Necessary Decisions

Chapter 1: High Stakes Chapter 1 High Stakes While the dealer shuffled the cards, I checked the gun tucked in my waistband—a Beretta with a full clip. A snub-nosed .38 was strapped to my leg. My stakeout partner sat at another table across from me with a good view of the front door. I squeezed the cards and stared at a pair of lovely ladies. Not a bad hand to start with, especially when the guy to my right, a notorious bluffer, just raised two hundred dollars. I was considering how much to raise when I heard a ruckus at the door. “Nobody move! Stay calm. No one will get hurt if you stay calm.” I thought about going for my gun but couldn’t see what was behind me. I looked over to my partner, Ribs Delgado. He shook his head. I wondered if he just wanted me to play it safe or if— The feel of a gun against my head answered the question. “Money and valuables,” a voice said. The barrel of the gun pressed into my temple. I could damn near tell the caliber. “Money and valuables.” The phrase was repeated by another guy at the table where Ribs sat. An instinctive analysis told me this was not a group of hopped-up druggies. I pulled out my wallet, showed him it was empty then laid my money clip and cash on the table. “What else?” “Nothing.” I still hadn’t even seen this guy, but I caught a glimpse of the guy going through the same process at Delgado’s table. That one wore latex gloves and a mask. “Your watch,” the guy behind me said. I looked at it—a plain black face with only a second hand showing. A button on the side lit the minute and hour hands. It wasn’t valuable in terms of money, but Mary had given me this the Christmas before she died. “It’s not worth anything. It was a gift from my wife.” “I’ll decide that.” “You’re not getting the watch,” I said, and turned toward him. The right side of my head felt as if it exploded. Blood ran down my neck and face. When I tried talking it ran into my mouth. He hit me again. The barrel of the gun opened another gash in my head, and the force of the blow knocked me off the chair. Sometime between chair and floor I heard someone yell, “Number Three,” and then I passed out. The last thing I remember was grabbing my watch. *** Number Three stooped to get Gino’s watch. He found the gun in Gino’s waistband then the badge in his pocket, and the second gun in a leg holster. Number Three stood, holding the badge. “Look what we’ve got here. Who’s the partner?” When he got no response, he pulled out a switchblade and slipped the tip under the upper lip of the man seated at the table in front of him. “I’m going to start cutting with him. I’ll keep cutting until the other cop steps forward.” Delgado stood slowly, his hands in the air. “I’m his partner.” As Number Three reached for Delgado, a voice rang out from across the room. “Number Three!” He turned, glaring. “Yes, Boss?” “There has been enough violence.” The man Number Three referred to as Boss went to Delgado, hand extended. “Guns and badge.” Delgado gave him what they wanted. “I need to look after my partner.” Boss looked at his watch. “You have five minutes.” Delgado got bandages from the guy who ran the game. He patched Gino up with a few gauze pads and a couple of Band-Aids. Within five minutes, Boss returned to him, having stripped the others of their valuables. It took another ten minutes to duct-tape everyone. Boss set the guns and badges on the kitchen table, and bowed as he exited the front door. “I thank you, gentlemen. It has been my pleasure.” *** I woke up feeling as if I’d been shot. My hands and feet were bound with duct tape. All of us were gagged. The pool of blood on the floor made me wonder how bad I’d been hurt. Delgado nudged me and managed to give the “okay” sign with his thumb. Guess I’d live. It took almost two hours before our boss, Captain Gladys Cooper, suspected something was wrong. She sent a half dozen units to investigate. Damn embarrassing is what it was—Delgado and I robbed and tied up. We found our guns and badges in the kitchen, but not the watch. Delgado took me to the emergency room, where a doctor fixed me up. “Take good care of him,” Delgado said. “He’s my cuz.” “Only by marriage,” I said, smiling at the doctor. She smiled back then put 18 stitches in my head and sent me home with a couple of pain pills. I’d have rather had a kiss on the cheek. Wasn’t much for pain pills. Instead of going home, I had Delgado drive me back to the station. Captain Cooper had a lot of questions; we had no answers. And the guys who hit the game had taken over 20 grand. And my watch. “This is the third game they’ve hit in six weeks,” Coop said. “Neither of the others turned violent. Why did this one?” She directed the question at me. “They wanted my watch. I wouldn’t give it to them.” She raised her eyebrows and gave Delgado one of those I-knew-it-was-him type looks. “Mary gave me that watch, Captain. No way was I giving it up.” “But they got it, didn’t they?” I turned my head. “Didn’t they?” “For now.” “You should have given up the watch, Gino.” “I’ll get it back.” Coop eyed me the way only she could, and then she turned to Delgado. “Leave us alone for a minute.” Delgado left with a confused expression. It matched the one I wore. “We need to get clear on one thing,” Coop said. “I don’t want any repeats of Rico Moreno.” So that’s what this is about. She’s afraid I’ll go after this guy. I swallowed hard. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.” She stared at me for about ten seconds. “Whenever you or your ex-partner tell me not to worry, it scares me.” She held her gaze a few seconds more. “I don’t give second chances, Gino. Don’t f**k this up.” I offered Coop my best smile. “I won’t.” “All right. Get out of here. Go home and rest.” I turned to leave but Coop said, “You know that watch will be gone by tomorrow. If they can get a few dollars for it, it’ll be in a pawn shop by the end of the week. If not, you’ll have to go dumpster diving.” I gritted my teeth but said nothing. The watch wasn’t worth anything more than memories. I nodded. “I know.” Delgado offered to drive me home, but I told him I was good. The swelling had gone all the way to my eye, which hurt like hell, and my head throbbed so bad I wanted to just hold it and squeeze, but I was okay to drive. As I drove home, I thought about a lot of things, but all I could focus on was the guy who hit me. Number Three. No matter what Coop said, I’d get Mary’s watch back.