Gamesmaster

I knocked at the office door of the incumbent mayor, back after a week of reelection campaign rallies. It was after hours, and the floor was empty except for him. The secretary downstairs let me in when I told her that I was a private detective, with information that I could only discuss with the mayor. It wasn't a lie.

"You do know that its after hours, right?" He said as I opened the door to let myself in.

I shut the door behind myself and walked over to the desk. I adjusted my tie and stuck my hand out to shake his. "Yes, but I have some things we need to discuss."

"You must be the detective Marina said was coming up. Would you care for a drink?" He stuck his hand out to shake mine and reached underneath his desk for a bottle of whiskey. He poured two glasses and moved one to my side of his desk.

I grabbed the two glasses by the inside of the glass and switched them around. I pulled up a chair and sat down at his desk. It was covered with paperwork, strewn like confetti across his workspace. I sat my drink down on one of the few spaces that didn't have paper on it, and looked back up at the mayor.

"I believe Marina said that you had something you wanted to discuss? You caught me at a good time" He was a good politician, and put on a mask of optimistic sincerity that would fool almost anyone. But when you've played as many games as I have, you learn to tell a bluff from the truth.

"I don't come here to give information, I came here to get it. I know that you work for the Gasciliano family. I'm just here to figure out how far the connection goes, and what all you've done for them." I said as I watched him take a sip of his drink. His fake smile fell, and an emotionless coldness took its place. This was the real man, the one that didn't hide behind the guise of electability all day. He didn't say anything, so I continued.

"But I'll make it harder for myself, let's make this a game. You like Poker, right?" I pulled out a pack of cards from the pocket of my trenchcoat, opened them, and began shuffling, "For every hand I win, you'll answer one of my questions."

I knew gambling was the mayor's weakness. The public rumor was that he spent 30% of his tax-payer salary at casinos, but the truth was closer to 45%. It was also unofficial payments to the mob, whose ownership of said casinos wasn't a secret.

"For every hand you win, I'll let you fire a revolver loaded Russian Roulette style at me. You get to kill the one man who knows your secret." I said, without a change of expression. I was being serious, but I knew that I couldn't lose. I pulled the .357 Magnum out of my holster and loaded one round into the chamber before spinning it and setting it on his desk. "Think I'm bluffing?"

I handed the deck to him, and he cut the deck before handing it back to me so I could deal the cards. I tossed out five cards to both of us, before placing the deck of cards onto the desk, right next to the gun. I looked at my hand, a pair of 7s, a jack, a queen, and a 2. "I'll take 3," I said, discarding everything but my sevens. It paid off, getting me a pair of 3s and a king in return.

"Gimme two," The Mayor said, tossing two of his cards in the discard pile. I tossed him two more, and he set his cards down on the table.

"I fold."

I sat my cards down on the table, showing him my two pairs. "According to your financial records, at least 40% of donations to your campaign come from Capital International, an investment company known to be a front for the mafia. Were you aware of this when you went to go meet the CEO just this week?"

"Yes, I was. In politics, you learn that there are some things that don't need to share, that won't hurt people if they don't find out." He looked me in the eyes as he said this, unafraid. He was telling the truth.

I handed the deck back to him to cut, and dealt the cards out once more. This time I wasn't so lucky. I got a couple low cards, none of them matching and off all four suites. I might lose this one, but it would't matter. I got rid of four of my cards, holding onto my highest, a jack. This time, luck wasn't so much on my side. I got a pair of threes, a 6 and an 8. It wasn't good, but it was what I had. He discarded two of his cards, and slightly smiled as he added his two new cards to his hand.

"I'll stay."

"Call," we both layed our hands on the table. He had three 7s. Without a word, he picked up the gun from the middle of the desk and pointed it at me, squeezing the trigger.

click

The hammer shut without the gun firing. He sat the gun back down on the table. He gathered the cards off the table and began shuffling silently. He dealt the cards, and I responded without looking up from my hand. I was bluffing, this hand was just as bad as the last one.

"You frequent the casino's around here right? Maybe you've heard the whispers about me. The stories about the man who got kicked out of the casinos after never losing a game, I think they called me The King of Games? It's true, all of it." He raised an eyebrow, almost amused. But I knew I had the seed of doubt planted, I was an urban legend in the casinos, a hero to those who went there to make it big and a villain to those who ran them to make a profit.

