Dead Man's Hand (15 page)

Tyson won again, that was
certainly original. 
Did the man ever lose?  Was he even capable
of losing?
  I shook the questions out of my head, they were pointless
and I was only depressing myself.  Turning around in my seat just so as to
look away from those lifeless eyes, I caught sight of Dempsey walking into the
center of the room.  Once there, he stood and waited until he had the
silent attention of the room. Then he spoke. “Ladies and gentlemen, we have
reached our final ten players.  We will now take a short break while we
get things ready for the last table.  While we do so, please feel free to
help yourselves to refreshments.”  With that he turned around and started
to walk towards the nearest stairwell that lead to the seating above. After
taking only a couple of steps he stopped, turned back around, and added a few
more words.  “For the duration of the break the bar will be open. 
Please enjoy yourselves.”

“That’s actually generous
of him.”  I said to Bella as I leaned down to whisper into her ear.
 “Would you like to join me for a martini?”

I waited almost a minute
for her to answer before looking away from her uncle and down at her
face.  Instead of the calm serenity that had been gracing her face earlier
I saw confusion. It was not a flattering look for her.  I had never seen
her like this before and the change startled me, so I quickly asked, “Bella,
what’s wrong?”  As she sat there, motionless, I grasped her shoulder and
gently rocked her back and forth until she broke out of whatever trance she had
fallen into.  She looked up at me quizzically so I simply repeated my
question with a little more urgency than before.

As she looked up into my
eyes I saw that she noted my apparent concern,
good, at least she was being
responsive now
.  I knew that something was off so I sat and waited for
her to explain what was wrong.  By this time the other players at our
table had gotten up so it was just the two of us sitting there in
silence.  It took her a few more moments to gather herself, but she eventually
answered the question.

“As far as I know my
uncle has never had a break during one of his ‘oh so precious
tournaments.’”  Once she finally started speaking her words came out
quickly. She fixed her eyes on mine and nearly shouted her next word. “Never!”

I was uncertain how to
respond to this but I tried to offer a reason as to why he might have deviated
from such a longstanding tradition.  “Maybe this year’s tournament is just
running longer.”  But even to my ears the excuse sounded feeble.  

Her eyes were beginning
to take on a hue of fear which I didn’t understand.  Well she had common
sense, you always had to be cautious with the unknown, and perhaps she was just
being cautious.  I could tell that for Bella, not knowing what was going
on was extremely frustrating.  I had only known her for a few hours but I
could tell that she had a controlling side to her, a similarity that she
definitely shared with her uncle.  She waved a dismissive hand at my
suggestion as her words poured forth.  “No, Marcus you don’t understand. 
After the tournament last year I actually asked him about that.  Don’t get
me wrong I can handle a long time at the table, but even I was
exhausted.”  She turned around and tightly gripped my arms.  “He told
me that he never took breaks because it’s better for business.  He
wouldn’t just change what he considered a good business decision, not without a
very compelling reason.”

Keeping my eyes on hers,
I tried to keep my face as calm as possible.  “Slow down a second, what exactly
do you think is going on if this is so unordinary?”

Taking her cue from me,
she stopped a moment to settle her rising emotions.  When she had herself
under control she replied in a still shaky voice, “I’m not sure Marcus.” 
She took another breath to steady herself and continued: “And to be honest
that’s what scares me the most.”

“Bella, isn’t it possible
that you’re overreacting just a little?”  I asked as I placed my thumb and
index finger just a hairsbreadth apart.  “Let’s focus for a moment on the
positive side of things.  For insistence I’m fairly certain your uncle no
longer has any of his men intermingled with the last ten players, so his payout
is already as small as it can be.”

Then I remembered the
betting that was going on above our heads and that made me think of something
else. “Well minus the gambling going on above us.  But, best of all is the
re-opening of the bar even, if it was mostly an afterthought.  And to tell
you the truth since he forces everyone to stay here he should have left it open
for the whole time.”

