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I walk in through the patio doors. In no time, I start to meet people. I raise both hands.
“Take me to Kinahan,” I tell them.
Chapter Nine
India
Four big goons drag Adam into the room.
Molloy laughs. “So, should I torture her now, Boss? Or shall we just ice them both?”
Inside, I’m so happy to see him, I could jump and cry. But my mind says, he’s in here with me, we’re surrounded by the bossman’s henchmen. Logic says, we’re royally fucked.
Adam is calm as he tells the boss, “You’ll want to hear the news first.”
The boss smiles. “Well, here we are now,” he shrugs. “Entertain us.”
“You’re out of business, Kinahan. You just don’t know it yet. The governor’s recommendation to the gaming commission tomorrow morning will mean that when the waterfront license is up for renewal at noon, they will turn it over to me.”
Kinahan’s eyes narrow like hard blades. “Not if you’re in the bayou, inside an alligator, young lad.”
The mob boss looks five years younger than Adam.
Adam says, “It’s a done deal. Signed, sealed and delivered. But all the relevant information, as well as some irrelevant but highly newsworthy personal details about parties such as yourself, will be automatically released by email to all the major news outlets.”
“What?”
“Unless I use an encrypted file to stop them. I have to do that at a certain time, in a particular way, every single day to prevent the release.” He smiles gently. “That’s my insurance policy.”
Colm Kinahan sits back in his chair. “Now, I’m a reasonable man—”
Adam chuckles, “Thats what people always say before they slice off an ear.”
Kinahan leans forward on the desk, menacing. “Have you had a lot of ears sliced off, sunshine? Believe me, it’s nothing to arrange, if that’s what you’re looking for.” He looks around at his hench-goons in the shadows. “I should warn you, though, they don’t normally grow back as prettily as yours seem to have done.” He pauses. “While you’ve still got them, you could do yourself a favor and try some listening.”
Adam says, easily, “If you want to remain alive and at liberty, you could do worse than to listen to me.” His voice is relaxed. That confidence sets me on fire. We could be about to die, but I couldn’t ask for better company. “You’re out of the casino owning business in this state, Colm. It’s over. I’ve provided evidence to the governor that he’s not in a position to ignore.”
“You put pressure on him?”
“He’s in a situation that he can’t risk being made public.”
Kinahan laughs. “So, you’re going to clean up this town and sweep out the racketeering, and you’ll do it via blackmail. You’re off to a fine start.” He’s still laughing. His cheeks glow.
He says, “Look, before you get stretched out way too far ahead of yourself, pretty lad, here’s a little something for you to keep in mind. You know fine and well that mine is the biggest and most successful casino business in the state. Now, I can see you imagining me as a man whose days are spent in silk robes, cavorting with molls and Champagne with endless amounts of noxious chemical diversions on the side. Then, in the evenings, a white Persian cats purrs in my lap while I trim my nails with a bayonet and dream up intricate and fiendish traps of inescapable doom for boyos like your ownself and innocents like the luckless frail here.”
He sits back, studying Adam. “So, while all that’s true, of course, it will astound you to learn that I also take a very active part in the running of the tables and machines. And I’ll tell you one thing I’ve noticed consistently over the years. I’ve noticed you not once crossing the threshold of my floating palace of pleasure. You have not piled chips on the spin of a wheel, you have never blown on a pair of dice, muttered and rattled them, nor have you laid a bet and held your breath for the turn of a card. Let me ask you, laddie,” his eyes narrow, “Do you even know how to play baccarat? Do you know the rules for pai gow, or even keno?”
Kinahan purses his lips, “Would you know if a player slumped on a blackjack table was taking signals from a counter? Do you know how to spot a croupier skimming the wheel?” He drums his fingers. “People think it’s easy running a casino. You open the doors, people come in with money, and when they leave, most of the money stays behind. Simple.”
His head shakes again, and his lips tighten. “What nobody ever thinks about is that one in ten players and one in fifty dealers come in with the avowed and explicit intention of robbing you fucking blind. And to them, my laddie, you are just a mark, and an easy one at that.”
He sits back. “I do know a thing or two about gambling, MacAlpine. And I think your email trap is a bluff.” His eyes flash. “No, I think I’ll take my chances with the media, and let you two take your chances with the wildlife in the swamp.”
Adam tells him, “There’s an armed force outside. If we don’t walk out in the next few minutes, you and your goons won’t walk out at all.”
Kinahan laughs some more, and all the men around the walls laugh with him. “Did you see that in a movie?” As an aside, he says, “Check the security cameras.”
One of the men chuckles. “I’m looking, Boss. Nothing there.”
