Hey There (You with the Gun in Your Hand)

Thirty-five

From the helipad near the Cal Neva we went directly to Harrah’s. I didn’t know if Frank was in his cabin, or at home in Palm Springs, but my only concern at the moment was talking to Sammy.

I knocked on the door to his room and when he opened it I said, “Hey, Sam.”

“Eddie, hey Jerry,” he greeted. “Come on in. I was just having breakfast.”

Jerry closed the door and we followed Sammy to the sofa and sat down in front of a tray of food.

“Pot of coffee here,” he said. “Anybody want a cup?”

“No, thanks.”

Jerry hesitated, then said, “No.”

“You cats wanna fill me in while I eat?”

I told him about moving the bodies, and where to. Also about cleaning my house, but forgetting there was a bullet left in the wall.

“You still don’t know if the cops went in your house or not?” he asked.

“No,” I said, “but if they had I’d’ve expected them to come lookin’ for me at the Sands.”

“You’re probably right. I haven’t heard a thing yet, from anybody,” he said. “Maybe they’ve given up?”

“ ’Scuse me, Mr. Davis?” Jerry said. “I don’t know all that much about what’s goin’ on, but if there’s money involved I doubt the blackmailers would give up.”

“But it looks like things have gone wrong in a big way,” Sammy said.

“All that would do is make them ask for even more,” Jerry suggested.

The fifty thousand Sammy had given me was hidden in a safe at the Sands. I wondered how quick he’d be able to put his hands on more. Even for somebody like Sammy Davis Jr. fifty grand is fifty grand.

“I see,” Sammy said.

“Sammy,” I said, “we need to talk-I mean, seriously talk.”

“About what, Eddie?”

“About what’s really goin’ on,” I said.

It took a lot for me to ask. Even though I counted Dean and Frank as friends, the starstruck aspect of our relationship hadn’t gone away. It was even more so with Sammy. We were more acquaintances than friends at this point; I had tremendous respect for him as an entertainer, but this was a conversation that was going to have to take place man to man.

And I hoped I wasn’t about to piss him off.