The Winner

by David Baldacci

  through the opening and was caught in the first tube. It was the number zero. It was shown on a large screen suspended over the stage. As soon as this occurred, the second bin of balls started popping. In a few seconds, it too had produced a winner: the number eight. In quick succession, six more of the balls popped through into their respective tubes and were caught. The tally now stood as follows: 0-8-1-0-0-8-0-5. LuAnn mouthed the familiar numbers silently. Sweat appeared on her forehead and she felt her legs begin to give way. “Oh my God,” she whispered to herself, “it’s really gonna happen.” Jackson had done it; somehow, some way, the uppity, anal little man had done it. She heard many moans and groans next to her as lottery tickets were torn up and thrown to the floor as the numbers stared back at the crowd from the stage. LuAnn watched, completely mesmerized, as the ninth bin of balls started bouncing. The entire process now seemed to be occurring in the slowest of slow motion. Finally, the number two ball kicked out and held in tube number nine. There were no hopeful faces left in the crowd. Except for one.

  The last bin fired up and the number one ball quickly fought its way right against the hatch of the last tube and appeared to be ready to shoot through to victory at any moment. LuAnn’s grip on Charlie’s fingers began to loosen. Then, like a pricked balloon hemorrhaging air, the number one ball suddenly slid back down to the bottom and was replaced near the hatch by a suddenly energetic and determined number four ball. With sharp, jerky motions, it grew closer and closer to the open pathway leading into the number ten and final tube, although it appeared to be repeatedly repelled from the opening. The blood slowly drained from LuAnn’s face and for a moment she thought she would end up on the floor. “Oh, shit,” she said out loud, although not even Charlie could hear her over the crowd noise. LuAnn squeezed Charlie’s fingers so tightly he almost yelled out in pain.

  Charlie’s own heart was racing as if in sympathy for LuAnn. He had never known Jackson to fail, but, well, you never knew. What the hell, it couldn’t hurt, he thought. He moved his free hand up and quietly felt under his shirt for the thick, silver crucifix he had worn for as long as he could remember. He rubbed it for good luck.

  Ever so slowly, even as LuAnn’s heart threatened to cease beating, the two balls, as though carefully choreographed, again swapped places with each other in the swirling spray of hot air, even ricocheting off one another at one point. After this momentary collision, the number one ball, mercifully for LuAnn, finally shot through the opening and was caught in the tenth and final tube.

  It was all LuAnn could do not to scream out loud from pure relief, rather than from the excitement of having just become one hundred million dollars richer. She and Charlie looked at each other, their eyes wide, both bodies shaking, faces drenched with perspiration, as though they had just finished making love. Charlie inclined his head toward her, his eyebrows arched as if to say “You won, didn’t you?”

  LuAnn nodded slightly, her head swaying slowly as if to the tunes of a favorite song. Lisa kicked and squirmed as though she sensed her mother’s exhilaration.

  “Damn,” Charlie said, “I thought I was going to pee in my pants waiting for that last number to drop.” He led LuAnn out of the room and in a couple of minutes they were walking slowly down the street in the direction of the hotel. It was a beautiful, brisk night; the cloudless sky housed a stretch of stars that seemingly had no end. It matched LuAnn’s mood precisely. Charlie rubbed at his hand. “God, I thought you were going to snap my fingers off. What was that all about?”

  “You don’t wanta know,” said LuAnn firmly. She smiled at him, sucked in huge amounts of the sweet, chilly air, and gave Lisa a tender kiss on the cheek. She suddenly elbowed Charlie in the side, a mischievous grin on her face. “Last one to the hotel pays for dinner.” She took off like a blue streak, the trench coat billowing out like a parachute in her wake. Even as she left him in the dust, Charlie could hear her shrieks of joy flowing back to him. He grinned and then bolted after her.

  Neither one would have been so happy had they seen the man who had followed them to the lottery drawing and was watching from across the street. Romanello had figured that tailing LuAnn might result in some interesting developments. But even he had to admit that his expectations had so far been exceeded.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  “You’re certain that’s where you want to go, LuAnn?”

  LuAnn spoke earnestly into the phone. “Yes sir, Mr. Jackson. I’ve always wanted to go to Sweden. My momma’s people came from there, a long time ago. She always wanted to go there, but never had the chance. So I’d sort of be doing it for her. Is that much trouble?”

  “Everything is trouble, LuAnn. It’s just a matter of degrees.”

  “But you can get it done, can’t you? I mean I’d like to go to other places, but I’d really like to start in Sweden.”

  Jackson said testily, “If I can arrange for someone like you to win one hundred million dollars, then I can certainly take care of travel plans.”

  “I appreciate it. I really do.” LuAnn looked over at Charlie, who was holding Lisa and playing with her.

  She smiled at him. “You look real good doing that.”

  “What’s that?” Jackson asked.

  “I’m sorry, I was talking to Charlie.”

  “Put him on, we need to arrange for your visit to the lottery office so they can confirm the winning ticket. The sooner that’s accomplished, the sooner we can get on with the press conference and then you can be on your way.”

  “The conditions you talked about—” LuAnn began.

