Showcase: Stretch O’Brien
Weekend in Vegas
by Martin Maenza
Chapter 1
“You’re gonna be so proud of me, boss,” Q.T. said with excitement in his voice. The tall, gangly man wore a brown suit with a white shirt, the collar undone and his tie kind of loosened. Q.T. didn’t like to wear them tight. Made him feel like he was being strangled. He slid open the warehouse door and stepped to the side.
A large figure stepped into the warehouse first. He was easily seven feet tall, and his body was an impressive mass of muscles. He wore a long camel-hair coat over an expensive, handmade Italian suit. His shirt was neatly starched, and his solid violet tie was woven from the finest pure silk. He looked the part of any of the big names in the crime business.
But what made him stand out was his profile under his well-kept, flat top haircut. His name was Vincenzo Dyke, but he was known in the crime world more by the moniker of Ape-Face. The son of George “Boss” Dyke — the Gorilla Boss of Gotham City — and a Sicilian beauty, he very much looked as his name sounded.
Ape-Face looked around the room as a few of his other associates, including Q.T., shuffled inside the building. “You called me away from an important meeting,” the boss announced. “I hope for your sake this is worth my while. I don’t like to have my business interrupted for trivial matters.”
“Oh, it’s worth it!” Q.T. gushed. “I tracked ‘em down just like you said and dragged them in.” He gestured towards a wooden door across the way. “Got ‘em locked up good and tight. Figured you’d wanna take care of ‘em yourself.” The man reached into his left jacket pocket, and a panicked look crossed his face.
“Problem?” Ape-Face asked.
“No, no problem,” Q.T. said nervously. He then reached into his other pocket and sighed in relief. “See, no problem at all.” He produced a key, quickly fit it into the lock, and opened the door dramatically. “Ta da.”
The man stepped aside so his boss could get a good look into the small room.
Chapter 2
It was a small office with some clutter on the desk. In the center of the room were two wooden chairs, and tied down to the chairs was a couple. The man was young with dark hair. The woman was a blonde. Both were gagged with duct tape. When the two saw the simian faced mobster, their eyes grew wide in panic.
Ape-Face frowned and then stepped back from the doorway. He turned to Q.T. and asked impatiently, “What’s this? Who are those people?”
The gangly man looked at him with surprise. “Who are they? You’re kiddin’ me, right? Just yankin’ my chain?” Q.T. turned to the other guys. “I’m new with you fellas. Is the boss yankin’ me? This some kind of initiation joke or somethin’?”
Ape-Face quickly became annoyed with the man’s antics. With his massive hand, he reached out and spun Q.T. around. He grabbed the man by the front of his rumpled shirt. “Care to tell me why the $#@* you dragged me down here for? You have got three $#@*ing seconds to do so before I lose my patience even further!”
“It’s them,” the man said in his own defense. “That O’Brien couple! I trailed their rental car on the way across some states and ambushed them at a rest stop just outside of Phoenix.” Ape-Face just silently shook his head in disgust. The man turned to the other guys who also looked concerned. “What? What’s going on? It’s them. It has to be them! The car plates said MRV-2271, just like our sources gave us.”
The veins on the boss’ brow began to swell. Ape-Face wanted to pulverize the man, but instead just pushed him back into the wall hard. Q.T. hit it squarely with his back and slumped a bit. “You stupid, dyslexic fool! You reversed the digits. Tell him, Johnny.”
One of the other guys, also well dressed said, “Yep, the plates were MRV-2217.”
Ape-Face stepped forward, looking down on the man with his dark eyes. “I give you one simple task and you manage to $#@* it up. I don’t take well to folks in my organization making mistakes. Mistakes cost time and money.” He gestured back to the room. “You got the wrong people. Those two in there, they ain’t who I sent you to get. They’re just innocent bystanders who got caught up in your $#@* up. Now, tell me, is that fair to them?”
A bead of sweat ran down his brow. “Uh, no?” Q.T. said hesitantly.
Ape-Face started to turn away, then spun back around quickly. The sole of his Italian leather shoe slammed firmly into the man’s chest, causing Q.T. to double over in excruciating pain. The boss regained his composure quickly as he stepped away. He straightened his suit jacket underneath his coat. “You’re right. It isn’t fair to them. But now, they’ve seen our faces, heard our voices, and even our names. That’s not good. Now we’ve got to go and kill them.” The other men reached into their coats and removed their hand guns. They had been with Ape-Face awhile and knew the drill without being told.
Ape-Face turned to the three with guns. “You know where to start,” he said as his eyes darted to the side. The three nodded, turned and took aim. A number of shots rang out as they riddled Q.T.’s body with bullets. The boss merely turned away and started for the door. As he did so, he pulled out a pack of Chesterfields and lit up a cigarette. “That’s the problem with the world today. So hard to find decent help.”
Chapter 3
An elderly man with white hair, a mustache and beard squirmed as he tried to break free of the bouncers’ grasps. “You can’t do this to me!” the old man protested in a loud voice. Few people barely glanced up from their slots as he was dragged kicking through the main lobby. “Do you know who I am? Do you?”
