Then I caught sight of his eyes, his pale grey eyes. All I can say was I was fortunate to be sitting down. If I had been standing when my eyes met his, I wouldn’t have stayed like that for long. Those eyes were colder than ice and harder than steel. They captured my attention, promising nothing but trouble if I ever did anything to cross him. His eyes were his most powerful and distinguished asset. Everyone talked about his wisdom, but once I saw his eyes I was certain that those grey eyes were the sole reason people thought him wise.
Of course it was his clothing that marked him as special. Which only proves the saying that what someone wears will tell you a lot about them. With that thought in mind I went to work trying to figure out as much as I could about him, and none of what I saw put me at ease. As he stood there waiting for his effects to be collected by his henchman, his emotionless grey eyes began to register and catalogue everything and everyone in his waiting room. As he was taking everything in I could see why some of the rumors I had heard claimed that he was omniscient. But even this behavior could only explain a piece of those rumors. The slack in his omniscience must have been handled by some very serious and dedicated researchers, he certainly would have the money for that.
But even armed with all of that data, it would require a special mind to process and use it all. And in that moment, I could tell that brains were no issue for Dempsey. I could see him processing everything that his eyes, ears, and researchers had collected. I could actually see his mind crunching the numbers so to speak. Even worse, I knew he was using what he had collected to make decisions based solely on what he was processing. And by the way he carried himself, I could tell that he rarely made mistakes, or if he did they were quickly corrected.
For the first time since I had decided to come here I thought about following Matt’s advice. I felt like cutting and running. I knew if I tried to leave I would forfeit my entrance fee, but that might be the best use of the money if it kept me off of this man’s radar. It wasn’t like I was all that invested in the game. I mean it was just the entrance fee, and while it would be disappointing to leave it behind it was nothing I couldn’t recoup. But my life, or even my freedom those would be harder to salvage if Dempsey chose to take them.
But did I dare try to leave? What would happen now that Dempsey was here? I was sure it would be noted and if half of the stories about Dempsey were true, then I would wind up dead in some alley. Not immediately perhaps, but eventually, it would happen. No, I couldn’t leave. I had to see this through to the end. I had made my bed, now I needed to lie in it. All the same, I should probably follow Matt’s other advice and not change any of my cards. Which was going to be harder to do than I cared to admit. He had been right about that much, I was next to useless when it came to showing restraint, at the poker tables at least. I just didn’t like losing. Well, I was just going to have to fight my instincts because altering my cards was no longer an option.
Once Dempsey’s effects were collected, he stepped clear of the doorway and spoke with a booming voice that certainly carried to everyone in the room. He must have engineered the room so that his voice would carry from that spot. “Welcome to my tournament. It is good to see so many returning faces not to mention new ones. I hope you all have been enjoying my hospitality.”
Clasping his hands together Dempsey smiled from ear to ear. “Now there is still time left before we begin so please mingle while we wait for the tournament to start. And make sure you enjoy the refreshments while the bars are still open. Thank you all for coming.”
Wordlessly he dropped his hands to his sides and began to mingle with the crowd. For a couple of minutes I watched the man go from player to player. As he finished with one player he would leave to find another, even if the player had been part of a group. Since no one complained they must be used to the madness, but why… what was he doing? Then I realized, he was lacing the targets!
I had been sure that Dempsey would have some of his own men posing here as players. And now his men had targets to go after. This was masterful, while he appeased the spoiled millionaires he also managed to mark the preferred order of their exit. But before I could think about anything else, Bella broke my concentration.
“Marcus, are you there?” Bella asked gently as she waved her hand in front of me. When I looked back at her, her face was very intense and irritated, “I’m beginning to feel unappreciated here, Marcus. I mean we’ve had quite the conversation but as soon as Dempsey walks in I’m forgotten.”
She threw her hand up against her forehead and formed a very playful pout with her mouth. It looked good on her, but before I could defend myself she elaborated. “Not only that but you also went on to say that I was beauty incarnate. I mean with flattery that thick, shouldn’t I rank higher on your list?”
Based on her reactions, it was pretty clear that she didn’t care for the man. And I got the feeling that there was a reason behind it. But what could these two have in common? She was a professional card player and he was the head of a sophisticated criminal empire. What was the connection between them? She obviously knew he was going to be here so why did she come if she didn’t care for the host? But there was no way I was going to ask her about that, no way. I valued my life too much to so willingly commit suicide. And she was right about one thing, I had grown obsessed with the man since she said he would be here.