Chapter 27: Bringing down the full house - Jess

Monte Carlo, Monaco, July 1 9 PM

As we walked towards the casino, I marveled at the events of the last few weeks. I always knew Dave had good taste but this decadent binge of carousing was beyond anything I could imagine. I love it! I walked close to my brother, Missy on his other side. "Missy, can I borrow your boyfriend for a minute?" I asked. She smiled and nodded, and Dave and I fell a few feet back from the others as we continued our stroll on the nice evening. "I wanted to chat with you briefly about strategy for tonight. European players sometimes take big risks, and they like to be aggressive with small pocket pairs, so we can take advantage of that." I said, and he nodded.

"They also seem to be a bit easier to read. When they bluff they make a big deal out of it. Be careful if there are Asians around. The ones that play in Europe are usually tough," he said.

"Dave, do you think we can hang out a bit soon? I haven't spent much time with you lately. I'm really happy for you though, Missy is a great girl and I think she's perfect for you," I said, putting an arm around my brother.

"Of course sweetie, let me see if I can tear myself away from Missy tonight," he said, with a wry grin. "I do want to talk with you though, a lot of stuff has happened the last couple days,"

"Seriously," I said. "That little girl is hot though, huh? You like her?" I said, teasingly.

"She's very cute, but c'mon Jess, she's fifteen." Dave said, his expression not changing at all.

"Only for five more days, brother of mine, and you better be careful then, because that girl worships the ground you walk on," I laughed.

"Yeah whatever Jess," he groused. "Let's go play some cards." He walked over to Missy and spoke with her briefly, then came back and let me know it was fine for us to spend the night together. That girl was so understanding, I would have to make it up to her. I think I knew just the thing!

With that, we joined the others, and entered the Casino. The Casino has been pictured in many movies over the years, but its lovely facades and over the top décor was still amazing to see in person. As we entered, the entry hall oozed sophistication and elegance. Dave walked up to the concierge and inquired where we were to go for the tournament, and they escorted us to a set of private rooms near the rear of the casino. Here five poker tables were set up, along with rows of velvet seats for the observers. It looked very much like a Paris salon, richly decorated, very different from the dark, smoke-filled rooms of a Vegas poker tournament. We paid our entry fees and made our way to our table assignments. Dave and I were at different tables. I was at Table #1, while he was at table #3. I could see his back from where I sat. Dave turned, and I gave him a quick smile.

We were among the last people to show up. From what I could tell, my table appeared to have one other American, a thirty-something guy sporting a goatee and black shades. I couldn't tell if he was a pro, but he looked the part. There was one man who looked Japanese, impeccably dressed in a Savile Row suit, and the other seven looked to be European, three women and four men, all elegantly dressed, and most of them smoking. I noticed that four of the Europeans looked like they were drinking alcoholic beverages, although that could have been for show. They didn't look like serious poker players, but then again, neither did I. After a little more conversation, the dealers made their way to the tables, and our chips were stacked in front of us. This tournament had different rules than other tournaments that I had played at. We each started with actual value in chips, and the tournament was winner take all, which was interesting. Blinds started at a relatively high value of 500/1000 and doubled each time the tables were condensed. I could see how this was going to be a pretty fast tournament. I cut the ace from the deck, and started out with the button. My first hand wasn't bad, 8 9 of spades. I really liked playing suited connectors, and when there wasn't any action before me, I doubled the blinds. So far, people were taking their time, probably looking to scope out the competition. Both blinds folded and I had two callers. Wow, a three way hand after the flop on a $2k bet? These people were as docile as sheep. The flop came, and it was ideal, seven of spades, five of spades, nine of hearts. I had top pair, four spades, inside straight and straight flush draws, and position. I bet another $2k when the others checked, and the Japanese man folded, leaving me heads up with a European.

My opponent looked vaguely Gallic, and he had a worried expression on his face. I wondered if it was a bluff, but I was unsure. Turn card was a nine of diamonds, giving me trips. That certainly couldn't be any help for him, and after his check, I went all in, drawing a fold. Not bad, the action took me up to around 18k, and I'd nearly doubled up on the first hand.