  Jackson interrupted, “I’m not ready to discuss that right now. Put Charlie on, I’m in a hurry.”

  LuAnn swapped the phone for Lisa. She watched closely as Charlie spoke in low tones into the phone, his back to her. She saw him nod several times and then he hung up.

  “Everything okay?” Her tone was anxious as she held a rambunctious Lisa.

  He looked around the room for a moment before his eyes finally met hers. “Sure, everything’s A-okay. You have to go over to see the lottery people this afternoon. Enough time has passed.”

  “Will you go with me?”

  “I’ll go over in the cab with you, but I won’t go in the building. I’ll hang around outside until you come out.”

  “What all do I have to do?”

  “Just present the winning ticket. They’ll validate it and issue you an official receipt. There’ll be witnesses there and all. You’ll be confirmed every which way from Sunday. They go over the ticket with a high-tech laser to verify it’s authentic. They got special fiber threads in the tickets, some of them right under the row of numbers. Kind of like U.S. currency, to prevent counterfeiting. It’s impossible to duplicate, especially in a short time frame. They’ll call the outlet where you bought the ticket to confirm that lottery number was indeed purchased at that site. They’ll ask for background info on you. Where you’re from, kids, parents, that sort of thing. It takes a few hours. You don’t have to wait. They’ll get in touch when the process is complete. Then they’ll release a statement to the press that the winner has come forward, but they won’t release your name until the press conference. You know, keep the suspense building. That stuff really sells tickets for the next drawing. You don’t have to hang around for that either. The actual press conference will be the next day.”

  “Do we come back here?”

  “Actually, ‘Linda Freeman’ is checking out today. We’ll go to another hotel where you can check in as LuAnn Tyler, one of the richest people in the country. Fresh in town and ready to take on the world.”

  “You ever been to one of these press conferences before?”

  He nodded. “A few. They can be a little crazy. Especially when the winners bring family with them. Money can do strange things to people. But it doesn’t last too long. You get asked a bunch of questions and then off you go.” He paused and then added, “That’s nice what you’re doing, going to Sweden for your mom like that.”

&n
bsp; LuAnn looked down as she played with Lisa’s feet. “I hope so. It’s sure gonna be different.”

  “Well, sounds like you can use a little different.”

  “I don’t know how long I’ll stay.”

  “Stay as long as you want. Hell, you can stay forever if you want to.”

  “I’m not sure I can do that. I don’t think I’d fit in.”

  He gripped her shoulders and looked her in the face. “Listen, LuAnn, give yourself some credit. Okay, so you don’t have a bunch of fancy degrees, but you’re sharp, you take great care of your kid, and you got a good heart. In my book, that puts you ahead of about ninety-nine percent of the population.”

  “I don’t know how good I’d be doing right now if you weren’t here helping me out.”

  He shrugged. “Hey, like I said, it’s part of the job.” He let go of her shoulders and fished a cigarette out of his pack. “Why don’t we have some quick lunch and then you go claim your prize? What do you say, you ready to be filthy rich, lady?”

  LuAnn took a deep breath before answering. “I’m ready.”

  LuAnn emerged from the Lottery Commission building, walked down the street, and turned a corner, where she met Charlie at a prearranged spot. He had kept Lisa for her while she had gone in.

  “She’s been watching everything going by. She’s a real alert kid,” he said.

  “Won’t be long before I’m running every which way after her.”

  “She was doing her best to get down and crawl off, swear to God.” Charlie smiled and put a very exuberant Lisa back in her carriage. “So how’d it go?”

  “They were real friendly. Treated me real special. ‘You want coffee, Ms. Tyler?’ ‘You want a phone to make calls?’ One woman asked me if I wanted to hire her as my personal assistant.” She laughed.

  “You better get used to that. You have the receipt?”

  “Yep, in my purse.”

  “What time’s the press conference?”

  “Tomorrow at six o’clock, they said.” She eyed him. “What’s wrong?”

  As they walked, Charlie had glanced surreptitiously over his shoulder a couple of times. He looked over at her. “I don’t know. When I was in prison and then doing the PI stuff I developed this kind of built-in radar that tells me when somebody’s paying a little too close attention to me. My alarm’s going off right now.”

  LuAnn started to look around, but he cut her off. “Don’t do that. Just keep walking. We’re fine. I checked you in at another hotel. It’s another block down. Let’s get you and Lisa in okay and then I’ll snoop around a little. It’s probably nothing.”

  LuAnn looked at the worry creases around his eyes and concluded his words did not match his feelings. She gripped the baby carriage tighter as they continued down the street.

  Twenty yards behind and on the other side of the street, Anthony Romanello debated whether or not he had been spotted. The streets were filled with people at this hour, but something in the sudden rigidity of the people he was tracking had set off his own warning bell. He hunkered in his jacket and dropped back another ten yards, still keeping them well in sight. He kept a constant lookout for the closest taxi in case they decided to snare one. He had the advantage though, in that it would take some time to load the baby carriage and baby in. He would have plenty of opportunity to hail a cab in that time. But they continued on foot until they reached their destination. Romanello waited outside the hotel for a moment, looked up and down the street, and then went in.

