As Dumas waited for Chester, he tried to prepare himself for what needed to be done.  And yet, no matter how many times he rehearsed the speech inside his head, it never sounded right -- indeed, Dumas couldn’t remember the last time that so few words had sounded so very wrong.  How could he make this confession?  Once they knew the truth, everyone he cared about would hate him.  But he couldn’t just keep silent and pretend that nothing had happened.  Could he?<br/><br/>Lost in thought, Dumas almost didn’t notice the gesture of greeting.  And even when he did, he squinted at the stranger for a second before realizing that it really was Chester.  The magician looked nearly unrecognizable without all of his usual trappings.  Of course, Chester had always been a master of camouflage and misdirection.<br/><br/>Opening his mouth, Dumas prepared to shove the words out.  But Chester was already speaking.  Grateful for this unexpected reprieve, Dumas shut up and listened.  Until Chester’s final revelation made it impossible to remain silent.  “Fuck me,” he hissed.  “I knew it was bad.  Just not that bad.”<br/><br/>Dumas remembered the sweetly malicious smile on the other Mari’s face when she told him what he’d done.  It wasn’t hard to imagine her being involved with the city’s most notorious crime syndicate.  But what about their Mari?  Was there any way to save her -- from herself, and from people who routinely destroyed anyone who dared to oppose them?  Murders committed by the syndicate were so common that the police force often referred to mysterious deaths as being<span style="font-style: italic">‘in the cards’</span>.<br/><br/>“Where is she?” Dumas demanded, clearly ready to charge in with guns blazing.  After all, what did he have left to lose?  “Is she with them right now?”