The Winner (38 page)

She pulled on a pair of panties and then went back into the bathroom to dry her hair. Looking in the mirror she saw a woman on the brink of something: disaster probably. Should she start seeing a shrink? Didn’t you have to be truthful in therapy in order to make any progress? She mouthed this question to her reflection in the mirror. No, psychotherapy wasn’t going to be an option. As usual, she would just go it alone.

She traced the scar on her face, letting her finger feel each contour of the ridged, damaged skin, in essence reliving the painful events of her past.
Never forget,
she told herself.
It’s all a sham. All a lie.

She finished drying her hair, and was about to go back into the bedroom and collapse onto the bed when Lisa’s words came back to her. She just couldn’t let that resentment and anger fester all night. She had to talk to her daughter again. Or at least try to.

She went back into the bedroom to put on her robe before heading for Lisa’s room.

“Hello, LuAnn.”

So stunned was LuAnn that she had to reach out and grip the doorjamb or she would’ve sagged to the floor. As LuAnn stared at him, she found that the muscles in her face had ceased to function. She couldn’t even form a response, as though she had just suffered a stroke.

“It’s been a long time.” Jackson stepped away from the window and sat down on the edge of the bed.

His casual movements finally broke LuAnn free from her inertia. “How the hell did you get in here?”

“Not relevant.” The words and tone were instantly familiar to her. All those years ago came rushing back with such speed that the effect was nearly incapacitating.

“What do you want?” She forced the words to come out.

“Ah, very relevant. However, we have much to discuss, and I would suggest you do so in the comfort of some clothing.” He stared pointedly at her body.

LuAnn found it extremely difficult to take her eyes off him. Being half naked in front of the man was far less disturbing than having to turn her back on him. Finally, she threw open her closet door, pulled out a knee-length robe, and quickly put it on. She cinched the robe tightly around her waist and turned back around. Jackson wasn’t even looking at her. His eyes roamed the spectacular parameters of her boudoir; his gaze rested on the clock on the wall briefly and then moved on. Apparently, the brief view of her body—a sight many men would have paid hard cash for—had inspired in him nothing more than extreme diffidence.

“You’ve done well for yourself. If I remember correctly, your previous decorating tastes were limited to dirty linoleum and Goodwill castoffs.”

“I don’t appreciate this intrusion.”

He swiveled his head around and his eyes flashed into hers. “And I don’t appreciate having to take time away from a very busy schedule to rescue you yet again, LuAnn. By the way, do you prefer LuAnn or Catherine?”

“I’ll let you choose,” she said sharply. “And I don’t need to be rescued by anyone, certainly not by you.”

He rose from the bed and scrutinized her altered appearance closely. “Very good. Not quite as good as I could have done, but I won’t nit-pick,” he finally said. “Still, the look is very chic, very sophisticated. Congratulations.”

LuAnn responded by remarking, “The last time I saw you, you were wearing a dress. Other than that, you haven’t changed much.”

Jackson still had on the dark clothing he had worn at the cottage. His features were the same as for their first meeting, although he had not covered his lean frame with padding. He thrust his head forward; the smile seemed to engulf his entire face. “Didn’t you know?” he said. “Aside from my other remarkable abilities, I also never age.” His smile receded as quickly as it had appeared. “Now, let’s talk.” He once again perched on the edge of the bed and motioned for LuAnn to sit at a small antique writing desk situated against one wall. She did so.

“What about?”

“I understand you had a visitor. A man who chased you in a car?”

“How the hell do you know that?” LuAnn said angrily.

“You just won’t accept the fact that you can’t conceal information from me. Like the fact that you have re-entered the United States against my most explicit instructions.”

“The ten years are up.”

“Funny, I don’t remember setting an expiration date on those instructions.”

“You can’t expect me to run for the rest of my life.”

“On the contrary, that is exactly what I expect. That is exactly what I
demand.
”

“You cannot run my life.”

Jackson looked around the room again and then stood up. “First things first. Tell me about the man.”

“I can handle this situation by myself.”

“Is that right? From what I can tell, you’ve committed one blunder after another.”

