Clack.
Whoever this was, he was rounding the table.
Thwack.
If I could have jumped, I would have leapt about ten feet into the air. Whoever had just entered had slammed their cane onto the table, obviously wanting to set the tone for this exchange. I pushed my memory to go faster. All of a sudden in the corner of my mental eye I caught sight of something. I quickly took a few mental steps backwards and saw what had caught my eye. As the main door opened for what was the last time a man with a cane walked in.
But as I was watching the scene in my mind one of the goons grabbed the blindfold and ripped it from my head, along with some of my hair. When my eyes finally adjusted I saw a cold smile staring down at me. That smile matched the one I had just seen in my mind. But those cold emotionless grey eyes were different now. In my memory, his eyes were filled with a sense of warmth, laced with the slightest touch of generosity. Otherwise, the eyes were the same, and of course they belonged to Bertrand Dempsey. At that moment I felt certain he had come to watch me die.
Chapter 15
“Good afternoon, Marcus.” The calm smile Dempsey wore shouldn’t have been able to look so welcoming, but his mouth was as smooth as his hand-made silk suit. I started to think that I would prefer to be chained up with a ravenous lion, it would have been a less painful way to go.
As I silently starred up into my personal grim-reaper’s face I couldn’t help but curse myself for not doing what Matt had told me. My overconfidence had managed to get me killed, just like he had feared.
“I’m sure you’re anything but comfortable, Marcus.” Dempsey spoke with the sort of casualness that you would address a family member with. I was certain it was to obtain a particular effect, and I was sure that effect was to terrify me. Well it was working. “But given your abilities your discomfort is unfortunately a necessity.”
I was barely able to keep myself from giving anything away in my first moment of shock. After a deep breath and a few moments to clear my head, I decided to try respectful disdain, there was no reason I had to grovel beneath his boot, yet. Keeping my eyes just below his I started to ask, “And what abilities…”
I was quickly interrupted as goon number one's nonexistent fuse was expended and he began to bellow, “Why you little…”
His outburst was quickly silenced mid-sentence by a slight movement of Dempsey’s left hand. The man’s quick obedience did more to cow me than the palpable anger dripping from the gangster’s words. When Dempsey broke the terse silence, he was using the same tone of voice he had just moments before. “Marcus, neither I nor my employees appreciate being lied to. In fact, we have a strict policy when it comes to liars,” he looked sternly at me as he continued. “I may not be able to stop him quickly enough next time.”
As far as threats went Dempsey's first was fantastic. He had manipulated the previous silence just enough to drive it home and leave me terrified. A broad smiled split his face as he continued along as if he had just told a joke or something. “So please don’t waste any more of my time. We both know what you really are and it is a rare and wonderful gift.”
I couldn’t let him sense my fear so I tried to quickly change the topic. “Why did you have the camera’s installed?” It was as good a change as any, despite the fact that I really didn’t care about the why, after all, it wouldn’t change anything about my current situation. Right now, all that mattered was my survival, and to that end, I couldn’t help but notice that Dempsey wasn’t dressed very warmly. I couldn’t help but hope that this meant the temperature would have to be raised. Maybe if I could get him talking long enough I would be able to alter my bonds and do something other than die. I knew I was grasping at straws but it was all I had.
That predatory smile, framed by his angular face, widened just ever so slightly. “Now that is a good question, Marcus.” Dempsey replied as he straightened himself in his chair. Extending his right index finger a scant inch in front of my face he shook it back and forth and I saw the pleasure behind his eyes grow. “Shame on you for forcing the cameras to come out in the first place, but the answer is rather simple. You see, after your first dealer was relieved the news that you were catching a remarkable number of ridiculous hands made its way up to me. So I arranged for a table to be outfitted with cameras right then and there. But I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt until your second dealer made the same comment. I don’t care who you are, no one is that lucky.”
Up until this point I hadn’t really cared about how I had gotten in this predicament, but when he told me his reasons behind setting the trap, I have to admit that I got more than a little irate. The hostility in my voice was apparent as I replied; “That’s the reason? You installed those cameras because I was lucky?”