Stronger Together chapter 105 (Patreon)

Charles came back fairly quickly, still pale and holding his arm  against his side but trying to be inconspicuous about it. I'd pocketed  the money the girls had forked over and was enjoying the rum again. Barb  had taken an actual swig of the stuff, much to Morgan's disappointment  if her pout was anything to go by. When the purple haired brit came back  to the table he came alone, and with much more deference than last  time. He very carefully didn't make eye contact as he spoke. "Begging  your pardon sir and misses, Mr. Carroway extends an invitation to join  his game if you'd please."

I  was looking forward to meeting Dalton Carroway, to have this kind of  guy under this tight a control was damned impressive. I gave an  imperious nod. "Let him know we'd be happy to join him. Is there a  minimum buy in?" Between us we had a few thousand in cash but if the  minimum was too high we might need to hit an ATM or a bank. I was hoping  we wouldn't though because it would screw up our first impression as  morally flexible rich badasses. Barb was insistent that was the best  possible label for us if we wanted to do business with someone like  Carroway in the future.

Charles  shook his head. "Only a thousand, I'm sure you'll have no trouble with  it. This isn't his high roller game unfortunately though he mentioned I  should tell you that there is a spot open if your business goes well."  Barb's eyes lit up but she didn't say anything, playing the ditzy uptown  girl as she cuddled with Morgan and I. A high stakes game like that  would be a goldmine in terms of connections. I'd do my best to get  invited. I already had a plan for making sure the game went my way. I  could take advantage of my lightning aspect to try to spot the cards as  they were being dealt.

We stood to follow Charles as we  headed to the back. Luckily I was a pretty damn good poker player. I'd  grown up in Vegas and I used to play poker constantly. I'd run games  during class in high school when we were put in groups or left to our  own devices. I'd always had a good head for numbers and I learned fast  so this was definitely my game. The room they brought us into was not  what I was expecting. There was richly appointed dark wood furniture  with thick plush carpet. I expected it to be as ramshackle as the rest  of the place but clearly Carroway had serious pull here because this was  obviously his personal space.

In  the center of the room was an honest to god card table, like a  professional grade table from a casino. A gorgeous girl in an unbuttoned  shirt with a pretty tan and blonde hair was dealing to a group of very  diverse people. The first was a japanese woman, she looked fairly young  and was dressed sort of punkish, she had a nose ring and gold eyes that  studied us as we entered. Next to her was a handsome Indian man with a  very relaxed air. While the girl was predatory he just seemed sloppy an  unkempt but in a rakish way. A pair of red haired freckled twins took  the next two seats, one man and one woman, both looking about our age.  After them was a gorgeous cocoa skinned girl with green eyes and curly  black hair.

Last  at the table was the man who must have been Dalton Carroway. He had  brown hair and a mustache and goatee. His eyes were drift glass green,  rather than the shocking emerald of the dark skinned girl next to him,  and his smile was easy and clearly well used. He was in good shape, but  unusually thin and lean, giving him a sort of manic appearance. He saw  us come in and his eyes lit up, his smile turning into a full blown  grin. "Ah our newest guests have arrived." He gestured to an empty seat  next to him. "I regret to say we don't have the chairs for your lovely  companions to sit. But there's a couch over there where anyone who isn't  playing can relax. Charles can get them some refreshments if they're  hungry."

It  was subtle, the way he took control of the situation and divided us. He  did it as naturally as breathing. I didn't fight it though, this was  what we wanted, and I trusted the girls to handle themselves. I strolled  over and took my seat next to our host, he smiled charmingly gesturing  to the other guests. "Ah, yes, I should introduce your fellow gamblers."  He pointed to them in order "This is Hana, she's in the information  gathering business. Works with corporate clients. Vikram is a security  consultant, Aoife and Conner work in acquisitions, and Brynn is my  consultant for rare antiquities. I don't believe I got your name though  friend. Not often I get unannounced visitors. I find myself intrigued."

I  was pretty sure every one of those jobs was double talk for something  criminal but I didn't really care. These were exactly the kind of people  we wanted to meet. I smiled genially "I'm Cameron." I nodded to the  girls  "That's Morgan and Barbara. We heard from a friend of a friend  you're in the business of supplying reliable means of seagoing  transportation without all the hassle of registering said method of  conveyance." Something about meeting with criminals in the back room of a  shady dive bar made me want to talk all formal and master criminal like  so I just went with it. He seemed partial to it anyway.

