Sherry's Story

Deal

Disclaimer: I don’t own anything to do with the Sin City franchise and I am not making any money from this story.

Author’s Note: As always, a big thanks to my number one reviewer for this story: jlclark

lll

When Ben and I were seated at the table again, Roarke had a question.

“Do you have a picture of my grandson?”

Ben and I looked at each other. We’d known that our guest would ask us this but we needed to get a few things hammered out before we would agree. As Ben had the most experience with Roarke, he answered the politician’s question. “Yeah, we got some.”

There was a distinct gleam of grandfatherly eagerness in the Senator’s eyes at seeing his son’s son, but he refrained from saying anything. Despite being a powerful politician and successful businessman who ruled Sin City with an iron fist, he knew as well as we did that this was one time where his name and status meant nothing. He couldn’t call the shots here. As opposed to countless other dealings he had had with people who wanted something from him, this was his turn to be on the other side of the table, to be the one asking for a favour. I smiled smugly to myself as I saw how Roarke despised being put in this position.

For once, the bastard knew what it was like to sweat. And I was glad.

“May I see one?”

“You’ll get all of ‘em when we get what we want, Roarke, not before.”

The Senator was all business again. “What do you want, Ben?”

“We need to leave Sin City, the sooner the better. I need you to give me a job.”

“That’s a lot to ask considering you dumped me for supposedly greener pastures with the Mob. That obviously didn’t work out. So explain to me why should I help you?”

I spoke up. “Because we are the only ones who can point you to your grandchild, that’s why. Nobody else knows what we do.”

Roarke looked down his nose at me. “Ben is not the only hired muscle I have, Sherry. I could have my men beat it out of you, while your husband watches. It will be only a matter of time before you break.”

We had been expecting that Roarke would try something like this. I grinned at Ben who nodded back. He removed a book of matches and a picture from his back pocket and put it in front of the Senator’s face so he could see that it was a photo of a newborn baby. His jaw dropped as he saw the unmistakable resemblance the boy bore to his dead son.

“For threatening my wife like you just did, Roarke, this is what you get.” Ben could not suppress the slow grin that spread across his face. “This is one of the few snaps of your grandbrat. Because of your stunt just now, you’re gonna lose it. Look at it!” He gave the matches and snapshot to me.

Roarke’s face went from smug disbelief to heartbreaking reality in the blink of an eye as he saw me light the match and hold it under the photograph. The corner began to blacken and curl and the flame began to lick hungrily at the paper.

He was a proud man, used to calling bluffs. He was tempted to do so again but his heart reached for the picture through the bars of his pride. Even if he had to debase himself to save the picture, he would do it. The Senator uttered an unearthly howl of grief and anger. “No…Don’t!” He tried to take the burning photo from me but Ben held him back by putting a brawny arm across Roarke’s chest.

“If you play fair, then we’ll play fair. If not, the kid’s picture burns. Got it?”

Even though Roarke knew it was useless, he tried to break out of Ben’s grip. However, in his exhausted and inebriated condition, his struggles did not last long. His face was now covered in sweat. He knew he was beaten. Weakly, Roarke nodded his head, agreeing to our terms. “Please …don’t do it.”

I licked my fingers and put them on the flame, extinguishing it before giving the picture to the Senator. I saw the proud politician’s face crumple when he held the photograph. “He has my eyes…” He closed his own eyes and fought to stay in control of his already faltering emotions. “My boy…my grandson.” There was a slight smile on his face as he ran his thumb over the baby’s photograph. “How old is he now?”

“Just shy of six months. You’ll get the rest of the pictures, the negatives, and the mother’s address in Vegas when you deliver what you promised.”

“Right.” He was already back to his old self. “How about Chicago?”

“No,” I stated bluntly and forcefully, before Roarke could blink.

“Las Vegas? I know some people--”

“No.”

The Senator scowled. It was obvious that he was not accustomed to being interrupted or hearing the word ‘no’ thrown back at him so roundly. Hell, it wouldn’t have surprised me if he had never heard the word before in his life. I had no doubt he assumed Ben and I would be so grateful for his help that we would jump at his first offer. As if!

“How about New York?”

I shook my head and I saw our guest tighten his jaw at my stubbornness. Did he really think we were that stupid? New York--the Mob capital of America? Was he fucking kidding?

“Detroit. And that’s my final offer. Take it or leave it.”

I slammed my hands palms down on the table, making Roarke look at me in surprise. “Look, are you trying to get us killed? If we go any one of those places, how long do you think it’ll be before the Mob finds us? I thought you were going to play fair, but since you just want to set us up, you can forget about seeing your grandkid--ever! Ben, our guest has outstayed his welcome.”

Roarke glanced sideways at Ben, fully expecting that he, as man of the house, would put me in my place. However, we had discussed this thoroughly beforehand and Ben knew what to say and do. Ben got to his feet and clamped a meaty hand hard on the politician’s shoulder. “Sorry, pal, but as a married man yourself, you know as well as I do that the women rule the roost. You’re leaving now.”

“Wait, wait!” Roarke said.

“Those so-called offers of yours were just bullshit and you know it. If we went to any of those cities, we might as well paint a big red bulls-eye on our backs. It would be only a matter of time before the Mob found and killed Sherry and me.”

“He doesn’t want to help us, Ben. We might as well burn the rest of those pictures up.”

