The Last Don - Mario Puzo [155]
Now Claudia was angry. “This is not a joke,” she said. “Ernest is one of my best friends. And you’re my brother who always claims to love me and will do anything for me.” She was in tears.
Cross got up and went over to hug her. “Claudia, there’s nothing I can do. I’m not a magician.”
Ernest Vail was enjoying his dinner. No man looked less likely to kill himself. “You’re too modest, Cross,” he said. “Look, I haven’t got the nerve to jump out of a window. I have too much imagination, I’d die a thousand deaths on the way down thinking how I would look splattered all over the place. And I might even land on some innocent person. I’m too chicken to cut my wrists, I can’t stand the sight of blood and I’m scared to death of guns and knives and traffic. I don’t want to end up a vegetable with nothing accomplished. I don’t want that fuckin’ Bantz and Deere laughing at me and keeping all my money. There is one thing you can do: Hire somebody to kill me. Don’t tell me when. Just get it done.”
Cross began laughing. He gave Claudia a reassuring pat on the head and went back to his chair. “Do you think this is a fuckin’ movie?” he said to Ernest. “You think killing somebody is sort of a joke?”
Cross left the table and went to his office desk. He unlocked the drawer and took out a purse of black chips. He threw the purse at Ernest and said, “Here’s ten grand. Take your last shot at the tables, maybe you’ll get lucky. Just stop insulting me in front of my sister.”
Vail was cheerful now. “Come on Claudia,” he said. “Your brother is not going to help.” He put the purse of black chips into his pocket. He seemed anxious to get started gambling.
Claudia seemed abstracted. She was adding up everything in her head but refused to come to a sum total. She looked at the serene handsome face of her brother. He could not be what Vail was saying he was. She kissed Cross on the cheek, and said, “I’m sorry, but I’m worried about Ernest.”
“He’ll be all right,” Cross said. “He likes to gamble too much to die. And he is a genius, isn’t he?”
Claudia laughed. “So he always says, and I agree,” she said. “And he’s such a terrible coward.” But she reached out to touch Vail affectionately.
“Why the hell do you stick with him?” Cross said. “Why are you sharing a suite with him?”
“Because I’m his best and last friend,” Claudia said angrily. “And I love his books.”
After the two left, Cross spent the rest of the night completing the plan to transfer the five million to Senator Wavven. When he finished, he called the casino manager, a high-ranking member of the Clericuzio Family, and told him to bring the money to his penthouse suite.
The money was brought up in two huge sacks by the manager and two security guards who were also of the Clericuzio. They helped Cross stack the money into the Chinese trunk. The casino manager gave Cross a little grin and said, “Nice trunk.”
After the men left, Cross took the huge quilt from his bed and wrapped it around the trunk. Then he ordered room service to bring two breakfasts. Within a few minutes, Security called to tell him Lia Vazzi was waiting to see him. He gave the OK to bring him up.
Cross embraced Lia. He was always delighted to see him.
“Good news or bad news?” Cross asked him after room service delivered breakfast.
“Bad,” Lia said. “That detective who stopped me in the lobby of the Beverly Hills Hotel when I was with Skannet. Jim Losey. He showed up at the Hunting Lodge and asked me questions about my relationship with Skannet. I brushed him off. The bad part is how he knew who I was and where I was. I’m not in any police file, I’ve never been in trouble. So that means there’s an informer.”
That startled Cross.