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Zelot · 07-14-2012, 12:53 AM,

Part II

Leaning heavily on his walking stick, Miguel Sephardi hobbled into the large main casino on the Golden Dragon. He had only been here a few times before, but he didn't have any trouble getting in. Most of the people in charge here knew who he was before he even docked his ship. Sephardi was a fairly well known name in certain circles.

He was escorted to a baccarat table in a quiet corner of the large, overly ornate hall. Casinos tend to be overly ornate places. Something about the ostentation breeds hope and greed in most of those who partake in these types of games. The room had several large crystal chandeliers, as well as marble panel work on the walls, inlaid with gold. A large stage stood at one end of the hall, with a band playing songs from the most popular Kusari crooners from 25 years ago. Thirty or so green felt topped gaming tables were spread throughout the room. It was a normal weekday night, meaning the place was at about seventy five percent capacity.

Sitting down in a large, high, overstuffed plush red velvet chair, Miguel let out a long sigh. The rest of the chairs around the table were normal casino stools, Miguel was quite pleased that the chair had been brought in for him. If there was anything the Hogosha were good at, it was taking care of big money customers. The Hogosha had run the underworld in Kusari for years. From prostitution to gambling to petty theft, the Hogosha had their fingers in all of it. Though Miguel knew things had been tough for the families lately. Many of the men he had dealt with in the past were sitting in prison cells awaiting trial at the hands of the new Kusari government.

That was probably something he should make a note to talk to El Presidente about the next time they spoke. Kusari had been safe from Corsairs for many years due to the friendliness shown the Corsairs by Samura and the former Kusari regime. Maybe it was time for that to change. Sephardi chuckled to himself at the thought of 'El Presidente.' He really liked his successor, although as with most young people nowdays, Miguel found him amusing, but he couldn't be happier with the choice, and the new energy the younger man had invigorated the Brotherhood with.

The large Kusari man who had escorted him to the table asked if everything was alright and asked if he could bring anything. Sephardi responded to bring a bottle of tequila, a cigar and a dealer. The large man hurried off and within a few minutes, Miguel was sipping his drink with a cigar in his hand playing baccarat. 'Things could be worse,' he thought to himself.

Miguel smoked and drank and played for almost a half hour before a tall dark haired, ravishingly beautiful woman came over and sat at the table. She was stunning, almost six feet tall, with fair skin and dark, dark hair, her eyes were deep, and bubbling in a shade of greenish brown that Sephardi was fairly sure he had never seen before. She wore a long , loose, blue satin gown, which flowed all the way down to her ankles. She sat for a quarter of an hour without saying anything, she placed a few bets, mainly to seem like she was paying attention to the game, but Miguel knew better.

He played a few more hands before striking up a conversation with the woman. The talked for a while, the woman pretending she had no clue who the man at the table with her was. Miguel bought the woman a drink and they continued to talk, mainly about nothing. The woman's name, or so she said, was Keko.

They continued to play and drink for about an hour while Miguel thought about his next move. Finally, he decided directness was probably the best move in this situation. Miguel had learned in his time that in most interactions with Kusari a folk, if you wanted to have some control of a situation, directness was the way to go, it was completely unkusari, and it still caught them off guard.

Miguel took a sip of his drink and quietly whispered in the woman's ear, 'Where is your boss?' The woman tried to pull away, but Miguel had he arm in his grip. 'I don't know what you are talking about.' She protested. Miguel looked her straight in the eyes. 'Here is the deal, I am going to let you go, and you are going to walk slowly away from this table like nothing happened. You are going to walk over to the table your boss is at, or the room upstairs, or against the wall. I know he is here and I know he can see us. Tell him I don't like games, but I am going to give him a chance to redeem himself. You tell him he is to come to this table in an hour. You go tell him that, and then you come back here and finish your drink here with me. I would think 10 minutes should be enough to take care of everything. Don't think of trying anything else. You are going to do this, or you won't wake up tomorrow morning, I promise you that.' With that, Miguel let go of the woman's arm.

To the casual observer, it would have looked like an intimate little conversation. Keko slowly stood up. Miguel smacked her on the rear and said 'Hurry back here Chica, you hear me?'

Looking back at the table, he took another sip of his drink, played another hand and began to wait. He wouldn't be waiting long though'¦..

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