“I want you to leave right now. I want you to get the hell out of my house.”

Jackson calmly shook his head. “The years have done nothing to ameliorate your temper. An unlimited supply of money can’t purchase good breeding or tact, can it?”

“Go to hell.”

In response Jackson reached one hand inside his jacket.

In an instant LuAnn had snatched up a letter opener from her writing desk. She cocked her arm back in preparation to hurl it. “I can kill you with this from twenty feet. Money
can
buy a lot of things.”

Jackson shook his head sadly. “Ten years ago I found you, a young girl with a good head on her shoulders in very difficult circumstances. But you were still white trash, LuAnn. And, I’m afraid to say, some things just don’t change.” His hand slowly came out of his jacket. In it he held a slip of paper. “You can put your little toy away. You won’t need it.” He looked at her with a calmness that managed, under the circumstances, to paralyze her. “At least not tonight.” He unfolded the paper. “Now, I understand that two men have recently entered your life: Matthew Riggs is one; the other is as yet unidentified.”

LuAnn slowly dropped her arm, but she still clutched the letter opener in her hand.

Jackson looked up from the paper. “I have a vested interest in ensuring that your secret never be found out. I have a number of ongoing business activities, and above all I value anonymity. You’re one in a line of dominoes. And when they start to fall, they tend to keep falling until they reach the end. I am that end. Do you understand?”

LuAnn sat back down in the chair and crossed her legs. “Yes,” she answered curtly.

“You have unnecessarily complicated my life by coming back to the United States. The man who is following you discovered your identity, in part, through your tax records. That is why I never wanted you to come back here.”

“I probably shouldn’t have,” LuAnn conceded. “But you try moving just about every six months, a new country, a new language. And try doing it with a little girl.”

“I appreciate your difficulties; however, I assumed that being one of the richest women on earth would more than make up the difference.”

“Like you said, money can’t buy everything.”

“You never met the man before? In your extensive travels? You’re absolutely certain?”

“I would’ve remembered. I’ve remembered everything the last ten years.” She said this softly.

Jackson studied her closely. “I believe you. Do you have any reason to think that he knows about the lottery?”

LuAnn hesitated a second. “No.”

“You’re lying. Tell me the truth immediately or I’ll kill everyone in this house starting with you.” This abrupt threat, delivered calmly and precisely, made her suck in her breath.

She swallowed with difficulty. “He had a list. A list with twelve names on it. Mine, Herman Rudy, Bobbie Jo Reynolds, and some others.”

Jackson assimilated this information rapidly and then looked down at the paper. “And the man Riggs?”

“What about him?”

“There’s some confusion as to his background.”

“Everyone has secrets.”

Jackson smiled. “Touché. Under other circumstances that would not bother me. However, in this instance it does.”

“I’m not following you.”

“Riggs has a mysterious past and he just happens to be around when you need assistance. I take it he did help you.”

LuAnn looked at him quizzically. “Yes, but he’s been here for five years, long before I got here.”

“That’s not the point. I’m not suggesting the man is a plant. I am suggesting that he could well be something entirely different than what he claims. Now he coincidentally collides with your world. That’s what worries me.”

“I don’t think it was anything other than a coincidence. He was hired to do a job for me. It was perfectly natural that he would be nearby when the other man started chasing me.”

Jackson shook his head. “I don’t like it. I saw him tonight.” LuAnn stiffened perceptibly. “At the cottage. I was this close to him.” He spread his hands about two feet apart. “I contemplated killing him on the spot. It would have been extremely easy.”

LuAnn’s face turned white and she licked dry lips. “There’s no reason to do that.”

“You have no way of knowing that. I’m going to check him out and if I find anything in his background to suggest trouble for me, then I will eliminate him. It’s that simple.”

“Let me get that information for you.”

“What?” Jackson looked startled.

“Riggs likes me. He’s already helped me, probably saved my life. It would be natural for me to show my gratitude. Get to know him better.”

“No, I don’t like it.”

“Riggs is a nobody. A local builder. Why trouble yourself with him? Like you said, you’re busy.”

