I had to try and save the company. I had worked there for too long to see it go bankrupt.

The financial officer thought about it and then nodded in agreement just as the roughnecks got there. Stockbroker felt a lot better, but knew that what had happened between him and the roughnecks was personal. They dragged him away and back into the alley. The roughnecks beat the pulp out of him and then tossed him out of the alley and onto the sidewalk, just like before. They left, satisfied.

He ached all over and sat there for what seemed like forever. Then he felt a presence nearby and braced for another beating. He looked up and was relieved to see the lovely lady who stood over him. She held his card that he had given to her which indicated where he worked. She smiled and helped him up and he walked away with her help. The city woke up and another day began. Another day headed for a dark city night.

THE VEGAS GUYS

1

An old man looked at his wristwatch. It’s almost seven thirty, he said.

We should’ve left earlier, said his wife. You know what traffic’s like on Fridays.

You wanna drive? You can, I’ll let you.

Just get in the car.

You got the forms? he asked once they got inside.

No. You think we’ll need’em?

No, no, he said sarcastically. We’ll just tell the doctor that we’ve got plenty of insurance. Not to worry, doctor, we’ll take care of it.

This is your appointment. You get the forms if you think they’re important. She looked around the car. They’re in the back. They took off in the Ford Taurus and soon arrived at the office, then got out. Old Man walked by a handicapped parking sign. Hey, he said. Remember when we went on that trip and you thought this sign was for restrooms.

You never forget anything, do you?

I try not to.

They walked into the office.

2

Two guys dressed in black with dark hoods broke into a house. They quickly sprinted up the stairs to a door, then they peeked through the doorway. One slowly and quietly pushed against the door to open it. An 18-year-old girl was asleep in the room. The two walked in and immediately rushed over to her. The first one quickly put a gag on her while the other tied her hands and then her feet. The girl resisted and tried to scream but they subdued her and carried her down the stairs.

The van had been backed up to a wooden gate in the front yard. Behind the gate was a side entrance to the house. The two carried her out the side entrance, opened the wooden gate, and then opened the back door to the van and placed her inside. One stepped into the back and the other shut the van door and went to the front of the van where he got in and took off. Once the van was a block away, the two took off their masks.

What the hell were you doing back there? asked Dante, the driver.

What? said Wolfe. I did what you told me to.

No, you didn’t, you idiot. I specifically told you not to use that nylon on the girl when you tied her up. If she tries to get loose, there’ll be marks all over her wrist.

You said to get rope. That’s what I did.

You moron. Nylon is not rope, it’s different. Like the difference between you and someone with a brain. They’re two different things.

Okay, okay. The girl started to make noises and move around.

Keep an eye on her. And look around back there for some rope.

How much time do we have? asked Wolfe.

Dante looked at his watch. Forty-seven hours.

We’re not gonna make it, said Wolfe from the back of the van.

Dante looked around and said, Say that again and I’ll kill you right here.

Look out! screamed Wolfe.

Dante turned back around and slammed on the brakes, and barely missed the car ahead of them. The momentum propelled Wolfe and Maria forward toward the front.

Damnit, said Dante. He looked to the back. Watch her! If she gets hurt, the whole thing’s off.

Okay, okay. I’m watching her. The van continued down the road.

Gimme the phone, ordered Dante. Wolfe passed him the cellular phone and Dante pushed a button.

Four men stood inside a laundry room in the basement of a major casino in Las Vegas. One male had an earphone in his left ear. He pushed a button on a receiver at his waist.

Status? asked Dante, in the van, on the other end of the line.

First phase initiated, said Vegas Man #1.

Keep us posted.

"Ten-four.

What did he say? asked Wolfe.

They’re starting the first sequence.

This late? What happened?

I don’t know, said Dante. I’m not there, am I? No, I’m right here.

What do you think happened?

I don’t care, said Dante. They have their own assignments and we have ours. I think we have enough to worry about.

Okay, okay.

How’s the girl?

She looks all right, said Wolfe.

Take off her gag. Dante started to roll up his window.

