Grandman Casino, Las Vegas.
In the air it could be smell the betting and the gambling. The lights, the neon, the drinks, the everything. The smell of the possible, the impossible, the prohibit, the legal, the illegal. The casino lights made him dizzy the first year he did it, but now he was used to. His third summer gambling.
‘I am the best in this’ Jake told himself.
As you walk thru the door you can hear the machines humming, bells ringing, coins clanking, threw out the casino. The luxuries of the casino were shocking. The antique roof carved with a XV century style. The magnificent paintings in the walls. The edges of the walls decorated in fake gold that seemed real. The mushy chairs upholstered in red velvet. The perfect sculptures in the middle of corridors in which nobody had ever looked at them. The croupiers dressed with the same red perfect outfits. The tables in the Pit perfectly arranged in a position in which everything was convenient to make the casino work. The Floor Man walking around the tables making sure nobody was cheating. The Eyes in the Sky recording every activity of every player, especially High Rollers like him.
And there he was, cheating.
This was his story, he is, or he was very poor, but very intelligent so he got a scholarship for Harvard, now he had some degrees like deduction, numerology, psychology, inter alia. But in the summer he was a gambler, a swindler, a cheater. He was everything he ever wanted. He was better than other, he was stealing from others, he was thinking bigger than others. At his perspective he was a genius. A winner.
As somebody had tell him once "The most you think you see, the easier it would be to fool you" that was the reason nobody had ever cached him, or ever suspected of him. They were looking too closely to every sign, to every gesture; possibly they could read thoughts, but the ‘watchers’ weren’t looking to the right people. They looked to persons counting numbers, counting cards, those weren’t professionals, those players were amateur players. To find a professional it is needed to read eyes, read true feelings, not fear, not nervousness it is something way bigger. It is glory, pride and proudness.
A, 2, 6, 9, K, 8, 11, 4, J, Q, 7, 5, K, 10, 3 and 12, the cards next delivery.
He betted all again. He won.
The people around the table cheered him up, laugh, celebrate his victory. Woman around looked at him interested. He was the show, all the attention was on him and the security cameras too.
‘Just remember when visiting a casino, if you have to win, you shouldn't play. Always bet with your head, not over it’ his dad had always told him.
"Are you betting in this round Mr. Hamilton?" Said the croupier.
"I’m not going sir; I was too lucky last round!" Jack said smiling. "Luck comes to you once in the night, and I already won enough." He finished looking to the chips under him.
"Do you need help getting that to the cashier sir?" Said the croupier again.
Before he could even answer a man in a black suit was near him. That wasn’t good.
"Jack Hamilton, I need you to follow me." Said the man.
"I don’t have time to do whatever you need, I am tired and I need to go to the cashiers." He said over estimating the man. "We can fix that tomorrow"
"Mr. Hamilton, I think you do not understand what this is for. I work for the Casino, I am the Table Game Supervisor, and I’ve notice some irregularities. I need you to follow me now." He finished with a strong face.
He followed the man trough corridors, and they finally arrived to a questioning room.
"Mr. Hamilton, is that your real name?" Asked another man that was already in the room.
"No, my name is Mickey Mouse. Of course my name is Jack Hamilton. Why?" He said with an arrogant tone.
"Mr. Hamilton, please behave like an adult, or aren’t you an adult?" Said a second man in the room trying to scare him.
"Maybe, but just maybe I am an alien, don’t you think I looked like that one that is really famous, what’s his name, ET?" He said very sarcastically.
"Mr. Hamilton, or whatever is you name, I certainly don’t care anymore. You have been detected cheating in this casino, we don’t know how, but you anticipated the moves of the cards, before betting." While one of the men told him that some police officers enter the room.
"So you are actually telling me that you don’t have any kind of proof of what you are talking about? Well then I can tell you this, I want a lawyer because I have a right that says that I can have one. The official can inform you about my legal rights as a citizen of the United States." He said the speech he had always practice before gambling in case of an emergency like that one.
"You are right Mr. I know it all, the fact is we do have proofs of you cheating in the table 19, just 2 hours ago. Let me see, ha, ha, ha. I don’t know what a lawyer is going to change in this situation. Do you have a lawyer or the state has to assign you one?"
"I have my own lawyer, can I speak to him, or are you going to violate that right?"
"You have five minutes, genius." Said the officer.
They give him a phone, and they left the room, immediately the camera of the room turned off. He dialed the phone number he wished to call.
"I failed, you know what to do." Saying that he hang out the phone.
The officers and the casino men went in the room again. And in that moment everything happened.
Suddenly the lights in the corridor went off.
Shots were heard, and then….The room was invaded with a dark atmosphere. Nobody could see anything.
