One of the Wicked: A Mick Callahan Novel by Harry Shannon Page B

self."
    "Yes," Mandel said cautiously. "Although I still take orders from my clients, naturally."
    "Ah, this is the way of the world. No one is ever completely free, yes?"
    "Indeed."
    Nicky slapped the contract on the table with an open palm. Mandel jumped an inch up and two more back. "This agreement says you work for us, for Mr. Pesci to be exact. Most of the time you will be left alone to do your job, because we respect a man who has the eggs to start his own company. However, if we ask for a specific thing at any time, you will do it without question. This is understood?"
    "I understand."
    "And we do not need to be concerned that members of your family have worked in law enforcement?"
    "No, not at all."
    "Mr. Mandel, your face asks a question."
    Mandel swallowed. "Well, as for that last thing, please understand, I will keep your business confidential at all times, but I don't know that I can personally do anything illegal, Nicky. I don't mind bending rules, of course, not so long as I still have plausible deniability, but I cannot promise to flat out commit a crime. You'd have way too much on me, then. Besides, I could lose my license. I'm sure you can appreciate that."
    Nicky cocked his head. His lips pursed. "How sad."
    "Excuse me?"
    "Your hearing problem. So sad in a man of such tender years."
    Mandel summoned courage, started to rise. "I don't wish to disappoint you, Nicky. So perhaps we'd best shake hands and call off the transaction while we can still be friends."
    "Sit."
    Again, Mandel sat.
    "We shall put our differences to one side for a few moments. Why, you ask? This is because I have something to show you before we consummate the deal, something that should clarify the circumstances and requirements better than anything I could personally do or say. Let us go."
    "Just to the casino, right?"
    Nicky did not answer. The bodyguard named Andy quietly seized Mandel's Armani-smothered sleeve. They all rose as one, shoved aside tourists, crossed the nerve-jangling, blindingly patterned carpet and rode down in an elevator that seemed silent as a tomb after the clang and clatter of the slots. Time seemed to speed up.
    As he got into the long, shiny limo with Nicky and the two stereotypical goons, Mandel couldn't help but recall that in every mob movie he'd ever seen the victim was hustled into the backseat of a car and driven somewhere.
    Don't think like that. . . .
    They left the strip and went north and east on the 15, to the edge of the Wildlife Range, past very long stretches of shadowed sand and dots of dried sage that clawed at the sky like fingers. The night was bleak, black, and speckled with stars that seemed like pinpricks of clear ice. Time slowed down again.
    Nicky cleaned his fingernails and listened to some music via satellite that sounded both faint and classical. Mandel studied the night sky. Lucky drove the limo while Andy worked feverishly on what appeared to be a zit at the back of his neck. A few words would have been nice; something to break the strained silence, but no one said a word. Perhaps no one dared.
    Now it seemed like a very, very long drive. Mandel wondered how the hell they expected to entice tourists to wander such a distance from the strip. Then it hit him that they must be figuring on the unique angle: high-stakes gaming, luxury suites, glamorous shows, but also legal female and male prostitution, all located in one, convenient resort. Hell, it would be one-stop shopping for everybody with the money and the hormones.
    Mandel did not know whether to be excited or frightened when several tall, dinosaur-like shapes appeared on the horizon. He knew they were the metal girders of a complex still under construction. Although its casino and hotel were both soon to open, the full Valley of Fire resort would not be officially completed for another six months. The metal skeletons would soon become the rest of the huge resort.
    As they parked, Mandel squinted and made out that the place had been