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“ID, please, Mr. Milov.” The one standing closest to me has his hands on his belt while his partner goes around Renat’s side and asks if he’s carrying a weapon and has a license.
I hand over my ID and my gun license. “I am letting you know I am carrying a concealed weapon and have a license for it.”
“Thank you, sir. This is just a random stop. Making sure nothing untoward is going on.” The office moves to the driver's window. “License and registrations, please.”
The driver passes these to him as the other cop calls in Renat’s gun license to check its validity. They know it’s valid. They’re just making it difficult. I settle back and relax, taking out my phone and playing snake to pass the time. It’s a power move. People don’t realize you can’t give the cops satisfaction by reacting. Appear as bored as possible so they have no reason to harass you.
Once they’ve done their checks, they tip their hats to me and walk off. “Onward.”
I roll up my window and watch the landscape pass by until we reach the casino. My realtor is waiting outside for me, keys in hand.
“Mr. Jason Bigg.” I approach him and shake his hand firmly. “Have we got a winner?”
“We successfully bid and won the casino pending your approval.” He hands me the keys. “Feel free to take a look.”
I take the keys and hand them to Renat before I say to Jason, “Stay outside. I have business to attend to inside.”
“Yes, sir, I’ll be waiting in my car for the keys.” I smile and pat him on the back before I follow Renat into the casino. He switches on the lights, and I look around at the machines and the empty tables. “Everything here comes with the place, not bad, hey, Renat?”
“Not bad, sir. You always make excellent business decisions.” He smiles knowingly.
I wander around the place. It could use a fresh coat of paint and the carpet could be replaced, both things I will do but I’ll leave the rest. We’ll need to hire staff loyal to our family so they don’t skim off the top. Good help is always hard to find.
Talking about skimming off the top… I turn as Renat unlocks the side fire escape door, and two of my other guards drag a man through the casino and dump him at my feet.
“Mr. Milov. There must be some mistake.”
“Harry,” I say jovially. “So good to see my favorite bookie. How are the bets going? Got any great tips?”
He looks around nervously. “I have a good tip on a horse. Names Jezabelle.”
“I’m not interested in horses, Harry. What I’m interested in is money.” I pace in front of him. “Now, my boys have been collecting from you, but the bags seem a little light. You know what I mean? You wouldn’t be stealing from me, would you, Harry?” I stop and look at him.
He looks at me with wide eyes and says, “I’d never be foolish enough to steal from you, Mr. Milov. I have been loyal to you from day one.”
“That’s funny, Harry, 'cause when my main guy runs the numbers, we seem to be out about thirty grand.” I stand in front of him, hands on my hips. “Now, I don’t want to throw around accusations, but you’ve been seen recently with a lot of ladies, flashing a lot of money around. I know we take care of you, Harry, but are we taking care of you that much that you can flaunt it.”
“Yes, sir, you take care of me very well.” I lean down and grab his face in my hand, and he squeaks, “Please don’t.”
“Now, because you’ve been loyal to my family, I’m going to give you two weeks to come up with my money, Harry. It’s now fifty grand because of the interest you’ve wracked up. That’s fair, isn’t it?”
“Please don’t hurt me…” he groans.
I let go of his face and grab his hand, bending it backward. He cries out in pain.
“Harry, that’s fair, isn’t it?”
“Yes, Mr. Milov,” he blubbers.
“Now you stole from me, Harry. So I have to punish you otherwise other people will think they can steal from me. Normally, I’d let the boys sort this out, but this was personal. This was from my personal money.” I crush his hand back and feel the bone snap.
Harry screams out in pain, and I drop his hand. “Fifty grand and an apology, Harry. You have two weeks. Don’t bother trying to run. We can find you anywhere in the country, anywhere in the world. Don’t think I won’t. I don’t like it when people betray me. You got it?”
“I… I got it,” he cries out, cradling his hand. I nod to the two guards.
“Get him back to his accommodations and keep an eye on him so he doesn’t do a runner,” I say. They grab him and roughhouse him to his feet before making him leave.
I look around again. “I like this place, Renat. It has a lot of potential. Let’s give Jason the keys back and discuss this with Kervyn.”
