The House Owes Blood

Ten years ago a car backed over his father behind a cardroom; dying, Ellis pressed a brass claim tag into his hand with one order: never come back to the table. He works the Copper Wire instead, until he names a cheater's sleeve clip and wins the till back for its owner Sabine. He is chasing the maroon wagon: a repair ledger signed by Vernon Quill, three unlogged days, and the name behind it, Ledger. He buys it with dice read by sound, a deck reordered at the cut, a cup set so no face lies flat. At Worth Clearing House, Bram, who holds every note, raises him: ten million heads-up, and everyone he brought stays if he loses. Bram reads his hole cards through a buzzing ring and a camera relay; Gideon feeds the relay a lie, wins the pot with a straight flush, and lets the cheating clause take the rest. Bram confesses on tape to driving the car, says he took orders, and a shot through the glass cuts off the name. The last card is not his to turn but Sabine's, and it says why she found him.