by Duval Alex
‘SiSi has very good taste,’ Paige said as she followed him.
It felt just as deserted inside the place as it had out. She’s not here, Jason thought, but he didn’t say it aloud. He didn’t know for sure; why not let Paige hope for a little while?
Quietly, they wove through the corridors of boxes. There was no Sienna, and nothing to indicate that Sienna had ever been there. It was the same with the small office, the rows of boxes downstairs, the bathroom, and the larger office.
‘I really thought I’d find her,’ Paige said. ‘When I heard Zach say “warehouse”, I thought for sure …’
‘Me, too,’ Jason answered. ‘But we’re all working on it. Maybe someone else is about to find her right now.’
‘So we all got nada, zip, an endless void of nothing, a—’
‘Thanks for that recap,’ Jason said, interrupting Adam before someone – possibly Jason himself – felt the need to kill him.
Belle gave Adam an affectionate pat on the knee. ‘I thought it was very creative,’ she told him.
Brad used his fingers to scrub his face. ‘All we can do now is get Zach over to the tournament.’
‘And be there as back-up if something nasty goes down,’ Van Dyke agreed.
‘Then we need to go get ready,’ Maggie said. ‘None of us could walk into a big money invitational game looking the way we do.
True, Jason thought, taking in the little rips at the bottom of his shirt. And the streak of blood.
‘Is the invitational part going to be a problem?’ Erin asked. ‘We didn’t think about that.’
‘Actually, we did,’ Zach said, ‘and I’m expected, so let’s meet downstairs in the lobby at seven forty-five p.m.’
‘Less than an hour to make myself gorgeous,’ Adam said, shaking his head. ‘I don’t know if I can do it.’
‘I don’t know if you could do it even with unlimited amounts of time,’ Van Dyke joked, herding everyone but Zach out of the suite.
‘Hey. You holding up OK?’ Adam asked when he and Jason split off from the others at their room.
‘Sienna can take care of herself. I have to keep reminding myself of that,’ Jason answered. He slid the key card through the reader and opened the door.
‘She could definitely kick my butt,’ Adam agreed. ‘And the butt of my dad, who is, as you know, a sheriff with years of training.’
Jason headed over to the closet and pulled out the suit Sienna had insisted he buy a few weeks ago. He changed his clothes as quickly as possible, then grabbed his new shoes. Sienna had insisted that he buy a pair of loafers to go with the suit. She called them light green with a ‘world-weary patina’, whatever that meant. He called them gray. They’d mock argued about it all the way home in the car. And then they’d made up for the mock fight with some real kissing.
‘Those just slide on, in case you’re wondering,’ Adam said. ‘There’s no Velcro or laces or anything. It’s kind of freaky, I know.’
Jason realized that he’d been staring at the loafers for an embarrassing amount of time. ‘Thanks. Because that is actually what I was wondering.’
‘You’re looking very shiny,’ Adam told him.
‘It’s from the Roberto Cavalli Spring collection. And I believe the term you’re looking for is “high-sheen”,’ Jason corrected, straightening his jacket but totally failing to carry off the fashion-conscious image with conviction. They both knew only Sienna knew that kind of stuff.
‘And what about me?’ Adam flung out his arms theatrically, giving Jason a good look at the intricate lines and dots covering his shirt. ‘Don’t I look pretty?’
‘Am I supposed to be seeing a dinosaur pop out of your chest or what?’ Jason joked. ‘It looks like you’re wearing one of those optical illusion posters. I used to have one in my bedroom when I was a kid. When you stared at it just the right way, with your eyes almost crossed—’
‘I think what you’re trying to say is that this op-art print captures the mood of the Seventies with skill and wit,’ Adam interrupted. ‘At least that’s what Belle said. She bought it for me. I’m supposed to pay her back after I sell my first movie or marry an heiress thanks to her coaching.’
‘You’d better hope she’s willing to keep coaching you, then, because—’ Jason broke off. ‘How can we even be talking about this stuff? Why are we even bothering to change clothes? It’s insane. Sienna is being held hostage somewhere, and we’re …’ He shook his head.
