Cruz watched him waver. “Listen, the bird’s outside in the back of our truck. All you gotta do is come look at him.” He was begging and trying not to. “I promise you, Lenny, once you’ve seen and heard him I won’t say another word. I won’t have to.”
“Is that a promise?”
“Promise. I swear.”
The agent sighed, rose from behind his desk. “You boys better not be wasting my time. And don’t try fooling me with a hidden mike or something. I’ve seen every scam in the book.”
“No tricks, Lenny.”
He followed them toward the door. “I can’t figure your angle. You two don’t look like animal trainers.”
“We ain’t,” said Cruz agreeably. “We just sort of acquired the bird. As payment for a debt.” What the hell, he thought. “We gave a guy a ride and he paid us with the parrot.”
“Just sort of acquired it, huh?” Well, that wouldn’t matter. All that mattered was whether or not the act would astonish the blue-hairs from Topeka.
They entered his outer office and he told his secretary he’d return in a few minutes and to make sure the juggling chorines didn’t leave until he had a chance to check out their act. Flanked by Cruz and Manco he strolled across the main floor of the casino, past ranks of jangling slots and the intense preoccupied stares of the quarter-feeders. They exited through the marbled front lobby.
Out on the edge of the vast parking lot he halted suspiciously. “Where is your truck, anyway?” Not that he was carrying a lot of cash, but it still paid to be prudent. These weren’t two kids from Boise, after all.
“Take it easy, mon.” Cruz pointed to the far corner of the parking lot. “It’s right over there.”
The truck was parked off by itself next to several large commercial buildings which stood on the lot next to the casino. There was a bank and a big discount drugstore complex, then another casino. The lot was brightly illuminated.
“Why didn’t you just bring the bird to my office?” the agent grumbled as he stepped over a large puddle.
“I said he was big.” Cruz jumped the same puddle. “The other thing is, well, when he does talk he’s pretty blue.”
The agent considered. A few four-letter words wouldn’t hurt a talking bird act. Not in Vegas. “What else can he say?”
“I told you, mon. Pretty damn near anything you can think of. Whoever trained him really knew what the hell he was doing. He sounds just like a person.” They reached the truck. As they turned the rear corner Cruz acquired the look of a man who’d just said hello to a two-by-four with his forehead.
The back of the truck had been rolled up.
Cursing, he climbed inside. The agent could hear furniture being thrown around. “Something wrong?” he said mildly to the other member of the pair.
“We didn’t leave thee door up. Hey, Cruz, I thought you lock eet.”
“Lock it?” The other man’s voiced echoed from inside the truck. “Why lock it? To keep somebody from stealing this junk? I don’t see no ropes, so he didn’t get loose in here. Maybe somebody got curious and lifted the door and he hopped out.” He jumped down out of the truck, his eyes scanning the parking lot, the agent forgotten. “He’s got to be around here someplace. His wings were tied. He couldn’t fly away.”
“Are you sure?” The agent’s voice was tinged with sarcasm. “I’ve seen plenty of acts where the birds did that.” The two men ignored him. Manco ran down the alley between the drugstore and the bank.
“Sorry, boys, but I’ve got another act to review.”
Cruz put a hand on his arm. “Just give us a minute, please, just a minute. He’s got to be close by somewhere. We ain’t been gone that long.”
“Hey, down heere!”
Cruz let out a sigh of relief. “See? I told you it was a smart bird.” Reluctantly the agent allowed himself to be led into the alley. The casino doorman had seen him leave and would be after him in two minutes if he didn’t return.
It was more service road than alley and plenty wide. He didn’t think the two men had robbery on their mind. If so, they would have jumped him already, behind the truck.
Halfway down the road was an elderly gentleman who was not a casino patron. The agent knew this immediately because the man was wearing a long overcoat. You don’t wear overcoats in Vegas in the springtime. The smell of liquor was stronger here than at the gaudy bar in the casino. The man was swaying unsteadily, obviously uncomfortable at being the object of so much unexpected late-night attention.
“Hey, lay off. I didn’t do nuttin’.”
“We know, mon.” Manco was standing close to the rummy, licking his lips and look farther down the alley. “We’re just lookeeng for sometheeng.”
“Ain’t we all. Me, I’m lookin’ for the ten grand I dropped in this burg six years ago. Lost it in there.” He nodded toward the nearby mirage that was the casino. “No offense. They were honest cards.” The agent aknowledged this with a slight nod.
“It was a big bird.” Cruz traced shapes in the air with his hands. “About this size.”
The rummy’s eyes narrowed as he fought to concentrate.
“Big bird. All tied up?”
“Yeah! That’s him. You seen him?”
“Yeah, I seen him. Me an’ my buddies.” He turned and sort of gestured with his whole body. Cruz and Manco sprinted down the alley. The curious agent followed at a more leisurely pace.
A small fire crackled behind a pair of massive dumpsters. The group of bums clustered around it tensed, then relaxed when they saw that their visitors weren’t uniforms. A few lay against the rear wall of the bank. Others rested on their backs, staring up at the stars and remembering better nights.
Cruz arrived out of breath. “We’re looking for a bird. Big green parrot.”
“Parrot?” One of the old men sat up and frowned. “We ain’t seen any parrot.”
“Hey.” A younger down-on-his-luck gestured with a half empty bottle. “He must be talking about the chicken. That belonged to you, huh?”
“Chicken?” Cruz talked like a man who’d just had Novocain. “What chicken?”