“Don’t know, don’t care,” one of the big men said.
The old man puffed out his chest. “I’m the Gambler, I tell you,” he said. “The Gambler! Do you hear me?”
“Sure you are, pops,” said the other bouncer as they reached the front door. “You and just about everyone else in this town.” Together the two men tossed the man out the door. He fell to the sidewalk, down onto his hands and knees.
“And stay out!” the other bouncer called before the door shut.
“I’ll be back!” the old man shouted as he shook his fist defiantly at the door. “Just you wait and see.” Stephen Sharpe rose to his feet and then stomped off.
Two young people walked past him and entered the casino. The man, dressed in jeans and a rib-collared T-shirt, turned to the woman with him. “Wonder what’s the beef with Colonel Sanders there?” he asked.
“No clue, Scooby-Doo,” replied the honey-blonde woman. She wore a short, tight beige skirt and a sheer cream blouse. “Not really our problem is it?”
The young man smiled. “Nope, not all, sweetie. Like the song goes: ‘bright light city gonna set my soul, gonna set my soul on fire. Got a whole lot of money that’s ready to burn so get those stakes up higher.’ ” She giggled at his Elvis impersonation. He gave her a quick smooch on the cheek. “Viva Las Vegas.”
“You got that right, Stretch,” she replied. “OK, give me a couple hundred so I can play the slots.” He reached into his pocket and produced a few bills from his money clip. “Thanks, lover boy. See if you can maybe grab one of those waitresses, too. I can use a gin and tonic. Puts me in the right mood.”
“Anything for you, Mrs. O.B.” Stretch O’Brien smiled.
“And when I mean ‘grab one,’ you know I don’t mean literally. You can just forget about those ‘thousand pretty women waitin’ out there,’ ” Maggie replied with a wink. As she walked away, Stretch watched her buttocks wiggle. The young man was truly, hopelessly in love with his bride.
Chapter 4
“Seven!” the man at the table announced, and he added more chips to the winning pile
Stretch O’Brien smiled as he retrieved the dice once more. He was having a hot streak at the craps table.
Hard to believe it wasn’t that long ago that he was just a punk on the street, picking a pocket here and knocking over a liquor store there. Anything to make the quick buck, just so he could blow it on the movies or something. But after his run with the Junior Injustice Gang and cooling his heels briefly in the slammer, Stretch knew there had to be a better way.
He got himself a job at a comic shop. It wasn’t much, but it was an honest living. Barely enough to cover the rent and then some. Still, things were looking better for him. Then, that fateful day at the movies, Maggie walked into his life and things weren’t the same since. They had a wild adventure right after that, one that ended in a chaotic gun fight and them getting their hands a pile of cash. The money allowed them to get away for awhile, to take a honeymoon of sorts, but eventually they realized they couldn’t live on that windfall forever. That’s when they decided to hit Vegas.
“Seven again!” the man at the table announced. A few folks around the table cheered.
One of the men next to him clasped him hard on the shoulder. “Well, if you ain’t the luckiest sonofabitch I’ve ever seen,” he said in a thick, Southern accent.
“Thanks,” Stretch said, then he turned up his nose slightly. The guy’s breath smelled of rum, a lot of it. Either he started drinking for breakfast or had been up all night. You run into all kinds in this town. He grabbed the dice, looked at his pile and decided to let it ride once more. He tossed the dice.
“Seven!” the table runner announced. The crowd whooped once more.
Yep, Stretch thought to himself, maybe my luck is changing after all. The young man glanced at his reflection in the mirror behind the table. In it, he caught a familiar visage standing behind him. Elvis, wearing his white jumpsuit with rhinestones and mirror sunglasses, raised his hand with the thumb up and index finger out. Bang. Stretch smiled.
Chapter 5
Ape-Face’s blood pressure had almost gotten back down to normal when he returned to his office. The quicker he forgot about the whole messy incident the better off he would be.
He finished the large Caesar salad his receptionist had fetched for him. Just as he sat down to go over some numbers, his phone rang. He snatched up the receiver and said, “Dyke here! What do you want?”
“Boss, it’s me, Sallie,” said a voice on the other end of the phone.
Ape-Face leaned back in his high leather chair. “Sallie, baby, sweetie, talk to me. I hope it’s some good news. I can use some right about now.”
“It is, boss, it is,” Salvador Malano said. “I just got a call from one of our resources in Las Vegas. Turns out O’Brien and his woman entered one of their casinos about an hour ago.”
“Are you sure, Sallie?” Ape-Face said, eyeing the globe on the corner of his desk. He spun it around to see the view of the United States. His finger traced from Arizona to Nevada. Q.T. did say he thought he saw them heading west near Phoenix. “You better not be bullshitting me. I can’t take that twice in one day. This info is one hundred percent legit, right?”
“Swear on my mother’s grave, God rest her soul. Our contact even went down to the floor to ID them in person. It’s O’Brien, all right.”
