by Alex Bell
Lex stared at him. ‘You’re joking, surely?’
‘That I ain’t.’
‘All right,’ Lex said. ‘Show me how each one is done. Whenever I get a spare minute I’ll practise, but I want to go on to the game itself today.’
‘It’s your funeral, kid. But mark my words, you’ll need more than just one demonstration before you can master them.’
‘Perhaps two, then,’ Lex replied carelessly. ‘But I have a sharp eye, a good memory and an excellent knack for mimicry.’
‘And a large dash of modesty,’ Jesse said.
‘Modesty is for chumps! Or people who have no talents!’
‘Well, I reckon you’re probably right about that,’ the cowboy replied mildly.
There was a grand total of eight different shuffles that Lex would need to master before they reached Dry Gulch. Jesse demonstrated each one once before they moved on to the game of poker itself. Lex had never played before in his life but, to his smug delight, he quickly discovered that it was precisely the sort of game which he was born to play. To be a good poker player you needed a good memory, an ability to quickly calculate odds in your head and − best of all − you needed to be able to bluff convincingly. Jesse explained that many poker players had ‘tells’ − something that gave them away when they were lying. Lex couldn’t help but sneer at this. He was far, far too disciplined for tells. He could lie brazenly right to someone’s face without allowing his expression or his body language to give him away, and had been able to do so for years. Bluffing in poker was, therefore, an absolute piece of cake. Not only that, but he had a good head for figures and was able to calculate the odds and weigh his chances with ridiculous ease.
‘Well, I can’t see what all the fuss is about,’ Lex announced blithely. He could tell that the fact he’d picked poker up so quickly and so easily was annoying Jesse, and he was determined to get as much mileage out of the petty victory as he possibly could. ‘This game is so painfully simple that we might as well sit around playing snap and have done with it.’
To Lex’s gratification, Jesse’s mouth fell open and the cowboy gaped at him like a landed fish. ‘Snap?’ he managed at last. ‘Snap? Here’s a piece of advice I’ll give you for free, kiddo, don’t ever make that suggestion to any cowboys you meet in Dry Gulch.’
Poker was a mixture of talent and luck, which was why Lex naturally excelled at it. He was dealt more than his fair share of full houses and straight flushes. And, when he didn’t get a good hand, he was able to calculate the odds of what Jesse had and, that way, always knew whether he should cut his losses or bluff flawlessly.
‘This is so easy it’s not even fun,’ Lex said after about an hour of playing, throwing down the cards as he spoke. ‘I think I’ve got the knack of it now.’
In fact he was being deliberately flippant. The truth was that he could tell already that he was going to enjoy poker. And if there were a few more players at the table then it would be even better.
‘That there was your basic hold ’em,’ Jesse replied almost sulkily. ‘But there’s other variations you’ll have to learn yet. Seven-card stud and five-card draw and Omaha and black vulture poker and—’
‘Fine, we’ll do that later when I have five minutes to spare,’ Lex replied. ‘I’m going to get changed for dinner.’
‘Dinner? Dandy! What are we having?’
‘You aren’t having anything,’ Lex said sternly. ‘You’re staying right here out of sight. You’re supposed to be dead, remember. Look, you do appreciate how important it is that you stay out of sight, don’t you? It’s bad enough that you’re in the hotel as it is. You must not leave this room. Even if the hotel is on fire. Got it?’
Jesse shrugged. ‘Well, I gotta eat some time. I’m a big fella, not a skinny chap like you. I need food.’
‘We’ll both eat from the mini-bar before I go downstairs.’
It was a fortunate thing that everyone already seemed to have decided that Lex was so grief-stricken he was refusing food. It would make it less suspicious when he didn’t eat a single thing that evening. And leaving good food on his plate would be much easier to do if he wasn’t actually hungry. So, before he went downstairs, he and Jesse stuffed their faces on the food that was packed into the mini-bar. There were sandwiches, savoury snacks, chocolate and cake − not to mention the gigantic fruit basket in the living room as a condolence present for Jesse’s being horribly killed. They ate until they could not eat any more.
