CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Everything will be all right, LuAnn.” Roger Davis, the young, handsome man who had announced the lottery drawing, said these words as he patted her on the hand. “I know you have to be nervous but I’ll be right there with you. We’ll make it as painless as possible for you, I give you my word,” he said gallantly.
They were in a plush room inside the lottery building, just down the corridor from the large auditorium where a mass of press and regular folk awaited the latest lottery winner’s arrival. LuAnn wore a pale blue knee-length dress with matching shoes, her hair and makeup impeccable thanks to the in-house staff at the Lottery Commission. The cut on her jaw had healed enough that she had opted for makeup instead of the bandage.
“You look beautiful, LuAnn,” said Davis. “I can’t remember a winner looking so ravishing, I mean that.” He sat down right next to her, his leg touching hers.
LuAnn flashed him a quick smile, slid a couple of inches away, and turned her attention to Lisa. “I don’t want Lisa to have to go out there. All them lights and people would just scare her to death.”
“That’s fine. She can stay in here. We’ll have someone watching her of course, every minute. Security is very tight here as you can imagine.” He paused while he once again took in LuAnn’s shapely form. “We’ll announce that you have a daughter, though. That’s why your story is so great. Young mother and daughter, all this wealth. You must be so happy.” He patted her on the knee and then let his hand linger for a moment before pulling it away. She wondered again whether he was in on all of it. Whether he knew she had won an enormous fortune by cheating. He looked the type, she concluded. The kind who would do anything for money. She imagined he would be very well paid for helping to pull off something this big.
“How long until we go out there?” she asked.
“About ten minutes.” He smiled at her again and then said as casually as possible, “Uh, you weren’t exactly clear on your marital status. Will your husband—”
“I’m not married,” LuAnn said quickly.
“Oh, well, will the father of the child be attending?” He added quickly, “We just have to know for scheduling purposes.”
LuAnn looked dead at him. “No, he won’t.”
Davis smiled confidently and inched closer. “I see. Hmmm.” He made a steeple with his hands and rested them against his lips for a moment and then he laid one arm casually across the back of her seat. “Well, I don’t know what your plans are, but if you need anyone to show you around town I am absolutely here for you, LuAnn, twenty-four hours a day. I know after living all your life in a small town, that the big city”—Davis lifted his other arm dramatically toward the ceiling—“must be very overwhelming. But I know it like the back of my hand. The best restaurants, theaters, shopping. We could have a great time.” He edged still closer, his eyes hugging the contours of her body as his fingers drifted toward her shoulder.
“Oh, I’m sorry, Mr. Davis, I think maybe you got the wrong idea. Lisa’s father ain’t coming for the press conference, but he’s coming up after. He had to get leave first.”
“Leave?”
“He’s in the Navy. He’s with the SEALs.” She shook her head and stared off as if digging up some shocking memories. “Let me tell you, it downright scares me some of the stuff he’s told me about. But if there’s anybody that can take care of himself it’s Frank. Why, he beat six guys unconscious in a bar one time ’cause they were coming on to me. He probably would’ve killed them if the police hadn’t pulled him off, and it took five of them to do it, big, strong cops, too.”
Davis’s mouth dropped open and he scooted away from LuAnn. “Good Lord!”
“Oh, but don’t say nothing about that at the press conference, Mr. Davis. What Frank does is all top-secret-like and he’d get real pissed at you if you said anything. Real pissed!” She stared intently at him, watching the waves of fear pour over his pretty-boy features.