Stephen Leigh - Card Sharks

There was a door leading to the hall from the bedroom. Hannah turned the knob as softly as she could, listening to the conversation in the other room. "Where is she? Is she still here?"

"The woman banged on the door for the longest time. I was afraid to call Security — I didn't know what she'd say or do. She finally left — I don't know, ten, fifteen minutes ago. Come in, Pan. Hold me. Stay with me. I was so frightened …."

Hannah opened the door and slipped out into the empty hall.

She thought she was away and free, but as Hannah pressed the button for the elevator and watched the doors slide open, she heard the door to Marilyn's suite open again. She caught a glimpse of Rudo as she stepped into the compartment. There was a frightening moment of eye contact down the hall, then Rudo began to run stiffly toward her as the elevator doors closed. His fists pounded futilely on the door as she started down.

He can't get another elevator before I get downstairs. I'm okay. I'll have time.

The elevator stopped at 15. It seemed to take forever for the doors to open, for the elderly couple to shuffle inside and the doors to close again. They smiled at her, a young woman. desperately clutching a stuffed toy tiger. Hannah gave them a quick, nervous smile back, then stared at the numbers:

14 …

12 …

11 …

10 …

They stopped again. And yet again at 6. Hannah was beginning to panic, hoping that Rudo would be having the same problem. He can't do anything in a crowd. Just stay with them. He doesn't want any of this out in the open.

They reached the lobby. Hannah slipped out first, looking back at the numbered plate above the other elevator. As she watched, the indicator light shifted from 3 to 2. She started across the lobby with the older couple, trying to look as if she were their daughter. Two dark-suited men were standing near the street doors, one who looked like a movie version of a Sicilian thug, the other a tall and massive black man whose suit seemed to strain to contain his sculpted body. Swallowing her panic, Hannah turned to the woman. "That's such a nice sweater," she said. "It's perfect for a chilly afternoon like this."

The woman smiled. "Thank you, my dear."

"I can't believe it's gotten so cold in the last few days. Fall's definitely here to stay this time, I think …" The men were watching the trio suspiciously. Behind them, an elevator chimed. Hannah could feel Rudo's gaze on her back but she didn't dare look behind her. A few more steps and they'd be outside….

"Ms. Davis," he called loudly to her. "Such a lovely surprise."

The Sicilian and Muscles moved to intercept her at the same moment. Her elderly escorts looked as if they were about to protest, but Hannah, an icy resignation settling in her stomach, gave them a rigid smile. "He's a friend," she said, giving them what she hoped was a convincing smile. She kept the smile cemented to her lips until the couple left the hotel; the expression vanished as she turned to confront Rudo. He was dressed elegantly and expensively, as always. His neatly-trimmed gray hair was slightly mussed; disturbed, she thought inanely, when he ran down the hallway after her. He brought a hand up and smoothed down the errant strands.

"Rudo," she said. Rudo's men flanked her on either side, silent.

"I see you've dropped any pretense of politeness, Ms. Davis."

"You've lost any right you had to it," she answered. "Card Sharks — such an apt name for your little group of murderers."

"Shut up, lady," Muscles snarled in her ear. His voice matched the body: low and powerful. "Don't make yourself sound more like a fool than you are."

"Mr. Johnson, please," Rudo said. He smiled at Hannah. "Name-calling will get us nowhere," he said. "I won't bore you with justifications or the philosophy. My friend is right, however — you fail to see the larger scope of the problem we're facing. You have something of ours, and we'd like to have it back. That's all I care about; then we'll even let you go your own way — for now."

Hannah clutched the tiger closer to her as Johnson grabbed her elbow. The lobby was busy, though no one had noticed them as yet. People were passing, going in and out on their way to the rooms or the street or the bar. "We're in public, Rudo. You really want a scene?"

The corner of Rudo's mouth lifted. "Someone used my name at the desk to gain access to Ms. Monroe's room. That same someone stole an item from her bedroom and then ran, as I am certain Ms. Monroe will testify. Fans steal things like that all the time. A scene, Ms. Davis? I assuredly don't want one. It would be a shame for you to be arrested — jail is such a dangerous place." He held out a hand. "The stuffed toy, Ms. Davis, if you please…."

Behind Rudo, a familiar form was suddenly there .

"Quasiman!"

The hunchback looked as if he were about to rush headlong at Rudo. His slab-like hands were fisted, muscles bunched up all along the massive forearms. The Sicilian was already reaching inside his jacket. Hannah knew that if the joker attacked, no matter how strong or quick he was, they would lose. Quasiman was fast, but he couldn't move faster than a trigger could be pulled nor was he any less vulnerable than anyone else to a bullet. And if Hannah just happened to be shot in the attack….

"Here!" she shouted, and tossed Quasiman the stuffed tiger before either of the goons could stop her. "Go!" she shouted as Quasiman caught the toy. "Go on!"

But Quasiman only glanced at the stuffed toy dangling by one leg in his massive hand, and the sudden vacancy in his eyes terrified Hannah. His aggressive stance relaxed, his body slumped. He gaped at Hannah as if seeing her for the first time, drool running from the side of his slack mouth, and she knew they were lost. The cavalry had come, horns blowing and flags flying, but it had forgotten why.

Rudo snatched for the stuffed animal. At the same moment, Hannah tore loose from Johnson. She shoved Rudo aside as Quasiman stared at her quizzically. Hannah felt movement at her back and half expected to feel a bullet tear into her from behind. Desperate, she took Quasiman's ugly head between her hands, hugging him as she whispered. "Please, Quasiman. You've been holding it all together for so long. Don't forget now." She kissed him, int his lips didn't open to her. She might have been kissing marble. "Damn it, remember! — "

"How touching." Johnson's fingers dug furrows in her biceps, dragging Hannah back. Quasiman just watched, a faint scowl on his face as if he were trying to make sense of what he was seeing. Rudo put his manicured hand on the tiger. "It's mine," he told Quasiman. "You will give it to me now." He pulled the toy from Quasiman's yielding grasp.

"Quasi!" Hannah cried desperately, and in that moment, there was the barest flicker of recognition in his eyes. Quasiman moved in a blur, snatching the tiger back before Rudo could react.

"Hannah," he said. "I remember." A breath later, Quasiman and the toy had vanished.

Hannah let out a breath she hadn't known she was holding. Relief coursed through her, molten. Rudo whirled around to her, glaring. "Where?" he said.

"I don't know," Hannah told him defiantly. She tried to pull her arms away from the Suits. They held her tightly. "It's a lovely day for a ride, don't you think?" Johnson said in Hannah's ear, beginning to pull her toward the door. People were staring at them, and the desk clerk was talking earnestly with a security guard, pointing in their direction.

"No." Rudo said sharply before Hannah could shout. "Not here. Not now." Johnson released her at Rudo's shake of his head. Hannah grinned triumphantly, rubbing her arms. Rudo leaned close to Hannah before she could step away, so that only she could hear what he said. "Listen to me." In the face of her triumph, he was almost smiling, a smile made of dry ice and stone. "You win this round, but nothing else. Nothing. The information will do you no good. No one's going to believe you, no one's going to listen. If you go to the media with this, they will think you are paranoid or even deranged. That is, if you even get the chance to speak. The fact is, Ms. Davis, you are dead . Maybe not today, but very soon. You are already dead and rotting in your grave."