“That may be a valid
explanation for his opening the bar,” Bella shrugged as she elaborated on her
thoughts.  “But the bar is a nice shiny toy to distract from the real
surprise, which is the break.  Why did he call for a break?  That’s
what scares…”

I was afraid she was
going to allow herself to get worked up, but I needed her to stay calm. “I’m
not saying I fully believe what I said, Bella.  After all I know who your
uncle is and more importantly I know his reputation.”  I placed a bit of
emphasis on the last words.  “But I also know there is no use worrying
about something we have no control over.  That’s about as useful as trying
to argue with a hungry grizzly bear.  And all that’ll do is keep us from
playing our best game, which is something we can’t afford right now. I
understand what your fears are, but there is nothing we can do about it right
now.”

I saw her force down the
panic that had started to rise, but she again managed to pull herself under
control.  Looking past me she stared right at her uncle as she spoke to
me.  “You’re right, Marcus.  This is not the time to let my uncle’s
actions dictate what I do.”

I scratched my temple as
I thought about what she was saying.  I could tell she was concerned about
all of the oddities that she had observed so far during this tournament. 
Though it would have been more accurate to say the differences frightened
her.  And things like that were always useful to know, you just needed to
know when you had to use the knowledge.  “Believe me Bella, information is
always useful.”

She opened her mouth to
say something but before she could utter a sound I gently placed a finger upon
her lips and quickly completed my thought, “Yes information is useful. 
But information overload is potentially fatal.  I’m not going to let it
rule my thoughts during this break or at the final table.”  I kept my
attention focused upon her beautiful grey eyes, and I just held them with my
own for a few moments before adding, “Divergence from the norm is always useful
to know about.  You just have to figure out why the differences are
there.”

With a shy smile she
looked up into my eyes, “You really are an interesting mystery, Marcus.”

Looking back at her I
offered a reassuring smile as I rephrased my original question.  “Well
would you like to accompany your man of mystery to the bar for another
martini?”  As I spoke I stood and extended my arm to her.

She gracefully accepted
my proffered arm, using it to assist herself to rise.  Once she was on her
feet she enveloped my arm within her own and smiled her assent as she whispered
“I’d be delighted to join you for another martini.”  Arm in arm we made
our way to Simon to place our order.

After receiving our
drinks we returned to our table to enjoy them, mine once again scrubbed clean
of any intoxicants. We sat there watching Dempsey’s men work to clear the
room.  They did it with amazing quickness and efficiency, removing the
remaining tables and all but ten of the chairs, including the two we were
currently using.  As we sipped at our drinks I kept noticing that Bella
was surprised by the furniture’s removal. 
Was this another piece of
the puzzle?
  “Is there anything wrong with the tables being removed?”

“No,” she began with a
shake of her head.  “My uncle is a very organized man.  He is a
poster child for the saying, ‘a place for everything and everything in its
place.’  But as much as he tries to vary himself he is a person of
habit.  So I was just trying to reason out why he had all of the tables removed
when he has never done so in the past.”

“Maybe he has something
special in mind for the final table.”  I offered in an attempt to relax
her already jumpy mind.

Even as she started to
nod her head in assent, I could tell that while she wasn’t satisfied with the
explanation, she was willing to accept it all the same.  She glanced over
at me and replied, “That’s got to be it.”

I didn’t want to admit
that personally, I was very unsatisfied with my explanation. She, however, was
eager to forget her worries and content to let herself believe in the rationale
of my suggestions, which was probably for the best as she was already rather on
edge.  I wish I had been able to follow her lead but I was unable to keep
a million different thoughts from running through my mind. The more I had been
able to calm her nerves, the more uneasy I had become.  I couldn’t say why
I was so determined to figure out what was prompting all the drastic changes in
Dempsey’s typical routine.  But with all the odd behavior mounting up, I
was having a hard time convincing myself that nothing abnormal was going
on.  And I had a sinking suspicion that I was at the center of it all.