‘Well, I guess I’ll just go and have myself a little lie down,’ Jesse said once they’d finished. ‘There’s nothing like a snooze after a good meal.’
‘Splendid idea,’ Lex replied over his shoulder as he headed into his own room to get changed. He’d brought a slightly smarter outfit for dinner, which was just as well seeing as how he’d got a copious amount of crumbs over his first one − in addition to a smear of melted chocolate across the collar of his shirt whilst greedily trying to consume a particularly large slice of dark, moist chocolate cake. The grief-stricken impression he was trying to convey may have been very slightly spoilt if he had gone down to the restaurant with chocolate stains all over his clothes.
So he put the black shirt and tie on, brushed his hair and rubbed at his eyes a bit before spending a couple of minutes practising grim, pained, mournful expressions at himself in the bedroom mirror.
‘Gods, I’m good,’ he muttered to himself as he straightened his tie. His face was so pitiful that he almost felt sorry for himself! Lex could pull different facial expressions off at will if the occasion called for it but, wherever possible, he liked to spend a few minutes carefully getting himself into character first. It never did to turn your nose up at preparation simply because you were endowed with a Gods-given talent, and were naturally lucky to boot.
Now that he was ready, he lingered in his bedroom only to rummage around in his bag until he found the handcuffs. Lex’s bag used to belong to the same enchanter he had stolen the ship from. It was a magic bag that was bigger inside than it was out and could be filled with a practically endless supply of stuff without ever seeming to become any heavier. Lex had therefore packed it full of everything and anything that he might ever conceivably need in a Game, scam or theft. He was sure there were handcuffs in there somewhere and, within a couple of minutes of searching, he’d found them.
Concealing them carefully in the palm of his hand, he then wandered into Jesse’s room. The cowboy was − as he had hoped − stretched out on the bed with his arms behind his head and his hat pulled down over his face. This was the very definition of a sitting duck. Poor fool; he was totally unsuspecting. Jesse didn’t even look up when Lex walked in but merely said lazily, ‘Ain’t you gone yet? I thought you’d be down there hobnobbing by now.’
‘I just wanted to stress once again how vital it is that you don’t leave the room this evening,’ Lex said, wandering casually nearer to the bed. ‘Leaving the ship with Lady Luck’s help was one thing but leaving the room could have potentially disastrous consequences for me. You do understand that, don’t you?’
‘Sure, sure,’ the cowboy drawled lazily.
‘Good,’ Lex replied. ‘In that case, I know you won’t mind me taking a little precaution.’
And, in one fluid motion, he leant forwards, snapped one cuff around the cowboy’s wrist and the other around the bedpost.
Jesse tilted his hat back with his free hand, looked at the handcuffs, looked at Lex and said calmly, ‘I sure as hell hope you’ve got the key to those, partner.’
‘It’s probably in my bag somewhere,’ Lex replied. ‘I’ll let you out when I get back. But I don’t trust you any more than you trust me. This works both ways − partner.’
Jesse was clearly annoyed but was trying not to let it show. Lex grinned and said, ‘Crossing me has consequences. My old companion − dear old Montgomery Schmidt, lawyer and nag extraordinaire − learnt that very quickly. I’m sure you will, too. You may not be the brightest button in the box but y
ou’ve got half a brain at least.’
‘You’re too kind,’ Jesse replied.
‘So I’ve been told many times,’ Lex said before flashing the cowboy one last big smile and saying, ‘Have a lovely evening.’ Then he turned on his heel and walked out of the bedroom to head to the dinner downstairs.
