NANOVISION: What Would You Do With X-ray Vision? (18 page)

Outside, at the
hedge, Paige waited in nervous anticipation. The shots brought her to full bear,
and when she saw Katie running across the lawn she screamed at her, “Over here!
Katie! Over here!”

Katie obeyed and
ran toward Rudy’s house where Paige grabbed her. She hustled her to her car,
which was already running, and they jumped in. Paige threw the car into gear,
launching them both backwards down the driveway. As they hit the road, Paige
yelled at the girl, “I’m with Daniel.”

Paige didn’t make
it far. She was forced to stop due to the cop cars racing up the road toward
her−they blocked her exit. Sirens wailing, they encircled her and Katie,
both of whom were out of the car screaming to them about the killer in the
house.

Befuddled and
confused and lacking any real detail, the cops pulled together, forming a
cohesive unit, arming themselves with shotguns and side arms.

Paige couldn’t
take it. Breaking away from the officer who was trying to both calm and
restrain her, she bolted for the house.

Mickey lay on the
floor dying, his mouth agape, blood oozing from his wounds as Daniel slithered
across the floor toward him. Though the hitman tried in vain to raise his gun
to stop him, he couldn’t. One of the bullets from the 9mm had shattered his
knuckles−he couldn’t control his fingers, the muscles wouldn’t respond.

Daniel came
across to him, his face rising next to his.

“Does it hurt,
mother fucker?” asked Daniel.

Mickey couldn’t
answer. It did hurt though−a lot.

Daniel looked
into Mickey’s one good eye. His life was fading, but he was still cognizant.
“May the devil be biting yur arse an ‘our before Jesus knows yur dead,” Daniel
mocked, whispering in his ear. Then with added venom, he said, “You fucking,
worthless piece of shit!” He spit in Mickey’s face.

The rest of the
events were a whirl for Daniel. Paige came flying through the door, half
hysterical with fear, Katie following on her heels, the police not far behind.
Seeing Daniel lying next to Mickey, she grabbed him and flipped him over
screaming, “Daniel! Daniel! Are you okay??? Are you alive???”

All Daniel could
do was groan as Paige ripped open his jacket−his chest hurt like hell.
With no sense of moderation, she tore off the water bottles duct-taped to his
chest, spilling the rest of the red paint onto the floor. She poked and prodded
the Kevlar armor underneath to see if any bullets had penetrated−none
had.

Daniel moaned as
she pushed on his ribs. “Shit! Shit! Shit! You never said it was going to hurt
like that.”

Paige screamed
with joy. “You’re alive, Superman, you’re alive!” She choked back the tears,
crying and laughing as she and Katie helped Daniel to his feet. He stood there
swaying back and forth as the two embraced him.

“Daniel, thank
God, I was so scared,” said Katie.

“It’s okay,
little one,” he answered. “It’s all over now.” He squeezed her hard, his own
tears falling.

Chapter 10

No one was more
surprised with the results of Daniel’s transformation than Ethyl. She was
simply stunned by the success of her concocted formula giving him back his
eyesight. It had worked far better than she could have ever imagined. If only
she hadn’t destroyed the formula, along with everything else, when she wiped
the drives at Nanobytes. Still, it didn’t matter, she could always start
again−that is, if she could regain control of her company, and the
details of that had yet to be worked out.

Paul Gregan’s
reign as the CEO of Nanobytes was probably one of the shortest on record. What
should have been a simple takeover of a tech company went awry very quickly,
due mostly to Daniel and his newfound powers. All of a sudden, Paul Gregan
found himself under a lot of pressure with the FBI and the IRS breathing down
his neck−a dual headache he just didn’t need. No one likes having heat
put on them, especially millionaires who are used to calling the shots. But
when they came knocking on his door, digging relentlessly into his past,
dragging out skeletons and rattling his cage; he became a little concerned. So,
when the offer came to walk away from Nanobytes in exchange for a small, but
neat buyout, he was more than willing to accept the offer. All he wanted at
this point was a little money back, and to be left alone.

Judy Salinski
spent five days in the hospital undergoing reconstructive surgery on her collarbone,
followed by three months of physical therapy. She was very fortunate; the first
bullet from Mickey’s 45 had passed cleanly through her body, missing the major
arteries while the second had shattered her collarbone. When she finally
returned to work, it was a regiment of light duty behind a desk, with most of
her focus centered on fixing Nanobytes’ problems, corralling Daniel into
working for the FBI, and putting together the indictment for Benny Marcos.

As for Daniel,
all he wanted was justice and that meant one thing−getting Benny Marcos.
The trouble was he didn’t want superficial justice; he wanted revenge−the
only kind of retaliation that Benny really understood. Daniel knew Benny was
fueled by his ego, but in order to destroy him it would require taking away
everything he loved−his pride, his status, and most of all, his money.
Daniel was willing to oblige. He wanted Benny to be left barren, squashed like
a bug with nothing left but his name, and he had just the plan−a plan
that would help everyone concerned.

