The Red Dragon - 9:00pm

If a person wanted to find Michael Cross in Reno, they would only have to look as far as the Red Dragon Casino. There, you would find him sitting at the bar watching the poker tables. Looking for weaknesses in the other players. He did this every Friday night. His blonde hair partly covering his deep blue eyes. If a person was to look at him, they would think he was a picture of innocence... That's a laugh.

Michael Cross did look youthful, but that was OK, because Michael was only sixteen. He got lucky when the casino owner, John Doyle, saw him playing high stakes poker at an underground gambling house called Chucky's Place. John was very impressed by the kid's control and ability to bluff, making the other players lose more money. He was fast to notice Michael's talent at poker. John also found out that Michael was an orphan and decided to take the kid in. That was close to two years ago.

Michael's life before Reno was no walk in the park, to say the least. He was in what he considered foster-hell before that fateful bus ride to this city. His foster parents-- Parents, that was a joke-- were less than adequate. Michael still held the scars on his back and legs to prove that. But Michael was not the type that liked to dwell in the past. He tried to live for the moment and put all of those memories as far away from his mind as possible. He thought himself extremely lucky when John found him.

Through John, Michael got to go to two or three other casinos. They were not high class casinos, but casinos none the less. But he lived in a room at this one. This casino was named The Red Dragon. It was pretty small as far as casino's went and mainly focused on Black Jack and Poker. Michael only played poker though. Specifically Texas High Hold'em. Michael considered that to be the best game as far as he was concerned. He could calculate the odds better after he had seen the Flop cards laid down. He would usually know when to fold before the Turn card got anywhere near the table. Michael really wasn't the type that liked to gamble all the time.

Michael never bet more than a quarter of his bank in one sitting. He considered betting more than that foolish if a person had a considerable sized bank. So, if Michael had twenty thousand in his bank, he would never take more than five to the table. If by some miracle he lost that, he quit for the night.

But Michael had a little more than twenty thousand in the casino bank. His bank was closer to ninety thousand. Maybe a little over. He made that by grinding it out and only playing No-Limit High Hold'em every so often. Make no mistake though, even though Michael was cautious, that didn't mean that he was a tight-wad. He would make big bets every now and then just for the hell of it. He just never saw why he should take the chance of losing when there was really no point.

The Red Dragon was as full as it ever got that night. It was tourist season and all the flounders were at all the tables. There was only a few other professionals besides Michael in the place. The place was filled with cigarette smoke and the smell of sweat. The sweat of the poor slobs losing their money to the pros and the House.

Michael always took the same seat at the bar, watching the other players for at least a half hour before he finally picked a table and went to sign up for a game. He watched them for their tells. The ones the amateurs always wore. How they acted when they got good cards, how they acted when they got bad cards. And most importantly of all, how they acted when they were bluffing.

Michael caught movement out of the corner of his eye and turned to see a young card player buy the name of Josi Rain walking his way. She had long, brown hair and Spanish-brown eyes. Her slim figure and rather large chest were something the prostitutes in Reno would kill for. She carried herself with a confident air that made most people WANT to respect and trust her. That was part of the reason she usually cleaned up at the tables. That and she had been play for years.

Josi had came to Reno when she was eighteen and never left. Michael respected her. A lot. But it went further than respect. She was one of Michael's best-friends. And that was a rarity in Reno among pro card players. Most pro's don't like to see another pro in the club. They have better odds if they don't. But Josi liked Michael from the start and they had been friends ever since. Even though she was twenty-five, they got along better than most brothers and sisters.

Josi swayed up to where he was sitting. She never did walk like the other professionals. But then again, she was the only female card shark Michael knew. "Hey Josi, how's the action at the no-limit tables tonight?" Michael asked as he stood up so she could sit down. He was always a gentleman with her. And the question he asked was a rhetorical one. She was holding five stacks of High Society.

Josi sat down at the bar and gave Michael an amused look. "Michael Cross. Can't you see how the action was," she asked, shooting a quick glance at her chips. "Mikie, you should really get to those tables more... You could have rolled every one of those fat fucks," she said with a chuckle and pegged him in the shoulder lightly.

"What was the buy-in tonight?" he asked, a little curious. It had been a while since he played no-limit.

