The company commander made a face, then took another sip of brandy before answering.
“I was going to sit on this for a while,” he said, “but we might be stuck with part ownership of the Fat Chance for a while.”
The lieutenant frowned. “How so? I thought our share was going back to Rafael once he paid off the loan.”
“That’s the problem,” Phule said. “I had a meeting with Gunther earlier today, and it seems he might not be able to pay off the loan.”
“Why not?” Battleax demanded. “I thought you and your hard cases pretty much eliminated the cheats that were going to bleed off the profits.”
“We did,” Phule said. “The trouble is, there wasn’t that much profit to start with. Gunther’s big plan was to draw customers by giving better odds that the other casinos on Lorelei. Unfortunately the odds he gave were so favorable to the guests that his profit margin was next to nothing. The reason I haven’t said anything is that I’m still trying to makeup my mind as to where to go from here. Do we give him an extension of the loan, or do we go ahead and accumulate forty-nine percent of the ownership?”
“Something you might want to consider, Captain,” the colonel said, staring into her glass as she twirled it between her hands. “Mr. Rafael may not want to buy back your shares. I can see certain advantages to him in keeping you as a silent partner, with a vested interest in the continued success of the Fat Chance.”
“It’s funny you should say that.” The commander smiled wryly. “Beeker raised the same point. I may want to make a quick audit of Gunther’s books at some point. At the very least, I want him to ease his payout odds down until they’re more in line with the other casinos.”