Robert Asprin - Dragons deal

He called everyone he knew to ask for help. All of the messages went to voice mail. By an hour before dawn, he started getting calls back, but they weren't the kind he was hoping for. "I don't know if I ever want to speak to you again!" Val snarled. "Oh, she queened it over us all right! That bossy bitch! And she kept putting her arm over my shoulder. You can just sit and rot for a while. What is the matter with you?"

She had hung up. Fox Lisa was next. Her usual cool had been burned away.

"They made fun of my tattoos! They treated me like a toy. I had to slap one of them, and he laughed at me! What kind of people are these? They were perfectly nice at the ball, but you turn your back, and they act like they are all that and a bag of chips! I didn't walk out because there is no way I would cede the ground to them, but you are in big trouble, Griffen. Bail? I am not going to waste my time. I am going home to take a long bath."

Mai was short and to the point. "You trust her, and you won't trust me. Your priorities are screwed up, Griffen."

But about dawn the jailer came to the cell door and leaned in.

"Griffen McCandles!"

He figured it was Jerome, or perhaps Val had relented. Instead, waiting for him on the other side of the solid steel door was Melinda. Griffen stopped before he crossed the threshold. The jailer nudged him from behind until he moved.

"You're free," Melinda said. "You can pay me back sometime when you're solvent again. Your little redhead told me about your financial situation. It happens. Businesses have their up-and-down years."

Griffen's cheeks burned. "Did the party go all right?"

"Oh, yes," Melinda had said, with a broad smile. "It was a wonderful party. You can see the photographs. Too bad you weren't there. All the gossip was about you. By the way, thank you for the honor of your trust. I'm sorry your family and mine got off on the wrong foot. Several wrong feet. But, thank you. I won't forget it."

Griffen hated being indebted to Melinda, but he had had no alternative. His voice was more gruff than he intended, but it had been a long night. "You bailed me out, so we're even. I will pay you back as soon as I can."

"Come on," she had said, gesturing toward the door but careful not to touch him. "I've got a car waiting."

Therewas nowhere else to go but home. Griffen sat on the couch in his satin-striped trousers and formal shirt, his silk tie untied. He had no reason to go out again. He had missed his own party. He had the headache to end all headaches. No one was speaking to him. He decided he was going to stay in his apartment forever.

His cell phone rang.

"Griffen? It's Kitty."

"Hey, Kitty, I didn't see you last night. I'm sorry I couldn't bail you out."

"It's okay. My mama came down and got me out. Can I talk to you? I'm right outside your building."

Griffen buzzed her in. Kitty came in. She looked so different in street clothes. When she didn't have to wear the tuxedo shirt and black pants, she favored bright colors. Her scarlet blouse was almost blinding to Griffen's hypersensitive eyes.

"Can I talk to you, Griffen? I don't know whether I'm crazy."

"Sure," he said. "Please, sit down. Do you want a drink?"

"No, thanks." She hesitated for a moment. "Griffen, you know that Jordan Ma who made such a problem at that game back in December?"

"I sure do," he said. "I wouldn't have let you deal for him, but he hasn't asked to play again. I haven't seen him since."

"Well, it's not him, but it feels almost like it has been. He had this tell, he liked to run his first finger around in a little circle on his cards. He'd hold them down like this and move his finger?" Kitty demonstrated, putting her hand on the arm of the couch. Griffen watched her. "He did it when he had a good hand. But there've been three different people since then who do the same thing, especially right before they kicked up a fuss. It sure hasn't been the same guy. I mean, I won't ever forget what he looks like! But that guy from Oklahoma last night who caused all the trouble--he did it, too. And there was a woman, too, who got stinking drunk and talked all kinds of shit until everyone else left. She did it. Maybe they belong to the same club or something?"

Or maybe , Griffen thought, they were the same man--or dragon--shifting shape to be four different people. He had to trap one of them.

"Kitty, I don't think you're crazy. I think there is some kind of club or society that is trying to shut us down. When you see that again, no matter what, call me. I want to talk to . . . one of them. Can you do that?"

She set her small jaw resolutely and squeezed Griffen's hand.

"I sure will, Griffen. No one is gonna screw up our operation like that. It means a lot to us, how you take care of us. I never had such a good job in my life. I will be damned if I will let some out-of-town assholes break us down."

Griffen smiled. "I don't appreciate my employees enough," he said. "Keep your eyes open, and tell the other dealers to watch out, too."

"I promise," Kitty said. "Thanks, Griffen."

Griffen let her out. They would help him catch Jordan Ma and his squad of Eastern dragons--if he ever had another game to run.

He called Jerome again. At last the phone rang. "They kept me sequestered, Grifter. Took the battery out of my phone. Kept losing the paperwork. Had to stand before the judge . . . Grifter, it was another dragon. I don't know how many there are."

"It seems there are fewer than we may think." He told Jerome what Kitty had described to him. Jerome clicked his tongue.

"So we're dealing with shape-shifters. Experienced ones."

"Yeah. And this was the worst yet. Just when things were picking up, thanks to the town being full for Mardi Gras. We were both too busy to be there. If one of us had been able to drop in, we'd have known we had a dragon on our hands."

"Yeah, and you know why that is?"

Griffen knew it before he said it. "No, Jer!"

Jerome was inexorable, and Griffen knew he deserved it. "Yes, Grifter. Your pal Peter. He knew you were gonna be completely occupied this evening, and I bet you told him I would be hanging out with my marching buddies then, too."

Griffen's heart sank, but he couldn't deny it. "Sounds like you were right all along."

"There is no satisfaction in 'I told you so,' man. You're the big dragon, and this is your operation. He probably didn't cause any other trouble until now."

"Well, they have succeeded in taking us down. Harrison said I couldn't run any more games, or he will bust me. I can't take a chance on going to jail. The parade's just a few days away."

"Uh-uh," Jerome said. "What you need, my friend, is plausible deniability. You don't know a damned thing. In fact, you are not going to hear from me about anything. It will be just like the old days. You know I told you to keep closer to the business? Well, now I want you to back off and not be involved. You have too much to do as Mardi Gras king. Mind that business. We'll get this done. No cop is going to shut us down. You go and have a good time."

Griffen smiled for the first time in hours.

NowGriffen really began to feel like Nathan Detroit. In case the NOPD had managed to put a tap on his phone, he fielded all calls asking to join a game with an apology. He kept Peter Sing at arm's length.

"I'm sorry. There isn't anything going for the foreseeable future, Peter. All of my people are tied up with . . . Mardi Gras obligations. I hope we can resume normal operations soon."

"That is a pity," Peter said. "I have really enjoyed our games." The voice on the other end of the line sounded genuinely disappointed. Griffen felt a pang. He really liked the other man, but now that he was convinced of his perfidy, he had to protect himself. "I will come and see you march."