A Famously Bad Contract Read online

  “I’ll drive,” I said.

  Seth shrugged, but at least he was alert enough to lock the front door.

  “When we get there, let me do all the talking,” I said as I unlocked the Mercedes.

  “Naturally,” he agreed with a quick smile.

  “Try to look sorry,” I added. “You need to make them believe this was a one time thing and that you simply forgot to pay when you left.”

  “Got it.” He pushed the passenger seat back all the way before getting in. “Who was the last person to ride in your car?”

  “Someone much shorter and more feminine than you,” I said with a grin as I started the car.

  “You’re even better with the ladies than me,” he laughed. “It’s gotta be the muscles. I should work out harder, but Disney doesn’t want Elementis to be too buff.” He rolled his eyes as if it was a major inconvenience and then fiddled with the vent.

  I glanced over at the young man. He was fit, and though he wasn’t as big as me, most women would probably agree that he was a good-looking guy. Besides, I was an ex-defensive back with a brief career in the NFL in my past, and he was playing a teenage guy with superpowers. I understood Disney’s idea, but I wondered if my client was getting tired of the whole thing. He was probably looking forward to finishing this contract and the big payday that was to come afterward.

  Seth didn’t seem interested in talking, and I found myself focused on the usual late afternoon traffic in the city. I managed to join the fray on the way to the casino after dodging around people heading home for the night or heading to the bars to start the fun.

  “Just a few more movies and you can start working out with me,” I said as we neared the casino and the traffic became less manic.

  “Four more,” he muttered. “Then I’m free.”

  “It’s been good for your career,” I pointed out. “You’re a household name.”

  “Yeah,” he snorted, “A broke one.”

  “You get paid more as the movies go,” I said.

  “But right now I’m broke,” he argued.

  “How broke?” I asked, and agitation threatened to make my eye twitch as I ran through the new scenarios in my head, but I took a calming breath and reminded myself I could make anything work. With a little charm I might even be able to get Tina to forgive some of the debt before we finalized the payment plan.

  Either way something told me Kitty’s estimations might need to be reworked. We really needed to have access to his bank account at all times and not just the monthly statements, maybe even set a cap for him so he wouldn’t over spend. It wasn’t something I would do with most of my clients, but Seth was a special case. Except for the models, he’s the only one whose cell I track.

  “Completely, man.” He was staring out the car window. “I thought I would be able to pad my account last night, but my luck just sucked. Maybe they’ll give me another marker, and I can make it up.”

  “No.” I said. “We’ll work out a deal, and then you’ll stay away from the casino until you can actually afford to gamble.”

  The parking lot to the casino was already packed with cars when we finally arrived. Day gamblers whose entire life was the slots or card tables were just starting to tumble outside while the first of the night owls were preparing to head in. I managed to park the car between a pair of minivans, and then we stepped out of the car and onto the hot blacktop.

  As I watched the other gamblers walk by with their plastic cups for the slot machines, I wondered what my client had spent the marker on. I was sure it would be the poker table since every actor I knew thought they had the best poker face, but I didn’t want to meet Tina while I was even more irritated than I already was, so I didn’t ask.

  As we neared the door, I could hear the slot machines and cheers of people winning. It was probably a recording, but it certainly seemed to make the other gamblers excited. And the glint in my client’s eyes and the way he licked his lips told me it worked on him as well. I needed him to be focused on the task at hand and not the money he thought he could win if they would just give him another marker.

  “Remember,” I told him sharply. “You’re sorry. This won’t happen again.”

  “Got it,” he said.

  I wasn’t sure he was really paying attention to me anymore. He was watching the other guests, and I saw his eyes light up when someone went by with a handful of chips. Hopefully, Tina’s office would be far away from the floor, but I doubted it. They would want people to pay off their debts, and then have to walk past the tables and machines before they could get back out to their cars.

  We were nearly to the doors when two gorilla-sized men with guns stepped out of the shade of the palmetto trees. I could see the bulge of a gun tucked into their hips despite the jackets they wore. My shoulders tensed, but I forced myself to take a deep breath and smile as they walked up to us.

  They weren’t as big as some of my workout buddies, but I was sure that if they wanted a fight, it would get very bloody very quickly. The shirts under their jackets had the emblem of the casino with the word “security” underneath in all caps.

  We were clearly expected.

  I was still hoping that it was Tina that had sent them to greet us, but I had the sinking suspicion that it wasn’t. My carefully laid plan seemed to need adapting.

  “Mr. Morales, Mr. Brown?” the larger of the two asked in the deepest voice I had ever heard.

  His eyes were such a dark shade of brown that they were almost black and they were trained on me as if he expected me to refuse their escort.

  “Yes,” I said. “That would be us.”

  “The boss wants to see you,” his companion growled. “Now.”

  He was shorter than me, and there was a challenge in his eyes as he looked up at me like he wanted me to refuse so he could prove he was stronger than me.

  I doubted he was, but I knew a few guys his size that could take down guys bigger than me, and they all had a complex about their height. Short fuses going off would not help my client and I get in and out any faster.

