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much?”
    â€œTrust me, it’s possible.”
    â€œWhat kinds of books?”
    â€œEverything.”
    â€œI doubt that.”
    He grinned. “Okay, so I’m not real big on romance novels. Or fantasy. But pretty much everything else.”
    â€œCool.”
    â€œAnd I hike.”
    â€œWhere?”
    â€œWherever I can. I go out to the Catskills from time to time. And upstate New York. There are some nice places in Connecticut and Vermont, too.”
    â€œHow strenuous.”
    â€œHave to be able to run. Remember, people trying to kill me and all that.”
    She leaned forward. “Has anyone really?”
    â€œTried to kill me? Yep.”
    â€œOh, God.”
    â€œThey didn’t succeed.”
    â€œObviously. Why?”
    â€œI was faster. From all the hiking.”
    â€œNo, why did they try to kill you?”
    â€œI found out stuff they didn’t want known.”
    â€œScary.”
    â€œYeah. I try to avoid that kind of thing, but sometimes you get surprised.”
    â€œThat’s not the kind of surprise I like.”
    â€œBut you do like surprises?”
    She nodded. “Love ’em. Especially when there are gifts involved.”
    He laughed. “Hey, let’s finish up here. I’m starting to feel lucky.”
    She quirked her head to the right, but he was busy with the check. She wondered if his idea of feeling lucky involved a locked door, a bedroom and getting naked.

4
    T HE CASINO WAS HOPPING , tourists and locals all focused on winning the big one, the one that would change their lives forever. Ben knew the odds of that happening were slim to none, but he didn’t care. He wanted to play, and to watch Taylor.
    â€œYou like blackjack?” he asked.
    She nodded. “The last time I was here, I won two hundred dollars. I spent the whole wad on a pair of shoes that hurt my feet.”
    He grinned, took her hand. “Let’s see if we can get another pair.” He led her past the machines, surprised as always at the silliness of the glorified tic-tac-toe slots: Little Green Aliens, The Beverly Hillbillies, Elvis and The Munsters, just to name a few. Then they hit the banks of video poker machines, which was a little more understandable, but still confusing. If he was going to play poker, he wanted to do it with other people, preferably in someone’s basement, with plenty of beer, sandwiches and good cigars.
    Now blackjack, he liked. The only exception to that was when some obnoxious twit came to the table. He’d walk away before he’d play with a drunk who hit on seventeen, and doubled down on face cards.
    They had to pass three tables before they found one with two open seats. He got Taylor in position, then sat on the stool next to her. Rubbing the smooth green felt, he checked out their compatriots. An older couple in brightly colored Hawaiian shirts, a tall gaunt man with a three-day stubble and hooded eyes and a young woman who didn’t look old enough to drive, let alone gamble.
    The dealer’s name was Angel, and her name tag said she was from Tucson. She’d already dealt a hand, and was now going around the table, taking everyone’s bets, as she’d hit twenty-one in five cards.
    Ben got out his wallet and pulled out a hundred. He laid it down above the rectangle where he’d place his own bet.
    Taylor reached for her purse, but he stopped her. “This one’s on me,” he said. “For luck.”
    Her eyes narrowed. “Are you sure? I brought fun money.”
    â€œYou’ll have plenty of time to spend it. I promise.”
    â€œAll right. Thank you.”
    Angel took his bill, laid it out flat in front of her, so the security cameras could get a good shot, called out, “Change one hundred,” for the benefit of the pit boss, then gave him a stack of five, ten and twenty dollar chips. He split them up, fifty-fifty and gave Taylor her share.
    She smiled again, making him