The Detective and Her Bachelor

Chapter 18

I could pay off all of my outstanding bills and have enough left to take Misty on vacation. A vacation she very much deserved. Maybe I could convince Allie to come with us. The three Fall sisters hadn't done anything fun together in too long.

"I know what you're thinking Delle..." Decker said quietly in my ear. "Don't throw the investigation away for the money." 

I pressed my fingers into the fabric across my knees, needing to smother something. "I know you don't like to lose but don't let pride make you a fool," Decker added.

I nearly scoffed but stopped myself when I remembered that I wasn't supposed to have a detective offering unsolicited advice in my ear. If anyone knew it would blow everything. Instead, I smiled up at Ace across the table. "Game on."

...

Decker hadn't stopped swearing since the game started. I could feel his anger heating up my earpiece like an ear infection. But I had mostly pushed Decker's unnecessary chatter to the back of my mind. I had too much to keep track of to worry about his opinions at the moment. 

May, who apparently didn't know how to play poker had lost most of her money in the first few rounds. She was as good at poker as I was at... whatever a yogi was. Bianca, determined to be sent home bluffed during every round, but had been dealt enough good hands that most of her lies weren't actually counted as lies. Emily Grace and Shay kept folding, neither winning nor losing.

The others were a mix of bluffers and folders. Stephanie Track, a professional podcaster, a girl with wild blond hair and thick-rimmed glasses, wore a pink suit, and seemed very comfortable in her pants. A courtesy that I wasn't offered. 

Stupid Cici and her rules about pants!

Stephanie was a bluffer, seeming to test the limits of how much she could get away with. Something I was counting on. My goal was to be a few lies behind her. Anna Santos, a Professional Traveler—a job that didn't quite make sense to me— how did anyone go on vacation for a living?— was a folder. I hadn't seen her play a single hand, making it hard to know if she was a good liar or if she was just being cautious. She wore a deep red dress the color of blood and had her chocolate brown hair laying in loose curls across her back. 

Sage who apparently had no last name, was a professional eater— another job that wasn't a job, and was a constant chatterbox. Talking incessantly about anything and everything like an announcer that had consumed too much caffeine. She wore a polka-dot black and white dress making her look like a modern-day Lucille Ball with her bright red hair and lipstick. She was clearly a terrible liar and seemed to grow more and more nervous with each round.

The final two women, Jess, a social media user, which also wasn't an actual job, and Mary Grey, a Graduate Student and Socialite, were the quietest, staring at the cards, the faces, the ticks, trying to pick up on anything to help their game. Jess had black hair pulled back into a long set of braids that gathered into two buns at the back of her head. She wore purple glasses that matched her deep plum dress perfectly. 

Mary Grey had a simple blue dress and hadn't done anything to her brown hair that sat in casual waves across her shoulders. And then there was Prism, who seemed to make it her life mission to challenge every card play I made like I was her ultimate rival. 

And through it all Ace kept quiet, watching and assessing everyone's moves. He had his own set of chips and cards, only playing when things seemed to get interesting. Which already was an unfair situation. Why couldn't he just lose all his money, get sent home, and get this stupid show canceled? 

Finally, May was forced to play her last chip, and when it was clear she was about to lose, she folded her cards, bowing out gracefully. The room went quiet as May stood, black hair falling across her shoulders.