  “Fantastic,” I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

  We must have missed our chance to meet with Tina, and I hoped she wouldn’t be too disappointed about the autographs.

  I glanced over at my client and then motioned for the security guards to lead the way. “Shall we?” I suggested.

  Chapter 2

  The loud clang of coins as they fell into metal trays overwhelmed me as we walked inside. Rows of slot machines lined the main walkway, occupied by the early crew with their bright-colored Hawaiian shirts and vacant eyes. They seemed like robots as they pressed the button one more time and watched the symbols spin by. Waitresses in short dresses came by carrying trays of drinks that mirrored the colors of sunset, with slices of pineapples hanging onto the edge of the cups and colorful umbrellas sticking out from the alcoholic beverages. They dropped them off onto tables set next to the machines, picked up the empty traw, then they moved on to the next person. Every now and then someone would drop a few coins onto the tray without looking up from the screen in front of them.

  There were no windows along any of the walls that I could see, though the main room was so big I couldn’t find the far walls. Past the noisy slot machines were tables set up for poker or blackjack, all of them attended by employees in white shirts and black, shiny vests. Someone shouted as they won a round of cards and then pumped their hand into the air as they looked at their table for congratulations. They only found grudging nods as their company put down another chip and motioned for the dealer to give them their cards.

  No clocks told the time and the restaurant tucked off to the right near the gift shop sold breakfast, lunch, and dinner regardless of what part of the day it was. The scent of lavender lingered in the air and mingled with the fresh oxygen they funneled in to keep everyone just alert enough to want to stay while the fluorescent lights were dimmed enough to be calming even when someone was on a losing streak. Bene
ath our feet, a thin carpet with a red and black diamond pattern dampened some of the noise from the loud machines as well as our footsteps, and the music above was a mix of the sounds of someone cheering as they won and instrumental versions of the latest pop hits. It was the perfect mix of relaxation and stimulation that kept everyone inside unaware of anything but their next bet and the possibility of winning big.

  I glanced over at my client to see the greedy way his eyes were locked on the baccarat table, and his tongue flicked over his lips as he took a step toward them. Before he could make it very far, I grabbed his arm then shook my head when he turned to look at me.

  He huffed and fell into step beside me as we followed our guides, though neither of the gorillas looked back at us as they marched down the main road through the casino toward a black door in the back wall.

  I couldn’t see their faces, but by the way the waitresses and patrons moved out of their way, I expected them to be scowling, creating as much intimidation as they could to keep onlookers from stopping the celebrity walking behind them.

  There was a young woman with bleached-blonde hair that dared a shy wave to Seth as we passed the Blackjack table where she was dealing cards. Her once perfect eyeliner darkened the underside of her eyes as she got further into her shift, and her hair had gone limp in the casino air. My client lifted his hand in a wave then winked before his head swiveled toward the sound of an older man shouting at one of the blackjack tables. The angry man shook his fist at the middle-aged male employee who just gave him an apologetic smile before the chips that had just been lost were swept away and deposited into a holder.

  Another security guard peeled himself off the back wall to walk over to the table as the older man continued to rant, his face red and splotchy as he shouted that the game was rigged and the whole casino was corrupt. The security guard was taller than some of the guys I’d played football with, and had broad shoulders that pulled at the black polo marked with the casino logo and the capitalized “Security” underneath it. He didn’t have a jacket like our escorts, and as far as I could see, he didn’t have a gun, but his biceps were so defined I was sure he could crush a skull without much effort. A well-practiced scowl pulled on his thin lips and darkened his features as he hovered near the man until with a meek huff the older man wandered off to find a game with better luck.

  Satisfied that the employee was safe, the hulking guard nodded to the blackjack dealer then went back to melt into the shadows of the wall with his arms crossed over his chest as his gaze swept over the room to find the next target of his ire.

  I steeled myself against whatever I was going to find out once we actually made it to wherever we were going. We had finally crossed the expansive room and stood in front of the mysterious black door. Up close I could see the silver name plate engraved with glossy block letters that informed everyone that the area we were about to enter was for employees only. The dark red letters were made more ominous by the no entry sign on either side of the words as if having two symbols would emphasize how unwelcome the patrons were into the other section of the building.

  The taller of our two escorts fished a white card with a black magnetic strip out of his jacket pocket, swiped it through the top of the keypad for the door, and then typed in a quick four number passcode when the red light turned yellow. A few seconds later the yellow bulb switched to green, and a heavy locking mechanism moved back with a thunk. Our massive escort put one of his beefy paws on the silver door handle and gave it a turn. He shoved the door open with more force than seemed necessary and had to correct himself by taking an extra step as the door swung inwards.

  The black door banged off the wall behind it as it revealed a gray cement hallway with more black doors lining each side and more keypads blocking entrance to whatever the rooms were used for. Only the bathrooms and what looked like a breakroom with vending machines and linoleum-covered floors were open for anyone to enter.

