"You knew he was here." Boone said with a sharp gaze.
"It was easy to figure out with all the clues we've gathered so far. Black and white checkered suit, Tops brand cigarettes and lighter, big shot on the strip. It all pointed to the guy being here at the Tops." I said casually.
"Jess is going to be pissed when she learns." Veronica pointed out.
"Probably." I admitted with a shrug.
"And that doesn't bother you at all?" she asked confused.
"Not really. A worse she'll try and punch me but we all know how that will go. Now then, gambling!" I say with a grin as I head for the currency exchange counter.
Boone and Veronica share a silent look before following.
I exchange my portion of the caps from the Sunset sarsaparilla loot for tops chips and they follow along doing the same before I head for the nearby blackjack table. I sit down and put down my starting bid.
"Deal." I say to the dealer.
The suited man nods and shuffles the deck before passing me two cards and drawing two of his own. I look at the hand I got and flip it.
"Blackjack." I said with a chuckle as I revealed the ace and queen.
He sighed but passed me the pot and reshuffled as I set the bid again. He shuffled again and Boone and Veronica sat at the table to join me adding their bids as well to the pot. The dealer wordlessly passed out the cards and this time I had a two and a five.
"Hit me." I said confidently.
"Same." Boone said impassively.
"I'll stay." Veronica said.
The dealer passed me and Boone a card and I almost sighed when I saw that I got a jack.
"Stay." I said calmly.
"Same." Boone said.
"Flip." the dealer said and we all showed our hands.
I had seventeen, Boone had eighteen and the dealer had seventeen as well. Veronica had twenty though and won the pot. We played another eight rounds before Jess walked into the casino. We won more than we lost and after cashing out earned a tidy two fifty cap profit. From our spot it was rather easy to hear Benny's reaction as she walked up to him.
"What in the goddamn....!?" he started as he paled and a look of sheer priceless 'Oh shit' crossed his face.
"Let's keep this in the groove hey? Smooth moves. Like smooth little babies." he said not feeling very safe at all despite the six clearly armed and trained bodyguards nearby.
"Your marksmanship needs work." Jess said flatly.
"I hit what I was aiming for. Guess you just had brains to spare. Or are you just thick skulled? Either way, baby. This is good news. Maybe I can finally sleep at night, knowing you didn't die. What say you and me cash out, go somewhere more private like? Any questions you got, I'll answer." he said smoothly.
"What'd you have in mind?" Jess asked arms crossed.
"To start I'll comp you the Presidential, best suite in the house. You deserve a taste of the VIP lifestyle. I'll hang out down here for a while to make everything seem business as usual, then come to you. Any questions you got, I'll answer- guaranteed." he said just as smoothly.
"Fine but don't get any funny ideas. See those three over there? Those are mine and won't let you run. Especially the one in the metal. He's far more dangerous than I am." Jess said firmly while pointing us out.
I place two fingers at the bottom of my face plate and mime blowing a kiss before crushing a poker chip to dust and letting it fall as he stared in horror.
"Shooting straight, no problems baby." Benny said a little nervously.
Jess nodded in satisfaction before heading up to the suite in question via the nearby elevator. Benny must have spent a good five minutes with his eyes darting between his bodyguards and my little trio over here sitting relaxed before heading to the elevator with a sigh.-
"Guess he figured out that he wasn't in a position to try and double cross her. Pity." I said casually.
"Think she'll be alright?" Veronica asked worriedly.
"I'd have some serious words for her if she somehow dies here. I doubt she will though." I said honestly.
"Hmm, didn't take you for the sentimental type." Boone said with a tone as close to surprise as I think he could even make.
"I'm not." I said not expanding on that since I knew exactly what the question that followed would be.
[Reaping the graves] A three mana instant card that allowed me to return a card from my graveyard to my hand.
Applied to the real world it's effect should be fairly obvious.
Resurrection.
Granted I had a deadline of until the day rolls over before it simply wouldn't work. But the sheer fact I could basically command a miracle like this for what was effectively very little personal cost made that almost irrelevant. While I very much wouldn't like to be forced to play my hand because of something so stupid I definitely couldn't let Jess die. She was my ticket to a few very interesting places. Big MT for example. I needed her very much alive and kicking to show me the way in. -
The "collection" process for the places human subjects was a form of teleportation after all. I'd slip a tracker into her stuff before she was zapped away and that would tell me exactly where she went. From there I just needed to make the trip and slip past the invisible electrical fence around the place. Would have been much easier if Elijah hadn't caused so much chaos when he raided the place and made the Think tank paranoid of strangers but I'll play the hand I'm dealt.-
Boone and Veronica both picked up on my unwillingness to explain further and left it alone as we waited. And boy did Jess deliver. She left that elevator maybe thirty minutes later with blood splattered on her face and clothes and a shiny slightly dinged up chip in hand.
"So you finished him off in the end. Disagreement with his offer or nasty backstab?" I asked casually.
"Bit of both. His offer was shit and he called in his guards after I rejected it. I killed them all with a pool stick before finishing Benny off with his own gun." she said frankly.