"Thirty thousand. Hell Michael, you know damn well you can afford that. When the next no-limit game rolls around... you're playing. I don't care if I have to drag your ass there," she said with a stern face. She was a little annoyed Michael didn't play. She knew it wasn't because she was playing, because there were two no-limit tables open.

"Alright, alright. But tonight I'm gonna roll table six in high stakes... You wanna come? Come on, I can clean that table easy... Hell it's nothing but doctors and lawyers!" Michael said, a small twinkle was in his eye. He wanted to peak her interest. His voice was low and charming though, like it always was.

"What's the game?"

"Texas High-Hold'em. Five thousand dollar buy-in with a five hundred dollar betting limit," Michael said with a smirk. "You could take table two... Stay away from five though. There's a mechanic there and he's working it with a partner," Michael then added.

Michael and Josi both hated mechanics. They both worked off the philosophy of playing straight up or not at all. That was not to say they were above lying and bluffing there way though a game. That was the trade mark of all good sharks, and they were definitely that. They just liked to play it straight though.

"Aw shit, Michael. I'll go tell Jimmy. I fuckin' hate it when they think they can come in here... You go get some chips. They should be gone by the time ya get back, " she replied, a hint of mischief in her sparkling brown eyes.

"Alright. Hey, you want to hit Ceaser's for some low stakes after this game?" It was sort of a rule for them. They never played against one another unless it was for low stakes.

"Yeah, what the hell, just hurry up!" she said with a laugh and pushed him in the direction of where they kept their bank.

"Ya know, Josi, sometimes you can be a REAL pain in the ass," Michael said with a wink, completely ignoring the fact that Josi was smirking and giving him the finger.

Michael walked over to the chips window, it wasn't far from the card area, and he could already hear yelling and someone screaming "Cheater!" Then the sounds of the bouncer dragging the mechanic and his friend out the door. Michael walked up to the chips window to see a slightly over weight woman in her mid-thirties.

Tammy Doyle was the one EVERYONE let handle their money. She worked the cash and chips. She was also the owner's wife and someone that Michael considered a friend. She had reddish blonde hair and sparkling green eyes, or at least they sparkled when Michael was around. "Hey Tammy, can I get five thousand in blacks?" he asked the woman. Blacks were chips that were worth one hundred dollars.

"Sure thing sweetie. Hey, are they havin' some trouble back there? I heard some yelling," she said as she was counting out the chips for him. Michael had an account at the club, so he never had to carry around cash if he played there.

"Just a mechanic and his friend running one of our tables. I swear, you would think they would learn to stay out of here," Michael said, tapping his fingers on the window seal.

"Let me guess who spotted them," Tammy said with a smirk. "I swear Michael, all my husband talks about is how you can run a table and how you're possibly the best poker player in Reno! It's the truth!" Tammy said, laughing at Michael's slight blush.

"Oh shit Tammy, I'm no where near the best."

"You can say that until you're blue in the face Darlin', but it don't change nothing," she added with an appraising smile as she slid the chips out the window.

Michael picked up his tray of chips and looked into Tammy's smiling eyes. "Well, I think I'm gonna try and go live up to your expectations. See ya in a few hours," he said with a wink and started off towards the tables.

Michael took one more look at the table he wanted. Two doctors, a professor and he couldn't guess the other guy's racket. 'All those analytical minds... And not ONE card player at the fuckin' table' Michael thought with a smile.

He walked up to a tall man with dark hair and a mustache. "Jimmy, can you get me table six?" Jimmy was the brush of the card room. You had to go through him to get through to a table.

"Hey, Mikie. Yeah, Josi already told me that was the table you were shooting for. You're up in five. And listen, thanks for spotting those mechanics. Saved me a whole lot of trouble if one of the flounders caught him," the bigger man said.

"Great... And no problem, you know I hate them as much as you do," Michael said, letting his sparkling blue eyes travel across table six once more.

After about five minutes of both of them looking at the tables Jimmy said, "You're up kid. Give'em hell."

"Just don't wish me luck," he said wryly. "I'll talk to you in a few Jimmy," Michael added and made his way to the table.

Michael made his way slowly to the table. He was still gauging the other so-called players. Some people called Michael over cautious. That was not the case though. He just didn't like losing money. That was the reason, point blank. It was sort of funny, at least to him, that he already knew that he was going to take those men's money.

