Agent Rogue: Renegade

Chapter 11

3 Months Later

There were five of us left at the poker table: myself, Derek, a redheaded man with a beard -- who I forgot the name of -- and Sienna Li: the woman funding the research of Marcus Knight. 

After months of investigating under the director's nose, we managed to track the source of the large case of money that had been intercepted by Collins months earlier as Li did not pay by card but through cash; a smart move to avoid detection. The man that had been paid to drop off the case was interrogated by Collins himself, providing us with information that 'Doctor Knight' was receiving payment from a gambler: Sienna Li. We did not know why she was funding the research but I did know one thing: stop the payment, stop the experiments. 

However, it was not as simple as it initially seemed. The witness died after interrogation, appearing to be from an unknown illness, and we had no evidence to arrest her before the next due 'drop off' of cash. We had to seize the cash before she did and soon joined the high stakes game in one of Cyprus's most popular hotels... but I was losing.

The stress of the game had led to some stupid decisions in the last round, causing me to call against Sienna. She sent me a crooked smile before revealing a superior hand of cards and taking half of my money. Derek appeared to be our only chance at this and all I had was an idea.

"Mr Brooks," said the dealer, addressing Derek, "can we have your decision?" 

Derek cleared his throat. "I call."

He's confident. Sienna had already called before him. 

The dealer turned to me, "Miss Silver, do you have a decision?"

I looked at my cards; only a 2 of hearts and 3 of hearts - just about useless against the revealed cards in the centre: a ten of hearts, a ten of clubs and a king of spades. It wasn't something that I would even dare to call on and it would never match Derek's cards if he had decided to call on them. 

My eyes darted to Derek, who was awaiting my answer like the rest of the table. I then looked to the dealer, forced a smile and said in the most confident tone I could muster, "I raise." 

Derek adjusted his seat and swallowed in apprehension while the red-haired man coughed (whether it was due to shock or the excessive amount of nicotine burning from his cigarette). Sienna's face appeared to fall as though something in her plan had gone wrong. I almost widened my smile -- she had been smug the whole game.

"I'm all in," I added, pushing every chip (the equivalent of four hundred thousand dollars) that I owned towards the centre, joining the masses of black, red, blue and green chips that represented the majority of the ten million dollars that were waiting to be won and - in Sienna's eyes - sent to my father. 

"Right," the dealer coughed into his fist. "So, as Mr Gregory is the only one who has folded, Miss Silver could you start by showing us your cards. 

Sucking up every ounce of my pride, I turned them over. Mr Gregory choked on his cigarette smoke while Sienna started to laugh. Derek looked as if he was about to throw up. 

"I think someone's had a bit too much wine," Gregory remarked. I kept a blank face, staring intently at Sienna's expression as it was her turn to reveal her cards. 

She smirked: a ten of clubs - three of a kind. 

My heart froze and I looked to Derek. "Well, Miss Silver," he said, "it appears that you're going to be handing over your money to...me." 

A ten of spades and a king of hearts. A full house - he'd won this round.

"Impressive," applauded Sienna. She leaned forward, resting her chin on her fist. "I was sure I'd win that round."