Chapter Two

Nobody on Earth can ever love you
more than your parents...


"I need answers, before I ask questions," Bank snapped at his construction manager, "You get that. Alright? Do it." The construction manager quickly left and Bank turned towards Danny. Looking down at his blue prints, he thought for a moment before looking back at Danny.

"So," Bank started, "Some guys I take seriously told me, you're a serious guy."

"Right, well, I want what's most important to me is that my grandson gets returned to his mother tonight and that Reuben get's his share of the hotel restored," Danny explained, "Now, I'm here to give you a chance to do that."

"Oh yeah, you're here to give me a chance," Bank chuckled, looking down at his blue prints, "Okay, so, the Billy Martin, I pass. The last time I looked and I look every morning; it was my name listed as owner on more valuable property in this state, then anyone else in history."

"Which means you got a lot more to lose."

"Oh, but I don't lose," Bank assured Danny, "People, who bet on me to lose, lose and they lose big. You come at me, you better know I move quick and when I do I slice like a goddamn hammer."

"So, you're not gonna return a little boy to his mother and make Reuben whole again," Danny asked.

"If Reuben was too weak or too stupid to see what was comin' down, then you know what," Bank asked, "He doesn't belong here. He's made the right choice to roll over and die; let him be. And as for your grandson, your daughter was told that her son will be returned to her on the night of our grand opening. If SHE does anything to sabotage this opening, then I will make sure myself that, that little boy never sees his mother again."

"Fine," Danny relented, "But, how do we know Charlie's okay in your care?"

"Okay, you know what, I'll give you this. I'll give her this. I'll give her two hours with him every weekend at Aloha Shores Park, just so she knows that the kid is okay."Bank turned his back on Danny finished with the conversation. Danny looked at the man with a steely gaze, before taking off his construction hat, leaving the site. They gave him a chance.


"Tell me more about him," Rusty asked, as he continued to sit with Natalie in their son's room. Natalie smiled sadly.

"He is so much like you, Rusty," Natalie explained, "He has the same little nervous ticks that you do and he just has so much energy. Truth is there are days it is hard to keep up with him 'cause he just keeps on going. Eats like you too, so I guess it's probably a good thing he has so much energy. He has your affinity for breaking the rules..."

"He gets that from both of us, Nattie," Rusty said, with a tiny smile. Natalie chuckled, a single tear rolling down her cheek, as she continued to clutch at the stuffed walrus in her hands.

"Tip," she explained, when Rusty took the stuffed walrus into his own hands, "Daring Dash's sidekick. I bought it for him, the week before I went into labour. He reminded me so much of you actually."

"A stuffed walrus reminded you of me," Rusty said, holding the walrus up to his face.

"It was the colour the manufacturer chose for the eyes," Natalie explained, pointing at the faded eyes on the stuffed animal, "They use to be the same colour as yours and our son's."

"He has my eyes," Rusty asked. Natalie nodded.

"He could be you in miniature," she joked, showing him a more recent photo that she had on her phone from the day that Charlie had been taken. He was sitting in a patio chair by the pool wearing one of Reuban's old fedoras. Rusty looked at the picture with misty eyes.

"I wish I could have met him under better circumstances," Rusty said, still looking at the picture of the little boy smiling as he ate a very large chocolate sundae.

"I was so stupid, Rusty," Natalie said, "I should've told you. I should've let you make the choice if you wanted to be a father or not and because I was afraid of what your answer could have been we're in this mess, Charlie is in this mess. All because I had to drag Reuben into keeping my secret and I've put Charlie in so much danger." She began to sob once more. Rusty wanted to agree with her, but he wasn't going to say anything though, she was already beating herself up enough over everything.

"Oh god," she sobbed, into his shoulder, "I am such a bad mother."

"A bad mother wouldn't be worried about her son," Rusty reasoned, wrapping his arms around her, "A bad mother wouldn't be sitting in her son's room crying because she can't do anything to get her son back. A bad mother wouldn't have called in some of the greatest cons she knew to get her son back." Natalie sniffled a little.