Ape-Face began to smile. “Get back on the horn with our friend out there. Tell him to find a way to keep O’Brien contained and under observation. Then call my pilot and have him gas up the jet. I want to leave immediately. This time I’m handling things personally.”
The mob boss hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair. “No one messes with our operations and gets away with it. The last time it was his old man. This time, I’ll be shooting the kid! Ain’t no way he’s getting away from me again.” And Ape-Face began to laugh in a deep baritone voice.
Chapter 6
The crowd around the table continued to cheer. Stretch O’Brien enjoyed a great run at the roulette wheel as well. The waitress brought him another beer, and he tipped her with a ten. “Thank you, thank you very much, toots,” he said with a smile. He took a good, long swig from the long neck bottle of imported beer. He felt like maybe he’d found his calling.
Just as he placed a number of chips on black 32, a man in a suit tapped him on the shoulder. “Excuse me, sir,” the man said politely. “I don’t mean to disturb you.”
“Then don’t,” Stretch laughed. Then he turned and said, “Just kidding. What can I do you for, Mac?”
The man, slightly balding, extended his hand. “My name is Conrad Rockwell, I’m the manager of this hotel and casino. I hope you’ve been enjoying your time with us.”
“I have indeed,” Stretch said. The wheel spun and the ball bounced around. It landed on black 32, and the young woman running the table paid out Stretch’s winnings. “And it’s just keeps getting better all the time! Whoo hoo.” He collected his chips and made another selection on the board then turned back to the man. “Real nice place you got here, Mr. Rockwell. Real nice.”
The manager smiled. “Thank you,” he said, then added, “I’m sorry, I didn’t catch your name.”
“O’Brien,” the young man said, in his best Sean Connery voice. “Stretch O’Brien.”
Rockwell smiled again. “Well, Mr. O’Brien, I don’t want to keep you long. I just wanted to extend an offer to you. As the manager, I am able to offer some of our customers complimentary room upgrades. You are staying with us, aren’t you?”
“Afraid not,” Stretch frowned. “We’re across the way at the HoJo.”
“Well, that’s not a problem,” Rockwell said as he fished into his pocket. He produced a room key. “If you’re interested, I’d like to offer you the use of one of our suites, complimentary of course.”
Stretch’s eyes almost bugged out his head literally. “Complimentary?” he asked. “As in free?”
“Yes,” Rockwell replied. “Its one of the benefits we like to extend to our high rollers. It’s yours for the next four days if you’d like.”
Stretch smiled then took the key from his hand. “I’d like, I’d like. Thanks so much, sir.” Conrad Rockwell merely smiled and nodded.
Chapter 7
Stretch O’Brien was humming Suspicious Minds as he made his way to the rows of slot machines. It took him a few minutes as he wove his way through the noisy, flash one-armed-bandits until he found the one he was looking for.
“Hey, good looking,” he said as he plopped down on a stool next to one machine. “What’cha got cooking?”
Maggie pulled the handle, the dials turned and three bars came up. A number of coins dropped down into the payout slot. “This machine is so hot!” she exclaimed as she scooped up the coins and dropped them into the bucket next to her. It was full to the brim with quarters. “I’m doing so well that I’m tempted to go to the dollar machines.”
“So you saying I can’t tear you away, eh?”
“Why? What’s on your mind, cutie?”
Stretch smiled, pulled out a shiny key and waved it in his wife’s face. “We’re movin’ on up, Weezie. To a deluxe apartment in the sky.”
Maggie laughed. “You’re crazy, baby. Where’d you get that key?”
“The manager gave it to me. Said I was a high roller, and all high rollers deserved suites in his hotel. Face it, doll face, you could be married to the next king of Las Vegas.”
“Get out!” Maggie said as she hit him firmly on the shoulder with her hand. “Where’d you get it really?”
Stretch held up his hand. “Honest injun. It’s ours for a couple nights, and it’s free! I just wanted to check with you before I headed back to the HoJo to get our stuff and the car.”
Maggie plopped three coins in her machine and pulled the handle. Again the machine paid out for her. “Tell you what, puddin’,” she said. “My luck’s still going strong, so do you mind fetching the stuff for us?”
“Not at all,” Stretch replied. “I’ll be back in a bit, and then we both can go up and check out the accommodations together.” He turned her head and gave her a deep kiss.
“Mmmm,” she said. “I’ll be right here waiting, baby.”
Chapter 8
About an hour later, the O’Briens arrived at one of the hotel suites. The bellboy carried their suitcases into the room and placed them neatly out of the way. Then the young man in red returned to the hallway where the couple was waiting. Stretch handed him a bill. The young man looked at it, smiled and said, “Thank you, sir!” before disappearing.
Maggie looked at her husband. “Was that a twenty you tipped him?”
“Sure, why not?” said Stretch. “I figure since we’re staying for free as well as cleaning up on the floor, might as well be kind to the little people, you know? Besides, it wasn’t so long ago we were struggling for a buck ourselves.”
“True,” Maggie nodded. Stretch started to walk into the room; she made a loud, throat clearing sound to get his attention. When he turned around, she crossed her arms and eyed the doorway. “Aren’t you forgetting something?”
