“Tapestry,” he called. “I’m heading down to the casino.”
There was no response. Malcolm made sure that he had one of the electric key cards for the door, and then headed down the hall to the elevator.
The casino was down another hallway off the side of the lobby. It was everything Malcolm could have expected, and more. Everyone was dressed in expensive clothing. People were already drinking, even though it was still early in the evening.
Beautiful women stood at the sides of pompous looking men as games of cards, dice, and roulette played out. Cocktail waitresses in revealing dresses swirled through the room with platters of exotic looking drinks.
“Mr. Adams?” One of the floor managers, a tall, professional looking woman, stepped up next to him. “Would you like to put any more money onto your betting account?”
Malcolm raised an eyebrow.
“Any… more money?” he asked.
“Yes,” said the woman. “You have a current allowance of twenty thousand, but if you were interested, we could leverage that up to twice that amount through the casino’s credit program.”
“Twenty thousand… dollars?” said Malcolm.
“Yes,” said the woman.
He felt his head spinning. That was more money than he could ever imagine gambling with. It made him feel very strange knowing that Savior had put that much onto his account for betting, while Malcolm’s own bank balance was currently in the low double digits.
“I…” Malcolm slowly shook his head. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
“Perhaps with a drink?” The floor manager nodded to a passing cocktail waitress, and suddenly Malcolm had a tropical looking drink in his hand.
“Sure,” he said.
“If you’re new to gambling in general, I would suggest you give dice poker a try,” said the woman. “It’s a very simple game, easy to get into and unique to the Hawktail. Stakes are low, and most guests just play for fun.”
“Dice poker?” asked Malcolm. “Like Yahtzee?”
The floor manager gave him a queer look, as though she had no idea what he was talking about. She set one of her hands on his shoulder and subtly began leading him over to a small, circular table in the corner. Malcolm adjusted his fake glasses and cleared his throat.
“Mr. Fleschman,” said the floor manager. “I’ve found you a new player.”
A short, fat man stood at one side of the dice poker table, with a bombshell of a brunette on his arm. A uniformed woman who was either a dealer, or a banker was also at the table. Malcolm thanked the floor manager and took his spot across from the fat man.
“Uh, nice to meet you,” said Malcolm. “I’m… John Adams.”
“Like the President,” said the fat man. “Exquisite. My name is Hans Fleischmann, and this is my wife, Olga.”
“It is a pleasure,” said the attractive brunette. She was wearing a sparkling blue dress, low cut enough to reveal the extensive cleavage of her large breasts. She held Malcolm’s gaze for long enough to make him sweat.
“It’s fine if I join your game?” he asked.
“Of course,” said Hans. “Are you familiar with the rules?”
Not even close.
“I am,” said Malcolm. “But why don’t you… go over them once more, in case I’m mistaken about something.”
“You just roll five dice,” said Hans. “And try to get pairs. If you roll five numbers in numerical order, you get a straight, which beats all hands other than five of a kind. All dice are visible to all players at all times, so it’s really a game of luck, rather than skill.”
“Got it,” said Malcolm. “So it is kind of like Yahtzee.”
Hans gave him an odd look, and then went on explaining as though he hadn’t heard him.
Is that like a dirty word around here, or something?
“You roll once to start,” said Hans. “Pick which dice to hold. Reroll the others. Really quite simple.”
The uniformed woman was already setting out chips, about five thousand dollars’ worth for each of them, onto their respective sides of the table. Malcolm frowned, feeling like he was still in over his head, but also vaguely aware of the fact that it wasn’t his money he’d be losing.
“Well then,” said Hans. “Shall we begin?”
CHAPTER 14
Malcolm lost the first hand in short order, getting a pair on his first roll and nothing additional on the second. The pot was only $400, between the two of them, but it was a weird sensation watching that much money slide across the table, out of his hands.
“The opposite of beginner’s luck,” said Hans. “I hope that does not scare you away?”
“Of course not,” said Malcolm.
“You should be careful,” said Olga, Hans’ wife. “Hans is very good at finding his opponent’s weaknesses.”
She leaned forward slightly, adjusting her brunette braid and pushing her breasts out. Malcolm tried his best to not ogle.
“Where are you from, John?” asked Hans. “International, or here in the states?”
It took Malcolm a second to realize that he was John, and react accordingly.
“Canada,” he said. “I live in, uh, Toronto. Newly married.”
Hans and his wife made a noise of approval.
“You must have quite a fun wife to come to a place like this on your honeymoon,” said Hans.
The two of them rolled the dice for another hand. Malcolm kept three fives, and picked up the two other dice to reroll.
“And yourself?” asked Malcolm.
“Vacation,” said Hans. “I operate an exotic animal hunting operation in Tanzania.”
Malcolm quirked an eyebrow. Hans looked like he barely did much walking, let alone hunting.
“Like… tracking lions and rhinos?” he asked, frowning as he considered how distasteful he personally found that kind of thing.
“We have a reservation,” said Hans. “Most of my clients are more interested in the trophy, than the experience.”
Malcolm took his second roll, ending up with nothing additional to the three of a kind. Hans won the round with a full house, and almost a thousand dollars of Malcolm’s betting money.
I can’t keep losing like this. If this game is really luck based, I shouldn’t be losing this much…
“It sounds like the animals don’t get much of a chance,” said Malcolm.
“It’s not good business to give them a chance,” said Hans, chuckling. Next to him, his wife Olga sighed and rolled her eyes.
They started another round. Malcolm had a terrible first roll, and Hans took advantage of it, betting heavily and forcing him to fold early. He was already down several thousand dollars.
“Would you like another drink, Mr. Adams?” asked a cocktail waitress.
“Uh…”
She passed him another of whatever he’d been drinking before into his hand, accepting his hesitation as a yes.
“So, what do you do, John?” asked Hans. “You must have quite the career to afford to honeymoon in a place like this.”
“I… work for a security firm,” said Malcolm. “I’m an executive there.”
“Sounds exciting,” said Olga.
“It can be, at times,” said Malcolm. “It’s an international operation. The line of work has its perks, but can also be a little stressful.”
If they only knew the half of it…
He played a few more hands, continuing to lose money at an alarming rate. Malcolm didn’t feel any real attachment to the chips or the value behind them. He was resigned to losing it, if he had to, for the sake of keeping his cover, as long as he and Tapestry were successful in their mission.
“This is an exciting weekend at the Hawktail,” said Hans. “It was my wife’s idea to fly out here. Very spur of the moment.”
Malcolm raised an eyebrow.
“Is that so?” he asked. “And why’s that?”