Full house, jack high.
It was a nice hand and up until my last card, it would have won.
Four of a kind, fives.
Thankfully, the face value of the card didn’t matter. It was the quantity.
I’d been the only one to see his raise.
That win refurbished my pot. This wasn’t a tournament I planned to start slow. My goal was winning it all and with such a small field, I had no incentive to hold back.
Time passed.
Dr. Bolton was eliminated.
The final hand was dealt.
With four remaining players at our table, the opening bid was $25,000. It would be another twenty-five to see the game through. No one was in a hurry to raise. I certainly wasn’t as an ace-high hand was staring back at me.
Julius folded as did the man to his right.
The remaining gentleman narrowed his gaze.
I’d been watching. That was what he did before folding.
The pot would be mine.
My intuition was incorrect. The gentleman called the $25,000.
Hmm.
Was he considering a fold?
“Ms. Miller, you have been called.”
I’d been the one to make the initial bid. That meant I had to show my cards. If there’d been a raise, I planned on folding. I flipped my hand. A, K, J, 10 and 5. Basically, I had nothing.
The man flipped his hand with a grin. “The rumors about you, Ms. Miller, are correct.”
He also had an ace high. His second highest was a 10.
“Ms. Miller, the pot goes to you,” our dealer said.
“Rumors?” I asked as I collected the chips from the center of the table.
“Beautiful, mysterious, and lethal,” he said, raising his glass.
The small hairs on my neck and arms rose like lightning rods. That was the exact wording Marion had used in Chicago.
The play concluded and we all waited as our chips were counted. Next was the declaration of the ten advancing contestants.
Patrick came up behind me as soon as the announcements were complete. “Good job, Mrs. Kelly, you advanced.”
My gaze met his as Marion approached. “Let’s get out of here,” I said, standing.
“Mr. Elliott,” Sterling said, stepping in Marion’s path.
“Mr. Sparrow?”
“We have business to discuss if you have any hope of anything other than an empty facility in McKinley Park.”
Patrick escorted me from the room as Mason stood guard beside Sterling.
“Are they really talking business?” I asked as we made our way down the stairs.
“Talking about business, yes, but it was a diversion. Sparrow has already sabotaged Elliott’s chances.” He shrugged. “But there is some satisfaction in hearing men like Elliott beg.”
The second night progressed much the same.
The third night wouldn’t.
I would have no choice but to face Marion to win.
Patrick
It was midmorning on Saturday when Reid called. His voice and image came from the computer upon the table in the center area of the hotel suite.
“Bykov finally reached out.”
“Where the fuck is Ivanov?” Sparrow said. “Two days of tournament play and he hasn’t shown.”
“He’s showing tonight. There have been more problems in Detroit. Bykov agreed they need help. He said Ivanov is leery since Hillman. Ivanov is losing control and needs help but doesn’t want to ask.”
“What kind of problems?” I asked.
“Fighting in the ranks. He lost four men last night to a second-rate gang. The rats are fighting amongst themselves, and it’s chipping away at the bratva’s base. The fucking city will implode if we don’t step in.”
Sparrow shook his head. “I’m not losing my men because Ivanov fucked up. We’ll offer limited resources for a finite period of time. Do you think this Bykov is capable of steering the ship?”
Madeline stepped from our bedroom, standing in the doorway. She had one arm across her body holding her opposite elbow. Her other hand was near her soft pink lips. The fancy dresses she wore both nights of the tournament were in the closet. Now, she wore soft black pants with a wide-neck light-gray t-shirt, exposing one shoulder. Soft socks encased her feet, and her hair was braided to one side, similar to how Ruby wore hers. With very little makeup on, my wife was the personification of the girl I’d married, complete with the curves that came with maturity.
In other words, my Maddie girl was spectacular, just like her recent play in the tournament.
Madeline ended play Friday night ranked third behind Edward Bellows, a local businessman, and Elliott, who too was ranked behind Bellows. Tonight with two other players, the winner would be determined.
Near Madeline’s green eyes were lines of concern.
The others turned her way.
“I’m sorry if I’m eavesdropping,” Madeline said. “Why would Sasha need to steer the ship? What’s happening to Andros?”
Sparrow and Mason turned to me.
With a deep breath, I stood. “In a nutshell, Hillman was planning a coup.”
“Of you?” she asked.
“Maybe in the future, but no,” I replied. “His first goal was Detroit. He had it all in the works. He played Ivanov.”
Madeline’s head shook. “No, Andros doesn’t trust many people.”
“He trusted the wrong one,” Sparrow said. “Now the city is faltering. Ivanov declared war on Chicago when he thought he had Hillman’s recruits. Now he’s trying to keep what was his.”
Her lower lip disappeared. “He had gained control before I went to…before he bought me. I’ve never known him to not have supreme control. He must be furious. I can’t imagine.”
“His decisions led him to where he is now,” Sparrow said.
“And Antonio would have succeeded if he hadn’t taken Ruby,” Madeline said.
It wasn’t a question, but I answered. “Yes. It was his critical mistake. I didn’t kill him because I wanted to help Ivanov or expose the weak link in his chain. I killed Hillman because he had our daughter.”
Her green eyes glazed over. “Hillman took Ruby and killed Oleg. That wasn’t with Andros’s blessing.”
“The coup had begun.”
“Why take Ruby?”
We believed we had the answer to that, but I didn’t want to tell Madeline until Elliott was dealt with. Based on communication between Hillman and Elliott—Hillman had been at Elliott’s ranch prior to going to Corpus Christi—we had every reason to believe that Hillman knew Elliott’s predilection for younger women and took Ruby as a bargaining chip to lure Elliott away from Ivanov.
I was glad the man was dead.
“We’re working on that,” Mason said. “The most important thing is she’s safe.”
Madeline nodded. “I think the answer is yes.”
I turned to my friends and back to Madeline. “What was the question?”
“Can Sasha handle it? I think the answer is yes. The one quality he has always shown above Andros is a calm, cool head. Unlike Andros, he doesn’t easily anger. He makes hard decisions and can be as equally ruthless. In a way, it’s scarier. I think he can do it.” She looked up. “Is that what you all want?”