Stretch looked at her then the door. “Oh, you want me to do the threshold thing? It’s not like this is our honeymoon.”
“Yeah, but you forgot before. Besides, this feels like a honeymoon what with this suite and all. Now, get to lifting.”
Stretch snapped to attention. “Yes, ma’am.” He slipped back out into the hall and scooped her up into his arms. He then took three steps into the room, lifted one foot and used it to close the door behind them. “Whoa!” His balance started to shift a bit; he teetered to the left, then began to stumble into the room.
“Stretch, quit kiddin’ around!” Maggie said as she beat gently on his arms.
“Whoa, whoa, whoaaaaa!” The man began to fall forward but stretched himself at the last moment so that they’d both land on the king sized bed. “Boy, were we lucky.” His sarcastic tone and playful grin tipped his hand.
“Why you!” Maggie said. Then she laid a great big kiss on him. The two embraced for a moment, and then she pulled away. “This room is fantastic!” She hopped up to her feet and ran to check out the bathroom. A squeal of delight came from the room, and she popped her head back out. “There’s a Jacuzzi tub big enough for two!”
Stretch had gotten up too and was looking around. He poked his head in the small refrigerator. “Well stocked. Got those nuts you like.” He looked at the card near the large screen TV. “Oooh, has all the good channels, including Playboy.”
“Is that all you think about?” Maggie asked playfully.
“Of course,” said Stretch. He opened the curtains that lead to the sliding door and the balcony. “Oh, babe, come check this out!”
Maggie came to his side, and the two stood arm in arm for a bit watching as the sun set to the West and the strip began to come alive with all the evening lights. “Very nice view. We can see the whole city from here.”
“Think the city can see us?”
“Probably not,” Maggie answered. “Why?”
Stretch wrapped himself around his wife, hugging the various curves of her sexy body. “I was thinking. Maybe before we get back to rolling the dice, we could do some rolling in the hay.” Maggie smiled at his suggestion.
Chapter 9
Salvador Malano moved down the aisle from the cockpit area. He wore a white shirt with the sleeves rolled up and a black tie. He moved to the back of the small jet plane to the area where his employer sat resting.
“Boss,” Salvador said gently. “Oh, boss?” Ape-Face opened his eyes. “Real sorry to wake you, boss.”
“What is it, Sallie?” the gang leader asked. “We almost there?”
“Yeah, boss. Pilot says we touch town in Vegas in about twenty minutes.”
Ape-Face brought his hands up to his eyes to rub the sleep out of them. “Very good. Very good, indeed.” He stretched his long arms up and almost touched the ceiling of the cabin. “Go and make sure Bobbie and Lou are awake as well. They need to be ready to go as soon as we arrive. I am anxious to tidy up an end which has been too loose for much too long.”
Salvador nodded. “Sure thing, boss. Right on it.”
Ape-Face looked out the small window of the plane, and the clouds rolled gently by. “Stretch O’Brien,” he said to himself, “I hope you are enjoying your last few hours. For soon, you will learn the hard lesson about crossing the son of the Gorilla Boss.”
Chapter 10
It was a few hours later, and, after showering and getting dressed up, Stretch and Maggie decided to catch some dinner. “How was the shrimp cocktail?” he asked.
“Like buttah,” she replied. The waiter came past and took her empty dish. “Though we didn’t have to do it up fancy tonight. I’d have been happy with steak on the strip.”
“Yeah we did,” Stretch insisted. “I thought we’d celebrate. Nice dinner, then hit a show and after, some dancing.”
“What show?”
“There’s some Elvis impersonator just down the strip some. Thought we might go and check him out.”
“Sounds good to me,” Maggie replied. “You’ve showed me the finer appreciation of the King these last few months.”
The two laughed a bit, and then a man approached their table. He was older, in his late fifties, with sandy hair. He was fairly good looking and well dressed. “Excuse me,” he said as he approached their table. “I don’t mean to take much of your time. I was watching you two from across the way and had to come over and say something.”
“Yeah, like what?” Stretch asked.
“Baby, be nice,” Maggie scolded. “What did you want to say, Mister… er…?”
“My name is John Gage,” the man said. “I spend a lot of time here in Vegas. You might call me a regular.” From his clothes, he certainly looked like he could afford to gamble a lot. “Look, let me get right to the point. I’m a very wealthy man, and I would like to offer you one million dollars to let me sleep with your wife.”
Maggie’s mouth dropped open. Stretch looked surprised, too. Then he started to laugh. “You’re kidding me, right?”
“No,” said Mr. Gage. “That is a very serious offer. I’ll pay you in cash, if you are interested.”
Stretch shook his head. “Nope, no dice. No one tastes my Maggie-pie but me, buster.” He stood up from his seat and looked the man right in the eye. “Now, I suggest you take a hike, spike, unless you want a fat lip!”
John Gage nodded and took a step back. “I understand. Well, thank you for your time.” He then walked away proudly.
“Can you believe the nerve of that guy?” Maggie said. “Who’s he think he is? Robert Redford?”
