Illusion of Luck (24 page)

Crow said the name in his head repeatedly.
“I’ll be right back. Gotta go to the ‘little boy’s room.’”

He walked to the bathroom.
Once inside he pulled out his cell phone and recorded a voice
memo:
Greg
Tenorly
. Greg could probably give him
some clues to help him find that sleaze, Barry.

When Crow walked back into the living room
he could see that Chaucey had pulled herself together.

She said, “Now, what’s this movie
about?”

“
Let’s see.” Crow picked up
the DVD box and read the blurb. “It says it’s about this well-to-do
mouse living in London who gets flushed down the toilet to the
world of the common mouse.”

“
Gee, I don’t know,
Crow…”

“
It stars the voice of Hugh
Jackman.”

“
Okay. Sounds
good.”

“
I
knew
it.” He pointed at her,
grinning. “I knew you were hot for Hugh Jackman.”

She tried not to smile, but couldn’t stop
herself. “Okay, yeah, I like him. But who’s the leading lady?”

“
Kate Winslet.”

“
Your girlfriend,” she
teased.

His face turned red.
“She’s
not
my
girlfriend.”

“
Do you dream about
her?”

“
Maybe. Do you dream about
Hugh Jackman?”

“
Just
day
dreams.”

Crow thought a second. “So, you’re gonna be
getting all turned on hearing his voice in this movie?”

“
Well, that’s not so bad.
‘Cause maybe when it’s over I’ll let you kiss me.” She couldn’t
believe she had just said that.

Crow couldn’t believe she had said it
either.

She slapped him on the arm. “I’m just
kidding. Start the movie.”

But he wasn’t absolutely
sure she had been kidding. Maybe she
really did
want him to kiss
her. But he wouldn’t try it unless he was sure.

How could he be sure?

**********

It was 8:20 PM, and Greg and Cynthia were
sitting in their robes, enjoying a room service meal.

“
I have never slept that
sound before in my entire life,” said Greg.

“
Me either. It was
fantastic. And I’m
so
hungry. I’m afraid I’m going
to eat too much.”

“
It’s our honeymoon. Enjoy
it. Quit worrying about your weight.”

“
Okay.” She
smiled.

He stopped eating and just watched her.

“
What?” She put down her
fork. “Why aren’t you eating?”

“
I was just enjoying the
view.
Loving
the view, actually. Loving
you
.”

“
You loved me
very well
this
afternoon. I think I may have underestimated your level of
endurance.”

“
That’s because I can’t stay
up with you when it comes to jogging. But when it comes to
sex—well, you just make me go crazy.”

“
Now
that’s
the kind of crazy I
like.”

“
I just hope I can walk
tomorrow.”

She giggled. “What you mean? You seem to be
getting around just fine.”

“
Yeah, but we’re not
done…are we?”

When she saw the look in his eyes, she
forgot about the food. She stood up, seductively removed her robe
and laid it across her chair. Then she rolled onto the bed and
smiled at him.

It was the first time he had
seen her completely naked in the light. Amazing, he thought.
But,
his
body
was
far
from
perfection, so he began to turn off all the lamps. He was about to
click off the last one.

“
Leave that one on,” she
said. “I want to see you.”

“
You sure about that? You
know it’s too late to get out of this thing. We
are
married.”

“
Take off your robe and come
here, Silly.”

“
Well, okay.” He pulled his
robe off and threw it toward a chair. It landed on the floor
instead.

“
Now, get over here and kiss
me,” she said.

Greg’s cell phone rang. He wanted to ignore
it, but answered it anyway. “Hello?”

There was no answer—just somebody
breathing.

“
Hello?”

Still just the sound of someone
breathing.

Greg hung up.

“
Wrong number?” said
Cynthia.

“
I guess so. I don’t
recognize the number or even the area code.”

“
Maybe you should turn it
off. We don’t want any more interruptions.”

“
Good idea.” He turned it
off. “In fact, I think we should leave both of our phones off the
whole time we’re here.”

“
Fine with me. Of course, I
don’t even have mine. Larry took it from me.”

Great, thought Greg. Now she’s thinking
about Larry. That can’t be good just before we make love.

Cynthia quickly added,
“Forget I brought
him
up.” She paused for a
moment, and looked as though she was solving a math problem in her
head. “There—forgotten. Now come here and make love to your wife.”
She shot him a very sexy smile.

He instantly forgot about Larry too. “Yes,
ma’am, I’m coming—literally.”

He got down on hands and knees and crawled
across the bed to her. Then he bent down and kissed her
passionately.

She said, “You have wonderful lips,
Honey.”

“
Well, I’m glad you said
that.”

“
Why?”

“
Because I’m about to use
them on every inch of your glorious naked body.”

“
Ooh, that gave me tingles
in all the right places,” she said.

He started kissing her on the neck.
“Good.”

Next, he began to slowly walk his wet lips
down the middle of her chest. “Now let’s see if we can work those
tingles into tremors.”

“
Mmm,” she
moaned.

“
Then I’ll build the tremors
into full-blown throbbing.”

“
Oh, yeah.”

He gently kissed along the underside of her
right breast.

She lay in a hypnotic state as she softly
said, “I’m all yours, Baby. Do whatever you want with me.”

**********

It was nearly 9:00 PM, and Larry was dying
for a big, juicy steak and fries. He exited Interstate 10 to find a
restaurant in Pensacola. He would easily make it to Orlando in time
for a nap before the Disney World parks opened.