He already knew their names. That was a side effect of having ears like a wolf. (That's what Josi told him he had anyway.) The first doctor's name was Phil. He was sort of a pudgy man with a light brown mustache. Phil was also wearing a three piece business suit. Michael had guessed that the man wanted to look like a high roller.

The other doctor's name was David. He had very neatly kept black hair and manicured fingernails. That alone gave Michael a few ideas of how he might play poker. He also liked to talk a lot. That might bother the new fish, but Michael had learned to put up with that from beginners. The old saying was mostly true... The nicer the person, the poorer the card player. Michael didn't think that this guy would be very good.

The professor's name was Jack Hawthorn. He was an elderly gentlemen. Probably in his mid-fifties. This one had more control than the others when it came to hiding his tells. He was just wearing a casual sports jacket and slacks. Even though he might have been a tough read for the new flounders... Michael had already pegged his tells.

The fourth one though... Michael thought that he might be a little trouble. He could tell this wasn't the guy's first time in a casino, just by the way he acted. His name was Terry. Or at least that's what he introduced himself as. He was just in a pair of jeans and a t-shirt. But he was the quite type. He didn't talk much at the table. Terry also didn't have many tells, but the ones he did have, Michael had pegged.

Michael finally made it to the table. "Hey guys, what's the game?" he asked, innocence almost dripping off his tongue.

David was the first to speak up. "Texas High Hold'em kid. Do you know how to play that," he asked, a little curiosity to his face. The other players looked up as well, awaiting his answer. "The buy in is five thousand," David then added.

"Texas High Hold'em? Is that anything like five card draw?" Michael asked. His eyes showed nothing but curiosity and interest.

"Sure kid, it's a little like that. Pull up a seat and buy-in, and I'll walk you through it. Teach you how to play, if you will," the professor, Jack, said. He looked like a real friendly guy.

"Sure, yeah, that would be pretty cool," Michael said, still feigning teenage innocence. He caught Josi out the corner of his eye holding a hand over her mouth, attempting to cover the smile that had formed after she heard the conversation.

Michael did what the man asked. Seeing Josi smiling at his little act was making it very difficult to not let out a chuckle. After having a seat, he looked over at the man that said he would show him how to play. "Shoot," he said, simply.

Ordinarily this would be the dealers job. But the dealer knew Michael and kept his mouth shut. Then Jack started to speak. "Alright, kid, this is how the game is played," he started. Taking a puff off a rather large cigar. "The dealer will deal two cards face down to each player. These are called Pocket cards. Then a round of betting goes around. After that the dealer will deal the flop cards in the center of the table. These are known as community cards and anyone at the table can use them. Then another round of bets goes around." John looked at him to make sure he was getting it all so far.

Michael gave him a nod that he understood so far. Feigning stupidity was something that he was really good at.

"All right, after that round of betting, the dealer will deal another card in the community cards. It's called the Turn card. Then another round of betting. The last card is called the River card. That's the last card dealt. After that, it's every man for himself. I assume you know about raising and folding and all of that?" the professor's asked.

"Yeah, I think I know that much... And thanks. This should be a fun game," Michael said with childish enthusiasm. He completely ignored Josi's laughter from the other table. "Ok, I think I'm ready," Michael said, a look of concentration on his face. This little act was to make the other players consider him non-threatening. It gave Michael an upper hand, and he was always looking for those.

And so it began... Michael did exactly what he predicted he would do... Roll the table.

Michael walked through the doors at Ceaser's arm and arm with Josi. They always walked through the clubs like this. They did it for two reasons. Number one, Michael was always a gentlemen and loved doing it and number two, all the tourist guys thought he was her boyfriend and most of them let her alone. That was what Josi wanted. If she wanted to look up a guy, she wouldn't bring Michael. The people that were suppose to I.D Michael didn't, they let him walk right on through.

They knew how old he was. They knew. But the owner had told them to let him in two years ago and they had not heard anything different since. It was lucky for Michael that the owner of The Red Dragon was friends with the owner of Ceaser's. Michael wasn't completely blind to the fact that they were breaking the law by letting him in. He was grateful and had thanked both men many times.

Ceaser's was a far cry from Ceaser's Palace in Vegas. But it was a bit more up scale than the one he was living in. Michael liked to come here and play low stake poker with his friends. Not that he had many, but it was nice. Low stake poker was nothing personal with professional card players. They stood to lose maybe... two hundred bucks to their friends and that was a hell of a lot better than losing it to someone else. Plus it was good practice. If you ever had to play HIGH stake poker with them, you would know their tells.