At first Judy
wasn’t keen on Daniel’s idea, but the young man was insistent, so insistent
that he said he wouldn’t testify against Benny otherwise. His stubbornness
galled Judy, but after personally witnessing his ability she acquiesced and
started the ball rolling. Her first meeting was with the head of the Nevada
Gaming Commission and after several weeks of putting together the details, she
told Daniel that his idea was ready for implementation.

Paige returned to
the Club Cal Neva, but only for a short time. She had plenty of money left over
from her escapade with Daniel at the Hyatt, and she was now looking into
treatment for the lump in her breast, which included a promise of help from
Ethyl and the doctors at Nanobytes. Making things easier for her was Daniel’s
weekly visits to Reno. He was building up a cash reserve for his trip to Vegas
and he wanted her by his side. It was going to be a grand affair.

Ethyl had mixed
feelings about Paige. In so many ways she reminded her of her sister,
Helen−young, spirited, and quite pretty. Her fear was for Daniel. He was
so smitten with her−but what can you say about someone who had the
brains, gumption, and balls (for lack of a better term) to put together a plan
like she did. She had thwarted Mickey, and that said a lot about a person, so
Ethyl went along.

Katie was the
most pliable to everything around her and she accepted the new changes taking
place in her life with little reservation. She was thrilled that her cousin was
back better than ever and that his eyesight had been restored−even if he
did have a new love interest. She actually liked Paige and emulated her to the
chagrin of her Grandmother. That made her laugh−Paige was a lot of fun.

The hardest part
for everyone in the Santini household was the passing of Rudy. He had been a
good friend and neighbor for many years, not to mention a personal confidant to
Ethyl who took his death quite hard. The beautiful part was that he left his
estate to her with instructions for a portion to be given to Katie and Daniel
for their education. The rest was to go for that trip to Hawaii they had been
planning.

Daniel of course
had a lot to thank Rudy for. Not only had the old man saved his life, but he
had given him some very useful tools regarding Blackjack and the gambling
industry in general. Rudy’s stories about Las Vegas and how he worked his way
up in the business had been an invaluable education. The old man was one sharp
cookie and Daniel was beholding to him for sharing what he knew—especially with
what he had planned. He was going to need everything he’d learned if he was
going to take down Benny Marcos and not get killed in the process.

Benny Marcos was
another story. He was at a total loss over Mickey. There wasn’t a day that went
by that he wasn’t on the phone trying to track him down. Losing your top
enforcer, even a coke head like Mickey was nothing short of a catastrophe. His
whole organization was showing the strain and even falling apart.
Where the
hell was he? Was he in police custody? Injured or dead?
For him to
disappear like this was unthinkable−and Benny felt like he was missing
his right hand.

*   *   *   *

The Sunset Canyon
Villa was a beautiful five star hotel suite atop the Blue Diamond Hotel.
Featuring two master bedrooms, with a fireplace, a private spa and massage room
along with a private patio overlooking the Red Rock Mountains, it was the
height of luxury for Las Vegas. And with a price tag of five thousand a night,
it wasn’t for the faint of heart though it almost gave Paige a coronary. She
was overwhelmingly stunned by the opulence of the suite and its scenic views.

“How?” she asked,
walking through the rooms. “Where’d you get the money?” It was a stupid
question. She already knew the answer.

For the past six
months Daniel had been quietly playing blackjack in all the casinos in Northern
Cal, Oregon, Washington and Nevada, building up his stake, sometimes with her,
sometimes alone. Staying under the radar he played small amounts, moving
between the dozens of gambling joints, winning a thousand here, a few thousand
there, stuffing the money into his private slush fund. His goal was to raise
enough money to cover the cost of taking down Benny Marcos, and when he got to
two hundred thousand he knew he was ready. The only thing necessary now was to
open a line of credit with the Blue Diamond−and that’s where Judy came
in.

With Judy and the
FBI’s help, Daniel was given a fictitious business portfolio supported by
credit and financial documentation showing that he was a man of substantial
means. He was a wealthy business entrepreneur heavily invested in the tech and
medical industry, though prone to reckless playboy antics. Daniel liked that
idea.

*   *   *   *

The evening at
the Blue Diamond started out simply. Daniel wanted only the best. He and Paige
had gone shopping early in the morning, purchasing a gorgeous, long black
evening gown for her and a white jacket tuxedo with black trim for himself. The
two made a handsome pair. Dressed to kill, they had dinner together in the
Lobster Fillet Wine house, pampering themselves to an incredible meal including
Bananas Foster dessert. As they sat drinking scented spring water and dining on
lobster and steak, they went over their plans for the evening. Daniel wanted to
make sure they were on the same page before they entered the Blue Diamond’s
high limit room. After their meal Daniel placed a call to Judy, letting her
know they were headed in.