“Probably,” Stretch said, sitting back down. “He must be a sorry individual if he has to make indecent proposals like that just to get laid.” Just then, the waiter came and brought them their main entrees. The lobster tails and prime rib were enough for them to forget about the incident.
Chapter 11
Later that evening, at one of the other hotels, the opening act completed its performance to a round of applause. The master of ceremonies took the stage. “Thank you, thank you,” the man in a black tuxedo said. “We’ll have a brief intermission before tonight’s main performance, Elvis Lives!” The audience applauded again, and then the crowd began to talk amongst themselves. The waitresses began to circulate to get and fill drink orders.
“I’m really enjoying myself tonight,” Maggie said as she squeezed her husband’s arm.
“Me too,” said Stretch. Then he bolted up from his chair. “I’ve got to go.”
“Go?” Maggie asked, surprised by the statement. “Where you going, baby?”
“Just the bathroom, sweetie,” the man smiled. “Be back in a minute.” His wife relaxed.
Stretch left the room, crossed the hall and entered the men’s room. The first row of urinals was crowded, so he sought the set in the back. He had his pick of the litter. Sidling up to one of the porcelain receptacles, he unzipped his fly and proceeded to relieve himself.
Then Stretch heard a familiar voice. “Enjoying yourself, son?” Elvis asked.
“Havin’ the time of my life,” O’Brien replied.
“Just keep a cautious eye open. This city’s full of its share of snakes. You never know when one will sneak up on you and bite you in the ass.”
“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself. Always have, always will.”
Elvis nodded. “You got that pretty little filly of yours to think of now, too, Stretch.”
“That’s why we’re here. To win money to take care of our future. Set up a little nest egg, so’s we can settle down someplace.” Stretch finished his business, zipped up his fly and flushed the toilet.
“Planning for the future’s good, son, but don’t you forget about the past neither, hear?” Elvis cautioned. And then he faded into thin air.
Chapter 12
Stretch stepped back into the lounge and headed for the table. He looked around a bit, not sure for a moment where they were sitting. Then he noticed Maggie’s shawl on one of the seats and realized that was where they had been sitting. “Hmm, maybe she had to go too,” he said as he sat down.
He listened to the conversations around him for a minute or two until someone approached the table and sat in Maggie’s seat. The man was rather large, dressed in a suit. “Sorry, buddy, that seat’s taken by my wife,” Stretch said.
The man leaned in closer, his hand inside his suit jacket. “We can do this the easy way or the hard way, Mr. O’Brien,” said Lou Rossi. “If I was you, I’d choose the easy way.” To emphasize his point, Lou poked Stretch in the ribs with the gun he had inside his coat.
“Hey!” said Stretch.
“Lower your voice!” said Lou softly. “I guess I’ll have to spell it out for you. If you know what’s good for you and want to see your wife alive again, you’ll come with me.”
Stretch stared him straight in the face, but the look Lou gave him indicated that this was no joke. He would just as soon kill Stretch right here as to look at him. “I guess I got no choice,” Stretch said reluctantly as he stood slowly. Lou stood at the same time, keeping close to the man he was sent to fetch. “Are you gonna at least tell me who sent you?”
“You’ll find out in good time,” Lou said as he handed Stretch the shawl. “Let’s go. We got a car waiting for us.” The two walked out of the lounge, across the lobby of the hotel and out front. A black sedan pulled up as they appeared from the doorway.
Lou opened the back door of the car. “Inside.”
Stretch ducked his head to slide into the car and saw a scared Maggie was in the back seat. Two other guys sat in the front, one to drive and the other to keep Maggie covered with his gun. “Baby, you OK?” he asked.
“Oh, Stretch,” Maggie said. “I was so worried…”
“Get in!” Lou said as he pushed Stretch into the car. O’Brien hit the seat and was forced to slide over to the middle. Lou entered the car behind him and closed the door. “Let move out, Sallie.”
The driver pulled away from the curb.
Chapter 13
The black sedan began to work its way down the strip. There was a good bit of traffic, with folks making their way from one casino to the next or just taking a scenic drive to enjoy the various light displays.
The fifty foot tall neon cowboy stood proud as a well-known Vegas landmark, tipping his hat. The neon cowgirl down the way acknowledged it by kicking out her right foot. Up and down both sides of the road, lights of red and orange and yellow flashed and flickered as if the buildings they were mounted upon were on fire. The city was alive at night, and each display called like a Siren to those that passed by. “Come inside and play,” they seemed to say. “Come and enjoy yourself.”
Stretch and Maggie O’Brien were not enjoying themselves. They sat quietly in the back seat of the black sedan, holding hands to comfort one another. Lou in the back and Bobbie in the front seat continued to have their guns trained on the couple, just in case.
Stretch wasn’t sure who these guys were, but, by the way they were dressed and how they acted, he could guess. He knew that if he were to save Maggie, he’d have to make a move. He glanced out the window and recognized what part of the strip they were on. They were heading back towards their hotel. He knew he had to make a move and fast.
The front seat was split with two bucket seats. From the middle of the back, Stretch had a perfect view of the dashboard. He had one option at this point and decided to go for it.
