The Bartender's Ruse: A Harry & Serena Novella by Jim Heskett

Author:Jim Heskett [Heskett, Jim]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Royal Arch Books
Published: 2022-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

4

In the game, the adventurers sussed out the ruse in the basement in no time at all and returned to the tavern. By then, the bartender had begun performing a magic ritual to remove evidence of the crime, so he could escape out the back door scot-free. Whether or not the players would notice this happening depended on their observational skills. Harry had assumed this brief adventure could go in several directions.

In his head, Harry knew that nothing in the game would matter in a couple more minutes of real world time. But his brain couldn’t stop Dungeon Mastering, and he fretted that the characters would discover the bartender’s guilt too soon. They were less than thirty minutes into what would normally be a four-hour session.

Then Harry sneaked a glance at the bodyguard standing behind Dionysus Tran. Whatever message he awaited still had not arrived. The man wore a sheen of sweat on his forehead, and he’d started to wobble in place a little. Enough to make him widen his stance. Harry tried to make eye contact with Serena, to see if she’d noticed. However, her head was down, her eyes fixed on her character sheet, in what appeared to be an intensive form of concentration. As still as a tree.

He hoped she was working on her own plan, since she hadn’t seemed to cosign Harry’s. Harry didn’t like Harry’s plan, either. But one plan was better than zero plans, so until his brain dictated otherwise, he would carry on as designed. Await the guard’s death, then use the immediately ensuing commotion to make a speedy getaway. Serena would probably do something smart and clever, like usual, and everything would be fine. Probably. Or they might both eat bullets at the hands of this human trafficker’s paid gunmen.

When Harry again spied the future dead man standing, he could tell the end was coming sooner than estimated. He looked like hell. The waiting guard burped, a wet glorch of a sound that was followed by a mortified expression and flushed cheeks. Every head at the table craned their necks toward the red-faced man.

“I’m so sorry,” the bodyguard said. His eyelids fluttered. “You’ll have to... excuse... me.”

Instead of berating him, Dion tilted his head in what appeared to be curious concern. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you sweating?”

Harry could feel every one of his five senses shifting into high gear. His pulse thumped against his neck. Sweat dribbled down the small of his back. The guard now fully swayed on his feet, his eyes barely open. Another involuntary belch escaped, this one louder and grosser than the first.

In a panic, Harry stood up. He grabbed a handful of dice and chucked them onto the table. “The next thing you know, the door to the tavern opens and in walks the biggest... uh, ogre you’ve ever seen, holding a flaming sword in one hand.”

But no one around the table was paying any attention to Harry. As he bent to retreat into his seat, Trevor stood.

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