a pro, a TexMex out of Houston. His game is baccarat. Far as anyone knows he plays clean. He's just good at it. Spends a few days at each casino and moves on, that way he isn't taking too much out of one place and raising eyebrows too high. They tracked him from the Nugget to the Stardust and now the Cleo. Cleaned up every place he went."
They were in the kitchen of Leo's house. Cassie sat at the kitchen table while Leo stood at the counter and made them peanut butter, honey and banana sandwiches. It was his specialty. He used seven-grain bread.
"Each night he takes his winnings in cash and keeps it all in a briefcase. If he leaves the building he takes the case with him. Locked to his wrist. The only time he doesn't have it with him is when he's down in the casino playing. What he does is take it to the front desk and have them hold it in the vault for him while he's playing, then he picks it up when he goes up to bed. Whenever he's carrying the case he's got a security escort. He doesn't take chances."
"So what you are saying is that the only time to get it is to go in while he's asleep."
"Exactly."
Leo came over to the table and put down two plates with two sandwiches each on them. He then went to the refrigerator and came back with two bottles of Dr Pepper. He sat down and opened the bottles as he talked.
"In the room he probably transfers the cash from the case to the closet safe as an added precaution. That's not for sure but we have to expect it. You want a glass with that?"
"No. What is the safe? I don't remember from before."
Leo looked down and studied his notes.
"It's a Halsey Executive five-button. Sits on the floor in the closet beneath the clothes rack. Bolted to the floor from the inside. You can't move it. You have to go in and open it – while the guy is right there in the room."
Cassie nodded and picked up half a sandwich. Leo had cut them into triangles. He always did it that way and she remembered he once got annoyed when she had made a sandwich and cut it lengthwise. She took a bite and immediately smiled.
"Gawd," she said, her mouth full of peanut butter and moving slowly. "I forgot how good these are, Leo. I remember you makin' them for Max and me after we drove all night to get back here after jobs."
"Made these sandwiches for him since he was six years old. Always his favorite. It always hits the spot."
Mentioning Max robbed her of the smile. Cassie turned back to the business at hand.
"The Halsey has a front-mounted keypad. I can do it with one camera – two to be safe if there's time. I'll have to know if the mark's right- or left-handed. I'll get that when I see him on the floor."
She was primarily talking to herself. Seeing the job in her mind. Then a question for Leo came up.
"You ask your man about the paint?"
Leo nodded.
"Swiss Coffee. The room was painted two months ago but it's a smoking room. Our guy smokes cigars."
"That'll help with the smell."
She committed the paint color to memory. She decided she'd pick up a pint and a pump bottle at Laurel Hardware in the morning before leaving.
"I'm also told he's a fat fuck," Leo said. "A snorer. Makes it a little easier."
"Nothing's easy, Leo. Not in Las Vegas."
That made her think about going back to the Cleopatra again and a foreboding came over her.
"If he's leaving Thursday, why don't we wait and see where he goes and hit him at the new place? Why does it have to be the Cleo?"
"Because we don't know if he's going anywhere else. He might be going back to Texas, for all we know. His briefcase might be full and he's going home. Besides, we have the inside man at the Cleo. Who knows if we'll get lucky like that if he moves on."
Cassie nodded. She knew Leo had thought about all of this and had decided that hitting the mark at the Cleopatra was the only way.
"I read that the Cleo's for sale," she said, just to be saying something that would take them away from her thoughts.
"Yeah, three thousand rooms and half of them empty on any given night. Big white elephant is what