As the car continued to move in traffic, Stretch straightened his leg slightly. Lou barely acknowledged it. Then Stretch went for it!
In one swift motion, he stretch his right foot forward and slammed it onto Sallie’s right foot. The accelerator hit the floor, causing the black sedan to speed forward fast. “Hey!” the three mobsters said at the same time. The car immediately slammed hard into a truck in front of it. While Bobbie’s head smashed into the front windshield, the airbag in the steering wheel engaged and caught Sallie dead in the face.
Stretch, meanwhile jammed his elbow into Lou’s chest hard, causing the gun to discharge into the ceiling of the car. “Maggie! Run!” Stretch yelled.
The woman instinctively popped open her door and bolted out into the street. She dodged and wove through the traffic as horns honked and people yelled.
Stretch continued to pound on Lou, hoping to cause him enough injury to slow him down. Bobbie, though bleeding profusely from the head, tried to dive into the back to help. Stretch slipped past him and out the door. Bobbie’s body impeded Lou’s initial pursuit.
Chapter 14
Lou Rossi tumbled out of the back of the sedan and glanced across the street. He could see the couple hurrying through the crowd in hopes of getting away. For a second, he thought to pull his gun to shoot but didn’t. He took off after them instead. Ape-Face’ll kill me if they get away, he thought. He abandoned Sallie and Bobbie to handle the questions that might surround the accident.
Lou ran up his side of the street, constantly keeping an eye on the couple. He saw them duck into a building, so he attempted to cross the street.
A pickup truck nearly slammed into him but hit the brakes at the last second with a squeal. “Watch it, you @$$hole!” the driver yelled.
Lou ignored him and continued on his way. A car almost hit him. He rolled across the hood and landed hard onto the sidewalk on the other side. He quickly got up, brushed himself off and bolted toward the building the O’Briens had ducked into.
Looking up at the marquee, Lou cursed aloud. “Son of a bitch!” They had ducked into a wax museum. Lou quickly bought a ticket and went inside.
The place was rather large and had a number of impressive displays. The first ones were of a celebrity theme: stuff from recent films as well as classics like The Wizard of Oz and Gone With the Wind. Lou hurried through, trying to make out if the O’Briens were in the crowds or hiding amongst the exhibits. He passed the one for the Godfather films. That just reminded him that Ape-Face would have his head if he showed up without the couple!
The next rooms were the Chamber of Horrors. This area was much darker. Lou slowed down to look here a bit better. There were darker corners for the couple to hide. After about five minutes, he exhausted the possibilities and needed to move on.
The last bit of the museum was devoted to Vegas and the many stars who performed there. There were lifelike statues of Cher, Charo, the Rat Pack and Elvis among others. Lou realized he was at the exit of the exhibits and cursed. “Damn it!” He knew Ape-Face would already be wondering what was taking so long. Best to check in now to avoid the mobster’s wraith. Lou left the building.
A few minutes later, a whispered male voice asked, “All clear?”
The wax statue of Marilyn Monroe opened its mouth. “All clear.” The long coat began to shift and shape, and Stretch O’Brien retook his human form. Where Marilyn once stood, now it was revealed to be Maggie O’Brien. “That was close!” she said as they stepped down from the display. “We have to get out of this town fast!”
“We will!” Stretch said. “I want you to go get the rental car. Meet me at the Rio. If I’m not there in an hour, take off for my Dad’s.”
“I won’t leave you, Stretch!” Maggie insisted. “What are you going to do?”
“I have to head back to the hotel!” he said.
Chapter 15
A knock came to the door of the hotel suite. Ape-Face opened it but was disappointed when he only saw Lou standing there. The hireling stepped into the room and closed the door.
“What the $#@* is going on here, Louie?” asked Ape-Face as he went to the bar and fetched his drink. “When I told you boys to bring the O’Briens back here to their room, I thought my instructions were very clear and concise. Follow them to the club, get them to the car, drive them here and bring them up. Was that so $#@*ing complicated?”
“No, boss,” Lou Rossi said, his head turned down like a child being scolded. “It’s just…” There was a crash of glass breaking, and Lou winced. Then he looked up to see a crack in the mirror over the bar where Ape-Face had thrown his drink glass.
“I don’t want to $#@*ing hear ‘it’s just’…”, Ape-Face said. “Did you get the O’Briens or not?”
“We did get them, boss, and brought them to the car like you said.”
Ape-Face paced the room. “Well, then where the $#@* are they? Why have you not brought them up to me?”
Lou swallowed. “There was a car accident on the strip, see. Bobbie got hurt, and the O’Briens used the confusion to get away.”
Ape-Face pounded his mighty fist down hard on the top of the dresser, splintering the wood. “They got away?” The mob leader was quickly losing his temper, as evidenced by the acts of aggression and his raised voice. “You let them get away? We traveled all the $#@*ing way across the country to get them, and you let them get away!”
Lou gestured. “Their stuff is still here. Maybe we could go through their suitcases, find their money or something.”