“All right, all right,” Roarke said hastily. “One was enough. Look, I’m sorry. I was wrong. Just don’t do anything hasty. I will do right by you from now on, I promise. Please?”

I nodded to Ben and he took his hand off Roarke’s shoulder and gestured he sit down again.

“Let’s start over. What location did you have in mind?”

I folded my arms across my chest. “We need to go somewhere where we can disappear. That means it has to be somewhere where the Mob is not. The city needs to be big enough to disappear in, but not small enough that we’d attract any attention. Now do you understand?”

Roarke furrowed his brow as he thought. “New Orleans. I have a shipping company based there.”

Ben shrugged at me. As far as either of us knew, other than Miami, the Mob did not have a foothold in any city in the South. It was far enough from Sin City for us to start our new life--we would be free. Ben and I wouldn’t have to constantly be looking over our shoulders, always on the alert that we didn’t being unwanted attention on ourselves... or wondering when the Mob would find us.

“We’d like to be flown to New Orleans. You have a private plane, you can do it. Besides, after you drop us off, you can pick up the kid in Vegas. Everybody gets something.”

My heart sank at Ben’s last words. Everyone but the mother was getting something good from our deal. I would always feel guilty for giving Roarke the location of his grandson. If the boy’s mother wanted the family to be aware of his existence, she would have told them herself. I was handing her and her son over to the wolves for my own benefit. Oh well. It was too late for any regrets now, I thought, forcing myself to pay attention.

“…good idea. We might as well get things started,” Roarke said, getting to his feet. “I’ll need your phone and some privacy.”

“Nothin’ doin’” Ben said. “You can say that you’re gonna make a phone call to your associates for us, but we have no way of knowing if you actually will. Nope, Sherry or me’ll stay in the room with you.”

“You certainly have thought of everything,” Roarke said. “All right. Sherry can stay in the room and ensure that I’ll keep my word. “Now if you’ll lead the way to the phone, Sherry?”

I directed him to our bedroom and closed the door behind me. I did not listen to what he was saying to his associate on the other end, but I did watch to make sure he didn’t put his finger on the disconnection button on the phone.

I jumped when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned and sighed in relief when I saw it was Ben. “How’s it going?”

“So far, so good, I guess,” I replied, ashamed that I hadn’t been paying the least bit attention to what Roarke was saying. He could have been talking to Bugs Bunny for all I knew.

The Senator murmured a few more words into the phone and he nodded before hanging up. He turned and saw us. “I’ve got good news.”

“You’d better,” Ben warned.

“Everything has been arranged and my jet is being refueled and re-stocked, which usually takes a couple of hours. Once that is done, we will be taking off for Las Vegas and you can get off in New Orleans. That being the case, I would strongly suggest getting your affairs in order in the time you have left. Oh, one more thing: you are never to come back here nor should you contact anyone. If you do either of those things, the Mob will find you.”

“I guess we’d better get packin’ then,” said Ben.

“One more thing,” Roarke said. “Once you land in New Orleans, I will not be obligated to help you any further. Agreed?” He extended his hand.

“It’s a deal,” Ben said as he clasped the Senator’s outstretched hand and shook it.

“I do have one more favour to ask,” the Senator said. I was surprised to see that he looked almost sheepish. “While you are packing, may I trouble you for a shower and a shave?” He brushed the back of his hand against the week-old stubble that covered his face. “I can’t meet my new grandson looking like this.”

“Do you want a clean shirt? I can give you one. It won’t fit but it’ll do.”

“No thank you, Ben, I have a suit on the plane. But I appreciate the offer.”

“I’ll give you a new blade for my razor, if you promise not to slice your throat with it.”

Roarke shook his head. “I may have taken you up on that a week ago, but I now have a grandson to live for. Family is everything, Ben.”

lll

As I packed my bag, my eyes wandered over my bedroom and couldn’t help thinking of everything Ben and I had shared within its four walls. The unimaginable pleasure, the whispered confidences in the dark quiet of night, the heights of ecstasy, and the comfort of feeling my husband’s arms around me. As contradictory as it was, the four-poster bed was the focal point of my greatest joy and my greatest suffering.

The idea of leaving Sin City forever made my eyes well up with tears. Aside from Granite Falls, this was the only home I ever knew. I had had many bad experiences here, but because of them, I had met the only man I would ever love.

I had made some friends here—actually, just one. Sable. She was the only friend of my own age. John and Gert were Ben’s friends, not mine. After I left the whorehouse, I made sure that Sable and I stayed in contact. She had been a guest at my home on several occasions. I smiled at all the times she had visited; she had been so intimated by my husband, she was constantly ill at ease in his presence. As a courtesy to me, Ben had left the apartment so we could be alone. I couldn’t even say goodbye to her.

“You done, babe?” Ben asked softly.

“Yeah,” I replied as I shut my suitcase. “Let’s go.”

The Senator was in our living room and looking wonderfully refreshed after his ablution. Once he got into some clean clothes on the jet, he would almost look as good as new.

On the way to the airport, Ben stared out of the limousine windows, taking his last looks at the city. He didn’t say anything but I knew that he didn’t like the idea of leaving--he had grown up in Sin City and had good friends here. Because of me, he was being banished forever from the city of his youth.

Once we were on the plane, we would give Roarke the file; once he’d kept his word, we would keep ours.