The Winner (10 page)

L
uAnn stopped at a gas station rest room and cleaned up as best as she could. She cleaned the wound on her jaw, pulled a Band-Aid out of Lisa’s diaper bag, and covered the cut with it. While Lisa slurped contentedly on a bottle, LuAnn bought her lottery ticket and some ointment and gauze at the local 7-Eleven. As part of the ten numbers she picked, she used her own and Lisa’s birthdays.

“People been coming in here like damn cattle,” said the clerk, who was a friend of hers named Bobby.

“What happened there?” he asked, pointing to the large Band-Aid on her face.

“Fell and cut myself,” she said quickly. “So what’s the jackpot up to?” LuAnn asked.

“A cool sixty-five mil and counting.” Bobby’s eyes gleamed with anticipation. “I got a dozen tickets myself. I’m feeling good about this one, LuAnn. Hey, you know that movie where the cop gives the waitress half his lottery winnings? LuAnn, tell you what, darling, I win this thing, I’ll give half to you, cross my heart.”

“I appreciate that, Bobby, but what exactly do I have to do for the money?”

“Why, marry me, o’ course.” Bobby grinned as he handed her the ticket she had purchased. “So what do you say, how about half of yours if you win? We’ll still get hitched.”

“I think I’ll just play this one all by myself. Besides, I thought you were engaged to Mary Anne Simmons.”

“I was, but that was last week.” Bobby looked her up and down in obvious admiration. “Duane is dumb as dirt.”

LuAnn jammed the ticket far down into her jeans. “You been seeing much of him lately?”

Bobby shook his head. “Nah, he’s been keeping to himself lately. I heard he’s been spending a lot of time over Gwinnett County way. Got some business over there or something.”

“What kind of business?”

Bobby shrugged. “Don’t know. Don’t want to know. Got better things to do with my time than worry about the likes of him.”

“Duane come into some money that you know of?”

“Come to think of it, he was flashing some cash around the other night. I thought maybe he won the lottery. If he did, I think I’ll just go kill myself right now. Damn, she looks just like you.” Bobby gave Lisa’s cheek a gentle rub. “You change your mind about splitting the pot or marrying me, you just let me know, sweet cheeks. I get off at seven.”

“I’ll see you around, Bobby.”

At a nearby pay phone, LuAnn dialed the number again and once again Jackson picked it up on the first ring. She gave him the ten digits from her ticket and she could hear him rustling paper on the other end of the line as he wrote them down.

“Read them to me once more, slowly,” he said. “As you can understand, we can’t have any mistakes now.”

She read them again and he read them back to her.

“Good,” he said. “Very good. Well, now the hard part is over. Get on the train, do your little press conference, and sail away into the sunset.”

“I’m going to the train station right now.”

“Someone will meet you at Penn Station and take you to your hotel.”

“I thought I was going to New York.”

“That’s the name of the train station in New York, LuAnn,” Jackson said impatiently. “The person meeting you will have a description of you and Lisa.” He paused. “I’m assuming you’re bringing her.”

“She don’t go, I don’t go.”

“That’s not what I meant, LuAnn, of course you can bring her. However, I trust you did not include Duane in the travel plans.”

LuAnn swallowed hard as she thought back to the bloodstains on Duane’s shirt, how he had fallen off the couch and never moved again. “Duane won’t be coming,” she said.

“Excellent,” Jackson said. “Enjoy your trip.”

The bus dropped off LuAnn and Lisa at the train station in Atlanta. After her phone call with Jackson, she had stopped at the Wal-Mart and purchased some essentials for herself and Lisa, which were in a bag slung over her shoulder; her own torn shirt had been replaced with a new one. A cowboy hat and a pair of sunglasses hid her face. She had thoroughly cleaned and dressed the knife wound in the rest room. It felt a lot better. She went to the ticket counter to purchase her train ticket to New York. And that’s when LuAnn made a big mistake.

“Name, please,” the agent said.