Ape-Face lunged across the room and got into Lou’s face. “This isn’t about the $#@*ing money, you moron! They stole cocaine that rightfully belonged to me and sold it for a fraction of what it was worth. Yes, the coke sales put a small dent in our cash flow, but there’s no way to recover the lost revenue or the goods. But it is about more than just $#@*ing cocaine. This is about righting an injustice done against our organization and my family! Is that understood, you stupid $#@*?”
“Understood,” Lou said.
There was a knock on the door. Both men turned to it. “Get that!” Ape-Face instructed.
Chapter 16
Lou checked the peephole in the door before opening it. “Looks like someone from the staff,” he said.
“See what the $#@* he wants, then get rid of him!” Ape-Face barked.
The man nodded, opened the door slightly and asked, “Yeah? What do you want?”
“Room service,” the young man with dark hair dressed in white said. He had before him a cart covered with a long, white, linen table cloth. A number of covered dishes as well as a single red rose in a vase sat on top the covered surface.
“We didn’t order any room service,” Lou said.
The young man said, “I don’t take the orders, I just deliver them. The kitchen said to deliver this here, so that’s my job.” He began to push the cart towards the door which Lou still had partially closed. “Sir, please, may I just put the food inside?”
From the back of the room, Lou heard Ape-Face’s voice. “Let ‘im in.” Lou did as he was told, opened the door and stepped aside. The young man wheeled the cart into the center of the room.
The young man then noticed the damaged furniture and cracked mirror. As he turned quickly to leave the room, Ape-Face, who was facing the window to keep his face hidden, said, “Not so fast.” The young man turned around at the source of the voice, and Ape-Face turned as well.
The young man let out a gasp of surprise to see the simian features.
“Lou, the door!” Ape-Face snapped. The hireling quickly closed and locked it. He then began to approach the man from the other side to block his path.
“What…? What’s going on here?” the young man stammered. He started to back towards the wall.
“Louie, I was just thinking,” Ape-Face said as he began to crack his knuckles. “I just remembered that the one we seek has some special talents, just like his old man. I almost wonder if he’d be just cocky enough to try and slip back here disguised as someone else.”
“Yeah?” said Lou. “Like who?”
“Oh, I don’t know,” Ape-Face said as he reached into his pocket. “Maybe as a $#@*ing room service delivery boy!” The young man’s eyes widened in terror.
Chapter 17
Ape-Face pulled out his pack of Chesterfields and took out a cigarette. He lit it with a silver lighter and took a few drags. He began to pace the room slowly.
The hotel employee kept his eye on the well dressed mobster. “I… I… don’t know what’s going on,” he stammered. “But I won’t say anything to anyone. I swear!”
Ape-Face lunged forward, and the lit end of his cigarette jabbed into the top of the young man’s hand. He let out a scream in pain. “Did that hurt?” Ape-Face asked. “It was an accident. Accidents happen all the time. Did you know that most of the serious accidents that occur in the home happen in the bathroom?” Ape-Face turned to his associate. “Louie, take him back to the bathroom and show him what I mean.”
Lou Rossi grabbed the young man by the arm. “Sure thing, boss,” he said. Lou was pretty strong and was able to drag the young man.
“Let me go!” the young man screamed. “Help!”
Lou smacked him hard in the jaw with his fist. “Shut up, kid. Don’t make this any harder than it has to be.”
Ape-Face turned to watch them disappear in back and began to chuckle.
He failed to see a form slip out from underneath the table cloth that covered the cart and to take shape of a man.
Stretch O’Brien tried his best to move quietly and quickly to the suitcases in the corner of the room. He was glad that he and Maggie hadn’t completely unpacked before going to dinner. There was a good chance he’d be able to slip out undetected.
Stretch could hear the painful screams coming from the back bathroom as Lou Rossi beat the young man. It sounded like someone beating a side of beef. He felt a bit sorry that the man was being attacked for no reason, but Stretch had to look out for himself first and foremost. He quickly got the items into the last of the bags and closed the lids. Both let out a loud snap, and Stretch winced.
Ape-Face turned at the sound. “Well, I’ll be a son of a bitch!” he said. “Louie, get out here!” Ape-Face reached for his gun.
Chapter 18
The mobster glared at Stretch. “You got a lot of $#@*ing nerve, O’Brien. I can respect that.”
“Yeah,” Stretch said as he slid the two cases back behind him towards to patio door. He raised his arms above his head at the same time, slowly. “Respect it enough not to kill me?”
Ape-Face chuckled. “You’re funny, kid.” He clicked the chamber of the gun. “But not funny enough.”
Lou Rossi entered from the back room, his hands bloody. He got one look at Stretch and said, “Damn! How’d he do that? I thought the delivery guy was him in disguise.” He reached for his own gun in his jacket and got O’Brien in his sights.
“I misjudged our friend here, Louie,” Ape-Face said. “He’s much more trickier than I gave him credit.” The mobster raised his gun. “He was willing to let us beat the crap out of some innocent bystander just so’s he could grab his stuff to scoot. Too bad he $#@*ing forgot that the only way out of this room is through the two of us.” He turned to Louie. “Let’s waste ‘em!”