As the break wore on my
body started losing its fight with exhaustion.  
Why was Dempsey
normally so opposed to a break? 
He had to know how a break would
affect the players. If it hadn’t been so haphazard I would have congratulated
Dempsey on his tactics, rather than question them.  As the adrenaline in
my system began to wane my exhaustion grew by leaps and bounds. I quickly made
another dose of adrenaline and took it as quickly and discretely as I could. I
had to keep myself going; the end was almost within my grasp. 
Fortunately, just as I hit my biological snooze button I noticed some of
Dempsey’s goons carrying in the final table.

Looking carefully at the
table both Bella and I were unable to notice anything that distinguished it
from the ones that had been removed.  Nothing looked different. This new
table could very well have been any one of the three that had already been taken
out, almost an hour ago, when the break first began. However, I had a bad
feeling that this unscheduled break was the result of Dempsey’s desire to have
this specific table house the ten final players.

Once the table and our
chips were positioned Dempsey again strolled into the center of the
arena.  This time he didn’t need to silence anyone.  “Ladies and
gentlemen we have our battleground, please allow me to introduce the
combatants.”

With a flourish of his
hand he listed off the ten who had made it through the night.  One by one
we collected our chips from the men standing to one side of the table and took
our seats.  Fortunately, I wasn’t introduced last so I was able to claim
the empty chair next to Bella.  At least I knew I would have some pleasant
conversation between hands.  When I sat down I took a moment to study the
table for anything unusual.  I was convinced that there had to be
something special about it.  Why else would Dempsey break such a fine
tradition of his? Despite my quick and casual search I couldn’t find anything
that screamed ‘I’m different.  Look at me.’  But before I could try
to take a deeper look, Patrick sat down, thereby completing the table. I
decided to shelve the questions for the moment and follow the same advice I had
given Bella.  It was time to ignore the differences and focus on how I was
going to win this tournament.

If weeding out the ten
best players here had been a marathon, then the battle among the last ten was a
sprint, and one I blame on the break.  Three of our number had been forced
into the crowd within the first five or six hands.  Granted those three
had had the least amount of money left, but all the same it was remarkable just
how fast it had occurred.  As I looked down at my cards I knew that if I
were to bet on what I held, then I was going to quickly follow suit; so I did
the smart thing and folded.  That left everyone but Patrick, Tyson, and
myself still vying for the hand.

Now there are some flops
that scream to good players “watch out I’m a trap.”  When you see the king
of hearts and the aces of spades and diamonds you should proceed with
caution.  It certainly wouldn’t have helped the hand I had folded, a
thought which made me smile.  But, I could tell that it helped Bella,
thought I doubted anyone left in the hand caught onto it.  She calmly
began the round with a check to Constantine, who was aggressively pushing
forward with two hundred thousand dollars.  David made a show of deciding
whether or not he should call, but I could tell that he was eager thanks to the
flop.  While Christopher, Mike, and Zachary folded their hands, Thomas
raised the stakes to three hundred thousand, and without even cracking a smile,
Bella took the stakes up to half a million.  With a great deal of
complaining Constantine, David, and Thomas eventually called the bet and we all
waited for the next card.

It was the jack of
hearts. I could see the barest hint of a glimmer in Bella’s eyes, though it was
quickly gone.  This time she was the one who hemmed and hawed about what
she was going to do before eventually pulling a cool million out of her stack
and waiting for any takers.  I wondered what she held.
Though more
subdued this time around, the other three each ponied up their million to see
the last card. The last card revealed the nine of hearts, a fact that seemed to
make Bella’s night.  However, this time she just checked to
Constantine.  He must have loved the card as well because he decided to
really up the ante by going all in.  This meant that everyone, with the
exception of Bella, would have to go all in as well.  Each of them pulled
that trigger.

