The cold six thousand

HOWARD HUGHES IN VEGAS!

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 12/7/66. Las Vegas _Sun_ headline and subhead:

NO CLUES IN DISAPPEARANCE OF DANCER-CAB DRIVER

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 12/8/66. Las Vegas _Sun_ headiine and subhead:

HUGHES SPOKESMAN SAYS:

BILLIONAIRE HERMIT TO "NURTURE"-NOT "MONOPOLIZE" HOTEL SCENE

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 12/10/66. Las Vegas _Sun_ headiine and subhead:

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 12/11/66. Chicago _Tribune_ headline and subhead:

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 12/14/66. Chicago _Sun-Times_ headline and subhead:

"KLAN TERROR-NOT MAIL-FRAUD-SHOULD BE PRIORITY"

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 12/15/66. Los Angeles _Times_ subhead:

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 12 / 18/66. Denver _Post-Dispatch_ subhead:

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 12/20/66. Boston _Globe_ headline:

NIXON NON-COMMITTAL ON '68 WHITE HOUSE PLANS

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 12/21/66. Washington _Post_ headline and subhead:

SCATHING INDICTMENT:

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 12/22/66. San Francisco _Chronicle_ headline and subhead:

HOOVER ATTACKS KING IN CONGRESSIONAL RECORD

CALLS CIVIL-RIGHTS LEADER "DANGEROUS TYRANT"

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 12/23/66. Las Vegas _Sun_ headline and subhead:

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 12/26/66. Washington _Post_ headline and subhead:

DOMESTIC STUDY GROUP VOICES OPINION:

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 1/2/67. Los Angeles _Examiner_ subhead:

_DOCUMENT INSERT_: 1/3/67. Dallas _Morning News_ headline:

(Beverly Hills, 1/3/6 7)

Signs:

Mau-Mau shit. Peace doves. Nigger hands clasped.

Said signs blitzed walls. Said walls ran high. The ballroom soared up. Said ballroom welcomed oreos-race-mixer deelites.

There's celebs and pols. There's spook matrons. There's Marty the K. There's Burl Ives. There's Banana Boat Belafonte.

Pete watched. Pete smoked. His tux fit tight. Otash watched. Otash smoked. His tux fit right.

Ballroom accoutrements-dais and lectern. Ballroom seats and ballroom fare. Steam trays leaking steam-chicken a Ia coon deelite.

Cops mingled. Their cheap suits stood out. Waiters roamed. Waiters schlepped trays. Waiters flogged deelites.

Pete worked the Fuck-lt Diet. Pete noshed meatballs. Pete noshed pвtй. Pete noshed pygmy deelites.

There's Mayor Sam Yorty. There's Governor Pat Brown. There's Bayard Rustin-he's tall and thin-dig that tartan tux. There's Sal Mineo-he's hovering-dig that swish lollapalooza.

There's Rita Hayworth. Who let _her_ in? She vibes dipsomaniac.

Otash said, "Has it occurred to you that we stand out here?"

Pete lit a cigarette. "Once or twice."

"Rita looks soused. I had a two-second thing with her, about ten years ago. Redheads tend to age bad, Barb excepted."

Pete watched Rita. Rita saw Otash. Rita went ugh and stepped back.

He flew to Sparta. He spent Christmas. He shacked up with his wife. They made love. They fought. Barb ragged his "war enterprise."

Barb quit sniffing "H." Barb quit popping pills. Barb glowed non-Rita-like. Barb goosed his pulse. Barb wrung him out. Barb told him straight: I hate dope. I hate lounge work. I hate Vegas. I won't back down. I won't go back.

He regrouped. He compromised. He punted. He said I'll work in Milwaukee. I'll push white horse there. We'll live in Sparta full-time.

Barb howled. Barb said never.

They talked. They fought. They made love. He regrouped. He repunted. He recompromised. He said I'll split Vietnam. I'll dump Tiger Kamp on John Stanton. John to run it/Wayne to rotate/Mesplиde to assist.

Barb tweaked him. Barb said you _love_ Wayne. Barb said he hit me. Okay-he _knows_ you-you win.

They talked truce. They notched points. They nailed details. He said I'll stay in Vegas. I'll run Tiger Kab and the Cavern. I won't touch the dope. I'll just surveille shipments in.

I have to-the heat's up-Drac brought publicity. I'll work in Vegas and rotate to you in Sparta.

Barb bought the plan. Said plan stressed Vietnam. Said plan stressed his exclusion.

They made love. They sealed the pact. They fucking snowmobiled. Fucking Sparta, Wisconsin-Lutherans and trees.

Pete scoped the ballroom. Pete watched the floor. Sal M. looked over. Sal M. looked away.

Dom's bun boy filed missing-persons. LVPD worked the case. It got some ink. Cops checked out the Cavern. Pete bribed them. They dumped the case resultant.

Otash watchdogged Sal. Sal learned his script. It was simple shit: I just _loooove_ civil rights! Otash worked with Dwight Holly. They redid Sal's pad. They ripped out a closet. They hung 1-way glass and rigged a camera. Said camera faced Sal's bed.

Fred T. assisted. Fred T. bugged lamps. Fred T. bugged walls. Fred T. bugged mattress springs.

Pete scoped the ballroom. Pete watched the floor. Celebs hobnobbed. Celebs sucked up to King.

Otash said, "You see the paper? Jack Ruby died."

"I saw it."

"You guys went back. Sam G.'s dropped a few hints."

Sal looked over. Pete cued him-_go in strong now_.

Sal shagged a waiter. Sal cadged a drink. Sal chugalugged. Sal flushed bright. Sal mingled. Sal walked.

Fruit Alert-Bayard Rustin-fruit fly at ten o'clock high. Bayard's got backscratchers-Burl Ives plus two-Sal's moving in tight.

Sal sees Bayard. Bayard sees Sal. Two smiles and wet lips aflutter. Strings swell. "Strangers in the Night." "Some Enchanted Evening."

Burl's pissed. Who's _this_ punk? _I'm_ old-line Left. Sal said hi. Sal drifted off. Bayard eye-tracked his ass.

Otash said, "Contact."

A bell rang. It's chow time. Hold for pygmy banquet fare.

Cliques dispersed. The guests hit the tables. Sal eye-tracked Bayard. Sal sat nearby.

Bayard saw him. Bayard wrote a napkin note. Pat Brown passed it down. Sal read it. Sal blushed. Sal passed a note back.

Pete said, "Liftoff."

o o o

They killed time.

They walked next door. They hit Trader Vic's. They quaffed mai-tais. They noshed rumaki sticks.

Cops passed through. Cops dished updates.

Dinner's done. King's talking. King's dripping foam at the mouth. He's Red. He's a puppet. I know it. The peaceniks love him. It burns me. My son's in Vietnam.

A TV kicked on. The barman flipped channels. The barman shut off the sound. There's war news on three channels. There's choppers and tanks. There's Commie King on two more.

Pete checked his watch. It was 10:16. Hold for fruit flies on high. Otash wolfed a puu-puu platter. His cummerbund swelled.

10:28:

Sal walks in. Sal sits down. Sal ignores them.

10:29:

Bayard walks in. Bayard sits down. Bayard greets Sal: Child, how _are_ you! I'm _such_ a fan!

Otash got up. Pete got up. Pete grabbed a shrimp spear for the road.

o o o

Setup:

They hit Sal's pad. They aired out the closet. They prepped the camera. They loaded film. They waited. They sat still.

The closet was hot. They popped sweat. They stripped to socks and shorts.

They sat still. They killed the lights. Their watch dials ran fluorescent.