"Always be the smartest person in the room." And with that phrase he was gone.
Saying this he rushed through corridors, the safes exit was the one on the south west part of the building. Everything was getting into place; he had study the scape even more than the equation to know the cards order. He knew every door at every floor. He had plans from A to Z. His partner looked around and starts rushing even more.
"There are gonna be guards in that end. We can go by the south south exit, in can call Cal and he can move the car, which is our better option.
"Let’s go, we need to hurry up, because this is the second best, so the second best guarded. I can do the trick." He finish with a big smile.
"Yaaaaaaaaaaaa, Vegas baby!!!!" Said Ian.
They rushed, ran, it was impossible to fail this time.
They knew what was necessary; no money was taken out this time. For that part he did fail. But no money was better than prison, the two of them agreed on that. They turned right again. No sign of guards yet, that was bad. Meaning that all the guards were in the same place, not knowing what place was, that was the real problem.
"Did you hear that?!?" Ian started. "Police cars, I heard the sirens, what if they are surrounding the building, what are we gonna do?" At this time Ian was panicking.
"Do not panic, we are good. We are good." I said thinking in an extra plan. "You can go down to the casino and just go for the doors, they didn’t saw you face. And for me, who knows what is going to happens. Let’s hope the best" Jack said hopeless.
"Jack I have a good plan, we, the two of us, go to the casino, but we make the fire alarm go on. Everybody is going to rush out, so do we." He finished with a smile from ear to ear.
"That is just a master plan. Let’s go, now to the stairs. We need to hurry, if not more police is going to be here." He finished and some of his hope was back with him.
The two mans went down the stairs as fast as they could, and they were fast. When arrive at the casino, they separated, not to be suspect of. One to the right, the other to the left. Ian gave Jack a new phone, so they could keep in touch after leaving the hotel, the safest was not say much information on the phones, who knows who could be spying. They decided to go to different hotels, at outsides of town not to cause too much attention. The second part of the plan was to leave in different cars, at first time in the morning. Ian was supposed to go to New York and Jack was supposed to go to Colorado to his parents, and then go to college. They would see each other till midyear. No contact with the other for 7 month. And if anything happened they would never tell about the other, the two were together in that one, they two were as guilty as the other.
"See you in seven months dude, good luck" Saying this Ian disappeared completely.
"See yaaaa" Said Jack not paying attention on what he was saying.
The fire alarm went on, and it started to rain in the casino. Everybody started to scream and run. The chaos was perfect to scape. Jack couldn’t contain his smile. His start acting like he was afraid too, he run to the nearest door. His emergency scape car was two blocks away, freedom was so near. He started walking normally as he turned in the corner. Almost there. But somebody was leaning against the door.
"Are you going anywhere Mr.?" Say the man.
"Do I know you? Mr. .......?" Jack said very calm.
"Mr. Grwonske. Known as the man that works at the police with the casino to catch man like you. Jack Hamilton right?" Said the man even more calm and comfortable than before.
"Nice to meet you Mr. Grwonske. I think you are mistaken me, I don’t know who you are referring to." Said Jack. "Sorry that I cannot help you Mr. but I have to go now" He finished approaching to the car.
"Stay where you are. Nobody is leaving now." He say taking a gun out.
"What do you want Mr.? Let’s be clear, you aren’t here as a police officer, correct?" Said Jack with a bigger smile.
"Ta-raaaaaaa, no I am not. And answering to your first question I want part of what you stole." He finished with a big smile.
"How many times do I have to tell you to make you believe that, you are mistaken me. I didn’t steal anything. They mistake me in the casino, and now this… Please." Jack say trying to look like a victim.
"Oooh pleas you, don’t lie to a liar. You don’t want me as you enemy………." Before he even finished I interrupt.
"I don’t care who you are, or what you want. I didn’t stole anything, you guy didn’t give me time to change my chips. Otherwise I would be rich now, and I would give you some, but as I don’t have any. Can I leave now?" This was bad he thought, cops were bad, and a corrupt police was even worst.
"Let’s make a deal here. If you give me 40% you can leave, if not well then we bring plan b, I shut you and then I say that we were struggling and a bullet just scape the gun. Which one do you prefer?"
"Do you want to check me? I don’t have anything, and I didn’t have time to hide anything. Maybe I go with plan c, I leave now and you leave now. Nobody tells anything about this and we are good." Jack say with his last hope.
The man give Jack a piece of paper and then said: "This is a bank account number, within 10 month I need 500,000 dollars. Do not come back to Las Vegas for 1 year, let them calm down, my phone number is in the bottom, call me, and we’ll arrange something. You are intelligent that is the part that matters." Saying the man disappeared and Jack did too.