“Everything’s
set,” she acknowledged. “Marcos is upstairs in his penthouse office and the
team is in place.”

“Then I guess we
should get to work,” he said, hanging up the phone.

He gave Paige a
quick wink and put on his sunglasses. The clock was ticking.

*   *   *   *

The high limit
room of the Blue Diamond was as opulent as the Sunset Canyon Villa penthouse
suite. Filled with half a dozen blackjack tables, two baccarat tables and a
small roulette wheel, the room was just the place for high rollers. Small,
intimate, and yet luxuriously tasteful, it featured a number of beautiful
overhead crystal chandeliers, a replete wine and liqueur bar, and a small bank
of high limit slots−just the place for the rich to lose their cash in
style no matter what their gaming preference. The room’s table limits generally
started at $100 and went up to $10,000, but in some cases the limits could be
raised to $25,000−or if Benny was so inclined−$50,000. For that to
happen though, you had to be just the right player.

What appealed to
Daniel was that the room was open to onlookers. It gave the ordinary patrons
the opportunity to stand around and gawk at people like him. They could watch
the ‘whales’ play, betting small fortunes on each hand, winning and losing with
each turn of the cards. Daniel liked having an audience; their observations and
commentary added to the game and revved up the atmosphere−such an
addition would be especially helpful tonight. Unfortunately, at the moment, the
room held only a few patrons and there was little action to be seen. It was
Thursday evening and the night was still young with nothing much
happening−yet.

Selecting a dead
table, Daniel and Paige sat next to one another, and after being ID’d by the
dealer, Daniel asked for a $20,000 dollar marker. Upon getting approval, the
dealer cut out several stacks of purple, black and green chips, which she
passed over to Daniel. Keeping twelve thousand for himself, Daniel handed Paige
eight thousand and the two began betting, two to three hands apiece, with their
bets varying between $500 to $1000 on each hand. Sadly, things did not go well.
The table had a limit of $10,000 per hand and the six deck shoe was miserable
and Daniel, playing sightless, soon found himself in the hole for two markers
totaling forty thousand.

He complained to
Paige. “I can’t believe these cards. You’d think I could win a couple of hands
in a row.”

“I know, hon,”
she cooed, stroking him on the arm. “It’ll get better.” She was playing the
bimbo role quite well.

Daniel continued
his play as the cocktail waitress breezed by bringing fresh bottles of water.
“Here you go, Sir,” she said, giving Daniel a sweet smile. Paige shot her a
dirty look as Daniel tossed the rather well-endowed waitress a twenty-five
dollar tip.

“You sure you
wouldn’t like something stronger?” asked Tony, the floorman rating Daniel’s
play. “We have one of the best stocked bars in Vegas, including imports.”

Paige waved him
off. “No, we’re good. Some luck would be nice though.”

Tony smiled.
“Yeah, that always helps.”

Daniel continued
to play and lose, feigning his agitation with the cards and the luck he was
having. Before he knew it he was down seventy-five thousand and asking for a
new shoe. As the dealer reshuffled he asked Tony to raise the table’s limit.
“Can I get the limit raised to fifteen thousand?”

“Let me check,”
responded Tony. “Just give me a minute.”

Walking to the
podium in the center of the pit, Tony picked up the phone and made a call which
brought another supervisor into high limit. Daniel watched as the two men
briefly consulted−the new guy then looked up Daniel in the computer. He
approached a minute later.

“Hi, I’m Peter
Wells, the pit manager,” he said, sticking out his hand. “I understand you’d
like us to raise the table limit.”

Daniel smiled and
shook hands with Peter. “Yeah, that would be nice.”

“Shouldn’t be a
problem,” noted Peter. He glanced at Daniel’s rating card. “I see this is your
first visit with us. You’re staying in the penthouse suite?”

“Yes,” enjoined
Paige.

“How do you like
it?” asked Peter.

“Scrumptious,”
she responded, in her most flirtatious voice.

“It’s very nice,”
answered Daniel, giving a stern look at Paige. “We’re having an enjoyable
stay.”

Peter glanced
over to Tony and the dealer. “Go ahead and raise the limit,” he instructed.
“I’ll make the notation in the computer.”

With a new shoe
and the table limit raised, Daniel got another marker and began to play three
hands betting five to fifteen thousand a hand and his losing streak continued.
Before he knew it he was in $225,000 and things were not looking up. He took
out another marker for $150,000.

The next hour
that passed was gruesome. Daniel’s play was dismal at best and he could hear
miscellaneous comments filtering in from the crowd that was growing behind him.