Before I do anything, said Wolfe to the girl as he started to take off the gag. I want you to know that we’re not going to hurt you. All we want is for you to help us exchange some securities down in Phoenix. He took off her gag. The girl screamed.

Put it back! yelled Dante. Wolfe put it back on. Hey, listen! yelled Dante to the girl. We don’t care about you. All we care about are a few little access codes that you have.

That’s right, added Wolfe. We’re not going to hurt you. All we care about is money. We’re not kidnapping you, we’re just borrowing you for a little while.

Get the hell up here! ordered Dante.

Wolfe went to the front, where the two talked to each other.

What are you talking about? asked Dante.

I’m not gonna be involved in a kidnapping.

What is borrowing supposed to mean?

I’m not gonna be charged with kidnapping, said Wolfe.

You can define it any way you want but it’s still the same thing.

Fine, whatever. Wolfe went to the back.

After a while the van started to overheat so Dante pulled over. He went out and opened the hood, looked inside for a moment, and then slammed it down and jumped back inside the van. He banged the steering wheel hard. Damnit!

What? What is it? asked Wolfe.

Radiator hose. It’s busted.

Can’t we fix it?

No, we can’t fix it. Even if we could find a place in this hickville town that sells’em, it would take too long to replace it. We’re already behind schedule as it is.

What do we do? asked Wolfe. How we gonna get there?

Shut up. Shut the hell up. Let me think. Dante looked out the window, saw a Ford Taurus parked in a parking lot, the one owned by the old couple who were inside the office building. We’ll have to steal a car.

What? That’s a felony.

Hey! You’ve got exactly two seconds to come up with a better idea. Okay, stay here and watch her. Honk if you see anything suspicious. Dante got out of the van, walked across the street and then over to the Taurus which was situated between a truck and another car. He bent down beside the driver’s side door and used a small skeleton key and a small penknife to open the door.

Wolfe watched from the van. Dante got the door unlocked and quickly got inside He started to configure some wires under the dash. Wolfe sweated and anxiously watched the doorway of the office complex. Suddenly, he saw somebody exit. He moved to the driver’s seat and honked the horn once.

Then the girl, Maria, started to make noises in the back to get that person’s attention. Wolfe went and covered her mouth. Dante ducked down inside the Taurus.

The person walked by and went to another vehicle. Dante went back to work and finally got the car started. He then drove it out of the parking lot and parked near the van on the side of the street. He got out, opened the back passenger door of the Taurus, and then opened the back of the van. Dante and Wolfe hurridly escorted Maria into the back seat of the Taurus and buckled her in. Wolfe got in beside her as Dante shut the van door. Dante then took off in the Taurus, and left the van beside the road.

3

I think I’ll use all of these over the weekend, said the old man to the clerk inside the office building. When’s the earliest I can get a refill?

On the next business day, said the secretary. That’s Monday.

Okay, thanks.

You’re welcome. The old couple walked out of the office and then toward their car.

Where’s the car? asked the old man’s wife.

It should be right here, where I parked it.

Well, it’s not, she said. The two looked around the parking lot in case they had parked elsewhere. The van was still parked alongside the street where Dante and Wolfe had left it. The couple continued to look near where they had parked their car, and then at other locations in the parking lot.

Really? said the old man. It’s a good thing you told me because I never would’ve figured it out.

Will you get serious? Are you sure you parked it here?

Yes! Remember when I walked past that sign and reminded you of the trip.

It’s gone, said the wife.

No, the sign’s still there.

I mean the car.

I know it’s gone.

I mean it’s been stolen, she said. What are we gonna do?

We can sit here and wait for a while. Whoever took it might decide to bring it back.

Somebody stole our car. Why? Why us? She was nearly hysterical. I’ve never had a car stolen before.

You stay here. I’ll go inside and call the police.

I’m not stayin’ out here by myself, she said. What if they come back?

Okay, you call the police.

No. I don’t know what to tell’em.

Fine, said the old man. He went back inside the office as his wife followed him. He went to the counter.

Can I use your phone? he asked the receptionist. It looks as if our car has been stolen.

Sure, here you go. The old man dialed a number on the phone.