He looked at his hand and discarded three cards before grabbing new ones. To most people, he would have had the perfect poker face. But I saw his brow furl, and his lips curl slightly, and knew to strike then.

I tossed a random card into the discard pile. "I only need one this time." He tossed me a card, I picked it up, and glanced at it before putting it back into my pile. "I'll stay."

He looked at his cards for a couple of seconds, before placing them face down on the table.

"A couple of weeks ago, the head campaign manager of your mayoral opponent went missing. Just the day before, you spent over $5000 dollars at Sal's Pizzaria, another known mafia front. I suspect you hired a hitman, afraid that your opponent was 6 points above you in the local polls. Did you?" I took a sip from my drink. I wasn't scared of him, and I had to let him know.

"Yeah, I did. This position is valuable to me, I couldn't risk losing it to some hippy-dippy peace-loving freak." I grabbed the cards off the table and began shuffling them again.

"Why tell me all this? I know it's the truth, but why not just lie? It's in your blood, as a gangster, and as a politician."

He pulled his chair forward, and set his elbows on his desk, looking me in the eyes.

"I'm telling the truth because I'm the only one with anything to win. You could do this forever, asking any questions you like, but it will never change the fact that the public will never believe some crackpot detective over the mayor. At some point, you will lose, and this gun will fire."

I dealt out the cards, knowing that this would probably be the last hand.

"You're probably right," I said, "but I just have to know the truth, even if I do lose in the process."

I looked at my hand, a full house of queens over 7s. I could probably end this game right here, but I needed to know one more thing.

"I'll stay"

"I'll stay as well," the mayor said, without hesitation. He wasn't bluffing. Whatever he had, he thought it was strong enough to play without thinking about it.

We both laid our cards down. He had a royal flush. I leaned back into my chair, looking at my watch, before looking up at the mayor.

He picked up the gun, and aimed it at me. "For The King of Games, it sure seems like you're on a losing streak."

"I would appear that way, wouldn't it?"

BANG

An explosive noise and smoke filled the room, before a pain that felt like a thousand knives started spreading through my chest. I looked down, and blood was rapidly staining my clothes. It had fired this time. I looked back up at the mayor, catching "Looks like you los-"

"...At some point, you will lose, and this gun will fire."

I was back. Every time I lost a game, I would return to the moment right before my loss, until I was able to win. Even life or death games. I was used to it by now and started dealing the cards back out without a moment's pause. But this time, I was holding onto the cards I had dealt to the mayor before. When you're cursed to repeat every game you play, you start learning the quickest and easiest ways to win, without being caught. This time, I was the one with the royal flush.

"I'll stay." I said, barely glancing at my cards.

"I'll stay as well," the mayor said without hesitation. He wasn't bluffing. Whatever he had, he thought it was strong enough to play without thinking about it.

We both laid our cards down. I had a royal flush, and he had a full house of queens of 7s. He sat back, and for the first time, showed emotion. Exasperation. It was an almost impossible hand, the odds of me getting the last queen in my hand after he had gotten three was almost impossible.

"Last question. Were you the one who placed the hit on Clementine Beauregard?" I stood up, looking at him. I was letting my emotions take control of me, but how couldn't I.

"Yes, I was. I thought I recognized you from somewhere, you were her husband, weren't you? It really was a shame she had to find those financial records of mine, she was great eye candy to keep around the office." He started into my eyes as he sat there, smiling smugly. He was gloating about killing my wife. "Let's get back to the game, shall we?"

I remained standing.

"Shall we?"

He went to pick up the cards but found himself fumbling and dropping the cards. He started losing motor control and slumped over on his desk. The sleeping pill powder I had snuck into his drink when I switched them were starting to finally take effect.

"You'll never get away with this," he started sluring, unable to lift his head off the table. I pulled off my tie, and hit a small button hidden in the knot. A recording began playing, starting from when I had first entered the room.

"I have a recording of you not only confessing to the crimes, but to affirming that you were telling the truth at the time. It's more than enough to lock you up."

"I'll get out," he said, only awake through sheer rage.

"I know, and when you do, I'll be back to play another game with you."

*****

THE END.