Husk Read Free Page B

International Airport a limousine awaits. The driver opens thedoor and I slip inside and sink into soft leather seats. A welcome note on the minibar encourages me to enjoy the few hours left before the session.Beside it is a plain white envelope containing a thousand in cash, my per diem. The limo takes me to the Strip and I ask the driver to let me out at the MGM. Inside, the oxygen pumped into the air of the lavish casino gives me a buzz. I walk around the blackjack tables until I see a high-stakes game with only three players. Actually, it’s the sultry blonde dealer who grabs my attention, the kindof girl I can manipulate in my game. Gambling is as much about energy as it is about numbers. I lay my greenbacks on the table, soaking up the old-school feel. Cash for chips, something solid and plentiful in your hands, not pin numbers and plastic. With my first hand I split eights and watch the dealer bust on a five-card draw. I’m dealt blackjack for the next two hands. She smiles warmly at me.I like where this is going.
    Within an hour I’ve almost doubled the per diem and had an offer to meet the dealer after her shift for a drink. I decline, because I won’t be conscious by then. I deposit my winnings into my account and head over to the Emerald City, the newest, most expensive condominium on the Las Vegas Strip. Outside the building, I look one last time up and down the boulevardat the casinos, crowds and shit ton of neon lights everywhere, feeling the sensory overload of it all. I won’t be seeing any more of it for the next two days.
    That sensory overload is what makes Las Vegas popular for Husks. Bigger, brighter, stronger, faster; all of itappeals to my clients. The Strip hasn’t changed much in years, serving as a reminder of better times for the people who cometo lose the remainder of their money in acts of desperation. All the mainstay casinos are firmly in place, although some of them are struggling more than others. Some of the smaller casinos have changed names and ownership, mostly sold to rich Asians who live in the Emerald City. As I arrive a doorman draped in a Wizard of Oz getup that must be hell in the Nevada heat opens the front doors. Inside,security clears me for Mr Navarette and calls up to notify his assistant of my arrival. A security guard packing a Vector SMG rides the elevator with me all the way to the nineteenth floor and walks me to a door adorned with solid gold trim. Navarette is a new client, the kind I call
baby-billion
, one who crosses the finishing line well behind the others, but still makes it to the podium. Thisinternet mogul has just enough net worth to buy into the market that Husks are groomed for, what we call top tier, the one per cent of the one-percenters. I check some notes on my Liaison and see that Mr Navarette has been deceased for almost a year now.
    A middle-aged man, who has aged quite well, greets me at the door and leads me inside the exquisite 3,000-square-foot condo. Before he introduceshimself, I already know his name is Dante, the client’s attaché. He shakes my hand and adjusts his suit while offering me his credentials. It isn’t long before he gets to the point.
    ‘Shall we get started?’
    ‘Let’s have a quick chat first,’ I say. ‘Since you’re his handler and all.’
    ‘Certainly,’ Dante says and sits down on a leather couch, motioning for me to do the same. I remain standing.
    ‘This,’ I say, pointing to my face. ‘Doesn’t get damaged, okay?’
    He nods. ‘All right.’
    ‘Your boss can push the rest of me to the limits, but all this flesh has to heal quickly and fully. Absolutely no broken bones, no broken skin requiring stitches. Anything more than the superficial and I file a complaint.’
    ‘Okay.’ Dante’s nod is slower this time. ‘Anything else?’
    I look around the large roomadorned with antiquities and velvet, Ming vases and one small Picasso. A lamp casts soft light on another painting of a girl in a blue dress