4

At the police station nearby, Sgt. Cantu sat and discussed a new case with two people. The phone started to ring. All we know now is that she didn’t ride home from school with her friend like she normally does, he continued. She could be at a friend’s house. The phone rang again. Somebody answer the phone.

Hello, said Officer Johnson. He listened to the caller. What’s the address again? He wrote it down. Okay, tell’em we’ll send someone out. He hung up. Auto theft, he said to Sgt. Cantu. You want me to take it?

Go ahead, but hurry back. If the girl’s still missing his time tomorrow, she’s our number one priority. Nothing else.

Right. Officer Johnson arrived at the office complex where the auto theft had taken place. He parked and looked over at the van alongside the road where a parking official had just finished writing a ticket and had placed it on the windshield. Officer Johnson walked over to the old couple who stood in front of the entrance to the building.

Mr. and Mrs. Peterson?

They stole our car. It’s just gone, said Mrs. Peterson, the old man’s wife.

I’m sorry, ma’am.

Calm down, said her husband. We’ll get it back.

Sure we will, all smashed up in an alley somewhere with the radio ripped out.

I need you to come downtown to fill out the paperwork, said Officer Johnson. You can ride with me and then we’ll have someone take you home.

To the police station? We’re not the ones who stole the car.

Ma’am, it’s standard procedure. It won’t take very long.

She’s never been to a police station before.

And you have? asked Mrs Peterson to her husband.

I didn’t say that. I just said... The three started to walk to the patrol car.

I know what you said. You implied that I was some sort of ignoramus because I’ve never been arrested.

Lemme get the door. Officer Johnson opened the door and the two got in the back.

No, I didn’t.

Oh, shut up.

Officer Johnson got in and the three left the scene.

5

The group in Vegas moved through an extended underground employee hallway and walkway system underneath a major casino. They were dressed in the casino’s employee uniforms that they stole from the laundry room. The four of them approached a door marked Security Personnel Only. The leader of the group tried the door but it was locked so he retrieved a pocket knife from his waist belt and jimmied the door. It opened and the four entered.

The room contained the central breaker box for the complicated series of tunnels underneath the casino. Vegas Man #1 went over to a large breaker box and opened it.

Go down the hallway to the main surveillance room, he said to Vegas Man #2. In ten minutes I’ll reset the timer from in here. Make sure there’s nobody watching the primary security channel.

Ten minutes. Okay.

Go with’em but stay outside, he ordered Vegas Man #3. He’ll call you if he needs help.

Vegas Man #2 left with Vegas Man #3. Vegas Man #1 went back to work on the fuse panel while Vegas Man #4 hooked into the main communications line in order to monitor any possible alarms.

6

The Ford Taurus sped along the freeway. They’re gonna be looking for this car, said Wolfe. We can’t drive it forever.

How’s the girl? asked Dante. Take off the gag. Wolfe did so and she breathed easier. Good morning, Maria, said Dante.

How do you know my name?

We know everything about you, said Wolfe.

How’s your father doing? asked Dante. It looks like his merger’s gonna go through on Monday. Just thought I’d let you in on that. Seems as if he’s got a few friends in the upper echelon of the business world.

They’ve already started looking for me. You can’t kidnap someone and expect everyone to let it go unnoticed.

This isn’t a kidnapping, said Wolfe. We’re just borrowing you until Sunday night.

"Actually, Maria, your parents won’t even be home until ten.

And even then we can’t be sure that they’ll rush to see if they’re little bratty girl isn’t where she normally is. In fact, I’d bet that they’d like a nice little respite from you."

What are we gonna do about the car? asked Wolfe.

Okay, we’ll stop.

Dante lurched across two lanes towards the nearest freeway exit. He drove down the exit and into a parking lot.

What are you doing? asked Maria.

Watch her. Dante stopped the van in a supermarket parking lot and grabbed a screwdriver out of the glove box. He then got out of the van.

I promise you, we’re not gonna hurt you, said Wolfe. All we want you to do is help us with some securities. We know that you have the codes because you just turned eighteen and your father wanted to bring you into the company.

Once they find out I’m missing, they’ll switch the codes.