Our  host laughed delightedly, gesturing to the dealer to get started as he  continued talking. "What a fantastic way to put it. I can certainly help  you out with that if you have the funds for it. Any special  characteristics you're looking for? Hidden compartments? Radar jammers?  Torpedoes? Or are you looking for style? I have a lovely yacht I just  picked up. Comfortable for three people easily and it comes with a  lovely bedroom." I tried using my lightning aspect to see cards coming  out but only caught the odd flash. It was better than nothing however.

I  smiled toothily at the smuggler "Those sound lovely, but I'm looking  for something a bit special. I need a the oldest boat you can find with a  functioning motor. Not shoddy or falling apart mind you, just  mechanically simple. No fancy computers or anything just a nice  uncomplicated engine." I saw Dalton's eyes light up at the request and I  got the feeling he knew we had wizards on the payroll. I could tell he  became much more interested in doing business once he figured out we  were on the supernatural side of things. I made sure to project an air  of confidence to make it clear I knew he knew and I didn't care.

His  eyes were shining with greed "Well now, that's certainly an interesting  request but I happen to know where you might procure such a vessel. It  won't be cheap though, collectors items like that cost a pretty penny.  Are you sure you have the money?" Knowing we had power now he was  fishing for our worth, nothing unexpected. I'd just dropped a few grand  into my buy in as we talked like it was nothing so I had a decent basis  for him to believe me on when I shot him a confident smile. I didn't  even bother to answer aloud which got a laugh from our host. "Confident  bugger aren't you? Fair enough, I'll make some inquiries."

Everything  was going to plan. I kept talking as I took in my hand. A pair of aces.  I bet into them hard, pocket aces are always at their most valuable  before the flop when they're the nuts. I looked back up at Dalton as I  pushed about half my chips in. "We need it soon, we're willing to pay  extra but we have a boat trip planned in the next few days. Think you  can find us something nice before we need to leave? We can pick it up  here if necessary." That would actually be ideal for us since the Crying  Limey (which was offensive enough to make me wonder how they got the  place a business license until I remembered they were rich criminals)  was on the edge of Lake Michigan.

Dalton  looked down at his hand then frowned and folded. Cautious, which was  smart. Hana called and the twins folded Vikram looked torn but  eventually called while Brynn actually raised me. The flop hit with  another ace, giving me trips. I decided to go all in. Dalton raised an  eye brow but focused back on negotiations "I can probably swing  something by tomorrow if you can pay. It'll be in the six figure range  for that kind of rush delivery, though I can knock off a bit for in  person pick up. That's the best estimate I can give you before I check  the condition of some of the boats I have in mind." Hana and the Vikram  folded, leaving me in with just Brynn.

The  river hit with another ace. Four aces was the nuts on this one so I was  confident. Brynn had more chips than I did so her calling me wasn't all  in but my win was still a big chunk of her winnings for the night. She  clicked her tongue in annoyance but she didn't seem too broken up about  it so I doubted this was much money for her. We played several more  hands, my luck didn't hold but I didn't got bust. I ended up leaving  with only a few hundred more than I started with. The girls seemed  mostly bored for the duration of the game but Charles brought them some  snacks, stuff much higher end than you'd find in the bar, where I'd  honestly been scared to order any of the food.

I  noticed a few interesting things over the course of the night. I  activated magic eye trying to get some clues, it didn't help with the  poker but I caught a few hints about the others. Hana was sassy and a  bit of a tease, but none of that was as big a tip off as the fucking fox  tail I saw behind her back. She was definitely a kitsune, which made me  think her information job was being a spy. Vikram had a bit of  electricity around him but hell if I knew what that meant. The twins  ordered steaks pretty much raw and their teeth when they ate them were  triangular and sharp as hell. Pretty sure they were fucking kelpies.

Dalton  and Brynn both gave me nothing sadly, but I'd gotten Hana's number,  because having a kitsune on speed dial, especially one who worked as  probably a spy was something I couldn't pass up. I also got Dalton's  number and he said to keep my phone on me so I'd know when to come get  the boat. All in all this had been a pretty good night. We'd gotten  exactly what we wanted. Before I left though Dalton pulled me aside.  "You're fun kid. Remind me a bit of me. I have a more...upscale game  once a month at my place. Buy in is a hundred grand. You interested? I  could see you trying to make some local connections, this would be the  place for that."

I  grinned at him sheepishly "That obvious huh? Fair enough. Yeah I'm in.  Guests allowed I take it." That got me a laugh and a nod and he wrote  down the date and address. It was about a week out so he must have just  had the last one but I was still excited. We would finally get to make  some connections in Chicago's elite. I wondered if Marcone was there,  and if not what getting him an invite would be worth. I shook my head as  we headed out the door, clearing it. We'd gotten everything we wanted  here and more. Time to go home and see how the others had done.