CHAPTER TWELVE
GREY PEARLS AND VANILLA CUPCAKES
The hotel had several restaurants but it was the largest, poshest one − the one with all the vaulted ceilings and crystal − in which they had the welcome dinner. There were name cards at the various tables − each one seating between seven and fifteen people. Lex found himself on one of the largest tables completely surrounded on all sides by wealthy, fat women who were positively weighed down with jewellery. There was simply no doubt about it − finding something suitable to pinch from one of their rooms later would be no trouble whatsoever.
Jeremiah and Lorella were already seated when Lex walked in. He was pleased to note that Jeremiah looked distinctly unhappy and Tess − who was sitting beside him − looked subdued almost to the point of appearing unwell. Lorella didn’t look too happy either. Lady Luck had smugly told Lex that she had been caught by an enchanted dolphin trap almost as soon as she left the galley, right at the very start of the round. The episode had rather taken her down a peg or two.
Lex spent the evening looking suitably morose, pushing the food around his plate and quietly resisting the attempts of the clucking women all around him who were trying to entice him to eat.
‘I’m afraid I haven’t been feeling very well the last couple of days,’ he said pitifully, whilst the women exchanged knowing looks over his head.
After the food had been cleared away, the manager of the hotel got a microphone from somewhere and called for quiet. The room fell silent whilst the man did a little speech about what an honour and a privilege it was, blah, blah, blah, to have all the players assembled at the hotel between rounds. Lex was pleased when Lorella stood up at the end of the speech and said that it was her pleasure to be there. She sat down and Jeremiah obviously then felt honour bound to say something as well for he stood up and − looking distinctly awkward at all the unfriendly looks people were shooting him − said that he, too, was pleased to be a guest at the Majestic. Once Jeremiah had retaken his seat, Lex got to his feet, being careful to look extremely reluctant to do so when he was, in reality, utterly delighted. A greater hush seemed to descend on the room when Lex stood up. All eyes were on him − which was just the way he liked it.
‘I’d like to echo what my fellow players have said. I’m truly honoured to be here. And I . . . I’d like to take the opportunity to . . .’ Lex trailed off, cleared his throat and continued in a stronger voice. ‘If you don’t mind, I would be very glad if you would all join me in a toast.’ Everyone in the room had their glasses in their hands so quickly that it was almost like magic. ‘I’d like to raise a glass to my fallen comrade,’ Lex went on, pleased to note out of the corner of his eye that Jeremiah seemed to have slid down even further in his chair and rather looked like he desired nothing more than for a hole to appear in the ground and swallow him up. ‘Jesse Layton,’ Lex went on, ‘was a good man and a true friend. He always put other people before himself. And I know that he gave his life gladly for Tess East and the last thing he would ever have wanted would be for anyone to feel resentful or angry about how the first round ended. That . . . That wasn’t his way. Jesse didn’t bear grudges and he wouldn’t want anyone else to, either. He knew what he was doing when he grabbed that octopus and he did it with no regrets.’
Lex paused, as if he was fighting to keep himself under control, and in that pause he distinctly heard the woman seated next to him whisper to her neighbour, ‘He’s an orphan, you know. They say the cowboy was like a father to him.’
Excellent idea, Lex thought to himself.
‘Some of you may know that my parents died when I was five,’ he went on. ‘My brother and I were orphaned. We barely remember our real father. But Jesse . . . Jesse was almost like a father to us—’ He broke off abruptly at the same time as he willed tears to appear in his eyes for the first time. The seconds dragged on in tense silence before he finally said, ‘I’m sorry, I . . . I can’t go on.’
And, with that, he sat down and covered his face with his hand. After another moment of silence, the entire room applauded warmly − which was nice. It is always gratifying to be rewarded for a performance. If Lex had been a less disciplined sort of fraud then he might have taken the opportunity to smirk behind his hand, especially as he alone knew precisely where Jesse really was − handcuffed to a bed upstairs. But he was far, far too professional for that. Smirking was for when − and only when − he was safely back in his room, securely away from prying eyes.