Jackson studied her intensely for a moment. “All right, LuAnn, you do that. However, any information you obtain better be reported to me in a timely fashion or, with respect to Mr. Riggs, I will take matters into my own very capable hands. Clear?”

LuAnn let out a deep breath. “Clear.”

“The other man, of course, I must find. It shouldn’t be too terribly difficult.”

“Don’t do that.”

“Excuse me?”

“You don’t have to do that. Find him.”

“I am very much certain that I do.”

The memory of Mr. Rainbow came flooding back to her. She did not want another death on her conscience. She wasn’t worth it. “If he shows up again, we’re just going to leave the country.”

Jackson refolded the paper and replaced it in his pocket. He made a precise steeple with his hands. “You obviously do not fully understand the situation. Were you the only one he was onto, then perhaps your simplistic solution might resolve the matter, at least temporarily. However, the man has a list with the names of eleven other people with whom I worked. I would submit that a resolution involving all of them fleeing the country almost simultaneously would be essentially unworkable.”

LuAnn drew in a sharp breath. “I could pay the man. How much money can he want? That would take care of it.”

Jackson smiled tightly. “Blackmailers are a bad lot. They never seem to go away.” He added sharply, “Unless they receive extreme persuasion to do so.”

“Mr. Jackson, please don’t do it,” she said again.

“Don’t do what, LuAnn? Ensure your survival?” He glanced around. “And with it all of this?” He rested his gaze back upon her. “How is Lisa, by the way? As beautiful as her mother?”

LuAnn felt her throat constrict. “She’s fine.”

“Excellent. Let’s keep it that way, shall we?”

“Can’t you just let it go? Let me handle it.”

“LuAnn, many years ago we were confronted with a situation regarding another would-be blackmailer. I took care of that incident and I will take care of this one. In matters like this I almost never opt for delegation. Count your blessings that I’m allowing Riggs to live. For now.”

“But that man can’t prove anything. How can he? And even if he could, they’ll never be able to trace anything to you. Maybe I’ll go to jail, but you won’t. Hell, I don’t even know who you really are.”

Jackson stood up, his lips pursed. He took a moment to rub his left hand delicately along the edge of the bedspread.

“Beautiful needlework here,” Jackson commented. “Indian isn’t it?”

Distracted for an instant by his query, LuAnn was suddenly staring down the barrel of a 9-mm, a suppressor attached to its muzzle.

“One potential solution could involve my killing all twelve of you. That would certainly qualify as a startling dead-end for our inquisitive friend. Remember that the ten-year period is up. The lottery’s principal amount has already been returned to a Swiss account that I have set up in your name. I would strongly advise against transferring that money into the United States.” He pulled another slip of paper from his pocket and put it down on her bed. “Here are the authorization codes and other account information that will enable you to access it. The funds are untraceable. There you have it. As agreed.” Jackson’s finger curled around the trigger of his weapon. “However, now I really don’t have any incentive to keep you around, do I?” He advanced toward her. LuAnn’s fingers tightened around the letter opener.

“Put it down, LuAnn. Granted, you’re remarkably athletic, but you’re not faster than a bullet. Put it down.
Now!
”

She dropped the letter opener and backed up against the wall.

Jackson stopped a few inches from her. While he lined up the pistol with her left cheekbone, he ran a gloved hand along her right cheek. There was no sexual content to the motion. Even through the glove, LuAnn could sense the purely clinical chill of his touch.

“You should have thrown it the first time, LuAnn. You really should have.” His eyes were mocking.

“I’m not going to kill someone in cold blood,” said LuAnn.

“I know. You see, that is your greatest shortcoming, because that’s precisely when you should strike.”

He removed his hand and looked at her.

“Ten years ago I felt you were the weak link in the chain. During the intervening years, I thought perhaps I was wrong. Everything was going so smoothly. But now I find my initial intuition was correct. Even if I were in no personal danger of discovery, were I to let this man blackmail you or perhaps even expose the manipulations of the lottery, then that would be a failure on my part. I do not fail. Ever. And I do not let other people have any control whatsoever over plans of mine, for that, in itself, would be a form of failure. Besides, I couldn’t bear to let such a grand performance be ruined.