Stone Cold

CHAPTER 37

IT WAS EARLY MORNING. Jerry Bagger was sitting in his suite at his posh hotel seriously thinking that he should up the room rate at the Pompeii. For him a view of the White House was not worth a grand a night. As he was gazing out the window at the president’s house one member of his security team, Mike, came into the room. “We just got a call from the casino late last night but we didn’t want to wake you. There was a guy talking to Dolores.”

Bagger turned around. “Talking to Dolores about what?”

“From the little he overheard, the daughter’s name came up a couple times.”

“Old Cindy,” Bagger said slowly. “I guess Dolores is still pining away for her kid. Who’s the guy? Cop? Fed?”

“We’re running that down right now. And he’s got a big guy with him. We’ve got a tail on them. They’re staying at a dump outside the Boardwalk area.”

“Well, run it down fast.”

“And if it is a cop?”

“You let me know. Then we’ll see. Killing a cop is a whole other ball of wax. You kill one, a bunch pop up, same with feds. Keep on top of it. Check around to see where else this guy’s been.” Bagger sat down as Mike headed out. “Wait a minute, Mike, did that Republican Amish jerk-off call?”

“No sir.”

“You know his story sounded legit, so why do I think he was lying his ass off?”

“You got the best instincts of anybody I know, Mr. Bagger.”

Not good enough, Bagger thought. Annabelle Conroy took me right by the balls and squeezed me dry.

“You want us to have a chat with the guy?”

Bagger shook his head. “Not right now. But follow him. I wanta see where rare book boy goes at night.”

“So we gonna be in town for a while?”

Bagger looked through the window. “Why not? Place is starting to grow on me.” He pointed at the White House. “Look there, Mike. That’s the home of the president, the most powerful son of a bitch in the world. One nod of his head an entire country gets nuked. He farts funny, the stock market drops a thousand points. He’s got a freaking army surrounding him. Anything he wants, he gets it.” Bagger snapped his fingers. “Like that. Blow job in the Oval Office, tax breaks for the rich, invading other countries, pinching some queen’s ass, anything. Cause he’s the man. I respect that. The guy only makes four hundred thousand bucks a year, but the perks are sweet and he gets a free ride on a jet a lot bigger than mine. But with all that, you know what, Mike?”

“What, Mr. Bagger?”

“Once he’s out of office, he’s nothing. But I’m still Jerry Bagger.”