Bora Kang glared at him but shushed her dog. Fifi raised her brows at me, as if to say, see?
I licked my lips as the others continued to form their hands and woofed quietly. Look, I’ll arrange a date with you and your dog boyfriend if you help me again. Just one more time. Wouldn’t that be nice to see him again?
Fifi whined. I’ll get yelled at.
I raised my brows and sniffled. But… worth it!
Fifi considered another moment, then wagged her tail and yipped. Okay, yeah. I’m kind of a bad bitch, you know?
Coming from a ten-pound ball of white fluff, I found that debatable, but nodded along. Fifi glanced around, took a small pile of cards between her tiny teeth. I glanced around, panicked. Could she be more obvious about it?
I reached down, yanked my boot off and threw it across the room. It slammed against the wall and everyone jumped and looked away. Fifi leapt off Bora Kang’s lap and trotted over, tail wagging.
The body guards drew their wands and turned toward the noise, then everyone looked to me.
I gulped. “Thought I saw a big, I mean big, cockroach. My bad.”
The others shot me doubtful looks but went back to working their cards. Fifi rose up on her hind legs and deposited the cards in my lap. I scooped them up and slid them up my jacket sleeve, just before a body guard walked over, my boot in hand, and dropped it beside me.
“Thanks!” I slid the boot on, then glanced around the table, holding my breath. No one seemed to have noticed Fifi’s maneuver so, with heart pounding, I patted the little dog’s head and let out a quick bark.
Thanks, girl! I’ll be in touch about the Rufio thing.
She wagged her tail. No problem.
The other players shoved their cards forward, stacked into two piles of five and two. As they arranged these, I psyched myself up to work some sleight of hand in case I needed to pull from the cards in my sleeve (or more likely get caught).
Fifi yapped and yapped again, startling me out of my state of dread.
Hey! Hey! Look, I found more cards. Want these, too?
I glanced down and to my left and found her pulling a card out of sunglasses’ pants. My eyes widened and a grin spread across my lips. Oh snakes. I wasn’t the only one cheating. In fact, that explained his winning streak and shifty demeanor. He was too intent on the cards in his hands to notice the little dog.
I let out a hushed woof. Thanks, Fifi. Hey, can you hang over here for a second. I’ll tell you when I want you to grab those, ok?
She wagged her tail and lowered her haunches. Yep.
I grinned broadly, suddenly full of hope again that this plan of mine might work.
The old guy beside Bora Kang noticed and cackled. “Why, she’s smiling and hasn’t even seen her cards. Now that’s confidence.” He broke into wheezing laughter.
Once everyone else had pushed their hands forward, five sets of eyes turned my way, expectant. I reached forward and flipped my cards. They were… not great. That was okay. I had another trick up my sleeve… or sunglasses guy’s pant leg, to be more exact.
30
CHEAT
I released my cards and looked across the table at Bora Kang. “I want to trade you for information.”
She frowned slightly.
Ponytail threw up his hands. “What is this? Make your hands already! Let’s play!”
I ignored his tantrum.
Bora Kang glanced at my pathetic hand. “You’re going to lose. If you have no money, what have you to trade me?”
I licked my lips and kept my gaze straight ahead. “Someone at this table is cheating you out of your money.”
Her expression darkened, but buzzcut scoffed. “You, probably.”
I mean, I did have several cards up my sleeve, but I hadn’t used them.
“Why should I believe you?”
“I have proof.”
Her brow twitched up ever so slightly. The old man leaned back in his chair. To my left, sunglasses stiffened. “Enough interruptions! I’m out of here.” He half rose from his chair, but Bora Kang held up a slender hand, two of her fingers missing. “Stay a moment.”
Sunglasses froze, glanced at the beefy guys stationed around the room, then slunk back down into his chair. My stomach twisted. Something about those missing fingers made me suspect this woman was more dangerous than her calm demeanor and fluffy lap dog would suggest.
She turned her eyes, hidden in shadow, to me. “What do you want to know?”
“Dylan—” My voice came out raspy, so I cleared my throat and started again. “Dylan Davies—what do you know about him?”
Bora Kang watched me, expressionless, for several long moments. Her chest rose and fell as she considered. “If you’re lying, you won’t leave here with this information, so I suppose a little sharing doesn’t matter.” She lifted her chin. “He gambled here—a lot. And lost money—a lot.”
Buzzcut, the guy I suspected of being a cop, shifted in his chair and shot Bora Kang a dark look. I knew it. I was onto something.
A muscle in her jaw jumped. “He owed me quite the sum.”
She was angry. I pressed her for more information. “And?”
“And a few months ago, he showed his face here, a bag of merkles in hand. He thought it’d be enough.” She scoffed. “It was only half of what he owed. I threatened to break his legs, and he said he’d get me the rest by last weekend.”
By last weekend? He must’ve known the policeman’s ball was coming up. Why would he think he’d have the rest of her money after the police ball?
“How much did he owe you?”
She didn’t even blink. “Fifty thousand merkles.”
I choked and clapped a hand to my chest as I struggled for breath. Fifty thousand merkles? Man, this Davies guy must’ve been terrible at cards to lose that much. “Where was he going to get that much money?”
She shrugged. “Not my concern.”
I sucked in