"We'll get him back, Nattie," Rusty assured her, "And then the three of us will be the family that we should've been. No more running away?"

"No more running away," she agreed.


Six Months Later…


"Well," Natalie said, a slight smile on her face at seeing her old school friend, "Thanks for comin'."

"Thanks for the hundred grand," he told her, giving her a small kiss on the cheek, "I'm sorry to hear about Charlie."

"Not now, Roman," she told him, leading him into the living room where her father and Rusty were waiting for her.

"Roman, this is my father and my fiancée," Natalie said, pointing to each man in turn, "Roman and I went to school together. He's probably the best solution to our problem."

"If this takes longer than a day though," Roman told her, after shaking hands with Danny and Rusty, "We'll have to renegotiate." Natalie rolled her eyes at Roman, before grabbing his ear and twisting it as hard as she could; this caused both of his knees to buckle in pain.

"Why don't we keep it at the hundred grand," Natalie suggested, "And I won't tell your wife about the wireless webcam you tried to put in my bathroom the last time you were here."

"What," both Rusty and Danny snapped, glaring at Roman.

"Its fine," she assured them, letting go of Roman's here, "Charlie found him and stole the actual camera before he had the chance to actually install the thing. Do we have an agreement, Roman?"

"Yes, yes," he agreed, "Just don't ever do that again. You haven't lost any of that strength since high school. Just us four?"

"For now," Natalie answered, "We figured that we would talk to you first."

"Good lord," Roman mused, "How stuck are you?"

"Stuck."

"Stalled, really," Rusty corrected.

"Stuck," Danny repeated.

"Run it for me," Roman ordered, "Don't leave anything out. Give me the big picture." Putting his hands behind his head, he leaned back in his chair and got as relaxed as possible with the pain that was still shooting through his ear.

"Do you want to," Rusty asked,

"It's all yours," Natalie said.

"Where should we start," Danny asked.

"The hotel."

"Alright."

"Bank is swinging for the fences on this one. Forget weekenders and conventioneers, he's built this place for whales. It's a shoe in for the five diamond award," Danny started before looking at Natalie.

"The marble was handpicked in Italy and the chefs stolen from the highest rated restaurants in the Michelin guidebook. In the Villas, reserved for the big players, the silverware is actually gold."

"Bank's greatest strength is also his weakness, ego," Danny explained, "He's been spending his days checking and re-checking every inch of the property getting ready for the grand opening celebration. It's a compulsion."

"Bank's right hand man is actually a woman," Natalie said, biting her lip slightly, "Our old vice principal, Ms. Abigail Sponder-"

"Oh dear lord not that old bat, she's an absolute nightmare," Roman interrupted, "Does she still call everyone baby doll?"

"That's what I said," Natalie responded, "And by the sound of things, yes."


"We're going to have to let you go," Sponder explained to the waitress, feeling the slight fat that was on her arms.

"I only gained four pounds," the waitress begged, "You can't."

"Well your body mass index is not what it's supposed to be."

"But, but," the waitress stuttered, "Mrs. Sponder."

"Oh no baby doll, it's your butt that's the problem."

"You can't fire no waitress based on appearance," Frank vented, "That's just unconstitutional."

"If they were waitresses," Danny responded.

"Yeah," Linus agreed, "They're actually hired as 'models who serve,' so that Bank can monitor their physical appearance."

"It's a cruel, cruel practice," Rusty responded, looking down at Natalie, who was resting by the pool looking at photos of Charlie on her phone, while still clutching at the stuffed walrus that never left her side.

"So, between Bank and Sponder, they got the place covered."

"When's opening night," Saul asked.

"July 3rd," everyone answered.

"They've got fireworks at the stroke of midnight, the whole shebang," Danny continued.

"But, we're going in now," Saul asked confused, "It's already open."

"No," Natalie answered, "It's a soft opening; to test the place before the grand opening."

"Yeah, it's kind of like an out of town preview, but only it's in town," Linus tried.

"Soft opening, grand opening, when they opened the Flamingo, one day it was closed, the next it was open, end of story," Saul complained, "I know, I was there."

