THE PENTHOUSE<br >TAYLOR Jefferson Rusk moved into the hotel a week ahead of the<br >team. He took the key to his assigned room on the ninth floor，<br >dropped it into his back pocket， then checked into the penthouse<br >suite as E. Fudd.<br > The huge twenty-fifth-floor suite had a 360-degree view of<br >Park City， and access was limited by a special key to the private<br >elevator. Taylor s plan was to stay hidden.<br > "You guys going to win the Super Bowl， Mr. Rusk?" The<br >bellman unloaded Taylor s bags from the dolly. "We got it on pay<br >TV here in the hotel. Every room ll be filled at triple the rate."<br > "My name is Fudd. E. Fudd." He handed the bellman a fifty-<br >dollar bill. "Mr. Rusk is registered into a room on nine. Anybody<br >wants him， send them there." He handed the bill to the uniformed<br >man. "General Grant will arrive every day the identities of Mr.<br >Ft~dd and Mr. Rusk stay separate."<br > ; The tall quarterback pulled back the curtain to view the city<br >skyline; the sun was high， casting hard shadows through the light<br >smOg. The Pistol Dome was humped up far to the south， dark<br >The bellman slid the fifty-<br >"That s the latest line outta<br >Vegas."<br > "I don t gamble." Taylor stared at the giant growth on the<br >horizon. "Too much like believing in God， banking on a miracle<br >to keep the corn growing or the dice rolling Too much ritual，<br >not enough substance， to show He has chosen you." The quar-<br >terback pointed at the Dome. "There s your cathedral， one hundred<br >and sixty million dollars of veneration. The Opium of the Masses.<br >OPM. Other People s Money."<br > The bellman s pointed face pulled into a wolfish smile. "I was<br >just wondering if you heard talk? Sixteen points is a big spread."<br > Taylor turned to the pockmarked， nervous， rumpled man. Dirty<br >gold braid decorated his dark-green outfit.<br > "Well， what do you think?" The man was looking for an edge<br >on life. Any edge.<br > "What do you think?" Taylor tossed back.<br > --- 3 --<br ><br >