Chapter 4 — The Dead Dealer's Secret
CHIPS OF DECEPTION
Chapter 4 — The Dead Dealer's Secret
The words written across Marcus Reed's personnel file seemed to suck the air out of the room.
YOU'RE NEXT.
No signature.
No fingerprints.
Just five carefully written words.
Detective Sarah Lawson sealed the briefcase inside an evidence bag.
"No one touches anything."
Crime scene technicians immediately photographed every inch of the dealers' lounge.
Marcus stood silently, staring at his own personnel file.
For twenty-five years, he had believed he was the hunter.
Tonight...
He had become the target.
Jason broke the silence.
"Whoever left this wanted you to find it."
Marcus nodded.
"Yes."
"They're sending a message."
Sarah frowned.
"Or setting a trap."
Marcus slowly looked toward Eric Dalton's body.
"The question is..."
"Why Eric?"
The young dealer had only worked at Imperial Crown Casino for three years.
He wasn't old enough to have attended the international gaming conference six years earlier.
He shouldn't have been connected.
Yet somehow...
He was dead.
The medical examiner carefully searched Eric's uniform.
Wallet.
Keys.
Employee ID.
Nothing unusual.
Then...
He reached inside Eric's jacket lining.
"There seems to be another pocket."
Marcus looked closer.
It wasn't part of the original uniform.
Someone had secretly sewn an additional compartment into the inside of the jacket.
The examiner carefully cut the stitching.
A tiny USB flash drive dropped into his gloved hand.
The room became silent.
Sarah smiled slightly.
"Looks like Eric wanted someone to find this."
Thirty minutes later...
The USB was connected to a secure police computer.
Marcus.
Sarah.
Jason.
And Isabella watched the monitor together.
One encrypted folder appeared.
Its title read:
PROJECT ODYSSEY
Sarah frowned.
"What is that?"
The forensic technician clicked the folder.
Hundreds of documents appeared.
Financial transfers.
Passport scans.
Casino employee rosters.
International flight records.
Marcus quickly realized something.
"This isn't casino information."
"No."
Sarah whispered.
"It's surveillance."
Every document involved the same people.
Dealers.
Security officers.
Casino accountants.
Tournament organizers.
All from different casinos around the world.
Each name had a status beside it.
ACTIVE
MISSING
DECEASED
Jason slowly swallowed.
"This is a hit list."
Then they opened another file.
A video recording.
The date surprised everyone.
Recorded only twelve hours earlier.
Eric Dalton appeared on screen.
His face looked terrified.
He kept glancing behind him before speaking.
"If anyone finds this..."
"My name is Eric Dalton."
"I don't have much time."
He took a deep breath.
"They know I copied the files."
Marcus leaned closer.
Eric continued.
"If I'm dead..."
"Don't investigate Isabella Monroe."
Everyone turned toward Isabella.
She looked equally shocked.
Eric shook his head on the video.
"She's not the target."
"She's the bait."
Silence.
Eric continued speaking.
"They've been using major poker tournaments to identify certain people."
"They don't care about the winners."
"They care about who watches the winners."
Marcus frowned.
"What does that mean?"
No one answered.
Eric continued.
"I don't know who controls Project Odyssey."
"I've never seen the boss."
"But every casino involved receives the same instructions."
"When Isabella Monroe enters..."
"Watch everyone around her."
The recording suddenly glitched.
Then resumed.
Eric's voice became quieter.
"I copied one file."
"The most important one."
"If they catch me..."
"They'll kill me."
The screen went black.
Jason looked confused.
"Where's the file?"
The technician searched the USB.
Nothing.
Only the video remained.
Marcus frowned.
"It was deleted."
Sarah shook her head.
"No."
"It was never here."
Someone had removed the file before Eric died.
Just then...
Another technician entered carrying a printed report.
"We recovered deleted fragments."
Marcus took the pages.
Most were unreadable.
Corrupted.
Except for one sentence.
TARGET ALPHA WILL ARRIVE IN LAS VEGAS WITHIN 72 HOURS.
Jason looked up.
"Who's Target Alpha?"
Nobody knew.
Marcus turned toward Isabella.
"I think it's time you told us everything."
She remained silent for several seconds.
Finally...
She nodded.
"My father wasn't just a poker player."
Everyone looked at her.
"He worked for casino security."
Marcus frowned.
"Where?"
"Monte Carlo."
The room fell silent.
"My father spent years investigating illegal money laundering inside luxury casinos."
Sarah immediately understood.
"He disappeared during the investigation."
Isabella nodded.
"Three days before he vanished..."
"He gave me the ring."
Marcus looked at the silver band resting inside an evidence bag.
"And told you never to lose it."
"Yes."
Jason asked quietly,
"Did he tell you why?"
She hesitated.
Then answered.
"He said..."
"If anyone ever asks for the ring..."
"Run."
Marcus stared at her.
"So tonight..."
"You weren't protecting jewelry."
She slowly shook her head.
"I was protecting the only thing my father left behind."
The forensic technician suddenly interrupted.
"Sir..."
Marcus looked over.
"We recovered something else."
He enlarged one corrupted image.
It appeared for only a second.
A group photograph.
Taken inside a luxury casino years ago.
Several security executives stood together.
Marcus immediately recognized one face.
"The Imperial Crown General Manager."
Sarah nodded.
"He was at that conference."
Jason recognized another.
"The owner of the London casino."
Another.
"The Macau director."
Every executive connected to Project Odyssey.
Then Marcus noticed one final person standing in the back row.
A man wearing a white dinner jacket.
Adrian Cross.
The same mysterious figure from the surveillance footage.
But unlike everyone else...
He wasn't smiling.
He was staring directly into the camera.
Almost as if he already knew...
Someone would eventually find the photograph.
Sarah enlarged the image again.
Something glinted beneath Adrian's sleeve.
A tattoo.
Very small.
Only partially visible.
A black chess knight.
Marcus frowned.
"I've seen that before."
Jason looked surprised.
"You have?"
Marcus slowly nodded.
"Years ago."
"On someone who worked here."
"Who?"
Marcus's expression changed.
"The former Head of Security."
Sarah checked the employment records.
"He retired eight years ago."
Marcus slowly shook his head.
"No."
"He didn't retire."
"He disappeared."
The room suddenly fell silent.
Every missing person.
Every murdered dealer.
Every casino.
Every photograph.
Everything pointed toward the same hidden organization.
Project Odyssey.
And somehow...
Imperial Crown Casino wasn't investigating it.
It had been helping hide it.
Before anyone could speak...
The forensic technician gasped.
"Sir..."
Marcus turned.
"What?"
"The deleted file..."
"I think it wasn't deleted."
"It was transferred."
"Where?"
The technician's fingers raced across the keyboard.
His face turned pale.
"It's being accessed right now."
Marcus stepped closer.
"From where?"
The technician looked at the screen in disbelief.
"It's inside this building."
The room froze.
Someone...
Inside Imperial Crown Casino...
Was downloading Eric Dalton's missing file at that very moment.
Marcus grabbed his radio.
"All security teams."
"Lock down every floor."
"No one leaves."
Then the technician whispered one final sentence.
His voice barely audible.
"Sir..."
"The download is coming from..."
May you like
"...your office."
End of Chapter 4