‘What we’re doing is dressing in the appropriate way for the next stage of the plan to get Sienna back,’ Adam told him. ‘We need to look like we belong in a private room at the Bonheur, because that’s where we have to be right now.’
Jason nodded. ‘All right. You’re right. We just have to hope that Zach wins and that the honor of his family name actually means something to that scuzball, Marc,’ Jason said. ‘Let’s get downstairs.’
Van Dyke and Maggie were already in the lobby when Jason and Adam showed up.
‘A cravat, Van Dyke?’ Adam asked. ‘Really?’
‘Clearly I need to get you a subscription to GQ,’ Van Dyke told him. ‘For so many reasons.’
‘I think he actually looks cute,’ Belle said as she, Erin, and Brad joined them. ‘Lounge lizard-esque, in a good way.’ She reached across Adam and unbuttoned one more button on Jason’s high-sheen shirt. ‘Sienna did a good job when she took you shopping. You clean up real nice.’
Jason shot a nervous look at Maggie. ‘Are you sure? It seems like Maggie and I are wearing almost the same thing.’
‘It looks a lot better on her,’ Van Dyke laughed.
The three-piece suit did look hot on Maggie. She looked every bit as sexy as Belle did in her short, sparkly rhinestone-covered dress.
‘The name’s Lafrenière. Zach Lafrenière,’ Brad murmured as Zach headed toward them.
No kidding. Zach was wearing a tux. Black with satin lapels. White handkerchief in the pocket. He hadn’t bothered with a tie, and his white shirt was open at the neck. He hadn’t tried to comb down the spikes in his short black hair, and he had a little stubble going, just a little. He definitely looked like a guy who’d walk away from a card table a winner.
‘Let’s roll,’ Zach said calmly, and walked out of the hotel lobby.
‘Do you have the, uh, what the rat pack would call the “do-ray-mi” on you?’ Adam asked as they made their way down the Strip toward the Bonheur. ‘Because that’s a lot of music to be walking around with.’
‘I arranged for the 250,000 dollars to be transferred to the casino. I’ll receive it in chips when we arrive,’ Zach told him.
Adam shot Jason a raised-eyebrow, do-you-believe-this-guy look. Jason shrugged.
‘So, do you have any tips for negotiating a better allowance?’ Belle teased. ‘I wanna be a high roller too.’
Zach smiled at her. ‘My parents are generous. But I’ve managed to make a few lucky investments in the past few years.’
‘Lucky investments? How lucky are we talking?’ Van Dyke burst out.
‘Lucky enough,’ Zach said, clearly ending that particular line of questioning.
‘I don’t get the whole 250,000 dollars thing exactly,’ Maggie admitted. ‘They can tell you how much to bet?’
‘Maggie, if you didn’t spend more time in the water than out, you’d pick up some of this basic life information,’ Erin told her. ‘Most tables have minimum bets. But at tournaments like the one tonight, with the high rollers, they have a buy-in. Tonight’s is 250,000 dollars. Everyone is committed to play for that amount and starts out with that many chips.’
‘So the winner will get …?’ Maggie asked.
‘There are six players in the tournament,’ Van Dyke said. ‘That means there’s one and a half million in the pot. Most of that will go to the winner. Pretty much everyone else at the table will be walking home with empty pockets.’
‘That’s not going to be me.’ Zach stopped in front of the Bonheur and opened the nearest door, waving th
e group inside. Then he led the way deep into the casino, down a steep flight of stairs, and over to a room with a green brocade door. There was a man in a tuxedo clearly standing guard. Zach told the guy his name, only his name, and the guard whisked the door open. Zach’s phone calls had obviously gone well.
Jason’s eyes immediately went to the wall on the left. It was almost entirely covered by an enormous built-in aquarium, alive with fish. Then he saw Marc, already seated at the sleek cherry-wood table in the center of the room.
‘He sure wears that Fendi well,’ Erin murmured.
Jason took a closer look at the guy. He had on a very classy gray suit – Fendi, according to Erin – with a white shirt and tie underneath.
Mr Yakamoto – the older Japanese man that Zach had won from the other night – sat to his left. Zach strolled over to the table and took a seat some distance from Marc. Yakamoto didn’t seem very happy to see him, but Marc sure did.