The two men began to open fire on Stretch O’Brien. Shots range out as bullets hurtled from the Magnums.
Stretch began to twitch and contort his body at blinding speed. Ducking and dodging, bending and leaning, O’Brien stretched his lanky body into various contortions. As the bullets whizzed past him, they dotted the walls and shattered the sliding glass door into millions of shards.
But he could only stay on the defensive for so long. Sooner or later, one of those bullets might connect. If he wanted to get out of this predicament alive, Stretch had to go on the offensive. He dove across the room, flattening his body as he went. He slid under the nearby couch like a snake would under a rock.
“Where’d he go?” Lou asked.
Ape-Face let out a guttural growl as he tossed his spent weapon aside. “We ain’t playing no more $#@*ing hide and seek, O’Brien!” The mobster grasped the far end of the couch and lifted it over his head easily with his enhanced strength.
Chapter 19
Stretch looked up from the floor as Ape-Face towered over him, the couch held high above his head. “I’ll crush you like the $#@*ing bug you are!” The mobster started to bring the couch down hard.
Stretch zipped between the man’s feet and then grabbed the thighs as he went past. “Missed me, missed me,” he said as he pulled on Ape-Face’s legs hard. Between the unbalanced couch, the downward momentum of the heavy object and the unexpected pulling of his legs, Ape-Face toppled down to the floor. The couch soared across the room, smashing one of the glass coffee tables.
Stretch rolled into a ball and crossed to the far side of the room, only to end up in a full standing position. “The big ones always go down hard,” he said.
“Don’t move!” Lou Rossi shouted as he stepped forward, his gun firmly outstretched.
Stretch turned with a smile. “Can’t shoot me when you’re out of bullets, buddy,” he stated.
“I ain’t out of bullets,” Lou said. Stretch just nodded with a dumb grin on his face. Lou turned his gun so he could check the chamber.
That’s when Stretch expanded out his hands like two giant cymbals and smacked both sides of Lou’s head at once. “Ever seen Girl Happy?” Stretch asked. “This reminds me of a song from that film — Do The Clam! ‘Dig right in and do the Clam, dig right in and do the Clam’!” He continued to smack Lou around until the hired gun fell to the floor. “Well, guess I tired you out then, eh Lou-Lou-Belle?”
Suddenly, Stretch was grabbed from behind by a big bear hug. The strong arms forced the air from his lungs, and he had to gasp for each breath. He turned to see that Ape-Face had recovered from his fall and was as stirred up as a nest of hornets. “Where’s the witty comebacks now, you $#@*ing freak?” Ape-Face spat. “Your fancy tricks ain’t nothing compared to my sheer strength. See, that’s what happens when you mess with my business: you get the squeeze put on you hard!” His arms tightened around his prey. “Hope you’re ready to die, you bastard!”
Stretch was feeling the pressure of the man’s powerful hug. “Say…” he managed to utter, “don’t… uh… you Italians like to… ooph… do that kiss… ugh… of death thing? Here’s my… eeeye… cheeks.” Stretch elongated his neck up, then slammed the side of his face hard against Ape-Face’s nose and mouth.
The mobster began to struggle as Stretch’s elastic body began to cut off his air supply. Stretch hoped that the man wouldn’t think to bite him or anything. Ape-Face tried to squeeze his opponent to get him to relent and then began to panic. He tugged at Stretch’s body where he had it held to try and pull him away.
Finally, Ape-Face let loose his firm grasp to grab for Stretch’s head. That’s when Stretch pushed himself away, tumbling towards the shattered patio door. As he bounced through the opening, his outstretched hands grabbed the suitcases.
Before Ape-Face could pursue him, Stretch and the luggage had gone over the railing. It was a fifty-five story drop to the street.
Chapter 20
“It’s now or never, come hold me tight. Kiss me my darling, be mine tonight,” Stretch sang in a cheerful tone as he gently sailed down in the evening breeze. His legs were wrapped around the luggage to keep it from dropping, while his arms and hands were outstretched to form a living parasol. “I wonder if this is how the Penguin used to escape Batman.”
As he got closer to the street level, he heard a voice yelling out to him, “Stretch! Stretch!”
He worried for a second that it might be Ape-Face or his boys already on his tail. He didn’t think the monkey man would have gotten down to the lobby that fast, but the other two guys could have arrived by now. Stretch craned his neck to see where the voice was coming from. He then realized who it was. “Maggie, I thought I told you to wait for me at the Rio,” he said.
There was Maggie, waiting near the parking lot with the rental car. “I was worried sick about you going back, so I got the car and came after you. Quick, get in!”
Stretch let the bags drop the last few feet into the back seat of the convertible, and he landed in the passenger seat in front. Leaning over to give her a kiss, Stretch said, “Baby, you’re the greatest! We need to hit the highway fast.”
“Consider us gone, Mr. Kramden!” Maggie stepped on the gas, and the car pulled away with a squeal of tires.
And once more, the O’Briens were on the run.
