Laura looked at the cards in her hand.
"Let me see -"
"Either place a bet or fold, Laura," Harry said.
She picked up the "chips". "Two ginger snaps,"
she decided at last, "and three crackers."
Harry's eyes narrowed. She was bluffing. She *had* to be bluffing.
*No one* had luck like this just starting out. Surveying his few
remaining "chips", he scowled and pushed the entire
lot into the center of the table. "I see your bet, and call.
What ya got?"
Laura spread her cards. "Four tens," she said.
Glancing at the full house in his own hand, Harry threw his cards
onto the table. "You have the most phenomenal luck -"
Her eyes widened. "You mean I won *again*?"
"Again," he said. "The pot's yours." He watched
as she carefully stacked her bounty. If he didn't know better,
he'd have sworn that she had been scamming him, pretending not
to know the game while soundly trouncing him.
Laura shuffled the cards. "Want a chance to recoup your losses?"
she asked.
Harry looked at her. "What are you suggesting?"
"One last hand. Winner take all," she said.
"I'm afraid I'm tapped," he reminded her with a crooked
grin. "Nothing left to bet."
"Surely we could think of *something*." She looked across
the room. "Let's see. How about, if you win, you get all
the chips -"
"And if *you* win?" Harry asked, uncertain that he wanted
to hear her answer.
She lifted those brown eyes to his. "I get another kiss,"
she said slowly. When he hesitated, she smiled at him. "What's
the matter, Harry? Afraid?"
Hell, yes, he was afraid. He was terrified of the way he'd felt
after their *last* kiss.
Laura sighed. "I guess you just can't beat a sixteen year
old kid at poker," she said. "And Mr. Chalmers said
you were such a good gambler."
Harry's eyes narrowed. "Deal the cards, Laura," he told
her. He drew two more cards, Laura took only one. Two of a kind,
Harry mused. Tens over threes. Not bad, he thought, glancing at
Laura. He couldn't read a thing from that face. "All right.
I call."
She shook her head. "You first," she said. Slowly, he
showed her his hand, his worry intensifying as she began to smile.
One by one, she placed her cards on the table. The Ace of hearts,
then the Jack, six, four and three of the same suit. "An
Ace high flush, I believe," she told him.
"Good Lord." He watched as she rose from her chair.
"Why do I have the uncomfortable feeling that I've been snookered?"
"You don't believe in beginner's luck?" Laura asked.
"NO one is that lucky," Harry insisted.
"No matter. Time to pay up," she told him softly.
"Now, Laura. You don't really expect - I mean-"
"Oh, but I *do* expect you to honor your wager, Harry,"
Laura said, sitting in his lap. "You'd really *hate* for
it to get out that you're a welsher, wouldn't you?"
"You wouldn't dare."
"Try me," she challenged, putting her arms around his
neck.
"Just remember, Laura, that *you* asked for this," he
said, turning his head to meet hers. Her lips opened willingly
to him, giving as good as she got. Harry felt that he never wanted
the kiss to end. Laura felt so right in his arms, fit so perfectly
against him . . .
**********
"Oh, Harry," Laura sighed, looking up at him. "When
you pay off a bet, you don't mess around, do you?"
Harry realized that they were both on the narrow cot. When had
they moved over here? he wondered. He didn't remember leaving
the chair, didn't remember Laura unbuttoning his shirt - He sat
up, putting his head into his hands. "I'm sorry, I -"
Laura placed a hand on his back. "You don't have anything
to apologize for, Harry," Laura assured him.
He stood, buttoning his shirt again. "It shouldn't have happened
- "
"Harry, *nothing* happened. We just kissed, that's all -"
"Laura, you're sixteen years old. In most places I could
be put in jail for evening *thinking* about - "
He shook his head. "And if your father even suspected that
I - that we -"
"He won't, Harry," Laura assured him, her thoughts returning
to her father and Daniel Chalmers. "I'm sorry for what I
said earlier. About your not being worried, I mean. I know you're
close to Mr. Chalmers -"
Harry took a deep breath. Until Laura's advent into his life,
he'd never really thought about how much anyone or anything meant
to him. Somehow she'd managed to stand his entire world in its
ear in just two days. Turning, he saw her sitting on the edge
of the cot, head down, staring at the floor. He sat down beside
her, putting his arm around her. "Come here. Daniel and Mitchell
are survivors, Laura. They'll be fine. And we'll get out of here.