That’s true but, you see, we’ve already thought of that. We have a little team in Vegas taking care of that and any other loopholes that might surface.

Why are you doing this? she asked. You don’t seem the type.

Well, it’s a little more interesting than wasting away at a nine to-five existence at the office, don’t you think? Wolfe had grown sick of his ordinary life and couldn’t ever go back to it.

Dante came back with two license plates. Look what I found, he said. Just lying on the ground outside, he lied. You guys sit tight. I’ll be done in a minute. Dante went outside to change the plates.

Why didn’t you just kidnap my father? she asked Wolfe.

Well, partly because he would’ve put up too much of a struggle and partly because he would’ve been able to outsmart us.

And since we both have the codes I would be the easier target.

Exactly. But don’t worry. Once we have the money, we’ll be on our way.

Oh, I believe that, she said. Though she didn’t.

It’s the truth. I told’em that that’s the only way I’d become involved, just so long as nobody got hurt.

You’re such an angel.

Dante got back in the van. Let’s get the hell outta here.

7

In Vegas, once they had the video room in control, two of the Vegas guys took off with a laundry cart. They hopped in an elevator and stopped off at the sixth floor. They quietly rolled the cart down a hallway and into the coin bulk storage room. They walked in and shut the door behind them.

Yes? asked the cage boss.

We’re new around here, said #4 as he pulled out a gun. Life’s a gamble, isn’t it? You never know when your luck’s gonna turn. He shot the cage boss.

Hurry! yelled #3. The two madly loaded bags of hundred dollar bills and silver dollars into the cart. They stacked it entirely full in less than 30 seconds. As this happened, two other guys on the third floor did the same thing with another cart in another money room.

This is all watched by the leaders in the video surveillance room. Suddenly, the guys monitoring the cameras spied someone approaching the bulk room on the sixth floor.

Then they watched as the man entered that room and was shot to death by one of the Vegas Guys.

Finally, both teams raced down the stairs with the laundry carts full of money. They took the freight elevators to the underground parking garage.

Where’s the van? asked #6, who was part of the Vegas Guys group that had been assigned elsewhere and had just joined the others.

Over there! said #5.

All six Vegas Guys rushed over to the van and lifted and pushed both carts full of money into the back. They slammed on the gas and raced out of the garage into the streets, and then onto a desert road toward their freedom.

8

What’s the plan now? asked Wolfe.

The plan is for you to shut up and let me drive. The pressure was getting to Dante.

Come on! We’re supposed to be in this together.

Shut up! I’ll talk when I’m ready to talk. Okay?

Fine, fine, said Wolfe. He waited for a few minutes.

The plan is for us to meet Group B in L.A. at eight for the exchange.

What if they don’t show? asked Wolfe.

They’ll show if they want the girl. That’s the deal. Five hundred thousand for the girl.

How can you trust these guys? asked Wolfe.

I can trust’em because I’ve done business with’em. It’s called reciprocity.

Okay. How you doin’, Maria? Wolfe heard her say something. She said she’s thirsty.

Too bad. She can drink all she wants once this is all over.

9

A few hours later, Dante, Wolfe and Maria stopped at the motel where they were supposed to meet the Vegas Guys, and went to room number twelve. The Vegas Guys finally showed up.

Dante went outside to talk to them while Wolfe guarded Maria inside the room. Dante started yelling at the Vegas Guys because they only had part of the money that had been expected.

Then one Vegas Guy distracted Dante while Vegas Guy #2 smashed him on the head with a two-by-four that knocked him out. Then the Vegas Guys rushed into the motel room, pointed a gun at Wolfe, then kidnapped Maria and escaped with her.

Go ahead, try something, said Vegas Guy #3 to Wolfe, as he intimidated him with the gun as they took off with the girl. Wolfe started to run after the van to find out where it was headed, but stopped after a while. Dante remained unconscious on the sidewalk.

Wolfe got in the Taurus and drove off, disturbed at how he had been betrayed. he didn’t trust anybody now, and wasn’t about to stay with Dante. He drove for a long time and then pulled off the freeway and stopped