Read NANOVISION: What Would You Do With X-ray Vision? Online

Authors: Paul Harry

NANOVISION: What Would You Do With X-ray Vision? (20 page)

Benny slammed the
phone down again, grabbed his suit jacket, and hustled his way out of his
office and to the elevator.

* * * *

Daniel watched
with amusement at everything that was going on inside the high limit pit. With
Benny’s people preoccupied, he was free to continue doing what he did
best−emptying the till of the Blue Diamond. Hand after hand, he forced
the cards to his favor by manipulating the outcome of each hand. Knowing the
dealer’s hold card and every card that was coming out of the shoe made it just
too easy for him to miss. Already, the chip rack was nearly empty of $25,000
dollar checks, forcing Tony to order another fill−security was on its way
with it.

Daniel felt a
buzz in his pocket. His phone was vibrating. That was his warning, Benny was on
the move. He leaned over and whispered to Paige, letting her know. She shot him
a worried look.

“Don’t worry,” he
said, swallowing his own nervousness, “we’ll be okay.”

He glanced
around. There were probably fifty people or more milling about, standing along
the perimeter of the high limit room along with a bunch of uniformed security
guards. Somewhere in the mix was the FBI. Judy said she’d have more than enough
agents ready when the time came. He hoped she was right.

The fill
arrived−another 4.5 mil. The dealer ran the checks down, then he and Tony
signed off on it, at which point they were placed in the rack. It was time to
play again.

* * * *

Benny was livid.
He didn’t know what the hell was going on, but heads were going to roll when he
found out. Nobody was going to take his casino for a ride−not even some
rich tech punk. Exiting his private elevator, Benny hit the casino floor
expecting Sid and Bruno to be there waiting for him. They weren’t. Instead, he
was greeted by a flash mob of reporters and cameramen who converged on him like
a swarm of locust with lights and cameras waiting. Amidst a flurry of flashing
bulbs and microphones jammed into his face, Benny suddenly found himself being
besieged with questions regarding allegations of bribery with a state senator.
To his chagrin, he had no idea what they were talking about and it showed. He
was bewildered and caught off guard, stuttering and stammering like a fool as
he tried to ascertain where all this was coming from. It was only with the
advent of Sid and Bruno coming to his rescue that he was finally able to break
free and head over to high limit−a herd of press following.

* * * *

By the time Benny
hit high limit, he was back in control and ready to bite the head off of anyone
who got in his way. With a series of angry hand gestures and sharp retorts he
instructed a number of his security personnel to take care of the press, and
several others to fall in behind Sid and Bruno as he made his way into the pit.
Daniel watched them out of the corner of his eye. They looked like a small
posse coming his way.

The first to fall
was the gaming agent who confronted Benny. He flashed his badge and tried to
block Benny, but Benny went through him like an ice pick through tissue.

“Get the fuck
outta my way,” the casino owner snarled, forcing his way past him, “or my
people will toss you out on your fuckin’ ear.” The threat was real and the
agent let him pass without a word.

Peter approached.
“Mr. Marcos...”

“Not now...”
dissed Benny.

Walking up to the
blackjack tables, Benny took off his coat and folded it over an empty chair. He
approached the game where Daniel and Paige were playing and tapped the dealer
on the shoulder.

“Take a break,”
he ordered, shoving the dealer out of the way.

The dealer moved
aside and Benny took his place behind the game. He sized up the rack, or what
was left in it, noting the pile of chips in front of Daniel and Paige. It was
somewhere near seven million. Benny fought his anger. These two dweebs had to
be cheating−it was the only answer.

“So how yah
doing?” Benny asked as he studied Daniel and Paige. He pumped out the cards
setting up the next six hands. “You seem to be takin’ my place for quite a
ride. Want to tell me how?”

Inside, Daniel
was shaking like a leaf, but somehow his anger kept him focused. It had to. “I
don’t know−maybe I’m good at blackjack” he answered. “Who are you,
anyway?” he asked.

“My name’s Benny
Marcos, kid. And I own this joint.”

“Ahh,” said
Daniel, giving Benny a smart-ass smile. “And you’re here to give me more
money?”

Benny glared at
Daniel. “Kid, I’m gonna make you wish you’d never heard of blackjack.”

“Wow, that’s
quite a threat,” responded Daniel. “And what are you gonna do? Break my hands
like the Mafioso did in the old days? Maybe take me out into the desert and
bury me?”

Benny grinned.
“If that’s what it takes, kid. I don’t like cheaters.”

“Ya know what I
don’t like, Benny? I don’t like people who step on other people. I don’t like
murderers and I don’t like being threatened. Mickey threatened me like
that−just before I pumped ten rounds into him. That’s why he’s not
around, Benny. He’s dead. I killed him.”

The look on
Benny’s face was absolutely priceless. He looked like he’d been punched in the
gut and it took every ounce of self restraint to keep him from reaching across
the table and strangling Daniel, but there were too many witnesses. Instead he
snapped his fingers, giving the signal to Sid and Bruno to move in. The two
thugs pushed their way around the table, rudely knocking Paige out of the way,
placing themselves on either side of Daniel. He glanced at the two goons.

“Sid... Bruno...
Nice to see you again.”

Stunned, the two
gorillas shot looks at one another. “Do we’s know you?” asked Sid.

