If Tommorrow Comes Part 27

"You're going to beat them at chess."

"I'm serious."

"So am I"

"I told you, I don't play chess. I don't know a p.a.w.n from a king. I---"

"Don't worry," Jeff promised her. "A couple of lessons from me, and you'll slaughter them both."

"Both?"

"Oh, didn't I tell you? You're going to play them simultaneously."

Jeff was seated next to Boris Melnikov in the. Double Down Piano Bar.

"The woman is a fantastic chess player," Jeff confided to Melnikov. "She's traveling incognito."

The Russian grunted. "Women know nothing about chess. They cannot think."

"This one does. She says she could beat you easily."

Boris Melnikov laughed aloud. "n.o.body beats me--- easily or not."

"She's willing to bet you ten thousand dollars that she can play you and Pietr Negulesco at the same time and get a draw with at least one of you."

Boris Melnikov choked on his drink. "What! That's--- that's ridiculous! Play two of us at the same time? This--- this female amateur?"

"That's right. For ten thousand dollars each."

"I should do it just to teach the stupid idiot a lesson."

"If you win, the money will be deposited in any country you choose."

A covetous expression flitted across the Russian's face. "I've never even heard of this person. And to play the two of us! My G.o.d, she must be insane."

"She has the twenty thousand dollars in cash."

"What nationality is she?"

"American."

"Ah, that explains it. All rich Americans are crazy, especially their women."

Jeff started to rise. "Well, I guess she'll just have to play Pietr Negulesco alone."

"Negulesco is going to play her?"

"Yes, didn't I tell you? She wanted to play the two of you, but if you're afraid..."

"Afraid! Boris Melnikov afraid?" His voice was a roar. "I will destroy her. When is this ridiculous match to take place?"

"She thought perhaps Friday night. The last night out."

Boris Meinikov was thinking hard. "The best two out of three?"

"No. Only one game."

"For ten thousand dollars?"

"That is correct."

The Russian sighed. "I do not have that much cash with me."

"No problem," Jeff a.s.sured him. "All Miss Whitney really wants is the glory of playing the great Boris Melnikov. If you lose, you give her a personally autographed picture. If you win, you get ten thousand dollars."

"Who holds the stakes?" There was a sharp note of suspicion in his voice.

"The ship's purser."

"Very well," Melnikov decided. "Friday night We will start at ten o'clock, promptly."

"She'll be so pleased," Jeff a.s.sured him.

The following morning Jeff was talking to Pietr Negulesco in the gymnasium, where the two men were working out.

"She's an American?" Pietr Negulesco said. "I should have known. All Americans are cuckoo."

"She's a great chess player.."

Pietr Negulesco made a gesture of contempt. "Great is not good enough. Best is what counts. And I am the best."

"That's why she's so eager to play against you. If you lose, you give her an autographed picture. If you win, you get ten thousand dollars in cash..."

"Negulesco does not play amateurs."

"...deposited in any country you like."

"Out of the question."

"Well, then, I guess she'll have to play only Boris Melnikov."

"What? Are you saying Melnikov has agreed to play against this woman?"

"Of course. But she was hoping to play you both at once."

"I've never heard of anything so--- so---" Negutesco sputtered, at a loss for words. "The arrogance! Who is she that she thinks she can defeat the two top chess masters in the world? She must have escaped from some lunatic asylum."

"She's a little erratic," Jeff confessed, "but her money is good. All cash."

"You said ten thousand dollars for defeating her?"

"That's right."

"And Boris Meinikov gets the same amount?"

"If he defeats her."

Pietr Negulesco grinned. "Oh, he will defeat her. And so will I."

"Just between us, I wouldn't be a bit surprised."

"Who will hold the stakes?"

"The ship's purser."

Why should Melnikov be the only one to take money from this woman? thought Pietr Negutesco.

"My friend, you have a deal. Where and when?"

"Friday night. Ten o'clock. The Queen's Room."

Pietr Negulesco smiled wolfishly. "I will be there."

"You mean they agreed?" Tracy cried.

"That's right."

"I'm going to be sick."

"I'll get you a cold towel."

Jeff hurried into the bathroom of Tracy's suite, ran cold water on a towel, and brought it back to her. She was lying on the chaise longue. He placed the towel on her forehead. "How does that feel?"

"Terrible. I think I have a migraine."

"Have you ever had a migraine before?"

"No."

"Then you don't have one now. Listen to me, Tracy, it's perfectly natural to be nervous before something like this."

She leapt up and flung down the towel. "Something like this? There's never been anything like this! I'm playing two international master chess players with one chess lesson from you and---"

"Two," Jeff corrected her. "You have a natural talent for chess."

"My G.o.d, why did I ever let you talk me into this?"

"Because we're going to make a lot of money."

"I don't want to make a lot of money," Tracy wailed. "I want this boat to sink. Why couldn't this be the t.i.tanic?"

"Now, just stay calm," Jeff said soothingly. "It's going to be---"

"It's going to be a disaster! Everyone on this ship is going to be watching."

"That's exactly the point, isn't it?" Jeff beamed.

Jeff had made all the arrangements with the ship's purser. He had given the purser the stakes to hold--- $20,000 in traveler's checks--- and asked him to set up two chess tables for Friday evening. The word spread rapidly throughout the ship, and pa.s.sengers kept approaching Jeff to ask if the matches were actually going to take place.

"Absolutely," Jeff a.s.sured all who inquired. "It's incredible. Poor Miss Whitney believes she can win. In fact, she's betting on it."

"I wonder," a pa.s.senger asked, "If I might place a small bet?"

Certainly. As much money as you like. Miss Whitney is asking only ten-to-one odds."

A million-to-one odds would have made more sense. From the moment the first bet was accepted, the floodgates opened. It seemed that everyone on board, including the engine-room crew and the ship's officers, wanted to place bets on the game. The amounts varied from five dollars to five thousand dollars and every single bet was on the Russian and the Romanian.

The suspicious purser reported to the captain. "I've never seen anything like it, sir. It's a stampede. Nearly all the pa.s.sengers have placed wagers. I must be holding two hundred thousand dollars in bets."

The captain studied him thoughtfully. "You say Miss Whitney is going to play Melnikov and Negulesco at the same time?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Have you verified that the two men are really Pietr Negulesco and Boris Melnikov?"

"Oh, yes, of course, sir."

"There's no chance they would deliberately throw the chess game, is there?"

"Not with their egos. I think they'd rather die first. And if they lost to this woman, that's probably exactly what would happen to them when they got home."

The captain ran his fingers through his hair, a puzzled frown on his face. "Do you know anything about Miss Whitney or this Mr. Stevens?"

"Not a thing, sir. As far as I can determine, they're traveling separately."

The captain made his decision. "It smells like some kind of con game, and ordinarily I would put a stop to it. However, I happen to be a bit of an expert myself, and if there was one thing I'd stake my life on, it's the fact that there is no way to cheat at chess. Let the match go on." He walked over to his desk and withdrew a black leather wallet. "Put down fifty pounds for me. On the masters."

By 9:00 Friday evening the Queen's Room was packed with pa.s.sengers from first cla.s.s, those who had sneaked in from second and third cla.s.s, and the ship's officers and members of the crew who were off duty. At Jeff Stevens's request, two rooms had been set up for the tournament. One table was in the center of the Queen's Room, and the other table was in the adjoining salon. Curtains had been drawn to separate the two rooms.

"So that the players aren't distracted by each other," Jeff explained. "And we would like the spectators to remain in whichever room they choose."