Dead Man's Hand (8 page)

“Marcus, are
you there?”  Bella asked gently as she waved her hand in front of
me.  When I looked back at her, her face was very intense and irritated,
“I’m beginning to feel unappreciated here, Marcus.  I mean we’ve had quite
the conversation but as soon as Dempsey walks in I’m forgotten.”

She threw her
hand up against her forehead and formed a very playful pout with her
mouth.  It looked good on her, but before I could defend myself she
elaborated.  “Not only that but you also went on to say that I was beauty
incarnate.  I mean with flattery that thick, shouldn’t I rank higher on
your list?”

Based on her
reactions, it was pretty clear that she didn’t care for the man.  And I
got the feeling that there was a reason behind it.  
But what could
these two have in common?
  She was a professional card player and he
was the head of a sophisticated criminal empire. 
What was the
connection between them?
 
She obviously knew he was going to be
here so why did she come if she didn’t care for the host? 
But there
was no way I was going to ask her about that, no way.  I valued my life
too much to so willingly commit suicide.  And she was right about one
thing, I had grown obsessed with the man since she said he would be here.

Now I was letting his
reputation fuel my own terror.  Fear was something to be harnessed, but
terror was fear that was simply allowed to flourish.  I could accept fear
of something, after all fear would keep me alive by ensuring that I kept my
wits about me.  But all terror would do was run me into an early
grave.  Bella had done just enough to help me transform the rolling terror
into manageable fear.

Averting my eyes from
Dempsey I apologetically looked at Bella as I answered.  “I’m sorry Bella
that was rude of me.”  I took in a deep breath and realized just how much
I had honestly enjoyed our brief time together.  This was one friendship
that I would want to continue past the current moment.  So I did the only
thing I could think of and that was groveling, though somehow I managed to keep
my dignity.  “I do hope you will forgive the infraction.  I’ll try
not to let it happen again.”

“You’re acting like
you’ve never seen him before.”  She asked.

With a shrug I answered
with as much of the truth as I dared.  “I don’t keep up with current
events outside of my influence.  It’s easier on my body.”

With a laugh she shook
her head, “Every time I think I have a handle on you, you do something or say
something that just throws what I have come up with out the window.”

“Yes, I’m good at
that.”  I offered quickly.  But after a moment of silence curiosity
won out over reason.  And I returned her question.  “How many times
have you meet Dempsey?”

“More times than you
have.”  She replied with forced casualness.

Something about that
forced cheer got under my skin so, ignoring my little mental warning bell, I
decided to do a bit more digging.  I knew I was going to have to be more
than a little obtuse, hopefully she would be forgiving of that as well. 
“So this isn’t your first time then?”

As I watched her I had
trouble gauging the reaction.  From our conversation I knew she thought me
intelligent or at least she respected my intelligence.  Now that I had
asked such an obviously dumb question, I could see doubt trickling through her
mind.  But at the same time she had seen me entrap Patrick with a few
simple words.  I could see the two warring thoughts battling in her eyes.

Eventually she warily
answered my question, “This is only the second time.”

 “How did you do?”

“Well enough that I came
back again this year.”  She replied cautiously.

“You’re not going to be
any more specific are you?”

“A girl needs to guard
her secrets, Marcus.”  And that was all she was going to say on the
matter.  It was the nicest denial I think I had ever received.

I lifted my glass to my
mouth to take another sip of my drink while I tried to think of a suitably
clever response.  Unfortunately I was unable to think of anything, so
instead I ended up blurting out, “No, you don’t.”  I flashed the biggest
and friendliest smile I could, as I repeated my question.  “How well did
you do last year?”

She sighed but she also
leaned over the table and gestured for me to do the same.  So I sat up
straight as I leaned across the table so she could whisper in my ear. 
With a soft and sensual tone she cupped her right hand over her mouth as if she
were trying to keep anyone from reading her lips.  Once the scene was set
she began to whisper her secret.  “Maybe another time, Marcus.  Just
maybe, if you’re lucky.”

I couldn’t help but laugh
as I leaned back into my chair saying, “A woman of mystery indeed.”

“And don’t you dare try
and pretend that you’re not excited and thrilled by that fact.”  She said
with a rather enchanting wink.

I took a small breath to
steady myself before responding.  “I wouldn’t dare argue with you,
Bella.”  I was trying to avoid thinking about Dempsey or even searching
for him and of course that was when he flashed in front of my eyes.  I
could swear that Dempsey had just made eye contact with Patrick. 
Had
he spoken with him already?
  I don’t think he had, but I could be
wrong, it wouldn’t be the first time.  Also it was not as if I was paying
a lot of attention to either of them at the moment.

From that look I knew
that these two knew each other. It was a look of two friends with inherent
understanding of each other might give. They would be able to have entire
conversations without having to rely upon words. 
So what had those two
friends talked about with that look?
  Of course I had no way to know.
After all, those two were the friends, there was no way I was going to be able
to decipher it.

With thoughts of Dempsey
on my mind I looked back to Bella as I asked a follow-up question.  “I’m
sorry to bring Dempsey back into our conversation, but since you’ve had the
privilege of being here before, does he talk to everyone or just a select few?”

As I waited for a reply I
looked over her shoulder in time to see Dempsey walking away from Patrick’s
general vicinity and towards yet another group of people.  “Why are you so
interested in Dempsey?”

Even though I knew what
she would say I voiced the question anyway.  “I’m being rude again aren’t
I?”

Using her thumb and index
finger she indicated just how rude she thought I was being as she answered,
“Just a little.”