"Well, it's different now," Natalie said, shaking her head.

"So, when's opening night," Saul asked again.

"July 3rd."


"Now, the top casinos can clear three million dollars a day just on the floor," Danny explained, "Bank with his high level players and no limits, is projecting five."

"In exchange for the loans," Natalie continued, "He had to give up six of the nine seats on the board, so he doesn't control his own company and a couple of the guys he brought in aren't friendlies. So, he has to clear five hundred million in the first quarter or he gets dumped out of his own hotel."

"Of course," Roman said, "Bank wants another five diamond award, fifth in a row. So, how are you gonna get the diamonds?"

"We're not," Rusty answered.

"We thought about it for a minute," Danny explained, "And then we decided it was-"

"Impossible without risking Charlie," Rusty finished, "Natalie immediately shot down the idea."

"Besides," Natalie said, looking at Rusty who had been against the idea just as much as she had, "He's not going to be winning anymore. Tell him about, Debbie."

"Yes," Roman said intrigued, "Tell me about, Debbie."

"Debbie is the concierge at the Bank," Rusty explained, "She's very ambitious, in a good way, for us. As soon as I said the word general manager and Macao, she was in. I put a cherry on top to make sure."

"We found out who would be reviewing the hotel," Natalie continued, "We're gonna get to him before Bank can."


"I feel bad," Turk admitted, as he entered the room in a waiter's outfit that had been borrowed from the hotel, "It's like torture."

"This is war, kid," Saul told him, "There's going to be collateral damage and he gets the Susan B Anthony at the airport." Saul continued to fiddle with the speaker trying to get it hooked up to the remote that he was also holding. Natalie looked at him and shook her head grabbing it out of his hands and started to fiddle with it herself.

"Yeah, I know," Turk conceded, "But, he doesn't know that."

"So," Natalie said, finally getting what she needed in place, "What he has to know why he won to enjoy it? Who says?"

"Alright," Turk relented, "So, you'd go through that for ten million?" Natalie looked at him and handed Saul the remote and speaker.

"No," she answered, "But I'd go through it for eleven million."


"Now, we found out that Bank is tapped into the federal finger print database," Rusty said, picking at some junk food, only for Natalie to move it away from him. Danny chuckled under his breath; they were the same as they were five years ago.

"Highly illegal," Roman commented.

"We came up with a way to piggy back his system inbetween fire wall checks," he continued, glaring at Natalie playfully. She stuck her tongue out at him.

"There's very cheap stuff out there," Natalie told him.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, what else?"

"We're gonna get his whales," Danny said, speaking with his mouth full, causing Natalie to throw her hands up in the air and mutter something along the lines of not even knowing him and that's where he gets it from.

"How?"

"I talked to Denny Shields," Natalie explained. Roman looked at her in surprise.

"Denny Shields," Roman asked in shock, "You're ex-boyfriend, Denny Shields?" Rusty and Danny looked at her. They had been unaware of this little fact. She looked at both of them, before answering Roman.

"It was during high school," she explained, "A huge error in judgement."

"You talked to Denny Shields," Roman asked, still in shock, "Even after he bragged about what never actually happened after the big game and almost ruined your reputation at Bournemouth?"

"We need him," she reasoned.


"I shouldn't have said anything, Nattie," Shields apologized, "And then, Toulour started askin' questions and started calling me a pussy and I guess I just-"

"Denny, look," Natalie said, holding up her hand to get him to stop, "No way to know what was going to happen."

"Oh come on," Shields responded, "I feel really-"

"It's okay," she told him, "Let it go."

"The other stuff I got taken care of, it's all straight," Shields said, allowing himself to forget about their past, "I got eighteen whales. I spoke to their handlers, I spoke to their managers, I spoke to their assistants. Every one of them is going to leave. We're going to do it in two tiers. I'm gonna leave first and they're goin' to follow."

"Okay..."

"Okay," Shields agreed, "But, you gotta make sure they win, 'cause these guys usually lose and when they lose they get comped."

