Unlucky Read Online Free PDF Page A

people out of what was already an unfair advantage to begin with. But in this case, the players had plenty of money and no scruples. "This is my only shot at Harry's business. It might not be ideal but at least it pays well."
    Besides, there was no cause for all the worry, she argued with herself. This was just another job. Five days of being hit on by nasty men with even nastier employment records.
    But no matter how much she tried to rationalize it, the job made her a little uneasy, and for a woman that lived alone on the bayou and imploded buildings on a daily basis, that worried her. She could have handled a "watch your back" feeling, but the "run like hell" that had washed over her when she parked at the docks was stronger than any she'd felt before.
    "You know," Scooter said, "if you really don't want to go through with this, I can probably get you on with my construction company when Walter Royal fires you."
    Leave it to Scooter to cut straight to the heart of the matter. "I appreciate it, Scooter, but with my track record, do you really think anyone in Royal Flush is going to hire me to build things?"
    Scooter frowned. "I guess not." He brightened a bit and smiled. "I definitely wouldn't want you installing glass, anyway." He pointed to the casino. "There's always cooling for a living. You don't have to do it here. You could move to New Orleans, or heck, go all the way to Vegas. That would be awesome."
    "To hell with that," she said, and grabbed her duffel bag from the backseat. Demolition may not have been her first choice when she was slugging through college but damn if it wasn't what she was best at. "Let's get this over with."
    Scooter nodded. "And don't worry about a thing, Mallory. J.T. ripped me fairly good over telling you about this. I promised him I wouldn't let anything happen to you. If things get out of hand, I can always shoot somebody with my nail gun." He pulled the tool out of his backpack and shoved it over to her for inspection. "It's a real beauty--magnesium housing, adjustable exhaust, and double cams."
    Mallory smiled and jumped out of the truck, waving at her neighbor as she headed across the dock. What the heck--a boat of criminals versus Scooter and a nail gun. They weren't the best of odds, but they were the best she was going to get.
    She put on her poker face as she walked through the sliding doors and into the casino. Might as well get her game face on now. But as she rounded the corner to the ladies' room, her cool and collected plans fell apart in an instant.
    The woman who hurried out of the restroom and collided with her didn't even look old enough to be in an R-rated movie, much less in a casino. "What in God's name are you doing here, Amy?" Mallory used her duffel bag to push her friend toward a private corner of the lobby as more attendants emerged from the ladies' room. "Do
not
tell me you signed up to play in my uncle's poker scam?"
    Amy's bright blue eyes widened at the tone of her voice and she shook her head with the innocence of a five- year-old, her honey blond bob swinging around her face. "I'm not a player, exactly--I'm a dealer. I tried out last week." She squirmed and stared at the floor. "I was going to tell you, Mallory, I promise." She looked at Mallory with a pleading expression. "It's for my thesis. You knew I was going to do something like this eventually. What's wrong with now?"
    Mallory felt her back tighten and she clenched her duffel bag until her hand ached. "I thought you would finish your thesis by playing a nice round of cards with some businessmen at a large casino in New Orleans. Not sign up as a dealer for my uncle, a man of questionable legal status at best, and certainly not against the players he's lined up."
    Amy blinked, then stared at Mallory in obvious confusion.
    Mallory tossed the duffel bag onto the couch next to them and threw her hands up in exasperation, causing Amy to jump. "He didn't tell you, did he?" She tried to keep her voice low but