Louisiana Laydown Read Online Free

politics.”
    “You’re a politician?”
    “A state senator,” Parker said. “So is Beares.”
    Fargo looked at the man shrewdly. “You didn’t make your money in politics,” he said. “How’d you get so well-heeled?”
    Parker nodded. “You call it as you see it, don’t you, Fargo?”
    “It’s the only way I know how,” he said.
    “I made most of my money in shipping,” he said. “Mostly cotton and other agricultural commodities. Does the job interest you?”
    Fargo took another sip of the whiskey. “How long will this game last?” he asked.
    “One night,” Parker said. “Perhaps two at the most. We only have five other players and myself.”
    “And how much are you going to pay me?”
    “That depends,” Parker said. “If I lose, I’ll pay you one thousand dollars in cash per night. That’s a lot of money, I suspect, for someone who has mostly made his living punching cows and chasing down wanted criminals.”
    “And if you win?” Fargo asked.
    “Five thousand dollars,” Parker said evenly. “A quite substantial sum of money for someone of your station.”
    Despite the man’s tone, Fargo considered the offer. There was more here than Parker was saying—a lot more, in fact. But the only way he could find out what was really going on was to be there. The other man at their poker game earlier may have been a cheat, but Fargo suspected that the real professional was Parker. He felt like a politician, a man who made deals for other people’s lives. He wondered if Parker was the sort of man who played by the house rules or played by his own rules. He suspected the latter.
    Fargo shook his head. “It’s a tempting offer,” he said. “But there’s more going on here than a simple poker game. What aren’t you telling me, Parker?”
    Draining his glass, Parker grinned. “You’re an observant man, Fargo. I’ll grant you that. Of course there’s more to this than a simple poker game. No one plays for these kinds of stakes unless there are more significant issues on the table than money.” He refilled his glass, considered the amber liquid. “Senator Beares has been moving into territory that doesn’t belong to him. He’s built himself a little niche empire and I plan to take it from him—starting with this poker game.”
    “What if he beats you?” Fargo asked.
    Parker laughed. “He won’t beat me, Fargo. Unless he cheats. And that’s why I want you there. The man is a notorious crook.”
    “And what are you notorious for?”
    “Oh, I’m a notorious crook, too,” Parker admitted, waving his hand in dismissal. “But the difference, Fargo, is that I treat my people well and play by the rules of our society—even if that society happens to be one that lives beneath the surface of the rest of the country. Do you want the job or not?”
    “I’ll do the job,” Fargo said, “for twenty-five hundred if you lose, up to three nights. If you win, I want ten thousand.”
    “You’re greedy, Fargo. That’s an enormous sum of money!”
    “For someone like me, yes it is. Enough to start my own ranch or live out my days on a Mexican hacienda if I want to.” Fargo shrugged. “But for someone like you—someone willing to risk that much just to put another man in his place—that’s not very much money at all, is it?”
    Parker looked Fargo over and nodded. “My final offer,” he said. “I’ll agree to the twenty-five hundred amount, but if I win, you get seventy-five hundred, and not a penny more.”
    Fargo knew that by negotiating, he’d shown Parker that he wouldn’t just do as he was told—though Parker appeared shrewd enough to know that anyway. “Done,” Fargo said. “Half of the twenty-five hundred in advance, the balance due when the game is over.”
    “Agreed,” Parker said, reaching into his coat and removing his wallet. He took out a large stack of bills and counted out the sum discreetly, then passed the money to Fargo. “One last thing,” he added.