LuAnn was fiddling with a fussing Lisa and thus answered automatically, “LuAnn Tyler.” She caught her breath as soon as she said it. She looked at the clerk, who was busily typing the information into her computer. LuAnn couldn’t change it now. That would obviously make the woman suspicious. She swallowed hard and hoped to God the slip would not come back to haunt her. The woman recommended the Deluxe sleeping car accommodations since LuAnn was traveling with a baby. “There’s one available and it has a private shower and all,” the woman said. LuAnn quickly agreed. While the ticket was being processed, the sales agent raised an eyebrow when LuAnn pulled some bills from under Lisa’s baby seat to pay for the ticket, stuffing the rest in her pocket.

LuAnn observed the woman’s look, thought quickly, and smiled at her. “My rainy day money. Figured I might as well use it while the weather’s nice. Go up to New York and see the sights.”

“Well, enjoy yourself,” the woman said, “but be careful. You shouldn’t be carrying a lot of cash up there. My husband and I made that mistake when we went years ago. We weren’t five minutes out of the train station when we got robbed. Had to call my mother to send us some money so we could come home.”

“Thanks, I’ll be real careful.”

The woman looked behind LuAnn. “Where’s your luggage?”

“Oh, I like to travel light. Besides, we got family up there. Thanks again.” LuAnn turned and walked toward the departure area.

The woman stared after her and then turned back and was startled by the person who had seemingly appeared from nowhere and was now standing in front of her window. The man in the dark leather jacket put his hands on the counter. “One-way ticket to New York City, please,” Anthony Romanello said politely and then stole a sideways glance in LuAnn’s direction. He had watched through the plate glass of the 7-Eleven as LuAnn had purchased her lottery ticket. Next, he had observed her make the phone call from the pay phone, although he had not risked getting close enough to overhear the conversation. The fact that she was now on her way to New York had piqued his curiosity to the maximum. He had many reasons for wanting to leave the area as quickly as possible, anyway. Even though his assignment was over, finding out what LuAnn Tyler was up to and why she was going to New York was just an added inducement. It was all the more convenient because he happened to live there. It could be she was simply running from the bodies in the trailer. Or it could be more. Much more. He took the train ticket and headed toward the platform.

LuAnn stood well back from the tracks when the train came noisily into the station a bit behind schedule. With the aid of a conductor she found her compartment. The Deluxe Viewliner sleeping compartment had a lower bunk, an upper bunk, an armchair, sink, toilet, and private shower. Because of the lateness of the hour, and with LuAnn’s permission, the attendant changed the compartment to its sleeping configuration. After he was finished, LuAnn closed the door to the room, sat down in the armchair, pulled out a bottle, and started feeding Lisa as the train slid smoothly out of the station half an hour later. The train gathered speed and soon LuAnn was watching the countryside sail by through the two large picture windows. She finished feeding Lisa and cradled the little girl against her chest to burp her. That accomplished, LuAnn turned Lisa around and started playing with her, doing patty cake and singing songs, which the delighted little girl joined in on in her own unique fashion. They passed an hour or so playing together until Lisa finally grew tired and LuAnn put her in the baby carrier.

LuAnn sat back and tried to relax. She had never been on a train before, and the gliding sensation and rhythmic click of the wheels was making her drowsy as well. It was hard to remember the last time she had slept, and she started to drift off. LuAnn awoke with a start several hours later. It must be nearly midnight, she thought. She suddenly recalled that she hadn’t eaten all day. It hadn’t seemed important with everything that had happened. She popped her head out the compartment door, spied an attendant, and asked if there was food on the train. The man looked a little surprised and glanced at his watch. “They made the last call for dinner several hours ago, ma’am. The dining car is closed now.”

“Oh,” LuAnn said. It wouldn’t be the first time she had gone hungry. At least Lisa had eaten.

However, when the man caught sight of Lisa and then looked at how tired LuAnn seemed, he smiled kindly and told her to wait just a bit. Twenty minutes later he came back with a tray loaded with food and even set it out for her, using the lower bunk as an impromptu table. LuAnn tipped him generously from her stash of funds. After he left, she devoured her meal. She wiped off her hands and reached carefully into her pocket and pulled out the lottery ticket. She looked over at Lisa; the little girl’s hands were gently swaying in her slumber, a smile played across the small features. Must be a nice dream, LuAnn thought, smiling at the precious sight.

