She lit a cigarette and took a long drag. Burch knew her well enough to believe she had ice water in her veins. During the Carousel hearing she had never appeared nervous and at times seemed amused by the proceedings. She slowly blew more smoke and said, “Rudy might have a good case, right?”
A damned good case. The six undercover cops would testify and do a convincing job. Burch had seen them under pressure and knew they would have credibility with any jury. Add the fact that Carousel had been declared a nuisance for its prostitution, and, yes, Jesse Rudy definitely had the upper hand.
But Burch said, “We’ll put up a good fight. We’ll get the girls in line and have them prepped. I don’t lose many cases, Ginger.”
“Well, you can’t lose this one because I’m not going to prison.”
“We’ll talk about that later. Right now let’s get you out.”
“I’ve just spent two hours in a cell back there and it’s not for me. My husband has been locked up for six years and is not doing well. Promise me, Joshua, that I won’t go to prison.”
“I can’t make that promise. I never do. But you’ve hired the best and we’ll put up a strong defense.”
“When will I go to trial?”
“Months from now, maybe a year. We’ll have plenty of time.”
“Just get me out.”
Burch left the jail and drove to Red Velvet where he met with Lance Malco and described the indictment. Lance was stunned at first, then his shock quickly turned to anger. When he cooled down somewhat, he said, “I guess he can indict all of us, right?”
“Yes, in theory. The grand jury is usually a rubber stamp for the DA. But I wouldn’t expect it.”
“And why not?”
“He’ll probably use Ginger as the test case. If he can convict her, then he’ll look around. As you know, there’s no shortage of potential defendants.”
“That son of a bitch is out of control.”
“No, Lance, I’d say he’s very much in control. He has enormous power and can indict almost anyone. Convicting, though, is another matter. It’s a huge gamble on his part because if he loses, then he’ll have to go back to chasing car thieves.”
“You can’t let him win, Burch.”
“Trust me.”
“I do, always have.”
“Thanks. In the meantime, shut it down. No gambling, no hookers.”
“We’re not gambling, you know that.”
“Yes, but there’s plenty of it going on.”
“I can’t control the other clubs.”
“You won’t have to. When they hear about Ginger’s arrest, they’ll get in line, and quickly. Put out the word that there’s no gambling and no girls for the next six months.”
“That’s exactly what Rudy wants, right?”
“Take a break. Play it straight. You’ve been in the business long enough to know that the demand always comes back.”
“I don’t know, Burch. Change is in the air. Now we have a cocky DA who likes to see his name in print.”
“The best advice I can give you is don’t do anything stupid.”
Lance finally smiled as he waved him off.
* * *
Late that afternoon, Lance and Hugh left the Strip and drove north into Stone County. Hugh was behind the wheel, back at his old job after a stint on a freighter and another one on an offshore oil rig, both arranged by his father. The jobs convinced him he was unfit for honest labor. Lance had been merciless with his scolding for the jewelry store heists and promised that one more screwup would land the boy either out of the family business or in prison, or both. Hugh had readily given up his dreams of arms dealing and easily fell back into his old routines of pool hustling, beer drinking, and checking on his convenience stores.