“Yes,” Otto’s voice came into his ear. “Stand by.”
A couple of moments later, the monitors went blank, and a series of images flashed across the laptop.
“I’m downloading the system’s memory and then crashing it. No one’s going to get so much as one byte out of it. But I can tell you one thing for sure — even if I don’t have an actual name, Mme Barineau is definitely MI6.”
“Doing what here in France?”
“People watching. All the major players — a lot of them Arabs but a number of Chinese and Russian billionaires, mostly oil and technology nouveaux riche—show up at the casino sooner or later.”
“What about Kallinger?” Pete asked.
“He’s not in the system,” Otto said. “And maybe she’s slumming.”
“She’ll get herself killed if she’s not careful.”
“There’s that possibility,” Otto said. “What about her housekeeper?”
“We’ll let her out before we leave,” McGarvey said.
“Do you think she’ll call the cops?”
“I think she probably knows enough about her employer to keep her mouth shut until she’s told otherwise.”
“What now?”
“Baccarat,” McGarvey said. “It’s payback time.”
20
McGarvey and Pete walked into the casino a few minutes after midnight, he in his tuxedo and she in the black, very-low-cut Givenchy and spike heels. They made a handsome couple, and this time, Mac did not pretend to be drunk. The maître d’ welcomed them profusely.
They turned heads in the bar, where they ordered Krug.
“How much have you got to play with this time?” Pete asked. “I don’t think a hundred thousand will be enough.”
“Otto’s established an unlimited line for me.”
Pete glanced toward the doorway. “That’s why they were so happy to see you. But Marty’s going to have a hemorrhage if you lose even a nickel of the Company’s money.”
“The money is mine, and I don’t intend on losing,” Mac said. When his parents had died, they had left a few million — mostly in municipal bonds and other securities — to their daughter, who was married and living in Utah, while Mac got the cattle ranch in western Kansas.
He’d sold it and over the past twenty years or so had invested the money in the stock market. At last count, his estimated net worth was around $9 million.
Money had always been of little interest to him, though his sister had stopped talking to him after he’d sold the ranch, because she figured a part of it should have gone to her. When his granddaughter, Audie, was old enough to appreciate money, all of it would go to her. He wasn’t about to lose her inheritance.
Pete was impressed. Very few people other than Otto and Louise knew about his wealth. “You’re making this personal,” she said.
“He did when he took a hammer and chisel to Katy’s headstone.”
Pete looked toward the door again. “Speaking of the devil.”
Kurshin in black tie, and Martine in another stunning evening outfit — this time a light-beige, flowing, diaphanous pantsuit that was sheer enough to be titillating — with golden sandals on her tiny feet.
“The girl dresses well for MI6,” Pete added under her breath as they approached.
“M. Arouet and Mme Graves,” Kurshin said. He kissed Pete’s hand. “You look lovely.”
“Thank you.”
“I hope that you’ve recovered from your exertions this afternoon,” Martine said to Mac.
Mac shrugged. “It’s a young person’s sport, after all.”
“Agreed,” Kurshin said. “Even I was a little winded.”
“Baccarat is a different business.”
“Money and luck,” Kurshin said.
“At chemin de fer, it’s experience.”
The chef de salle unhooked the velvet rope barrier and let the four of them into the baccarat salon. He obviously remembered McGarvey from last night, but he just as obviously knew about the American’s unlimited line of credit.
The room was less than half-full at the moment. Play had been going on since ten, and an intermission was in progress. McGarvey and Kurshin took seats at opposite ends of the table; Pete and Martine stood together in the middle.
The croupier and other players came back almost immediately. Word had spread throughout the casino that a pair of very high rollers — who were not Russian, Arab, or Chinese — had arrived. The night was turning out to be interesting, after all.
“Gentlemen,” the croupier began when all the chairs were filled, and he reviewed the rules of play for the newcomers.
When he was finished, he passed the six decks to all the players for them to shuffle the cards, beginning with the one on his right, and when the stack came back to him, he shuffled it again and passed it to the player on his left, who cut the deck. The croupier loaded it into the shoe.
An older German man, the first counterclockwise from the croupier, accepted the role as banker for fifty thousand euros. One of the bettors, known as punters, put up thirty thousand, and a second agreed to cover the remaining twenty thousand.
The shoe went to the German, who slid out four cards facedown. The croupier passed two of them to the highest punter.
“Carte,” the punter said after looking at his down cards.
The banker slid out another card facedown that the croupier passed to the punter faceup. It was a four.
The banker immediately turned his two cards over, totaling seven.
The punter turned his over, a four and a king. With the up card, his total was eight, and he and the other punter and won the bank and split it with the casino.
Three other players in turn took the role of banker, gradually raising the stakes to one hundred thousand euros. One tied before he lost on the second round.
The bank next came to McGarvey. “One million,” he said, looking directly at Kurshin, whose expression was unreadable.
A low sigh went around the table and through the salon.
“Banco,” Kurshin announced. He was covering the entire amount.
The evening had finally begun, and within seconds, word had spread through the casino, and by the time the shoe had been passed to McGarvey, the salon was full, and people were standing in the doorway just behind the velvet rope.
McGarvey slid four cards from the shoe, never looking away from Kurshin.
The croupier passed the cards, and Kurshin looked at them and immediately turned them over. A pair of fours. “Huit.”
Mac flipped his cards over without looking. A five and three. Also eight.
It was a tie, and the one million — euro bet remained.
Ths time Kurshin dealt the cards, again turning his over at once. A six and two. Eight again.
McGarvey called for a card, which Kurshin dealt, but it was a jack with no value. Mac turned his cards over, a three and an ace for a four.
“Two million,” Kurshin said.
“Banco,” McGarvey immediately replied.
The cards were drawn, McGarvey’s pair delivered by the croupier to him. He had drawn a two and nine for a total of eleven, which counted as one. His faceup third card was a six, for a respectful total of seven.
“Carte,” Kurshin said, and he drew one card to himself, flipping it faceup. A three. He turned over his down cards, a two and three for eight and the win.
Kurshin bet four million. No one said a word or made a noise.
“Banco,” McGarvey said.
Several people standing began talking at once, and the croupier had to demand order.
Kurshin slid four cards down, the croupier passing two to McGarvey.