Sin City Homicide Read Online Free Page A

James asked.
    “We’ve lost an average of six million per year for the last three years.”
    James looked out over the board for reactions, but he saw none. Some weren’t even paying attention.
    Cal said, “I just don’t see the point. It’ll turn around. It always does. All of us here are taken care of , and so are the upper management. If some low-level shits have to lose their jobs, so be it. Let’s just hang on and see what happens.”
    “What will happen is that we will go bankrupt , gentlemen. We can’t wait. This merger with Sands Corp will change the playing field. Separately, let’s be honest, we’re mediocre casinos, but together, we could have the emerging gambling markets cornered. We’ll establish ourselves as the gambling destination of the world.”
    Cal looked at his fellow board members. “We’ve talked about it, Bill. We’re going to vote against it.”
    “Talked about it? When the fuck did you talk about it? Where was I?”
    “We’re sorry, Bill. The answer’s no.”
    The board members rose and began to file out. James sat, incredulous, watching them as if he were watching aliens on a foreign planet. They were going to allow the company to crumble. They didn’t care—it wasn’t their baby. It was a risky investment for them, and they couldn’t see the future.
    Part of the trouble was that they didn’t understand business. They saw the endeavor as a temporary fix, something they could use to make quick money and then abandon. They didn’t care if they left anything behind because it wouldn’t matter to them anymore. He saw it as something else entirely.
    James turned to his bodyguard, Phil, who was standing behind him. James gestured for him to come over. He came and leaned down next to James.
    “Cal,” James said, “has a mistress he’s keeping in those condos over on Hollywood. You know where they are?”
    Phil nodded.
    “Go knock her around a little bit. Don’t let anyone know it was you.”
    Phil rose without a word and left the room. Milton and Raj sat looking down at the table, pretending they hadn’t heard anything.
    “Bad move?” James asked.
    Milton shrugged. “It’s just a mistress. Will he even care that much?”
    “The old fart’s a sucker for women. He thinks they’re angels, or whatever poetic bullshit he’s bought into. It won’t change the deal, but it’ll fuck with him for a few days.”
    “Won’t he retaliate?” Raj asked.
    “I got nothing in my life for him to retaliate against. We got more pressing problems anyway. What do we do about the board?”
    “They won’t approve this, boss,” Milton said. “There’s no way.”
    “They’re idiots,” James said.
    “No, they’re cowards.”
    James held up his index finger as if a powerful idea had struck him. “You’re right —they are cowards. How do we get them the necessary courage we’re looking for?”
    Raj said, “We need to make the alternative worse. It has to be more costly for them not to go through with the merger than to go through with it.”
    “And how do we do that?”
    “I don’t know yet.”
    James exhaled loudly and rubbed his head. He had a massive migraine, and he hadn’t eaten yet that day. “Think about it and get back to me.”
    The two men glanced at each other, rose, and left the room, leaving James alone. He leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling. He realized he no longer lived in the Las Vegas of his youth, the one where cheats were taken to the desert and forced to dig their own graves. There was a different set of rules at play now.
    He pulled out a cigar from one of the silver cases on the table and lit it. He hadn’t given an order like that in a long time. He wondered if that was what he needed, what had been missing in his life. It was a chilling thought, and he pushed it down deep inside him as he sat puffing the cigar and looking out the floor-length windows at the streets below.

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    McCarran International Airport was