Page 100 of Royal Flush

We stood in prime position, so I could keep Jasmine in my sights as well as the other guests on the casino room floor.

“You found something,” I told him after a full minute of silence.

“I’m certain you remember what I said to you. I haven’t heard about anyone of power who doesn’t have a closet full of secrets. Justin Sinclair is no different, although unlike some,” he purposely lifted his eyebrows as he studied me, “who were born with silver spoons in their mouths, he came from a meager background, his father and grandfather both cattle farmers. They’d fought with the government over various regulations that had nearly destroyed them not once but twice. That’s why Justin went to law school and began early on to run for politics.”

“Now that the glow and show highlights are finished, I need the dirt.”

“Can’t you just let shit go?” he asked gruffly.

“A buddy of Justin’s came into his daughter’s room and almost raped her. He would have if a guest hadn’t stumbled onto the wrong floor.”

He eyed me, having obviously learned every detail about the bullshit he’d been able to find. “That wasn’t his fault.”

“No, but he way he treated her afterwards was. You are right in that we all have good and bad traits.”

“Yeah, you do.” Jack grinned at me. “I know you care about the girl and there is no doubt from what I found her life was in lockdown mode for a long time, but Justin had good reason. They were almost killed not once but twice.”

“Tell me something I don’t already know.”

“God, you’re a hard ass.” He shifted around to face me. “When he was a young man, he came close to facing a manslaughter charge because of an incident that occurred with his sister. His father had to pull in a huge favor from one of the few politicians whose background was in law enforcement and from what I could tell, it cost the family a lot of money, which forced the ranch into foreclosure.”

“Boring.”

“Yeah, but used more than once by his opponents. If you want something juicy, then be careful how you think about using it. There was an incident with a young girl. She was seventeen and supposedly he didn’t know it. There was a huge party, all his buddies there, and one thing led to another.”

“How old was he?”

“Well, the interesting thing was that he had buddies able to help sweep it under the rug, the girl’s mother happy to accept a hefty payment in exchange for signing a non-disclosure agreement.”

I mulled over what he’d just told me. If I had a quarter for every politician who’d been caught with an underage girl, I’d be even richer. It wasn’t enough to matter to anyone, or at least it shouldn’t. “What about the guy in Jasmine’s room? Was he ever identified?”

He seemed almost uncomfortable. “That took some digging. The answer is not officially. However, there were some rumors it was a buddy of yours.”

I could tell by the grin on his face he was kidding. “Who?”

“Jameson Bishop.”

Well, fuck. I was taken completely aback. “How the fuck did they know each other?”

“You’d be surprised about that group of friends. I gathered everything I have and sent it to you. It’s not a smoking gun but it’s volatile.”

“Yeah, I guess so. I take it Jasmine doesn’t know.”

“Remains to be seen. As with any other political arena, rumors might fly but when you have a powerful group of friends behind you, shit gets shoved under the carpet.”

One reason I loathed politics so much. “The twisted game of evil men.”

“You should know.”

“Very funny.”

“There’s one more player you should know about.”

I could tell whoever it was should trouble me. “And?”

“Santini Demage.”

“Well, fuck,” I finally said out loud. Honestly, the news didn’t surprise me, nor did it feel that disturbing. My father had groomed a mafia man or two in his lifetime. However, it would seem all the parties were coming together in a way that I doubted any of them liked. Or they were simply looking the devil in the eyes. I really didn’t give a shit either way.

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