"They're gonna win big."


"How big?"

"Five hundred million," Danny answered.

"That night," Roman asked, "Just the premier?"

"No," Rusty and Danny answered together.

"No," Natalie continued, "It's a reverse big store."

"Right…"

"It doesn't matter if we win," Rusty started.

"As long as the casino loses," Roman finished, following their line of thought, "Yes, yes, that could actually work, so you need to rig-"

"Craps, blackjack, roulette, slots," Danny finished.


"Now, this polymer reacts to ultrasonic pulses," Basher explained to Virgil, "But, it's not metallic so the compasses on the table won't detect it and it won't affect the weight when they make the dice. Now, this…" Basher held up a torch lighter.

"Not really a lighter," Virgil asked. Basher smiled and flipped the lip open and then closed; the polymer cube that was in a glass in front of Virgil flipped.


"But," Roman interrupted, "Dice are controlled from the manufacturer all the way to the floor."

"Which is why we went all the way to the manufacturer," Danny answered.

"So, that's not your problem," Roman mused, "So, you're jammed on blackjack."

"We've embedded Livingston in the shuffle company," Natalie said, a smirk on her face. Roman was beginning to dig. He wanted in, and he wanted to help, but now he wanted to know exactly where they were stuck.


"Now, the tack will stimulate your EKG similar to the way a lie would," Natalie explained, handing Livingston the tack that he needed to place in his shoe, "But, you have to step on it during the control questions, your name, your birthday and so on; so, that those levels will match the stress levels in your false answers.

"Got it," Livingston answered, placing the tack inside his shoe, "How much is this going to hurt?" Natalie looked down and smiled.

"If you're doing it right," she answered, "It should be pretty excruciating."

"Is your birth date February 11th, 1965?"

"Yes," Livingston answered in an extreme amount of pain.

"Are you wearing a white shirt?"

"Yes," Livingston answered once more, still in an extreme amount of pain.

"Have you ever been involved in the commission of a crime?"

"No," Livingston lied, now free from needing to step on the tack.

"Have you ever defrauded or attempted to defraud the gaming industry?"

"No," Livingston lied once more.

"Alex?"

"All good," answered the technician.

"I love technology," the interviewer mused, "Just to look at you, I swear you were being evasive, but the machine says you're clean."

"I'm just a little nervous. I really want this job."

"You can relax now," the interviewer assured him, "Welcome to Shuffle Royale."


"The Shuffle Royale," Roman mused, "I doubt I've heard the last of that one. So, if blackjack is not your problem, it must be slots. Progressers run on computer chips now, we're gonna have to program in a trap door. I can probably find you someone to do that."

"Thanks," Danny said, his arms crossed, "We got somebody on the inside. A great kid by the name of Eugene, whose got a little too much down time."

"He's got a nice little online gaming tab," Rusty said, "And he won't be able to keep it a secret much longer."


"Now, I have no, um, yeah, it's crazy," Eugene stuttered.

"How bad is it," Danny asked.

"Uh, it's bad," Eugene answered, throwing his hands around wildly, as the two stood in the alleyway, "I owe thirty thousand dollars, so it may as well be a hundred." Danny pulled an envelope of cash out of his jacket and threw it at Eugene.

"Alright," he said, "Let's call it a hundred."

"Are you-thanks Danny," Eugene said, looking at the large amount of cash that now sat in his hands.

"Eugene, my pleasure," Danny answered, "Now, tell me how you're going to program that trap door."


"So, if that's not your problem, it must be roulette," Roman guessed once more, "Having your hand in that game is having an inferred scanner in the shoe, while having a micro computer somewhere on your person. It figures the probability of where the wheels will land within three digits."

"Yeah," Natalie said, "We…we tried that."

"In all fairness," Rusty said, wrapping an arm around her, "The way he was dressed didn't help."

"Not very subtle, this guy."

"So, you're stuck on roulette."

"No," Natalie replied, "We're goin' low-fy. We figured we'd get some loaded balls in there."

"Kidding," Roman asked, "How are you gonna deliver?"