“Guys... I’m
hurt. You come to my home, beat me, kill my father, then blow the fuck outta my
house... and you don’t remember me. God,
even
Mickey remembered me.”

Bending over the
table, Benny put his face inches away from Daniel’s. “I don’t know what kinda
fucking game you’re playing here kid, but it’s not going to end well.”

“No, you’re right
Benny, It’s not going to end well−which is why I brought some friends.”

Turning his head,
Daniel gave a quick wave, signaling to Judy and the FBI that it was time to
move in, which they did in force. Not only was it the FBI, but Gaming Control
and Las Vegas Metro as well. Surging forward out of the crowd, they immediately
nullified the Blue Diamond’s uniformed security, then hit Sid and Bruno full
force. The two goons were yanked off their chairs and thrown to the floor where
they were handcuffed and arrested.

Benny was stoic.
He just stood and watched as everything around him crumbled. What else could he
do? With the press flashing pictures as the FBI encircled him, he put his hands
behind his back in prep for the handcuffs that were coming. He knew the
routine, having been down the road once or twice, and he took it in stride,
looking smug and tough till the end. It lasted only for a moment though. When
Daniel removed his sunglasses, showing off his dead white eyes covered with
scar tissue Benny almost fainted.
The kid was fucking blind???

From behind the
mobster, a very elated Judy Salinski appeared. And with a righteous enthusiasm
she said, “Benjamin Marcos, you are under arrest for the murder of Steven Tyler
Raye. You have the right to remain silent. You have the right...”

Daniel smiled to
himself as they led Benny Marcos away. There were even tears in his eyes.

“Hey? How are you
feeling?” a voice whispered in his ear.

“Like I just won
the lottery,” he sighed, sinking wearily into a chair. “I just made over seven
million ripping off the guy who killed my Dad, and now he’s going to prison for
the rest of his life. Yeah... I think I just won the lottery.”

Paige gave him a
huge hug. “And you got the girl too,” she laughed, squeezing him tightly. “I
guess you did win the lottery.”

Epilog

It was a year
later and damn cold. Waiting outside in the pre-dawn dark, Daniel sat back and
watched as the SWAT team he was assigned to surround a house. He was lending
them his expertise, filling them in on where the sentries and snipers were
hidden. He pointed out three of them and watched as they fell to silent fire.

“It’s clear,” he
noted into his radio, watching as they charged the home, breaking down the
door, and shooting whomever got in their way. It only took a minute and all was
clear.

“Come on,” said
Judy, when they got the word. “You’re up.”

Daniel entered
the house, passing by three dead bodies and two others who were in handcuffs.
The place was a pig sty and smelled to high heavens. Daniel looked around.
There was nothing here so he moved on to the next room−again nothing. The
third room was different; he could see ambient heat waves emanating upwards
from the floor under the bed. His infrared sight also registered a faint heat source.

“Under here,” he
said, with a wave of his hand.

Three members of
the swat team jumped into action, flipping the bed out of the way. They ripped
up the carpet and there underneath was a trap door. Ripping it open, they found
a coffin like hole with a child inside−the child they were looking for.
She’d been kidnapped two weeks earlier and was barely breathing, but alive.
Judy called for the paramedics.

“You did good,
Daniel,” she said later as they left. “The guys here were more than impressed.”

“Thanks,” he
responded. “I’m glad it ended well.”

“Did you hear
what happened to Benny?” she asked as they walked to his car.

Daniel’s ears
perked up. He knew the mobster’s trial was coming up soon and that he might
have to testify. “No,” he answered. “What happened? Don’t tell me he cut a
deal.”

Judy smiled.
“Well, he tried. And the boys in Chicago were none too pleased. He was found
hanging in his cell with, shall we say, a rather personal item stuck in his
mouth.”

“Ouch,” said
Daniel. “That’s really nasty.”

“Yeah, well...
when you play hard you die hard.”

“I guess. So? Am
I free to go?”

“Yeah, we’ve got
nothing going on, but stick by your phone. You never know.”

“Will do.”

“And say hi to
your Aunt and Katie for me.”

Giving Daniel a
quick kiss on the cheek, Judy watched as he drove off into the night. It must
be awesome, she thought, to have the power he did. Already he had helped solve
half a dozen cases and he was only twenty-two.
Yikes!

Dear Reader:

I would like to personally thank you for taking the time to read
my novel: NANOVISION. I hope you enjoyed it and I’d love to hear your thoughts
on the story. If you could you take a moment and leave a review with Amazon at
http://bit.ly/Nanovision
it would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Paul T Harry

PS: Be sure to visit Sphere
Publishing at
www.5moons.com
for other
great sci-fi novels and to sign up for our mailing list featuring new upcoming
books! And, if you have a question or comment for the author please feel free
to drop us a line at
[email protected]
.

NANOVISION

A Desert Portal Book

Sphere Publishing, LLC

Gold Canyon, AZ 85118

Website:
www.5moons.com

Media contact:
[email protected]

E-Book edition / November 2014

Based on the Screenplay NANOVISION by Paul T Harry

ISBN − 10: 0988785803

ISBN − 13: 978-0-9887858-2-3

Front cover art and design by Fazel Rehman aka Phuzzle through
99Designs.

Permission for use granted through standard licensing agreement.