When Constantine flipped
his hand he revealed the seven and deuce of hearts.  I thought I was going
to have a heart attack, all he had was a flush.  He only just caught it,
why
oh
why had he been betting so aggressively when
all he had was a flush draw?  Granted he did manage to catch it on the
last card, but he should have realized that there were better hands
available.  David flashed a smirk as he revealed his full house that, for
the moment, reigned supreme.  But as that old saying goes, “one good turn
deserves another.”  And when Thomas flipped his cards to reveal the other
two aces, David looked absolutely crushed.  Unfortunately for him, Bella
still needed to show her hand and she just happened to be holding the queen and
ten of hearts.  She had been a single ace away from getting the best hand
in the game, but David has stolen the ace of hearts away from her.  She just
had to settle for playing a king high straight flush.

This devastated the three
fools who had followed her into the hand.  As Dempsey’s security escorted
them from the table I couldn’t help but think about what I had just seen. 
In fact, the whole room had gone silent, I was sure that everyone could hear
her collect her winnings.
 
Once she had her winnings the dealer
went on and the three who played it safe were removed over the next five
hands.  In the end it really didn’t matter, six people were already gone
from the final table.  How in the world had that happened?  I had
witnessed it myself, but I still couldn’t believe it. I had never seen that
many players drop from any table that fast. Now I had to deal with the real
cream of this crop; Tyson, Patrick, and Bella.

Looking from stack to
stack, I wondered who the actual chip leader was.  Of the four of us,
Bella had been at the bottom, but with what she had just picked up, she had,
more or less, leveled the playing field.  I would have thought someone up
in the arena would have been saying something about what had just happened, but
instead silence reigned in the room.  The dealer began to deal. He somehow
managed to look at us all as he said to Bella, “You’re the small blind ma’am.”

She quickly counted the
required chips and tossed them into the center of the table and Tyson wasted no
time following suit.  Once the blinds were paid the dealer got us started.
Unfortunately he wasn’t really helping me with a non-suited two and nine. 
But Patrick must have gotten some kind of help because he quickly paid the
pot.  As the chips fell from his hand I slid my pair of cards into the
center, while Bella raised the pot two hundred thousand dollars.  Tyson
quickly followed my example and surrendered his hand, but Patrick decided to
call Bella’s raise.

With the flop we saw a
pair of nines and a very lonely lady.  Instead of pressing, Bella decided
to check to Patrick, who was apparently willing to see the next card without
paying for it.  A two of spades was revealed and again Bella checked the
opening bet to Patrick.  This time he made a bet of four hundred thousand,
which Bella immediately called.  What could either of them have with what
was in play?

After the dealer revealed
the four of diamonds Bella, for the third time, checked the bet to Patrick. His
bet was enough to force Bella to go all in if she wanted to see what he
had.  She took a bit of time examining Patrick and her hand, but she must
have thought she had seen something from him because she called the bet with a
big smile on her face.  A smile that only widened when she revealed her
pair of aces.  Two pair, with what was out there, wasn’t a bad hand, but
when Patrick flipped his cards the smile was wiped away from Bella’s face. One
of Patrick’s pocket cards was a nine, he had had trip nines right from the
beginning.

Looking at that single
nine staring back up at her she could barely believe what had just
happened.  She looked like she was trying to think of something witty to
say but all that came out of her mouth was, “Well don’t that just…”  But
words seemed to fail her as she stopped mid-sentence and let out a rather
undignified harrumph.  After taking a moment to calm herself with a series
of deep breaths, she stood up.  I could see the frustration hanging off
her like a cloak and it took a moment for her to regain a mask of serenity, but
then, that was probably due to the very smug look on Patrick’s face.

Once again in complete
control of herself, she turned to Patrick and said.  “Well played, Patrick.
I’d say best of luck but I’m sure you understand my preference that you
lose.”  She abruptly turned around to face me and before the pair of hired
muscles could grab her she leaned down and wrapped her arms around my neck and
whispered her farewell to me.  “I hope you can teach him one hell of a
lesson, Marcus.  I really wish you the best of luck.  On the bright
side, you didn’t knock me out, so we can still be friends.”