I was mentally exhausted
and I just needed answers.  But my best source for the information I
needed was growing more than a little irritated by my game of twenty questions,
as long as the main topic was Dempsey.  If there was anything I had
learned during my life, it was when all else fails you have to go with the
truth, or at least a piece of it.

“I’m not trying to be
rude, Bella.  It’s just… it’s just a bad habit I’ve managed to pick up
when I was younger.  When I’m ignorant on a subject I physically cannot
stop asking questions.”  Which was very true, it just wasn’t the whole
truth.  The whole truth was much simpler, I was just a curious man by
nature.  And it had nothing to do with how familiar I was with the
subject.  “And yes I do know that drives most people crazy.”

While she was still
hesitant to answer I desperately flashed her my most ingratiating smile. 
I guessed it helped, slightly at any rate, because while she folded her arms
across her chest she did answer my question.  “Last year he met with
everyone before we started.”

Without thought I blurted
out the next question that had rolled into my mind.  “And the years before
that?”

“You’re lucky I like
you.  But that’s not going to save you for much longer.  I wasn’t at
any of his tournaments before last year.  So I don’t know what he did
before that, but from what I gathered, that is the norm for him.”

I also happened to notice
just how irate she was growing every time Dempsey surfaced in our
conversation.  And since our conversation had taken quite a few twists and
turns prior to Dempsey’s arrival I knew it wasn’t my curiosity that was causing
her irritation.  As I said I was a very curious person and I just had to
get a clear picture of why she disliked him so much.  Even though I didn’t
want to ask the question, I needed to get the answer so I bit my lower lip and
took the plunge.  “Bella, why don’t you like Dempsey?”

If anyone had been
watching our conversation, and I was sure some were, they would have just
thought I had punched her in the stomach or something.  She tried to
smooth it over but I could tell she was almost foaming at the mouth.  When
she had regained enough control not to verbally skin me alive she asked me a
question in turn. “What makes you think I don’t like him?”

“You mean apart from that
reaction and the anger that’s radiating off of you?” 

For a long time she
stared past me into nothing.  So I kept my eyes on her, there was no way I
was going to take my eyes off of her, not after that reaction.  “I have my
reasons and I’d rather not go into them.  Now don’t ask me any more
questions about him.  If you have any other questions about the tournament
feel free to ask.  But you better think long and hard before you ask
anything.” She pulled her eyes from the nothingness she had been studying and
back to my own.  I could see the steel determination around the edges. 
“If the question even remotely revolves around Dempsey you will regret
it.  Is that clear?”

“Absolutely.”  I
stammered.  I really wish I had been able to muster a better reply, but
those eyes had
creeped
me out, there had been
something there, something familiar behind that glare.

“Good.”

“I wasn’t trying…” 
I began, and I would like to think that I would have said something
intelligible but at that moment a man came up from behind me and interrupted
the thought.

“Welcome back
Bella.”  I instantly recognized the voice without having to turn
around.  Dempsey had finally made his way to our table.  I was too
nervous to turn around so instead I focused all of my attention on Bella,
leaving only just enough attention to keep listening to Dempsey.  “I hope
this gentleman isn’t bothering you.”

I was able to see her
face grow even harder, if that were possible, before she looked up and replied
coldly.  “Marcus has been a complete gentleman.  In fact he has
managed to keep me quite entertained as we waited for everyone’s
arrival.”  As she stood up she looked down at me and her voice warmed
instantly, “Marcus that bartender’s name was Simon, correct?”

 With a nod from me
she spoke with a mostly warm voice.  “Well if you would excuse me I need a
refill, and I think you’ll need one by the time I get back so I’ll get one for
you.”  With that she deftly snatched her empty glass off of the table and
made her way to the nearest bar in search of Simon.

With Bella’s chair now
vacant Dempsey walked around the table and sat down.  “I hope you don’t
mind if I sit down and talk with you for a little while.”

 “Please do.” 
I
mean what else was I going to say?
  I may have been willing to give
Patrick some grief about what he did when he joined our table.  But I mean
it was one thing to do that with a man like Patrick, but with the man sitting
at my table right now; well that would be a form of stupidity on an entirely
new level.

Sitting there, I could
feel the stoic man weighing me up as he looked at me. A subjective eternity
later he pulled his eyes from mine and spoke with quite the friendly voice.
“Thank you for entertaining my niece.”

Did he just say niece?
Bella was Dempsey’s niece?  What?  No.  That had to be
wrong. 
As my stomach hit the floor, I began to
think that luck had abandoned me right there.  Of all the people here at
this tournament how had I managed to spend all my time talking with Dempsey’s
niece?  There was nothing I could do to stop panic rising inside me. 
And to make matters worse I knew that he knew he had rattled me.  I kept
my eyes away from his, there was no reason I had to give him any more than
necessary.  I needed to reign in my panic.  With a focus of will that
I borrowed from somewhere I forced myself to speak in a clear voice.  “Your
niece is a wonderful woman, and she is one of the brightest people I’ve ever
met.”

Nodding Dempsey continued
on in his emotionless voice, “She is a wonderful woman, but I believe my
brother indulges her far too much.”  The voice was not the creepy thing,
the creepy thing was that Dempsey was acting like I was a lifelong confidant
rather than a complete stranger.

I made sure to keep our
eyes from meeting while I answered as best as I could, “I wouldn’t be able to
comment on that sir.”

Rubbing the bottom of his
chin Dempsey looked like he was deep in contemplation, and again that rattled
my stomach.  Without much of a pause he folded his hands together on the
table before saying, “You’re a very careful man, Marcus.  And I have to
admit that is a good trait to flourish.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Dempsey let silence
linger just long enough for it to become uncomfortable.  “Is that normal
for you?”