Jackpot

28

Bingo went to the owner’s suite at the Golden Desert, hoping Arrow Donaldson would be there. When it was clear Arrow was away, Bingo let himself in and called his boss.

“I know this number,” Arrow said, “and I don’t remember giving anyone permission to use that room.”

“It seems to me that if you can’t trust a man in your hotel room, you shouldn’t be trusting him with anything important in your life.”

“Why are you calling?”

“I just got back from playing baccarat with Billy Barnett.”

“I never did get that game. I know it’s big over here, and I still seem to make money from it, but it makes no sense to me.”

“I can’t figure out what his play was with it. I think he was trying to get inside my head, but he also seemed to be joking around.”

“Seems like what I would expect from those Hollywood weirdos. Did you kill him?”

“It wasn’t that kind of situation. He seemed like he was genuinely looking for information about his colleagues. I don’t think he has any idea what’s going on here. I should have just told him Sonny Ma was behind everything and been done with it.”

“That sure does sound like what I’m paying you to do.”

“I wanted to see what game he was trying to play with me.”

“I thought you said you were playing baccarat,” Arrow said.

Bingo often wondered at men like Arrow, who rose to such positions of power with seemingly so little intellect. “I meant at the wider level. Billy Barnett is a man who seems like he plays the long game.”

“Then Billy Barnett sounds like a man who needs to die.”

“No. His death would bring too many questions. But I think I can make him believe what we want him to believe.”

“I don’t get it. You make him sound like some kind of genius James Bond in one breath, and then you turn around and make him sound gullible. Which is it?”

“Billy Barnett is a complicated man who is more valuable to us alive than dead.”

Bingo waited until the middle of the night before going to the room where Billy Barnett was staying and banging on the door as loudly as he could. At that time of night he expected Barnett to be tired and disheveled, but when he opened the door, he seemed alert and well-rested. He’d been expecting Bingo.

“I know you didn’t really poison me,” Bingo said.

Billy Barnett nodded and waved Bingo into the hotel room.

“Come in. I’ll pour you a drink.”

Bingo took a long swallow of the amber liquid Billy Barnett offered him and felt his plan coming together better in his head.

“That’s Knob Creek,” Billy Barnett continued. “A friend of mine swears by it. I drink when I need to, socially it’s frowned upon to be any kind of teetotaler, but I prefer water most of the time.”

Once again, Bingo had no idea what kind of game Barnett was playing with him. It was fascinating as much as it was frustrating. Bingo finished the rest of the drink and took a bottle of water next when Barnett offered. He decided whatever game it was needed a wild card, and the best wild card Bingo knew of was the truth.

“What’s your game here?” Bingo asked.

“It’s not baccarat. That was excruciating.”

“Seriously. What do you want with me?”

“I should ask you the same thing. First you follow me, then you won’t tell me anything about who sent you. I had to resort to threats, but you came anyway even though you knew I didn’t poison you. Why?”

“You’re different from everyone else who comes through town, and that intrigues me. I’ve grown... disillusioned with my current job situation and I’m on the lookout for new potential partners.”

“It seems like whatever plan you’re a part of is being improvised as we all go along, and I think you’re smart enough to realize that means things may not turn out well for you. Whoever’s holding your leash isn’t as good as he thinks he is.”

To that, Bingo made no reply.

Teddy gave him a level look. “Which means, we may be able to help each other.”

As Bingo watched this movie producer command the room so completely, and diagnose Bingo’s strategy and interest so quickly, it was the first time he felt optimistic that he might be able to leave Arrow Donaldson. It was becoming clear to Bingo that even though he projected an image of business savvy and danger, Arrow Donaldson was nothing more than a lucky and stupid man ready to fall.

Bingo had started pushing back against Arrow — his dramatic and overcomplicated plans — and to Bingo’s surprise, the man put up with a shocking level of insubordination. It seemed as if Arrow knew he was on a slow downward spiral, and was desperately clinging to anyone who could help him. But eventually, this plan with Li Feng would bring him down, and Bingo didn’t want to be dragged along with him. This Billy Barnett, or whoever he really was, seemed a better bet for Bingo.

“How do you know you can trust me?” Bingo asked.

“I don’t,” Teddy said, almost cheerfully. “I don’t trust anyone. Tell me about Sonny Ma.”

“Sonny Ma is a brand more than a person. An urban legend.”

“They’re showing a movie about him at the film festival, I hear,” Teddy said.

“Nonsense propaganda at best.”

“His name keeps coming up, but he doesn’t seem like a man who would benefit from petty street crime like this.”

“Sonny Ma loves Macau. He loves his version of Macau, which is stuck in time and doesn’t include American casino owners or movie producers. American film companies have been trying to make a movie about his life for years, but Sonny Ma only cooperated with filmmakers from Macau. He sees himself as some kind of hero protector, I think.”

“Like Robin Hood?”

“Except Sonny Ma likes to keep more of the money he steals.”

“This online gambling thing. It’s something he’s doing to get back at Arrow Donaldson?”

Bingo nodded. “Teamed up with Arrow’s biggest competitor.”

Teddy still didn’t trust Bingo or know what angle he was playing, but the information he was giving Teddy made more sense than anything else he’d heard since he’d been in Macau. He wasn’t sure if that was good or bad, but it was certainly refreshing.