EYEHEARTZOMBIES

I didn’t make it back to Vegas that night, obviously. I found a shady spot on the side of the road and sat to wait for a car to come by once the sun came out. I wasn’t waiting too long, maybe an hour, before one did. My watch, it turned out, had been broken in the crash or in the roll down the hill, so I can’t tell you for sure how long I waited.

A car did come, though. A white Ford pickup. The driver was going through Vegas, so he agreed to give me a ride all that way. We weren’t in the car long, though, maybe two hours before the lights of Vegas winked at me. It was pretty early in the morning, maybe nine or ten o’clock, so there wasn’t a lot of traffic. I thanked him, offered to pay him again. He agreed this time, but only to breakfast. I bought him all he wanted to eat and then paid for him to fill up his truck with gas. He drove away an hour later, happy and wanting for nothing. I believe in revenge, but I believe in paying your debts more.

I walked down the Strip to the Flamingo and told the Mooch what had happened.

“She didn’t have a gun on her before you left here, did she?” Mooch asked.

“How the hell should I know?” I was tired, having missed a night’s sleep. I also hadn’t had time to take a shower yet. The Mooch wanted his news quickly and up front. He didn’t have time to wait for you to get comfortable. “Eh. Sorry, Mooch. No, as far as I know, she didn’t. But, I didn’t know she had one when she pulled it on me. She had to have had the sissy gun in her purse. I just want to know why she wanted to knock me off.”

“We’ll figure it out, kid.” Mooch patted me on the shoulder, then left my room. I locked the door behind him and got undressed for my shower.

After washing half the sand of the desert out of my hair and off my body, I was sitting on the bed when a knock came at the door. It was Sonny, with the Mooch again. Sonny wanted to hear my story for himself, so I told him.

“And then the bitch pulled a gun on me. I swerved off the hill. If I had known it was that high I wouldn’t have, but I didn’t so I did. Anyway, we went off, I jumped out of the car. I rolled down after it,” I showed him some of the bruises on my arms and back. “And ended up smacking into it at the bottom. She was already dead. Shot herself somehow with the gun. I don’t think she meant to. Anyway, everything was all busted up, so I grabbed my gun and some other stuff and high-tailed it back here. The rest you know ’cause I’m sure Mooch here told you how I came and told him all of this.” I finished up and looked at Sonny. “So, boss, what do you think?”

Sonny just looked at me. He shook his head and paced back and forth a few steps. Then he went over to the window and opened it up. It looked out over the back side of the Strip and had a nice view of the residential area of Vegas.

“Kid, we’ve been told to keep you high and dry. Someone higher up likes you. I don’t know why, Mooch here don’t know why. We just know we’re supposed to help you. You’ll have to forgive us if we don’t really know how, though. We’re just Vegas hoods, kid. We don’t do a lot of the deceitful stuff. We just shoot you in the head from behind or blow up your car. This is some of that crazy New York shit. Planting guns on a dame. What’s next? Your own mother taking pot shots at you?”

I nodded. I understood. Vegas is a big town with a lot of gangster and illegal movement in it. To know who has a gripe with who at any given moment is probably more than any one person can keep track of.

I also understood that Sonny and Mooch didn’t want to get too involved in it. I’m sure the bosses felt that way, too. Either I’d find the person responsible, and kill them, or I’d get killed along the way. Either way, the bosses and the Flamingo didn’t need to get their feet dirty.

It was a crappy situation to be in. I didn’t want to be left alone in this. I had always had the Mob there with me, taking care of the little details I forgot about. Watching my back. Keeping me safe. If I went out after whoever had done this, I was going out on my own. Sure, they’d probably pull strings to help me stay out of jail. They’d probably even set up a hit on the guy if I found out who it was. But they might not. And definitely weren’t going to help me look.

“Yeah, Sonny, I get you. I’ll let you know if I find anything out.” Sonny nodded and the two of them left the room.