Looking up into her eyes
I could see the playfulness that had so quickly captured my soul.  “Thank
you, Bella.  I think I’m going to need it.”  Without another word she
collected her drink and made her way into the audience to watch the outcome of
the game. I could tell she was hoping for me to take that smug man for all he
was worth.  I certainly hoped I was up for the challenge.

Then there were
three.  With so few of us I started keeping hands that I would have
otherwise dismissed, because, at this stage of the game, too few cards are put
into play.  Fortunately for me after a few more hands of nothing I was
kissed by Lady Luck when the dealer gave me a pair of kings.  I quickly
raised Tyson’s two million dollar bet by another two million.  Patrick
chose to fold but Tyson decided to try and double up at my expense.  If I
called his new bet, I would risk all but a handful of my chips.  But then,
I did have a pair of kings, he would have to have a pair of aces to have the
upper hand on me, and I had a very good feeling about this hand.

I leaned back in my
chair, looked over at Tyson and said, “You sure you want to do that Tyson?”

“Yes, Marcus, I’m sure
that I want to do this.”  Tyson said with his lifeless eyes.  “It’s
about time I faced Patrick in the showdown.”

“Careful, Tyson, you’re
starting to show a little emotion.”

The dig may not have been
the most appropriate thing to say, since the slight hue of eagerness gave way
to the second emotion I have seen on his face, irritation.  “You are a
good player Marcus, but you aren’t in the same league as Patrick or myself.”

“Then again Tyson, you’re
not in my league either.”  Patrick chirped in.

“We shall see who is
better after I knock our friend out.”  Tyson said coolly.

How comfortable was I
about this hand?  I had to remember that I have never seen Tyson lose when
he has gone all in.  Granted I had only seen him reveal his hand a couple
of times, mostly everyone else had backed down, having been unwilling to risk
losing their stack.  But then, if I won his stack I would be about even
with Patrick, which would help.  “Well, Tyson, you’re not going to get
away with the bullying this time.  I call.”

No sooner were the words
out of my mouth than Tyson flipped over his cards showing me the other pair of
kings.  He had the red kings. I flipped my pair and showed the kings of
clubs and spades.

“Unbelievable. The same
hand!”  Tyson exclaimed in a clipped voice.

“Well it seems we shall
probably live to fight another day.”  I commented, not expecting an
answer.

Tyson and I looked over
at the dealer and watched as he revealed the flop, the seven and queen of
spades along with the five of diamonds.  And just like that, I had a
possible flush draw.  It would take a miracle for me to get two more
spades but I had the opportunity and that was amazing.

“Well, Tyson, it seems
this hand just got a bit more interesting.”  Patrick said with a smile, he
could have been a little less obvious with his apparent desire to play me
rather than the living statue.

“The odds still favor us
to split the pot, Patrick.”

“We’ll see what happens
in a moment.”  I said as I motioned for the dealer to reveal the next
card, a ten of spades.

“He only needs one more
spade and you’re out my silent friend.”  Patrick narrated.

“The odds are not in his
favor.”

Please just give me one
more spade.  One more spade that is all that I need.  Please just
give me one more.
  I watched the dealer burn the last
card for the hand and time seemed to slow down to a crawl.  I could
probably have killed a thousand flies if they had happened to fly in front of
me right then.  I watched as he pulled the last card off of the pile and I
waited for it to be flipped over.  All I needed was a spade and it would
be me and Patrick in the showdown.

I could almost see the
face of the card. 
Was it black?
 
Hurry up and move faster,
you stupid dealer, move faster!
As if on command, time seemed to speed back
up and the ace of spades was staring up at us all.  I had made my
flush!  I had beat Tyson!  I looked over to Patrick and promised
myself right then and there that I would do the same to Patrick.

“Congratulations, on the
pure luck Marcus.”  Tyson said with what seemed to be petulance, or would
be if it had come out of anyone else’s mouth.  But when I looked over, he
had already been collected by Dempsey’s minions.

I shifted my gaze back to
Patrick and smiled my warmest smile, “And then there were two.”

“May the best man, win.”