"Hey Mikie, how much did you take table six for at the Red anyway?" Josi asked, she already knew but she liked to hear him talk about winning, made her feel lucky.

"Let's see... I went in with fifty blacks and came out with 126 of them," he said with a chuckle as they sat down at a public table. 'Sometimes... Sometimes I think she just likes the sound of my voice'. Michael thought wryly.

Michael watched the dealer deal the cards out. "Josi, why is it that EVERY time we play low stakes it's always five card draw??" Michael asked with an amused expression.

"Cause I know you hate it. And if you hate something, you might be thrown off your game!" she replied with a brilliant smile.

Michael was about to say something else, but he saw something out of the corner of his eye and had to look to his left. There, sitting at a five card draw table, was girl about the same age as he was. This puzzled him somewhat. He thought he was the only kid that the clubs on this strip let in. The kid was playing five card draw and, by the looks of it, loosing. She only had about two hundred dollars in front of her and Michael knew that at that table, that was the minimum bet.

The other thing that caught his attention was the kid's beauty. She had black hair that was short in the back but long in the bangs. These bangs were covering half a pair of small, round, mirror-plated shades. She was wearing a black leather jacket, the kind that had all the silver zippers. It was a man's leather jacket and it was a little large on her. But Michael could see what she was wearing underneath because it was unzipped and what he saw surprised him... A little. She was wearing a sports bra, and that was it. Then she lowered her shades to look at her cards a little more closely and Michael saw an amazing shade of blue.

"Hey, Mikie, are you going to throw any cards away or what?" Josi asked, a little hurt she wasn't getting his full attention. "You know her?" she added, following Michael's line of sight.

"No, do you?" His eyes never leaving the girl.

"Nope. She's a little young to be running with that crowd though, isn't she? Tomas is gonna have her for lunch. Man, she's giving herself away on every hand..." Josi stopped when she saw two of a local loan shark's goons headed towards the girl. "What could they want with her?"

Michael didn't answer, he just watched as the two men got closer and closer to the table. Both were in suits. Michael noticed that there was also a third man on the other side of the room making his way towards her. He came from the opposite direction in case she ran. The girl was oblivious until they were right up on her. When she finally did see them, she bolted from her seat, looking a bit like a wild animal that was about to be caught.

Michael watched as the girls facial expressions changed from panic to resignation. She was caught and she knew it. Then a sort of scowl came on her face that was cute, or at least Michael thought so. There was something about the girl... It made him more than a little irritated when the goons grabbed her by the arms and started to the back entrance with her. There was just something about her...

'I Shouldn't get involved, it's none of my business. I won't do it... Aw, hell!' "Josi, stay here," Michael stated as he stood up. "I mean it, " he added in a stern voice when he saw that she was about to object.

"Don't do anything stupid, Mikie," Josi said in a semi-worried voice. She knew that Michael was smart enough to get himself out of what ever he got himself into.

Michael ignored the warning and followed the goons. He was just fast enough to see the back door of the club close behind them. He walked up to the door slowly. He opened it even slower. That's when he started to here voices. A voice that he knew well. It was Big Tom. He was a loan shark and a part time pimp. Michael just wanted to know what he wanted with the girl. She didn't look like a prostitute.

"Charlie Page! As I live and breath. Where have you been Charlie?" Big Tom asked, oblivious that someone besides his men were listening. When Charlie didn't answer, he spoke again. "I ASKED WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?" he almost shouted.

Michael heard the shout and winced. Then he heard fast foot steps headed toward the girl known as Charlie. That's when Michael decided to push the door all the way open and let his presence be known. He came out just in time to see Big Tom slug Charlie in the gut. The girl doubled over and went to her knees. "I want my money Charlie!"

The alley was dark behind the casino. Dark and smelly. Michael spotted two bums trying to sleep back there. "Well, Tom Billings. Don't we run into each other in the strangest of places?" Even though Michael was nervous, he kept an amused expression. Years at a card table taught him to do that.

Big Tom's expression turned from anger to something else. "Mikie Cross. What are you doing here... I'm sort of in the middle of some business," he said, never taking his eyes off Michael. "What do you want?" he then asked. Big Tom knew that Michael was a lot of things, but being a busy body wasn't one of them.