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a bead of sweat trickles down the weathered - oak face of the elderly gentleman sitting opposite to yokana. he mops it away with a silk handkerchief and looks down again at the small island of chips in the green felt sea of the table. it's not just the merciless glare of the overhead lights that has him sweating. he'd started with a much bigger pile , and the cards haven't been kind. the next player however , was doing the best out of all of them so far. leila sadowski , a chinese - canadian national and currently one of yokana's companions for the night , whose shrewd eyes watch the table from under the shade of an extravagantly wide - brimmed black hat. so much for not standing out in the crowd , especially with that dangerous gambling skill of hers. she taps her fingers on the edge of her cards , drawing his attention to her. 'you go first , i'll follow you behind' she taps in morse code. and then there was him. his own pile of chips hadn't shrunk too much yet. he may still have a chance to take this game.
but , of course , they weren't here for games. they were here to catch a killer. their new intelligence puts an agent from DIABLO , known simply as Angel , there tonight. DIABLO was a global crime syndicate centered mainly in las vegas and as dangerous as it is shadowy - if they could capture or at least get a positive ID on one of their top operatives , it may give the SAINTS ( their organization ) some of that edge that has been so sorely lacking up until now. but this was a busy casino , and they know dangerously little about Angel. their only lead was the casino's owner , mikhail petrovich , who's suspected of trying to make a deal with DIABLO to save himself from bankruptcy.
they needed to get upstairs , where they can meet their contact and try to find petrovich. and that's proven easier said than done so far. the upper floor - the VIP section of the casino - is only accessible to specially invited guests or those who can bring a lot of money to the tables.
the lights glint off the glass in front of yokana and the polished wood of the table edge , further intensifying that thick tension on the table. the elderly man was the first to run out of chips before being escorted out by the guards. now it's just him and leila. she gazed at him steadily , her face a perfect mask of impassiveness , which he found hard to believe considering the bubbly personality of the female. he had found her very difficult to read in this focused state of her. he had tried faking a few tells , none of which she's fallen for.