The women on either side of him put comforting arms around his shoulders and Lex spent the next half hour being thoroughly mollycoddled.
It was towards the end of the evening, when Lex was almost ready to make his excuses and go back to his room, that he became aware of Jeremiah standing up from his table and making his way towards him.
Everyone in the restaurant shot him evil glances as he went. They had all seen him hit the dying cowboy who’d heroically saved his sister’s life. Lex even heard a few muttered words along the lines of, ‘Disgraceful!’ ‘Outrageous!’ and ‘Surely he won’t have the audacity to actually speak to Lex Trent!’
Jeremiah stopped before the table. His head was high, his shoulders were back and he looked right at Lex and said, ‘Lex, I just want to say how . . . how terribly sorry I am. I realise there’s no excuse for what I did. My action was unforgivable. But I can assure you that I simply didn’t realise what had just happened when I . . . when I hit Jesse. I thought he was trying to hurt Tess. I love my sister and it’s my fault she got dragged into this Game in the first place. I’d give anything in the world now to shake Jesse’s hand and thank him myself. I . . . tried to give up the win for the first round. I told Kala I shouldn’t have won in the first place, but it was too late.’ He lowered his voice and went on more quietly. ‘I understand that you and Jesse were friends for a long time so I’ll understand if you never speak to me again. I just want you to know how heartily sorry I am. If I could swap places with him, I would, in a heartbeat.’
Lex could have throttled him! Jeremiah East was acting like a decent human being, blast him! Already Lex could feel the others thawing − their icy hatred melting away to be replaced with cautious sympathy. Jeremiah certainly seemed genuine, for he hadn’t even brought Tess over with him, but had left her back at the table instead. If Lex had been in his place, he would have dragged the kid over for the apology because it was much harder to remain stony-faced when the dear, sweet, angelic-looking child whose life had been saved was gazing at you with big eyes.
As it was, Lex would have loved nothing better than to snap, ‘Your apologies be damned! Jesse is still dead and nothing you can say will bring him back, so piss off!’
But that would never do at all, for then he would lose sympathy. He therefore had no choice but to exercise some damage control. He sat motionless for a moment, as if thinking about what the nobleman had said. Then he slowly rose to his feet, very aware of his own table, and several others nearby, looking at him with baited breath as he turned to Jeremiah and said graciously, ‘I believe you, Jeremiah. And I forgive you. I hope we can put this behind us.’
Then he held his hand out to Jeremiah, who looked rather stunned. After a moment, the nobleman gripped Lex’s hand firmly and shook it vigorously. Several people actually clapped. Jeremiah then leaned closer and muttered in Lex’s ear, ‘If there’s ever anything I can do for you − anything at all − please don’t hesitate to let me know.’
Lex pulled a face inside his head. A sap − that was what Jeremiah really was. Underneath all the arrogance and the bravado and the conceit he was just another silly, gutless sap who could be manipulated so easily that it wasn’t even funny.
P
laying his part flawlessly, Lex thanked Jeremiah quietly before releasing his hand and looking away. ‘If you’ll excuse me,’ he said quietly, ‘I’m very tired. I think I’ll call it a night.’
Lex slipped out of the restaurant and swiftly made his way upstairs. He was rather tired and looking forward to his bed. But first he had some diamonds to pinch, and he was looking forward to that even more than he was looking forward to going to bed.
How you carried out a theft depended on where you were thieving from. The different locations all had their own set of advantages and disadvantages. Lex had never stolen anything from a hotel before. Most of the things he’d pinched had been from museums and the like. Museums were harder to get into but, once you had gained entrance, you were unlikely to be disturbed provided you didn’t trip off any alarm systems. Hotel rooms, on the other hand, would be easier to get into than a museum and wouldn’t have alarm systems, but the major problem was that you could never be entirely sure when someone was going to come back to their room. You therefore had to work under the constant threat of being suddenly interrupted at any moment. That meant one thing and one thing only: a damned good disguise.