‘Let’s grab seats,’ Brad said, leading the way up a short flight of stairs to a raised gallery set well back from the game table. Tables and chairs stretched down its length. As soon as they sat down, a waitress glided up and asked for their drink orders. Jason noticed that the players were being offered complimentary beverages. It looked like Zach had gone for water with a slice of lemon. Smart choice.
They had a good view of Zach, who was sitting facing toward them, but they could only see the back of Marc’s head. ‘Hey, isn’t that that sexy actress?’ Van Dyke asked. ‘The one who was in that movie where she was a lesbian?’
‘Bound,’ Brad said. He shot a look at Adam. ‘See, we do know some old movies.’
‘You mean you have an encyclopedic knowledge of anything that involves girl-on-girl action,’ Maggie said, laughing.
‘That’s definitely her,’ Adam confirmed. ‘Sitting down right next to our Zach.’
‘Most definitely,’ Brad agreed.
A middle-aged guy with way too much bling for a) the room and b) his age, came in and plopped down between the actress and Mr Yakamoto. He was followed by a short man who, like Zach, was dressed in a tux. When he took his seat, on the other side of Zach from the actress, the tournament’s six players were all in place.
‘OK, I’m going to need some commentary,’ Maggie said. ‘I’ve only played poker about twice, both times at a party.’
Van Dyke wrapped his arm around her. ‘Not a problem.’
A tall woman with wildly curling strawberry blond hair entered the room. She had to be a vampire. With her flawless ivory skin and glowing pale blue eyes, she couldn’t possibly be human. The neck of her ankle-length black gown was high, and the sleeves were long, but as she passed by on her way to the main table, Jason could see that the back of the dress was cut so low there was no way any underwear was going on.
‘She’s the dealer,’ Van Dyke said.
Several extremely clean-cut twenty-something guys followed her, carrying trays of chips. They distributed them to the players in silence.
‘Hard to believe those pieces of plastic represent more than a million bucks,’ Adam commented.
Another woman walked to the head of the table. She had light brown hair in a sleek bob. ‘Good evening, players and guests. My name is Hilary Mayer and I am the manager of the Bonheur. If there is anything my staff can do to make you more comfortable tonight, please don’t hesitate to ask.’ She smiled. ‘I know none of you have come here to listen to me. You all know the rules, and Mr Barstow, your director for the night, will be on hand if there are disputes of any kind.’ She nodded to the angular man standing several feet away from the table. He nodded back. ‘So, again, welcome, and good luck,’ Hilary concluded, then took a seat in the gallery.
The dealer placed a silver disc in front of Marc, who sat to her left. ‘That’s called the button,’ Van Dyke told Maggie. ‘It shows who the dealer is.’
‘I thought you just said that that woman is the dealer,’ Maggie answered.
‘She is,’ Adam put in. ‘In tournaments, there’s always a professional dealer. But usually each player takes a turn dealing, and that’s important in the rules. So, in terms of the rules, the person with the button counts as the dealer, even though they’re not actually dealing. Got it?’
‘Got it. It seems stupid, but I’ve got it,’ Maggie replied.
Yakamoto and Too Much Bling pushed chips in front of them. ‘The two players to the left of the dealer have to put in what’s called the “small blind” and the “big blind”. It’s a mandatory bet,’ Jason explained, doing his part of the commentary for Maggie. ‘It looks like the small is 1,000 bucks, and the big is 2,000. Those amounts will go up as the game goes on. It’s to keep the play aggressive. Bigger blinds mean players will risk more on less than great hands.’
‘The game is No-limit Texas Hold ’Em,’ the dealer announced in a throaty voice that easily carried to the gallery. A hush descended on the room as she began dealing two cards face down to each of the players.
Sexy Actress quickly checked her cards. ‘Raise 2,000 dollars.’ She slid the chips out in front of her. A monitor mounted in the center of Jason’s table showed a close-up as the dealer confirmed the bet.
‘Ooh,’ Adam observed. ‘She could have just called and put in the amount of the big blind – 2,000 dollars – but she chose to take it up a notch.’
‘Fold,’ Zach said.
