Super Con

Forty-Four

Mags came to the set filled with confidence, the burden of Grimes’s threat to destroy her career a thing of the past. The world was her oyster, and she couldn’t wait to nail today’s scene and deliver the kind of performance the CBS honchos needed to green-light Night and Day.

To her surprise, the set was deserted. No cameramen, no crew, no snippy director with a bad attitude, and, worst of all, no Rand. The shoot had been cancelled, the equipment packed up, and no one had bothered to tell her.

“Somebody should have called you. I mean, you are the star,” Amber said.

“This is Hollywood, honey. They call you when they feel like it.”

She checked her cell phone. There were no messages, leading her to wonder if Rand was sick in his room. On a hunch, she called the hotel’s main line and asked for him.

“I’m sorry, but there’s no one registered in the hotel under that name,” the operator said.

“He’s staying in your damn hotel. Check again,” she said.

The operator’s fingers danced on a keyboard. “Here he is. Rand Waters. According to my computer, he checked out late yesterday. Is there someone else you’d care to speak with?”

She was shaking with rage and hung up. Rand had run out on her like a cheap one-night stand. No message, no note slipped under her door, nothing. She marched off the set and into the hotel with her daughter on her heels.

“Where are you going?” Amber asked.

“To the bar to talk to my cameraman, Sean Mulroney. Sean will know what’s going on.”

True to form, Sean was perched on a stool in LINQ’s bar getting plowed. Despite the early hour, Sean’s nose was deep purple, his eyes bloodshot. Mags took the adjacent stool while Amber sat down next to her mother. Sean nodded drunkenly.

“Sean, this is my daughter, Amber,” Mags said. “Amber, meet Sean Mulroney, the best cameraman in Hollywood.”

“My mom’s told me all about you,” Amber said.

“Whatever she told you was a lie. Either of you ladies want a drink? It’s on me.”

“We’re good,” Mags said. “What’s going on, Sean? Where’s the crew?”

“They were sacked.” To the bartender he said, “Another round, my good man.”

Mags’s face nearly hit the bar. “When? By whom?” It was the wrong thing to say, and she grabbed Sean by the wrist. “Did you get canned as well?”

Sean did not reply until he had a fresh beer in one hand, a shot in the other. “I will answer your questions in the order in which they were received. The firing took place at eight a.m. this morning on the set. The executioner was none other than the evil Rand Waters, who spoke to us from LA using Skype on a laptop computer that sat on a chair. Rand gave no explanation but simply stated that our services were no longer required. And yes, I also got the boot, which led me here to my present endeavor.”

Her show was over. Mags knew that soulless sharks ran Hollywood, but she had convinced herself that she’d come out on top. Stupid her.

Sean laid a gentle hand on her wrist. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know.”

“No, not a word.”

“Rand’s a bastard. If it’s any solace, I thought you did a fine job.”

She kissed his cheek. “Thank you for saying that. You take care.”

“May our paths cross again.”

Mags left the bar beneath a dark cloud. For the last few months, Night and Day had consumed her life. With acting classes, rehearsals, and coming to Vegas to shoot the pilot, she hadn’t contemplated her future if the show got cancelled. Reality had just dumped a hundred pounds of steaming shit on her head, and it was all she could do not to scream.

“What are you going to do?” her daughter asked.

“Maybe I’ll take a vacation, go back east. Like a roommate for a few months?”

“You can always stay with me, Mom.”

Mags went to her trailer to grab her belongings. Stepping inside, she found Billy sipping a bottled water. Billy had warned her this might happen, and it was all she could do not to slap him.

“Go away, Billy. Leave us alone.”

“We need to talk. I have a proposition for you,” he said.

“Not interested.” The trailer had a built-in dresser. Mags pulled open the drawers and removed her things, which she handed to her daughter while trying to ignore him.

“How come the set’s so quiet?” he asked.

“The show is on permanent hiatus.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. Maybe this will cheer you up. I’m doing a job and I need your help. Think of it as a last score for old time’s sake.”

“I told you, I’m done with grifting.”

“You haven’t heard the terms. I’ll pay you half a million bucks to paint cards.”

A plastic hairbrush bounced on the floor. Mags picked it up and tossed it to Amber. Her checking account had all of nine hundred bucks in it. Without the money from the show, she had no source of income and no immediate opportunities for work. She was flat broke and might end up living out of her car if her luck didn’t improve. No doubt about it, she needed a savior, but not this one. She’d promised herself she was going to stop thieving, and it was a promise she intended to keep, no matter how harsh the outcome might be.

“Not interested,” she said.

“It will be like stealing candy from a baby,” he said, unwilling to quit. “You’re going to paint cards in low-limit blackjack games, which are hardly watched by surveillance. The scam won’t take place until after you’re gone. You’ll be out of the line of fire.”

“My face is known to every casino in town.”

“You’ll be in disguise. They’ll never spot you.”

When opposing forces collide, bad things occurred. The urge to smack Billy in the face was growing stronger, and she turned to her daughter. “Let’s get some breakfast.”

Amber looked upset with her. Did her daughter want her to take the job? They left the trailer without saying good-bye and headed across the empty set. She heard the trailer door being shut behind them.

“Go away. I mean it,” she said.

“How can you run away from half a million bucks? Just answer me that,” he said.

“I don’t have to explain my decision to you.”

“Remember the day we met in Providence? You told me that you dreamed of coming to Vegas and joining a crew. You said the crews made the big money. I’m giving you the chance to fulfill that dream. Do one more job and walk away. You won’t regret it.”

Why wouldn’t he listen? She had made a clean break and kissed her past good-bye. No one had an issue with that except Billy. He was preventing her from escaping the black impulses that had consumed her for so long, and it made her want to hurt him. Reaching LINQ’s front entrance, she spun around. When he smiled, she slapped him.

“Last time. Leave me alone,” she said.

He brought his hand to his lips and came away with blood. It seemed to startle him, and he retreated a few steps. “Whatever you want, Maggie. But will you answer one question for me?”

“Will you leave if I do?”

“Yes.”

“Fire away.”

“If you were so intent on running away from being a thief, why did you agree to play a cheat in a TV show? How is that different from before?”

She swallowed hard. “Just... leave.”

“The answer is, it isn’t. You’re a thief and always will be. It’s in your blood. Think about it.”

“Go, damn it!”

“Nice meeting you,” he said to Amber before walking away.