“This is Richard Loftus, Joint Chiefs.”
“Pleasure to meet to you.” The man was about my grandfather’s age with thick hair and incredibly straight teeth.
“You too, sir.” I shook his hand.
“No sirs, here today.” He laughed.
“This young man is Craig Nelson, we aren’t allowed to know where he works.” My grandfather joked.
“Mr. Nelson, a pleasure.” I smiled.
“The pleasure is all mine.” He said shaking my hand gently and giving me a wink.
“And last by not least, Director of NCIS, James McIntyre.” The man who drove himself here. The one who wasn’t smiling.
“Mr. McIntyre.” I shook his hand.
“Mac.”
I nodded. “Mac.”
“Shall we?” My grandfather pointed to the table. We all settled in. My grandfather dealt the cards and the game started. I studied each man’s face and hands. Looking for their tell. Everyone had one.
Mac’s was the hardest. His expression never changed. So, I watched for other things. The way he arranged his cards. The way he held them. The way he looked at the others. I lost the first few hands. And Mac and my grandfather won a couple. I got the impression from the grousing of the others this was a normal occurrence.
It was time to shake things up a bit I thought. I stopped concentrating on the other players and focused on the cards for a while. I won three hands straight.
“Hey, what gives, is your granddaughter some kind of ringer?” Miller asked.
“What do you do for a living?” Loftus asked.
Mac studied me waiting for a response. “I’m CEO of Port City Industries.”
“That doesn’t tell me much. Do you go to Vegas on the weekends?” Loftus pressed.
“Don’t be a sore loser, you’ll have a chance to win your money back.” I smiled. I lost the next couple of hands. It was starting to get late and the men were getting antsy.
“I say we raise the stakes on this hand.” Loftus announced. “A hundred dollars to start?” Everyone looked around the table and nodded.
I dealt the cards. I had a decent hand, but I would have felt better with a couple of aces. The betting continued and the cards went around the table. Everyone folded and it was down to Mac and me. I watched him just as carefully as he watched me. It was going to be down to the cards on this one. Finally, I called.
There was five hundred dollars at stake on the table. Mac laid down his cards, four of a kind.
“Not bad.” I smiled.
“Let’s have ‘em.” He demanded. The others around the table were watching intently.
“Straight flush.” I laid my cards down. The other three was murmuring. Mac leaned back in his chair and smiled for the first time.
“Nice.”
I gave him a little shrug. “Just lucky.”
“I doubt it.” He said still smiling.
“Nicely done, young lady.” Miller congratulated me.
My grandfather gave me a wink and a nod.
“Well, listen. I’ve had a good time, but I should be going.” I announced.
“So soon?” My grandfather asked.
“It’s late.” I said, looking at my watch.
“Okay, call me tomorrow?”
“Of course.” I promised.
He gave me a hug and a kiss. “I mean it. I want to see you before you leave.”
“Okay.” I nodded.
“It was nice to meet you.” I addressed the others. They all nodded and raised their glasses to me. Clearly, they weren’t leaving anytime soon.
“Mind if I walk you out?” Mac approached me.
“Okay.” I caught a glimpse of my grandfather smiling to himself as he watched Mac approach me. I shook my head. I knew he had a reason he wanted me to stay and play cards. I turned and headed for the door.
“You played very well tonight.”
“Thank you. You did pretty well yourself.” I smiled.
“So, I take it you don’t live here?” He made inquiring small talk.
“No, I’m in town on business. I live in Gates Point.”
“Beautiful city,” he replied.
“I like it. Excuse me I need to text my driver.” I pulled out my phone and sent Eddie a message.
“I’d be happy to give you a lift.” Mac offered.
“No, Eddie is here on the property somewhere. He’s probably playing his own poker game if I know him.”
“Your grandfather teach you to play?” he surmised.
“Yeah, when I was a little girl.” I laughed.
“He did a good job.”
“Well, I’ve kept up with it over the years,” I confessed.
“Not much else to do in the desert some nights,” he ventured.
I looked at him with curiosity. How did he know I had been overseas?
“Don’t worry, your grandfather told me.” He said reading my face. “How long were you there?”
“Four years.” I wasn’t sure I felt comfortable with this. “What about you?”
He looked at me with a little surprise. “Please, I can spot a marine from a mile away.”
“Well, I want to thank you for your service.”
“Why?” I looked at him confused.
“Because, even if I am a marine it still isn’t every day you get to meet a Medal of Freedom winner.”
My mouth dropped open. My grandfather knew I didn’t like to talk about that and I sure as hell didn’t go around telling people about it. I felt anger rising up in my chest. I could see the headlights of my car coming up the drive. “I can’t believe my grandfather told you that.”
“He didn’t.”
“Then how do you know.” I wondered.
“I investigate people for a living.” He said reminding me who he was.
“How did you know you would meet me tonight.” I asked.
“That your grandfather, did tell me.” He smiled. “He told me you were in town and he asked us all if we would mind you sitting in on the game.
My anger quickly turned to embarrassment. It had been a set up after all. The car came to a stop and Eddie got out. Mac held up his hand to stop Eddie. He reached down and opened the door.
“It was a pleasure meeting you.”
I slid into the back seat. “It was nice to meet you. I hope you have better luck in there.” He smiled and closed the door.
Eddie back behind the driver’s wheel. “Everything okay?” he asked.
“Yep,