  “When did you get these?” LuAnn stared at the new set of luggage stacked in a corner of the hotel suite.

  Charlie grinned. “You can’t go on your big trip without the proper baggage. And this stuff is super-durable. Not that expensive crap that falls apart if you look at it wrong. One bag is already packed with things you’ll need for the trip over. Things for Lisa and what-not. I had a lady friend of mine do it. We’ll have to do some more shopping today to fill up the other bags, though.”

  “My God, I can’t believe this, Charlie.” She gave him a hug and a peck on the cheek.

  He looked down in embarrassment, his face flushed. “It wasn’t such a big deal. Here.” He handed her passport to her. She solemnly looked at the name inside, as though the fact of her reincarnation were just sinking in, which it was. She closed the small blue book. It represented a gateway to another world, a world she would soon, with a little luck, be embracing.

  “Fill that sucker up, LuAnn, see the whole damned planet. You and Lisa.” He turned to leave. “I’m going to go check on some things. I’ll be back shortly.”

  She fingered the passport and looked up at him, her cheeks slightly red. “Why don’t you come with us, Charlie?”

  He turned slowly back around and stared at her. “What?”

  LuAnn looked down at her hands and spoke hurriedly. “I was thinking I got all this money now. And you been real nice to me and Lisa. And I never been anywhere before and all. And, well, I’d like you to come with us — that is, if you want to. I’ll understand if you don’t.”

  “That’s a very generous offer, LuAnn,” he said softly. “But you don’t really know me. And that’s a big commitment to make to someone you don’t really know.”

  “I know all I need to,” she said stubbornly. “I know you’re a good person. I know you been taking care of us. And Lisa took to you like nobody’s business. That counts for a durn lot in my book.”

  Charlie smiled in the little girl’s direction and then looked back at LuAnn. “Why don’t we both think on it, LuAnn. Then we’ll talk, okay?”

  She shrugged and slid several strands of hair out of her face. “I ain’t proposing marriage to you, Charlie, if that’s what you think.”

  “Good thing, since I’m almost old enough to be your grandfather.” He smiled at her.

  “But I really like having you with me. I ain’t had that many friends, least that I can count on. I know I can count on you. You’re my friend, ain’t you?”

  There was a catch in his throat when Charlie answered. “Yes.” He coughed and assumed a more businesslike tone. “I hear what you’re saying, LuAnn. We’ll talk about it when I get back. Promise.”

  When the door closed behind him, LuAnn got Lisa ready for her nap. While the little girl drifted off to sleep, LuAnn restlessly walked the parameters of the hotel suite. She looked out the window in time to see Charlie exit the building and head down the street. She followed him with her eyes until he was out of sight. She had not seen anyone who appeared to be tracking him, but there were so many people around, she couldn’t be sure. She sighed and then frowned. She was out of her element here. She just wanted to see him back safe and sound. She began to think about the press conference, but as she envisioned a bunch of strangers asking her all sorts of questions, her nerves began to jangle too much and she quit thinking about it.

  The knock at the door startled her. She stared at the door, unsure what to do.

  “Room service,” the voice said. LuAnn went to the door and squinted through the peephole. The young man standing there was indeed dressed in a bellman’s uniform.

  “I didn’t order anything,” she said, trying hard to keep her voice from quaking.

  “It’s a note and package for you, ma’am.”

  LuAnn jerked back. “Who from?”

  “I don’t know, ma’am. A man in the lobby asked me to give it to you.”

  Charlie? LuAnn thought. “Did he ask for me by name?”

  “No, he pointed you out when you were walking to the elevator, and just said give it to you. Do you want it, ma’am?” he said patiently. “If not, I’ll just put it in your box behind the registration desk.”

  LuAnn opened the door slightly. “No, I’ll take it. She stuck out her arm and the bellman put the package in it. She immediately closed the door. The young man stood there for a moment, upset that his errand and patience had not resulted in a tip. However, the man had already rewarded him handsomely for it, so it had worked out okay.
<
br />   LuAnn tore open the envelope and unfolded the letter. The message was brief and written on hotel stationery.

  Dear LuAnn, how’s Duane feeling lately? And the other guy, what’d you hit him with anyway? Dead as a doornail. Sure hope the police don’t find out you were there. Hope you enjoy the story, a little hometown news. Let’s chat. In one hour. Take a cab to the Empire State Building. It’s truly a landmark worth seeing. Leave the big guy and the kid at home. XXXOOOs

  LuAnn ripped off the brown packing paper and the newspaper fell out. She picked it up and looked at it: It was the Atlanta Journal and Constitution. It had a page marked with a yellow piece of paper. She opened to that page and sat down on the sofa.

  In her agitation at seeing the headline, she jumped up. Her eyes fed voraciously on the words, occasionally darting to the accompanying photo. If possible, the trailer looked even dingier captured in grainy black and white; in fact it looked like it had actually collapsed and was merely awaiting the dump truck to cart it and its occupants away for burial. The convertible was also in the photo, its long hood and obscene ornament pointed straight at