‘That means he’s out for the rest of this hand,’ Van Dyke explained. ‘He can’t have any good cards; he didn’t even wait for the flop.’
‘I understood the “fold” part without the translation,’ Maggie said. ‘But “flop”? I’m lost again.’
‘The betting for this round is going to continue until everyone has either folded, gone all in – that means bet all their chips – or matched the highest bid,’ Van Dyke told her. ‘Then the dealer will turn over three cards. They’re called the “flop” and they are community cards. The players will use them with the two cards they already have – “hole” cards, they’re called – to come up with their poker hands. After the flop, there’s another round of betting.’
‘Right. So if you’re holding a pathetic little three and a six in your hole cards, but then two more sixes come up in the flop, suddenly you’re holding three of a kind!’ Belle added. ‘Not a fabulous hand, but a lot better than what you started with.’
‘So why did Zach fold without waiting for the flop?’ Maggie asked. ‘He can’t really know how good his hand is until he sees the three cards, right? Or am I missing something?’
‘It’s true that the flop can change your hand,’ Erin told her, ‘but there’s a round of betting before the flop. If Zach’s got really bad cards, and the betting gets high in that round, then he’d probably choose to fold instead of matching the bet.’
‘Yeah, he’s probably just playing a tight game, being cautious,’ Brad put in. ‘Don’t worry. I’m not even going to admit how much money Zach has taken off me playing Hold ’Em.’
Zach folded before the flop on the next hand too. A hand that Marc won. Jason’s gut clenched. ‘I hope he has a good enough hand to stay in – at least until the turn – soon,’ he murmured uneasily. Before Maggie could ask, he explained. ‘After the flop, there’s another round of betting. Then the dealer turns up one more card – that’s called the “turn”. Then there’s more betting. Another card goes face up – that’s the “river”. Those two cards are community cards too. The last round of betting comes after that.’
‘So then you can use any of the five cards on the table with either of your two hole cards for your hand?’ Maggie queried.
‘Yes, either or both,’ Adam clarified. ‘But Zach’s pulled out way before that point.’
Jason leant forward, all his attention on Zach as more hands were played. Zach folded often – and lost almost as frequently. He didn’t win a single hand.
In contrast, Marc played loose, betting on hands when the odds would have told a more cautious gambler to fold – and it was paying off.
About an hour into the tournament, Jason and Adam exchanged a what-in-the-freaking-hell look. Zach still hadn’t won a hand. Was it possible that their friend was simply outclassed?
Fifteen
‘HE FOLDED AGAIN. Unbelievable!’ a man at one of the other tables of observers said loudly enough for Jason – and probably Zach – to hear.
Adam covered his eyes with both hands. ‘That’s a lot of hands where Zach’s folded. And when he hasn’t folded, he’s lost!’
‘Thanks for the update,’ Brad snapped irritably.
Adam spread his fingers and peered at him. ‘Sorry. It’s just … I guess the pressure’s getting to me.’
Brad nodded. ‘To all of us.’
Jason tried to keep his impatience from getting totally out of control as the hand played out.
‘At least Marc didn’t win that last hand,’ Erin commented.
‘True,’ Maggie said, ‘but he already has about 43,000 dollars more than he started with.’
‘And Zach has 20,000 less,’ Van Dyke added.
‘That isn’t nearly as much as Yakamoto’s lost, though,’ Erin commented.
‘At least Yakamoto’s in the game. Zach, he’s … Well, it’s almost as if Zach doesn’t want to play,’ Jason said, frowning.
‘Look, Zach’s a great player, I’m telling you,’ Brad insisted.
‘I’ve played with him, too,’ Van Dyke put in. ‘And he whips my butt. Not playing like this, though. I’ve never seen Zach playing like this.’
Is Zach so freaked out about Sienna that he can’t concentrate? Jason wondered. But that just didn’t seem like Zach. Jason had seen him under extreme pressure before, and Zach was the ice man.
The dealer was shuffling the cards. A new hand was about to begin.
‘Zach has to have a plan,’ Paige said. It was the first time she’d spoken since they’d entered the private room. It was like she thought that if she poured every ounce of concentration she possessed into watching the game, she could somehow make it turn out the way it had to in order to save her and Sienna.