Las Vegas is pumped to the max

on the night the much hyped

heavy-weight title fight hits The

Strip. With charismatic newcomer

Joaquin Muhammed taking on popular

champ Tyler Jeffries--and the added

attraction of platinum-selling rapper King

Diamond giving a warm-up concert--the

streets are buzzing with fervid fans,

millionaires, celebrities, hip-hoppers,

pimps and players--all on a delirious pre-

fight high.

In the middle of the match, a shot rings

out and Jeffries goes down. Not exactly a

fair fight, muses Martha Chainey, the buff

and tough ex-show girl who makes her

orting large sums of unre-

ported cash for casino owners.

uproar that follows, Chainey is yanked

aside by Victoria DeGault, the owner of

the Riverhead Casino. Seems somebody

snatched the five million-dollar side bet

Victoria was holding. If Chainey can

recover the loot, there s a cool 250 grand

in it for her.

But when a good friend is iced, the job

becomes personal, and Chainey takes off

into a frenzied night as cops and the

National Guard seal off The Strip. With

helicopter searchlights sweeping across

the crowd, people with allkinds of agendas

are making the World Trade Organization

Battle in Seattle look like day care. Soon

Chainey learns that Jeffries murder is only

part of a larger scheme at play. She also