Dave had folded the first hand with total garbage, and as he got his cards for the second hand, he found himself on the small blind, which was a good position to be in, as he peered at his cards and found a couple of aces. There were two folds before it got to him, and deciding to slow play it, he limped in with a E500 chip. Surprisingly, the big blind dropped two E500 chips, doubling his ante, and four people called before it reached Dave. Of course, he slid two chips forward, and the pot was underway with over 15k in chips before the flop, which came ace of hearts, six of diamonds, four of clubs. Dave couldn't have asked for a better start, but he was in an interesting situation here. With six people in, he'd likely scare off any potential callers by betting with such bad position, so he checked, a scowl on his face. This drew an immediate 2k bet from his neighbor, drawing two calls and two folds. Dave took this opportunity to push the rest of his chips forward, figuring the pot was big enough. His neighbor immediately called, and the other two folded. Dave flipped up his rockets, and the caller angrily threw his cards on the table, face down, and strode away. The first elimination of the evening had occurred. Dave was surprised at the result of the hand. He figured his neighbor must have had a slick or something of that sort to bet so big and call an all-in, but he shrugged and went on.

Meanwhile, I'd sat out the second hand, folding with my two of hearts and seven of diamonds. It would be awhile before I would be on one of the blinds, which was good news. The next hand came, and I had pretty decent cards, with a king of hearts and jack of spades. I matched the blind, along with three others before the two blinds called and six of us saw the flop. My luck continued as I picked up a king of diamonds, along with a five of spades, and ten of clubs. A few checks ensued, and I pushed the tempo by betting the minimum 1k. This drew two folds and three calls, leaving four players, who saw the turn card, a three of hearts. Not much there, although I guess we were one card away from a flush draw. I matched my last bet, drawing only one caller, and the last card was an eight of spades, no apparent help for either of us. My opponent folded after I bet another 1k. I was now up to nearly 25k in chips, and I could coast for awhile, buying pots as I went.

On Dave's table, the next hand was absolute mayhem. Four players went all in before the flop, and Dave weighed a call with his 8 of spades and 9 of hearts. He decided discretion was the better part of valor, folding, despite the 5:1 pot odds. This turned out to be a good decision as the flop was huge, ace of diamonds, ace of hearts, king of spades. This drew a veritable grin from one of the Europeans at his table, and as the remainder of the cards came down, he threw down a slick to the consternation of his tablemates, who bemoaned their bad luck and left the table. The European was now high stack at the table, with nearly 35k in chips, about 10k more than Dave, and that table was down to six people.

I sat out a few hands, not getting anything of consequence, when six hands into the tournament, the proctor told us to get up and move, as we were consolidating to four tables. Wow, was the only thing I could think about that. People must be desperate or eager to throw away their money, or both.

I was still at Table #1, while Dave was now at Table #4, and the blinds had now doubled to 1k/2k. This was going to be pretty tough for those who were short stacked. I was lucky enough to have the dealer to my left after the new cut, and we continued onwards. I folded again, and leaned back, getting an appreciative glance from some of the Europeans. Good, let them look as long as they weren't going to concentrate on the game. The hand was painful to watch, as it was a heads-up game with two inept players with kings and fairly low offsuits try to out-bluff each other. When a king came on the river it looked like both of them were going to throw a party. The result of the hand had one player doubling up and the other heading to the exits. Dead money anyways.

Dave, on the other hand, was living in interesting times. His luck continued with pocket ladies, and he bet 5k before the flop, drawing one caller. The flop came queen of hearts, eight of diamonds, three of spades, and he bet another 5k, putting his opponent all in. His opponent flipped over aces, and Dave winced. Another player out the door, Dave thought, as he collected his chips. So far, it seemed that there were hardly any real poker players in the bunch. Dave wondered if they were just rich travelers who wanted to live up the Monte Carlo experience or what?

I sat out a few more hands, and played one, which I split with the Japanese man when we both had 9/8 offsuits which resulted in outside straight chances that connected. It wasn't too long before we were moving to three tables, and this time, both Dave and I were at Table #1. Things went fairly slowly for awhile, it seemed that the really trigger-happy people were eliminated in the first couple rounds, and the pace was fairly relaxed for the next hour or so. The blinds were now 2k/4k and that made it tough on people, but the action was still not particularly fast. Both Dave and I built our stacks up slowly, winning a hand here and there.

