Dead Man's Hand Read Online Free Page A

onto this topic.
    For the briefest of
moments I actually wished that we were still talking about Dempsey, then I
realized what I was wishing for and I hit my head on the wall.  Did I
really almost drive the conversation back there?   Matt knew that there
were only a handful of topics that I considered off limits with him, just a
handful.  This was one of those topics.  There were some things that
we simply don’t need to share.  He knew this would get under my skin, and
I knew he was already trying to get payback.
    “Who said the dealer was
a woman?”     
    With a snort he replied,
“Yeah and…”
    Growling a warning I
immediately cut him off, “Off topic, Matt.”
    Clicking his tongue, I
could hear the glee in his voice.  “So after spending all that money, you
failed to get her number.  No wonder you’re a little cranky.”
    Unable to restrain myself
any longer, I released a pent up sigh as I pulled a card from my wallet. 
Turning it over I was able to see Robin’s cell number scrawled in crisp, clean
numbers.  I knew I was allowing Matt to run wild with an assumption, but I
rather enjoyed guiding him down that path.  It was good for my soul,
letting him think he got back at me, just a little.  “Matt, if you’re just
going to give me grief…”
    As if on cue Matt broke
in, satisfaction ringing in his voice, “Can I assume that you have a high
quality, off the rack, silk suit to pair with that fancy new car.”
    Laughing, I placed
Robin’s card on top of my wallet, which I had placed on the nightstand right
next to the video camera.  “You can assume that.”
    “You have a few nice,
handmade silk suits here you could have worn you know.”  He said with a
scoff.
    “But that wouldn’t have
been a challenge.”
    “You and your
challenges.”  Matt said before blowing air threw his lips.  I didn’t
think he was taunting me, but I also knew that I was getting awfully close to
the end of his patience.
    “Yes me and my
challenges.  You know how alive I feel when I have to stretch myself both
mentally and physically.”
    “We’ve beaten this to
death, Marcus.  You just need to accept that I’ll never agree with
you.  It’s all about the path of least resistance.”
    “I know.”  I
responded warmly.  I knew I would never be able to convince him that
challenges were not a waste of time and effort, despite the fact that “me and
my challenges” have always netted us the greatest reward.  But he also
knew that I felt bored if I didn’t have something to entertain me, so he mostly
went along with those types of jobs, provided that I didn’t expect him to strive
to overcome the challenge.
    “Well since I won’t be
able to talk you out of this nonsense,” Matt began, all joviality draining from
his voice.  “Tell me that your reconnaissance has been going well.”
    I mentally began
reviewing what I had managed to see ever since I set up my single surveillance
camera.  Unfortunately, the effort had only produced a steaming pile of
nothing.  The motion that I thought I saw earlier was the first sign of
life, let alone activity, that I had seen from my sole vantage point.  Not
for the first time I began wishing I had been able to get more eyes on the
warehouse.  But there had been people, probably Dempsey’s men, guarding
the building.  And they did an excellent job making sure that everyone
steered clear of the area while not making it look like that was what they were
doing.  Not even the homeless were safe from their interference, and that
was just mean. I had spent the whole trip down here creating my homelessness
persona only to have my efforts wasted.
    Normally the homeless are
left alone, so I had figured I would be able to plant a few of my surveillance
cameras.  All I had to do was get close enough to touch the building and
presto, my system would be in place.  I would have been able to plant a
good sampling of cameras pointing into the building.  But the one