  As we passed the breakroom, I saw a few of the employees had settled into the hard plastic chairs, their black vests unbuttoned, and their eyes glued to what might have been a soap opera on the large TV that hung on the back wall. They were so invested in the televised drama that they didn’t spare a glance as we passed by.

  At the end of the hallway were the silver double doors of an elevator and another keypad to restrict access. The digital display indicated the elevator was on the twelfth floor, and the shorter guard huffed and muttered something under his breath about a pain in the ass in a suit. The taller guard swiped his keycard and entered his code again before he pressed the button with the up arrow. We stood and watched as the numbers slowly counted down to the first floor, and I was convinced we could have climbed to the upper floors in the time it took our ride to arrive.

  With a ding, the double doors slid away from each other, and all four of us walked into the little box. The walls seemed too close with all of our hulking figures packed in, and I tried to check the operational certificate as unobtrusively as I could. I confirmed the elevator could hold a metric ton at max capacity, a number that had been checked and approved three months before. Still, when the doors opened to reveal a well lit hallway, I almost sighed with relief as I stepped out before anyone else could and gulped in a large breath of somewhat fresh air.

  “Don’t like elevators?” the shorter guard chuckled as he pushed his way past me.

  “Not particularly,” I replied.

  “Well, next time we’ll let you take the stairs,” he sneered.

  “I’ll be just fine taking the elevator,” I said, “if there is a next time.”

  “I’m sure there will be,” the taller guard said.

  “Next time I won’t lose,” Seth said, which garnered a laugh out of the two guards.

  I gave him a warning glare as the men started leading us down the hallway. I shook my head once to let Seth know there should not be a next time and hoped that he would remember he was there to apologize and promise not to return until he could afford it. The young actor pretended he didn’t see me while he looked at everything else except me.

  Not that there was much to look at along this stretch of boring corridor. The dull paint on the lower floor had been replaced with a creamy beige wallpaper with glossy swirls that made the mundane color a little more exotic. The carpet, however, was the same black and red diamond pattern, though it wasn’t as worn. Clearly, this floor didn’t see as much foot traffic, which probably meant that the average employee never made it up here. Framed photos of the casino during various stages of construction lined the walls, and a plaque with the biggest donors’ names scrawled in gold lettering dominated a large section of the wall by the elevators.

  On the right were a series of maple wood doors with brass hardware, and the shiny golden nameplates told me they were the offices of the head of security, the treasurer, and the vice president of operations. Our armed escort stopped in front of the only door on the left side, and its own golden name plate indicated it was the office of the President of Operations.

  I glanced over at my client, who stared at the door with wide eyes as if he had just realized how dire his situation was becoming. I buried my irritation, though the shorter guard snickered as if he could tell I wasn’t happy with this change in plans.

  There would be no cute secretary named Tina to help us out of this jam, and no dinner with a potential new female friend once the deal was made. If we were lucky, we would still be able to use one of the proposals that Kitty had typed up, but if the president of operations was having a private meeting with us, I doubted things were going to go in our favor or be easy if they did.

  The smaller guard knocked on the door then looked up into a black camera that hung just above the door. The guard gave a quick wave and then pointed at Seth and I with his thumb.

  “Hey, boss,” he said. “We’ve got that actor and his lawyer for ya’.”

  Long seconds passed as we waited for a response from inside, and the taller of the two men shifted fr
om foot to foot while I wondered if their boss was even in his office. Then there was a thunk and a click as the deadbolt moved, and our guard opened the door to let us in. The gorillas both moved aside to let us pass as they took up their stations in the hall, and I wondered how often they needed to guard this particular office with all of the security we had just seen. But given the reaction we had just witnessed downstairs, I guessed someone with a vendetta could decide to get some of his own back, and the president of operations would be a good target.

  The door swung open to reveal a massive heavy wooden desk that spanned most of the office, fronted by two large, brown leather guest chairs with brass accents and dark wooden legs to match the desk. Behind the desk was a wall of televisions with four rows of five TV’s each, and each displayed a different live feed from the casino. I could see the guard who had handled the dustup at the blackjack table in his position by the wall in one of them while another one from the parking lot showed the recent arrivals circling for the last available parking spaces. Off to the far side a fifty gallon tank of tropical fish bubbled and brought a small amount of peace to the room.

  A thin, balding man with round, wire-rimmed glasses sat behind the desk in a chair that matched the others, though his thin frame was nearly invisible among all the leather. His cobalt-blue eyes locked on us as soon as we stepped inside, and I could feel the cold appraisal all the way across the room. He had little tufts of dark-grey hair around his ears, and deep lines etched into the skin around his mouth and eyes. I wondered if he was as old as he looked or if the job aged him, and then I decided it was probably both.

  “Mr. Morales, Mr. Brown,” he began, “welcome to the Seminole Hotel and Casino.”

  He motioned for us to take the guest chairs before he glanced at the guards to give them a silent go ahead to shut the doors behind us. The click of the lock sliding into place had my mind flashing to Las Vegas and mobsters who broke bones to encourage paying back debts but the man in front of me was nothing if not a businessman, and I doubted he would go to such extremes.