*****
"Hit me my man!" said a smiling Jimmy Vegas as he leaned back in his seat all relaxed as though he had not a care in the world. In a slow, nonchalant manner, the 39 year old reached for his fourth card in hopes that it would bring him closest to the 21. In all, he had 17 and indeed he was the winner once more. His luck was never ending as he had within just one hour racked in $5,000 and was not looking to stop until he hit five more. Like his rivals, the always well-dressed Jimmy Vegas had read the new assignment but unlike the others, he knew he held the upper hand. He would play his hand a few more times and then plan out his hunt for the teen pop star. After all, his opposition was miles away and he was right there with his prey within striking range. Why worry about anything the vain card shark thought.
Tilting his champagne flute, Jimmy silently toasted to his impending victory as he laid down his new set of cards as they read 21 for the dealer's eyes. He had no question that the competition was his and the others will come and go from his city with empty points and full magazine clips. The score of the popular singer would place him in superior range to take the whole competition and prevail as the world's deadliest professional killer.
With a smile on his lips, he gloated to his good fortune as he tossed his last card down for the win yet again. Talking to his feet, he started swiping his hands down his new white suit to massage out the kinks, flipped on his matching fedora and bid the men at the table a good day. "Well, it has been fun gentlemen and thank you one and all for your cash and your time." he said as he made his exit from the private card room where he took more than $10,000 from the group of four players.
"Hey….. Vegas! That's not just it…. You can't be just walking out and not giving me and the boys any chance of getting that money back," said a tall, powerfully built man dressed remarkably like a cowboy, complete with leather vest, tall black hat and spurs adorning his leather cowboy boots. Jimmy figured him to be a good 6 foot 5 when he rose from the card table. "You're not going to just walk out of here like that are you?" the man added as he placed his hat upon his head giving the big man even greater height. With a smile and a wink, Jimmy glanced back at the man and with a tip of his hat, he took a bow.