DOUBLE DOWN Chapter Two

Closing the door behind me, I found myself in a bare hallway, the only other exit appeared to be an elevator on the other side of the hallway. As I entered the restricted area of the casino, May Rogerson, or the woman pretending to be her, entered the elevator. Apparently, the doors slid open moments after I entered the hallway from the casino.

"Hold the door, please!" I shouted down the hallway, jogging toward the elevator and May's imposter waiting inside the cab.

Luckily for me, she did.

"Thanks." I said after entering the elevator, I immediately noticed the control panel only had two buttons, one for up and one for down. "Down please." I joked, causing the imposter to smile at my lightheartedness.

"Your key?" The woman asked.

I hadn't immediately noticed a keyhole next to the down button, but I did now.

Think fast, Nash! I told myself.

"My key. Of course." I said, fishing in my pocket for a key I knew I didn't have.

Unlike on the casino floor, my luck held out. Instead of waiting for me, the imposter inserted her own hey into the slot, turned the oddly designed key and pressed the down button. "I always win." She proudly announced.

"I'm sorry?" I asked as the elevator doors closed.

"I won." She explained, a flirtatious look on her face. "I found my key first. I win."

Smiling back at her as the elevator began slowly descending, I replied, "I guess I'm just not that fast."

"Good to know." The attractive woman replied as she touched my arm, causing me to blush.

Focus, Nash!

I had to obtain some information from this imposter, beautiful woman or not, before I blew my cover. "I assume you're here for the same reason as me?"

The woman hesitated before answering and I momentarily thought I'd pushed too hard and too fast with my questioning. "And what reason would that be?" The woman inquired, her tone still overly friendly.

I took a chance and played my hand, knowing I didn't have any real cards to play. "I heard this guy is onto us. You know, what's his name? I'm sure you heard the same rumor. The Cavalier or something? I had to report back here before he got too close."

The woman laughed and touched my arm again. "Yeah. The Corsair they call him, not the Cavalier. My original's husband warned me about him also. Said this Corsair character had figured it all out. I guess we are both here for the same thing. I'm sure this Corsair guy isn't the first person to get close to the operation. They'll know what to do down there. Probably kill the Corsair and my original if I know them."

Your original's husband?

"Oh, yeah, the Corsair, that's right." I pressed my luck even harder. "So, how long since you've replaced your original?"

"A couple of months. You?"

I knew it! She isn't May Rogerson!

"About a year now I think."

"First time?" The woman asked, blatantly checking me out and obviously liking what she saw, her desires unmistakable.

First time?

"Yup. You?" I asked the imposter.

Damn, how far down is this elevator going?

The woman laughed. "No, this is my third transfer. It gets easier."

What?

"Oh." I replied, unsure of what else to say.

"Exactly. Can you believe I'm over a hundred years old?" The woman asked, turning towards me, her body inches from mine. "Hey. After this, how about we get a room in the casino and we can put our new bodies through the paces. During my last swap, I learned this crazy trick where the lady..."

Before the woman could complete her sentence, the elevator doors opened. Waiting for us, a serious-looking man wearing a suit, sans a tie, blocked our path. I immediately noticed the pistol in his hand although he held it discreetly to his side. I also couldn't help but notice the man wore sunglasses although we found ourselves deep underground and even on the surface, the sun had set hours before. I assumed this guy thought the sunglasses made him intimidating.

This isn't good.

"Why did you two return?" The man asked us both before turning and facing me directly. "And who are you?" The man asked me in particular.

This really isn't good.

I mentally listed the ways I could disarm the man as I instantaneously took in my surroundings. The elevator opened to a large, naturally formed cavern. Stalactites and stalagmites covered the floors and ceiling. A man-made, well-lit pathway led out into the depths of the cave. Other strange lights that appeared to come from the casino above lit the cavern and a few rails and walls had been installed to prevent anyone from falling into several deep fissures. From my position, I couldn't determine where the illuminated path led to and I didn't observe any other people or any clues as to what I'd stumbled into.

"My original hired an investigator and told me this guy was getting close to the operation or had already figured out what we're doing here." May Rogerson's imposter explained to the guard. "We're both here to see what we should do."

"Yeah." I agreed. I didn't think I sounded as convincing as I'd hoped to. "The guy even has a code name. The Cavalier, I think. Sounds serious."

"The Corsair." The woman corrected me, giggling.

"Yeah." I joked. "The Corsair. We both wanted to see what you wanted us to do."

The man relaxed a little but didn't move out of our path. "You were both briefed not to return until you needed to swap again or if there was an emergency. We're not ready for you and it's just me down here now. Some guy who goes by a stupid code name snooping around is not an emergency." The man brought his arm holding the pistol up and relaxed it over his shoulder as if to rest his arm there. I knew he did it to intimidate me. "Now. Like I asked before. I remember you." The man indicated May's imposter. "But I don't remember you. Both of you show me your keys. Now!"

Think fast, Nash!

"Of course you don't remember me. Maybe if I had a sexy figure like hers, you would've remembered me." I chastised the man.

Seconds clicked by before the man answered, chuckling. "Yeah. That must be it. However, rules are rules. Please show me your keys."

May's imposter touched my arm again. "So you like my figure?" She purred, ignoring the man with the gun blocking our path.

Are you serious?

The armed man smiled at the woman. "Everyone does, honey, that's what you pay all that money for time after time. Now please show me your keys so you two can leave. And don't come back until you get old again and can pay for another original to swap with."

The blond woman showed the man her oddly shaped key returned it to her purse. The man nodded and turned towards me.

Seconds ticked by.

Damnit!

Attempting my bluff again, I fumbled around in my pockets. The longer I fished around, the more suspicious the man became. Although my entire gamble only took a few seconds, it felt like an eternity. I swear I could detect the tension in the air. The man lowered his weapon towards my midsection.

"Silly me. Here it is." I announced, removing my hand from my pocket, clutching an imaginary key.

The man relaxed, exhaled and glanced down at my empty palm.

Now!

Mustering every ounce of violence I had, I charged forward. With both my hands, I moved the man's weapon away from my midsection and to my side. Still distracted by my sudden aggression, the man didn't react and I applied a wrist throw, tossing the man to my side, end over end. As he struck the stone floor, I stripped the weapon from his hand with a twist of my body. Only after I'd disarmed him did I realize the initial fall had immediately knocked the man unconscious.

Nicely done, Nash!

I silently congratulated myself, knowing I'd must've appeared pretty awesome to the attractive woman, imposter or not, still standing in the elevator. Whether they be good or evil, I couldn't help but try to appear cool to attractive women.

Turning around, I hadn't realized I'd been smiling until I felt my smile fade. May Rogerson's imposter, several steps out of my reach and still in the elevator car, pressed the control panel and the doors slid closed, trapping me underground as the woman left me, undoubtedly to summon reinforcements.