LuAnn’s features grew softer and she leaned down and spoke quietly into Lisa’s tiny ear. “Momma’s gonna be able to take care of you now, baby, like I should’ve been doing all along. The man says we can go anywhere, do anything.” She stroked Lisa’s chin and nuzzled her cheek with the back of her hand. “Where you wanta go, baby doll? You name it, we’ll go. How’s that sound? That sound good?”

LuAnn locked the door and laid Lisa down on the bed, checking to make sure the straps on the baby seat were tight. LuAnn lay back on the bed and curled her body protectively around her daughter. While the train made its way to New York City, she stared out the window into the darkness, wondering mightily about what was going to come next.

T
he train had been delayed at several points along the route and it was nearly three-thirty in the afternoon when LuAnn and Lisa emerged into the frenzy of Penn Station. LuAnn had never seen this many people in one place in all her life. She looked around, dazed, as people and luggage flew past her like sprays of buckshot. She tightened her grip on Lisa’s carrier as the train ticket agent’s warning came back to her. Her arm was still throbbing painfully, but she figured she could still deck just about anybody who tried something. She looked down at Lisa. With so many interesting things going on around her, the little girl seemed ready to explode out of her seat. LuAnn moved slowly forward, not knowing how to get out of the place. She saw a sign for Madison Square Garden and vaguely recalled that several years ago she had watched a boxing match on TV that had been telecast from there. Jackson said someone would be here, but LuAnn couldn’t imagine how the person would find her in the middle of all this chaos.

She jerked slightly as the man brushed against her. LuAnn looked up into dark brown eyes with a silvery mustache resting below the broad, flattened nose. For an instant LuAnn wondered if he was the man she had seen fighting at the Garden; however, she quickly realized that he was much too old, at least in his early fifties. He had the breadth of shoulders, flattened, crusty ears, and battered face, though, that marked the man as an ex-boxer.

“Miss Tyler?” His voice was low but clear. “Mr. Jackson sent me to pick you up.”

LuAnn nodded and put out her hand. “Call me LuAnn. What’s your name?”

The man started for an instant. “That’s not really important. Please follow me, I have a car waiting.” He started to walk away.

“I really like to know people’s names,” LuAnn said, without budging.

He came back to her, looking slightly irritated, although somewhere in his features she thought she discerned the beginnings of a smile. “Okay, you can call me Charlie. How’s that?”

“That’s fine, Charlie. I guess you work for Mr. Jackson. Do you use your real names with each other?”

He didn’t answer as he led her toward the exit. “You want me to carry the little girl? That thing looks heavy.”

“I’ve got it okay.” She winced as another stab of pain shot through her injured arm.

“You sure?” he asked. He eyed her bandaged jaw. “You look like you’ve been in a fight.”

She nodded. “I’m okay.”

The pair exited the train station, moved past the line of people waiting in the cab stand, and Charlie opened the door of a stretch limo for LuAnn. She gawked for a minute at the luxurious vehicle before climbing in.

Charlie sat across from her. LuAnn couldn’t help staring at the vehicle’s interior.

“We’ll be at the hotel in about twenty minutes. You want something to eat or drink in the meantime? Train food sucks,” said Charlie.

“I’ve had a lot worse, although I am kinda hungry. But I don’t want you to have to make a special stop.”

He looked at her curiously. “We don’t have to stop.” He reached into the refrigerator and pulled out soda, beer, and some sandwiches and snack foods. He unlocked a section of the limo’s interior paneling and a table materialized. As LuAnn watched in astonishment, Charlie laid the food and drink out and completed the repast with a plate, silverware, and napkin, his big hands working quickly and methodically.

“I knew you were bringing the baby, so I had the limo stocked with milk, bottles, and stuff like that. At the hotel they’ll have everything you need.”

LuAnn made up a bottle for Lisa, cradled her against one arm, and fed her with one hand while she devoured a sandwich with the other.

Charlie watched the tender way she handled her daughter. “She’s cute, what’s her name?”

“Lisa, Lisa Marie. You know, after Elvis’s daughter.”

“You look a little young to be a fan of the King.”

“I wasn’t—I mean, I don’t really listen to that kind of music. But my momma did. She was a big fan. I did it for her.”

“She appreciated it, I guess.”

“I don’t know, I hope she does. She died before Lisa was born.”

“Oh, sorry.” Charlie fell silent for a moment. “Well, what kind of music do you like?”