Page 51 of Last Resort

“How did Carr find out about the chips?” Ben wondered.

“All it would take is one old rumor,” Erik pointed out. “Tom might have been looking longer, but he was hidden away and didn’t dare have much contact with people. Carr was on Broadway, dining out on his story about family gangsters and missing treasure. And every time he told his oh-so-entertaining tale, there was a chance for someone to jump in and say, ‘well, I heard…’”

Ben blinked. “I hadn’t thought about that, but it’s genius. Whoever shared the story wouldn’t have to actually have proof or know for sure, just pass on the tidbit.”

“Over the years, Carr circulated with all kinds of people, while Tom hid on an island in Maine. And Tom still must have uncovered something to make him risk coming out of exile, but he was missing a piece,” Erik speculated.

“Or he did know, and ‘Freaky Eddie’ got to him before he could harass Dolores himself,” Ben said.

“I sent pictures of the poker chips to Teag Logan,” Ben said. “Teag loves cracking codes. It’s like a puzzle for him.”

Monty handled the pieces gingerly, although Opal’s ghost posed them no harm. Erik reached toward the chits and then withdrew his hand as if burned.

“What’s wrong?” Ben asked.

Erik scowled at the pieces like they had bit him. “There’s a negative resonance, even after all these years. Not magic or haunted, but…stained.”

“You can ask Alessia if she can cleanse the chips when this is all over,” Ben suggested. “We might need them the way they are until we’ve figured this whole thing out.”

Erik looked to Monty. “Are the chips dangerous?”

Monty frowned, then shook his head. “I agree with you that the chips have a darkness to them, but it may come from all the death and unhappiness they’ve been a part of. Opal’s spirit intends no harm.”

Ben slid a sports drink bottle and a candy bar to Monty to help him replenish his energy. Monty polished both off in record time.

“I’m going to put the chips in the safe until we need them,” Erik said. “They’ll be protected, and the wardings will cancel their energy.” Monty put them back in the bag, and Erik locked it in the safe.

“Thank you,” Ben told Monty. “Do you want to join us for dinner?”

Monty smiled. “Thanks for the invitation, but I promised Jon we’d have tacos tonight. He still thinks they’re exotic.”

Because Monty was a full medium, he could enable his ghostly lover Jon to “cohabit” his body for short periods of time. That included eating, which allowed Jon to taste food and drink through Monty’s senses. Back when Jon died, tacos hadn’t gone mainstream.

Ben felt certain that Jon and Monty had also found a way to use the cohabiting for more sensual satisfaction but definitely didn’t want to know the details.

“Enjoy your dinner then,” Ben replied. “A good taco is a thing of beauty.”

They walked out with Monty, and Ben stood guard while Erik locked the shop and the outside door.

“Do you want to go out for dinner or stay in?” Ben asked. He thought Erik looked worn.

“I have a take-and-bake pizza in the fridge if you don’t mind,” Erik replied. “I’m honestly in the mood for ‘easy.’”

“I’m always easy,” Ben snarked with a lascivious wink. Erik laughed, but it didn’t reach his eyes.

“I’ll take a rain check on that,” Erik replied. “Today’s definitely been a mood-killer.”

Ben took his hand as they climbed the stairs together, wishing he could say something to make Erik feel better.

As if there wasn’t enough underlying stress just getting settled moving in together, we’ve got a killer on the loose and the rest of this shit going on.

When they got to the apartment, Erik turned the oven on and got the pizza ready while Ben found sodas for now and beer for later.

“You okay?” Ben asked.

Erik shrugged. “Yes and no. I’m glad we found out more about the poker chips. I feel bad for Dolores getting caught up in the Raines’s family’s mess through no fault of her own. I hope she’ll recover.”

“She has Opal waiting for her, either way,” Ben pointed out as Erik added extra cheese to the pizza. “It’s sort of brilliant how Edwin found a way to hide the chips right under the Mob’s noses all these years.”

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