You'll see." He only hoped he was right.
**********
From the safety of a car parked down the block, Mitchell and Daniel
watched the black limo exit the gates before they closed securely
behind it. "Well, that takes care of Bryce," Daniel
commented. "Should give us at least half an hour to get in
and out before he discovers that there was no break in at his
office." Daniel had called Bryce on the pay phone down the
street, claiming to be a police officer, asking him to come into
town to find out if anything had been taken in a robbery. He dropped
over the fence beside Mitchell, crouching in the darkness. "So
far so good."
"The fence isn't the system perimeter," Mitchell reminded
him. "That line of trees over there is the outer boundary
on this side of the house." He glanced at Daniel. "You
ready?"
"It's your show, Mitchell."
"Then let's do it." He watched as Daniel moved away,
keeping outside the boundary line, still within sight of his partner.
Mitchell nodded in Daniel's direction, moving forward. Daniel
reached into the pouch he carried and brought out the pebbles,
tossing them toward the house. Immediately the motion detectors
lit the area with an eerie white glare. Mitchell saw Daniel head
toward the window of the study as he went to the back of the house
nearest him, cutting the fastener on the main alarm control box,
opening it. He pressed the buttons in the proper sequence, hoping
that he had been right about Bryce not changing the master code.
It *was* possible to do, but it wasn't something most people took
the time to do. The green light came on, and he pressed the final
button.
Daniel counted the time on his watch, then slipped the lock on
the study window, half expecting the alarm to sound. Silence.
No bells, no whistles. He watched as Mitchell came back around
the corner, then climbed into the room, standing aside as Mitchell
joined him. "Where is the safe?" Daniel asked.
"Over there, behind that painting," Mitchell said, pointing
toward it with the flashlight, only to pause as they heard a soft
"click". Both men froze in place, turning toward the
sound.
"Not another step, gentlemen," someone said from the
doorway as the light came on. Philip Bryce stood there, a gun
in his hand. "Keep your hands where I can see them. We'll
just wait- " His eyes widened as he saw who they were. "Good
God. Is that you, Mitchell?"
*********
Eddie tossed the dice against the wall, then stepped back, grinning
as John groaned. Across the office, Flynn was watching a small
television. "Quiet!" he ordered, his attention caught
by something the early morning newscaster was saying. "This
is it!" He smiled triumphantly as he saw Philip Bryce's mansion.
"Good bye, Chalmers and Holt," he muttered, turning
up the volume.
"A burglary last night at the home of well known gem dealer
Philip Bryce netted the thieves over a million dollars in diamonds,"
the announcer said. Flynn's smile faded. "Mr. Bryce told
police that he was called away to check out a possible break in
at his office, probably a diversionary tactic to get Mr. Bryce
out of the house. He told police that whoever broke into the house
knew exactly what to do to overcome the state of the art security
system- police have no leads at this time."
Eddie and John both swallowed heavily as their boss picked up
the television set and hurled it across the room where it hit
the wall and erupted into a shower of sparks and flame. "NO!
They were supposed to get caught!"
"What are we gonna do now, boss?" Eddie asked.
"Well, Chalmers and Holt got the diamonds - and they will
expect to trade them for our guests."
"You going t'do that?"
Flynn smiled. "Of course I am. But there's no guarantee of
the condition of those two when they're returned, is there, now?"
**********
At ten o'clock, Flynn dialed the telephone number, and was pleased
that Daniel picked it up on the first ring. "We got what
you asked, Flynn," he said.
"So you did, Chalmers."
"How do you want to do this?"
"The Park. Noon. Grand Street entrance." He hung up,
the made another call. "Mr. Bryce, if you want the men who
stole your diamonds, they'll be at the Grand Street entrance to
the Park at twelve-thirty." He hung up.
"You gonna get the diamonds, boss?" Eddie asked.
"You let me worry about that, Eddie. Get the van ready."
Flynn took out his gun and checked the ammunition. If Bryce didn't
take those two down, he'd do it himself.
To Be Continued-----