“No way. He did that a year ago with Lolo Arvanatti. They got a few million out of it. That’s child’s play for me. I ain’t wasting my time on no few million and he knew it. So he offered me billions.”
“Billions?” asked Sal. “What the fuck?”
“You mean the PaLargio?” asked Reno.
“There ya go,” said Rats, pointing at Reno.
But Reno was frowning. “Since when you wanted to own my hotel and casino, Rats?”
“I don’t,” Rats said. “What I’m gonna do with it? I don’t know nothing about that shit.”
“So what are you talking about then?” asked Sal.
“Money honey,” said Rats. “I want the money. And where is the money? At the PaLargio casino on the Vegas Strip, that’s where! I was told that place has to keep upwards of a billion dollars a day on hand to feed that humungous beast. It’s like a fucking bank. All I wanted was a day’s take and I’d be happy.”
But Reno’s main concern was Trina. “So you try to kill my wife?” he asked him. “What does she have to do with any of this?”
“Her death was going to be the distraction.You arethe PaLargio. Without you, that shit ain’t gonna run smoothly. And with you around, we couldn’t take the money. Your ass would be on top of everything. So they needed somebody to get rid of Trina. That’s when Javon contacted me because her assassins had to come from outside and they’re method had to be spectacular. None of that rooftop shit. Since Javon had access to her, and he could claim the blackmailers from a year ago, which was just him and Lolo, were back. And they wanted the PaLargio in full this time.”
“So he lures her to that motel and your guys show up?”
Rats nodded. “That’s what happened, yes.”
“But she didn’t die,” Reno said.
Rats let out an exhale as if he was so disappointed. “No. She didn’t die. Which created a different situation for us. Instead of you going into mourning for months on end, yourass was back at the casino within days after she was released to recover at home. So we had to shelf the plan until we could take her out. We knew you would revisit Javon. He was being followed for a few months and then that stopped. But we couldn’t do shit while the heat was still on him. So our only option was to go inside the belly of that beast.”
“Who’s we?” Reno finally asked.
“Me, Javon, and Javon’s contact. But Javon’s dead, isn’t he? And his ass talked before he died, didn’t he? That’s the only reason you found out I had anything to do with it. Am I right?”
“No,” Reno said. “We figured that out ourselves.” But Reno realized something else. “You said he had a contact. Are you telling me he had an inside man?”
Everybody was shocked when Reno used that phrase. Betrayal by one of their men was something they all feared on a daily basis.
And when Rats nodded, Reno’s heart dropped. “He had an inside man, yes,” Rats said. “That’s why I’m innocent in this matter. I only did his bidding. I didn’t have access to shit. It’s the man with the access you need to worry about.”
“Who is he?” Reno asked, his heart beginning to pound.
But Rats hesitated. And that hesitation did it for Reno. He jumped up, grabbed Rats by his coat lapel, and placed that Glock in his mouth. “I’ll remove it when you tell me who’s the inside man? And your ass better not stutter!”
Rats, now terrified, nodded his head.
Reno removed his gun from out of his mouth. “Who?” Reno asked him.
“Malcolm Zock,” Rats said.
Everybody was astounded. “Reno’s security chief?” asked Sal.
“Where is he?” Mick asked.
Reno had to think about that. But Monk remembered. “Malcolm’s at the PaLargio on guard duty. He’s inside the penthouse right now,” Monk said and Reno took off running.
“My wife is in that bitch too,” said Sal, running after Reno.
So is mine, Monk thought in horror as he ran after the two men.
Rats, looking relieved, actually stood up. But Mick pushed him right back down. “Your ass ain’t going nowhere,” he said.