He had finally checked the
results of the Texas Lottery drawing from Saturday night and found
that he had
lost!
It had been quite a shock when he realized that
his
$45 million
would be going to someone else.

Perhaps he had somehow disappointed his God
of Luck. Maybe he was being punished. Or, more likely, he was being
protected. Because if he tried to collect the money, the police
might be waiting there to arrest him for the murder of his
girlfriend, Erin, or that lawyer, Melanie Maylin, or that old lady
in the parking lot.

And because the authorities were probably
looking for him, he couldn’t take a chance on using one of his
credit cards. Yet he now had less than $100 cash in his wallet. He
needed money for gas, a motel room, park tickets, meals, etc. Where
could he get some?

He spotted a steakhouse across the street
from a convenience store. The 24-hour store had two ATM
machines—one inside, one outside.

Larry had plan. A perfect plan.

Chapter
32

Larry parked the Jaguar around the corner
from the steakhouse—just in case. But wasn’t that hedging his
bets? Why was he afraid to park the car right out front? A true
believer would not give it a second thought. A true believer would
jump off into the darkness, trusting his luck to protect him. Just
like he had done at the football stadium. But maybe that hadn’t
really been faith at all. Maybe it was pure desperation.

He hated to admit it, even to himself, but
losing the lottery had put doubts in his mind. He had been so sure
he would win. His faith had been completely blind. Oh, the sweet
freedom of throwing caution to the wind, he thought. He would
regain that kind of faith. But perhaps not tonight.

He opened the glove box and took out his .45
caliber semi-automatic pistol and suppressor. A typical suppressor
changes the sound of a shot, but does little to reduce the volume.
But this one took advantage of phase shifting technology. It’s
similar to how a person’s voice changes after breathing helium
from a balloon. The sound of the shot gets phase shifted to a
higher frequency than humans can hear.

He got out of the car, took off his jacket
and threw it on the front seat. Then he opened the trunk and pulled
a windbreaker out of his bag. It was a fairly chilly night, and the
windbreaker didn’t provide much warmth, but it was part of his
plan. He put it on and pulled the hood over his head.

The 40-something year old woman standing
outside the store at the ATM didn’t seem to notice him
approaching.

“
Don’t move—I’ve got a gun.”
His voice was soft, but intense.

“
Please don’t hurt
me.”

He put his left arm around her, pretending
to be the husband. “I want you to withdraw $1,000.”

“
I don’t know if I
can—there’s a daily limit. I think it’s $500.”

“
Okay, fine. But hurry
up.”

Her hand was shaking so much she had to
punch the buttons very deliberately to be sure she didn’t make an
error.

That’s good, he thought. She knows she’ll
probably die if she makes a mistake or takes too long.

He looked around. Amazingly, there was
nobody in sight, except in the store. But those people were too
busy purchasing overpriced beer and junk food to notice what was
happening outside.

“
Okay. Here it is.” She
started to hand it to him.

“
No. Hold on to it. Now do
exactly as I say and you won’t get hurt.”

“
I will.”

“
We’re going to walk around
to the side of the building.”

“
Okay.”

Larry kept his arm around her as they walked
around the corner, and then to the back. He released her and pulled
out the pistol.

She held out the cash. “Here’s your money.
Now please let me go.”

He took the cash and aimed the gun at
her.

“
Please. I’ve got a husband
and three kids. I promise I won’t tell anybody.”

“
Oh, I’m sure you won’t.” He
squeezed the trigger.

The bullet ripped through her chest like a
hatchet through crepe paper. He watched her lifeless body fall to
the ground. It was the first time he had killed with a gun. He was
surprised how good it made him feel.

He pulled the hood back and walked around
the other side of the store and walked inside. Going so long
without food was starting to bring on a dull headache. A couple of
Excedrin would fix him up.

“
Beautiful evening,” said
the middle-aged female clerk.

“
Brisk,” he said. “I love
it.” He pointed to the steakhouse across the street. “Do you know
how late they’re open?”

“
Usually ‘til about
eleven.”

“
Usually?
”

“
Yeah. But they quit taking
orders at 10:00.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s 9:50, so you’ll
be fine if you get on over there.”

“
Great—I’m
starved.”

Larry stepped out of the store and took a
deep breath. Wonderful evening, he thought. He walked across the
street to the steakhouse. When he saw the police cruiser pulling
into the one available spot in the front, he figured the food must
be good.

Then it occurred to him that
cops could be trouble. Why hadn’t that been his
first
impulse? Because his luck
was back—
big time
. He could feel it running through his veins. Let them serve
and protect all they want, he thought. Nobody can touch
me.

The place was packed and it smelled
fantastic. A young lady showed him to a table in the back near the
kitchen. He realized right away it would be a noisy place to sit.
Why should he have to put up with the sound of pots and pans
clanging, and cooks yelling? The cops got a great seat in the
front. Maybe he’d call the manager over and complain.

Nah. He didn’t mind pushing his luck, but no
sense wasting it on something trivial.

**********

Larry had been very impressed with his steak
and the generous serving of fries. Even their home-style apple pie
was excellent.

And the cops seemed to be enjoying their
meal as well—until a man came running in and went straight to their
table. Almost immediately, they jumped up, put on their hats, and
ran out.

It seemed like Larry might have stayed a
little too long. How could he exit unnoticed?

His waiter brought the check and poured him
another cup of coffee.

“
What was that all about
with the police officers?” said Larry.