Irvine, California, July 1, 1:30 PM

Dave Daniels sat in his office, poring over the results from the analysis of the evidence seized from the Marseilles apartment. Apparently, these were records from the white slavery operation that they'd stumbled upon. The CD-ROMs contained records of transactions, and one of the files contained email addresses and cell phone numbers for some people higher-up in the organization. The evidence was literally a gold mine of information. According to the documents, there were at least two other American girls that had been kidnapped in Europe in the past several months, and sold to buyers in Qatar and Bahrain, respectively. Dave wondered if they were still alive, and remembered seeing a request for information about these particular girls come across his desk last month. At the time, he wasn't able to find anything about it, but that had changed. Apparently there were five or six French girls, and several others of different nationalities. Dave picked up his phone to call a friend.

Near Annapolis, Maryland, July 1, 4:30 PM Cliff Bartrum heard the buzzing of his cell phone as he was packing up his clubs after finishing a round at Peregrine Glen Country Club, here on the Eastern Shore. He pushed a button to accept the call on his headset, glancing at his Blackberry to see who was calling. "Dave! What's going on?" he said, jovially. He'd met Daniels while both of them were in the military, and he was now a high-level staffer at the Central Intelligence Agency. He served as the civilian liaison officer between Concierge and the US Government, along with his military counterparts at the National Security Agency and those on the operations side.

"Do you remember asking me about two girls last month that went missing in Europe?" Dave said.

"Yes, both of them were from around here, and I thought it was kind of weird that they both vanished in the south of France," replied Bartrum.

"Yeah, well I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I found your girls. The bad news is that they were sold into slavery," said Dave.

"What the fuck!" Bartrum said, "Do I want to know how you found this out? This wouldn't have anything to do with the situation in Marseilles, would it?" The report had just come across Bartrum's desk earlier today, as the subjects in question had been under suspicion of terror activities because of their frequent travels to the Middle East. The Marseilles police had thought it was a drug-related shooting, but Bartrum knew differently. No sign of forced entry, precision shooting, no reports of shots fired from neighbors, no fingerprints except by the victims. All of those factors together, meant it was a professional job, and if it were done by the DSGE or any of the French security services, he would never have heard of the incident.

"I have no recollection of any situation in Marseilles," said Dave, saying everything Bartrum had to hear. "Ross, was it?" said Bartrum. Dave said nothing. "Tell your boy that few people use that H&K 45 ACP compact cartridge anymore. It's pretty recognizable to those in the know,"

"If I had any idea of what you were talking about, Cliff, I'd pass it along," said Dave. "I've emailed you the information about the two American girls. There are a bunch of others of varying nationalities including six French girls. I think Maurice would like to deal with those himself, you think?"

"Oh yeah," said Cliff. "You don't want to step on Maurice's toes, not if you value your life," Rene Cherbourg was the head of the DSGE, and his thoughts on French sovereignty rivaled those of Louis XIV. "Pass me the info on the others, and I'll send it on along,"

"Cliff," said Dave, pausing. "Get these girls back quickly, ok?"

"If they're alive, they'll be on their way back to the US tonight," said Cliff.

"Oh, and Cliff, I've taken the liberty of arranging some withdrawals from our new friends," said Dave. "I figure they won't need it anyways, with where they're going and everything."

"Quite right," said Cliff, coldly. He checked his Blackberry and found the relevant information. As soon as he broke the connection with Dave, he got on the phone with 5th Fleet Headquarters, which was located in Manama, Bahrain.

5th Fleet Headquarters, Manama, Bahrain, July 2, 1:00 AM

A klaxon sounded in the quarters of Platoon 1 of Seal Team 8, which had moved to Manama, Bahrain to support US operations in the Middle East. The soldiers quickly got up and geared up and headed into the briefing room. Platoon 1 consisted of eighteen men and two officers, and Lt. Roger Bigelow, a veteran of operations in the Middle East was in command. He addressed his men, having conferred with his top enlisted man, Senior Chief Rich Buckley, who'd been in the Seals for almost fifteen years now.

"We've been called up to rescue two Americans that have been kidnapped. That's not exactly the right word, they've been sold into slavery," said Bigelow, which drew muttered curses and indignation from his men. Sleep was the last thing on their mind, now. He passed out pictures of the girls to the troopers.

Mary Jacobson was a pretty twenty year old blond, who'd been studying abroad in Nice when she wet missing one evening. Her roommates never heard from her again, after she'd gone out to a club with some friends. Zoe Carter was an eighteen year old brunette from Maryland who'd been on vacation with her family. While they were changing trains from the TGV to another train to head to Italy, she'd gone to the bathroom in the train station and never returned. Police found no trace of her.