Chapter 28

It was going on ten o’clock when Hannah and Elias walked through the door of Ollie’s House of Pizza. Hannah had Virgil tucked under one arm. He clutched Arizona Snow in one paw.

Like most restaurants in Illusion Town, there was a slot machine at every table and a bar.

The night was still young and the crowd was light, mostly regulars who lived in the neighborhood. The out-of-zone tourists wouldn’t show up until after midnight. They had to have time and a few drinks to work up their nerve to leave the safety of the bright lights and the high security in the Amber, Emerald, and Sapphire zones.

Virgil considered himself one of the regulars. He wriggled free of Hannah’s grasp, bounced down to the floor, and scuttled across the floorboards to an empty stool. He scrambled up to the seat and from there vaulted onto the polished surface of the bar. There was another round of greetings.

Virgil, always ready to play to an adoring audience, went into full cute mode. He fluttered the length of the bar, proudly displaying his Arizona Snow doll and accepting affectionate pats en route.

When he reached the far end of the polished bar top, Jake, the bouncer-turned-bartender, put a dish of bar snacks in front of him. Virgil set Arizona Snow aside and went to work emptying the bowl of salty tidbits.

“Interesting doll, Virgil,” Jake said. He patted Virgil and gave Elias an appraising look before nodding approvingly and turning to Hannah. “Interesting husband. Congratulations, Finder.”

“About time you took the plunge, honey.” Milly Lamont, a former chorus line dancer perched on a stool at the end, hoisted her martini glass. “But why do your friends and family have to learn this from the Curtain?”

A small, tightly muscled woman seated at one of the tables spoke up.

“Heard the name was Coppersmith,” she said. “Would that be Coppersmith, as in Coppersmith Mining?”

Elias looked amused. “So I’m told.”

The woman gave him a sultry smile. “I’m Venus, by the way. I’m one of the artists in the Alien Visions show at the Glass Pavilion. I’ll make sure you and Hannah get tickets. Wedding gift.”

“Appreciate it,” Elias said.

Someone proposed a toast. There was a round of cheers and best wishes.

Hannah felt the heat rise in her cheeks. Luckily, Ollie’s House of Pizza, like most such business establishments in Illusion Town, existed in a state of eternal night carefully engineered by low lighting and heavily darkened windows. She was reasonably sure that no one could see her turning red.

“Thanks, everyone. But really, it’s just an MC,” she mumbled.

“So what?” Ned Higgins said. “It’s a marriage. That calls for a celebration.”

Ned was a retired croupier who supplemented his pension with small-time blackjack games conducted in various back rooms scattered around the Dark Zone. Jake was a very good card counter. He had a psychic talent for it. He was so good that he had been quietly but firmly informed that he was not welcome in any of the major casinos, at least not as a player.

Alexandra Collins, one of a team of aging waitresses who worked at Ollie’s, crossed the room to give Hannah a hug. She stepped back and studied Elias. Energy whispered in the atmosphere around her.

Hannah held her breath, waiting for Alexandra’s verdict. Alexandra operated a small side business as a storefront psychic in the DZ. She had a talent for reading people.

For some reason Hannah was relieved when Alexandra gave Elias an approving smile.

“Welcome to the DZ,” Alexandra said. “As long as you’re married to Hannah, you’re one of the family.”

“Thanks,” Elias said.

Hannah decided to take charge.

“Thanks for all the good wishes,” she said. “Afraid we can’t stay. Just dropped in to see Uncle Ollie.”

“About time you showed up, honey. Let’s have a look at this new husband of yours.”

The big voice boomed from the large, barrel-chested man who emerged from a back room. He was in his seventies with a lot of shoulder-length silver hair, which Hannah suspected was not all his own, and an unnaturally tight face that was kept firmly in place by regular visits to a discreet cosmetic dermatologist. His dark eyes glinted with a little heat as he examined Elias.

Ollie had a last name but he hadn’t used it for years. He was “Ollie” to almost everyone in the DZ and “Uncle Ollie” to Hannah. Once upon a time he had managed the Lost Colony casino, one of the scruffier establishments in the Emerald Zone. At the time it had been owned by Maxwell Smith. When Smith sold the business in order to move upmarket with the new, flashy Amber Palace, Ollie had retired from the fast lane. He claimed he had always wanted to run a small neighborhood restaurant.

“This is Elias Coppersmith,” Hannah said. “And it’s just an MC, Uncle Ollie. My life has gotten a little complicated lately.”

“Yeah, marriage will do that to you,” Ollie said. He offered his hand to Elias. “Welcome to the DZ, Elias. I met your dad a few decades back.”

“Do I want to know the circumstances?” Elias asked.

Ollie chuckled. “He used to show up at the Lost Colony every few months. He’d win just enough to get my attention and then he’d leave. My security people checked him out and said he wasn’t cheating so they figured he was some kind of talent, one we didn’t know how to detect. I sent in a cooler to try to take the edge off his streak. Didn’t work. My security team suggested we just ask him to leave but I decided I’d like to talk to him first.”

Elias smiled. “Dad told you he was using your casino to run some real-world lab tests on some quartz samples, right?”

“Yeah. Claimed his lab instruments weren’t nearly as good as a casino for running some kinds of tests.”

“Dad tends to be very lucky at cards.”

Ollie snorted. “You can say that again. Your father would have made one hell of a professional poker player.”

“He likes a friendly game, but generally speaking, when he risks big money it involves opening up a new hot-rocks territory.”

“When I figured that out, we made a deal,” Ollie said. “I told him he could continue to test his samples at the Lost Colony provided he let me invest in the territory the samples were coming from. Turned out to be the Sapphire Mine.”

Elias grinned. “It was one of our most profitable territories. Still is, for that matter.”

“Tell me about it. How do you think I financed this place? And now you’re married to my niece. Whatever you need, you got it. Family is family, right?”

Elias smiled. “It is where I come from.”

“Same here in the DZ,” Ollie said. “So what can I give you two by way of a wedding gift?”

“What we need is a little extra protection, Uncle Ollie,” Hannah said. “The cops can only do so much. Runner and his crew are good but there’s only five of them and they don’t carry a lot of firepower. The guys we’re worried about are running around on big motorcycles and they’re armed with mag-rez pistols.”

Ollie squinted a little. “You’re talking about that gang of out-of-zone bikers that tried to grab you the other night.”

Hannah smiled. “Should have known you’d have heard about that by now.”

“Can’t keep stuff like that quiet in the DZ. I doubled the neighborhood watch on your street as soon as I heard about what had happened. You know, the Club isn’t going to be at all happy about this.”

“Funny you should mention that,” Elias said. “Hannah’s aunts arranged an appointment for us with Smith at the Amber Palace this evening.”

“Excellent.” Ollie chuckled. “Those bikers are gonna find out real quick who runs things here in Illusion Town.”