The Wombat was crowded, noisy, and boisterous. Smoke hovered in the air, and scantily clad waitresses barely stuffed into their costumes kept the drinks flowing. Sydney supposed that the owners of The Wombat encouraged drinking to dull the wits of the people who came to gamble, with the expectation that it would increase the house odds.
Her respect for Nicholas suddenly climbed. He allowed no alcoholic beverages served on the floor of his casino. Although he had never said it, she felt instinctively that he wouldn’t want anyone to lose money because their ability to think rationally had been affected by alcohol.
Now, where had that thought come from? she wondered, nearly missing a step. She didn’t know for sure that that was his reason for keeping the bar separate from the casino. But with her next breath she corrected herself. Yes, she did know why. Nicholas was a man who cared about tiny birds. In his own way he would care about people.
With a disgusted curse a man vacated a chair and Sydney slipped onto it. The Wombat dealt four decks for blackjack, which was fine with her since that was what she had been playing on the Isle of Charron. This was going to be easier than she had thought, she assured herself, and as if to prove her right, she won consistently the first hour, quickly doubling her money. Her hopes soared. If she were playing recklessly, it was only because she wanted to win quickly. And it wasn’t as if her tactics weren’t working, she thought as she raked in another pile of chips.
Waiting for the dealer to deal the next hand, Sydney noticed the glass of champagne one of the waitresses had placed at her elbow sometime earlier. Since the heavy smoke had begun to bother her, she took a sip, welcoming the coolness as it slid down her throat.
“Why don’t you let me order you a real drink?” the man next to her offered in a slurred voice that indicated he had had quite a few drinks. He held up his glass for her inspection. “Scotch is what you should have. Champagne is for wimps.”
“Then I guess that’s what I am. Besides, I’m not going to drink. I was just a little thirsty, that’s all.”
“You sure don’t play like a wimp,” he noted admiringly. “You can play right up there with the best of them.”
“Thank you.”
He leaned closer and she caught the full strength of his Scotch-laden breath. “My name’s Harvey, by the way, and you’re a real beaut.” He burped, then continued. “I think you should come home with me tonight.”
“I appreciate the, uh, invitation, Harvey, but no, thank you.”
Sydney won the next hand and the next, and her euphoria climbed. She hardly noticed when she began to lose, because at first her losses were minimal compared to her winnings. But soon she was down forty thousand dollars, and she forced herself to stop and take stock of the situation. Sipping from the ever-full champagne glass, she decided her losing streak was only temporary and nodded at the dealer for the next card.
Thirty minutes later she was down sixty thousand dollars, and she decided that the temperature inside The Wombat must have climbed dramatically in that time. It was extremely hot. She took another sip of the golden wine in her glass and immediately felt a lot better. The heat must be why she was having difficulty recalling which cards had been played, she decided. Her usually clear photographic memory was producing hazy pictures.
Harvey patted her shoulder and fell against her. “Now, don’t worry, pretty lady. You’re too good to keep on losing. Your luck is bound to change.”
“I hope so,” she murmured, and righted him.
“Say, what’s your name anyway?”
“Sydney.”
Harvey gave the dealer a belligerent stare. “You deal Sydney a good hand, or you’ll have me to contend with. She’s going home with me tonight!”
Sometime later, Sydney studied her hand, trying to ignore the dizziness in her head. She had been dealt a six and a four, and the dealer’s upcard was a seven. The odds of her getting a ten or a card that counted ten were good, so she doubled down, doubling her bet, and hoping the one last card she’d get would give her twenty.
Sure that she could now begin to make up her losses, she waited for that card. When it came, she couldn’t believe her eyes. A lousy three! The dealer turned up his second card—a duece—and dealt himself a jack. She groaned. She had thirteen and the dealer had nineteen. What rotten luck!
She took a sip of champagne. Automatically she reached for another pile of chips, but found nothing. Confused, she glanced down and discovered that she was completely out of chips. She had lost everything!
“How could you do that to her?” Harvey demanded of the stone-faced dealer. “Now she might not want to come home with me, and I’ve never seen anyone more beaut than her!”
“Sydney, thank goodness we found you!”
Sydney gazed down at her champagne glass and wondered how it could still be full. She had never once caught anyone filling it, but then, she had to admit that her attention had been on the game. She felt numb. How could she possibly have lost over a hundred thousand dollars?
“Sydney!”
That voice sounded exactly like Addie’s, she thought vaguely, and wondered if anyone would mind if she lay her head on the green baize table for a minute or so.
Two hands grabbed her arm and twisted her around. She blinked. It was Addie, and Manda was with her! She felt like crying. Her two sisters, always there when she needed them, had come to console her.
“If Addie hadn’t been along, I would never have gotten through that crowd.” Manda said. “Come on, we need to get out of here.”
Sydney beamed at her two sisters. “I’m so happy to see you!”
“And we’re happy to see you,” Addie said, “but right now we need to leave.”
She eyed Manda’s shoulder-length cinnamon-colored hair curiously. “Have you done something different to your hair?”
“Possibly some of it is missing. I’ve been practically tearing it out by the roots on my way here, worrying about you.”
Sydney frowned. “Worried?”
“Manda called a friend to check out this place and found out it was bad news,” Addie said. “This place is raided on a regular basis. Now, come on, dammit, let’s get the hell out of here!”
Used to such language from her sweet, delicate-looking red-headed sister, Sydney didn’t budge. “I just lost everything,” she told the two of them, tears rushing to her golden eyes. “I can’t believe it, but he dealt me a three.”
“Sydney’s coming home with me,” Harvey told Manda.
“Exactly who are you?” Manda asked.
“That’s Harvey and he’s drunk,” Sydney explained.
“I don’t think he’s the only one,” Addie murmured to Manda.
Sydney moaned. “Do you know what the odds are against me being dealt a three?”
“No,” Manda snapped, “and at the moment, I couldn’t care less. Now, come on. This place is creepy.”
The risk of Sydney being whisked away before his very eyes spurred Harvey into action. He stood up, reached across the table, and grabbed the dealer’s shirtfront. “You’re gonna be awful sorry you dealt Sydney a three, ’cause she didn’t want a three!” Then Harvey threw a punch.
At the same time, a bullhorn blared from the front of the casino. “All right, ladies and gentlemen, what we have here is a raid. If you’ll just stay where you are...”
Bedlam broke out.
Manda pulled Sydney off her stool, and Harvey fell onto it, having just been punched in the face by the dealer.
“I’m going to be sick.” Sydney announced.
Addie drew her close so that they were face-to-face. “No, you’re not, do you hear me? You will not be sick. We are going to walk out of here, and you won’t be sick. Okay?”
Sydney nodded.
Manda ducked as a chair flew past her head. Its trajectory carried it straight into the dealer’s broad back, where it splintered into fifty pieces.
With Manda and Addie on either side of Sydney, the three of them began to walk toward the front exit. Fights were going on all around them. Dealers were grabbing their cash receipts in preparation for a hasty exit. The police were either involved in the fights or busy trying to break them up.
A roundhouse punch came so close to Sydney that she could feel the breeze. Manda scooped up a beer bottle and broke it over the offender’s head.
“Take a big step,” Addie instructed, and dazedly Sydney stepped over the body of a man currently down.
Harvey, in despair because Sydney was leaving, climbed up on one of the blackjack tables, grabbed a light fixture, and swung out over the crowd in dogged pursuit of his objective. Moments later, both Harvey and the light fixture came crashing down directly behind the three sisters.
Unaware of Harvey’s plight, they kept walking. A big, burly man stepped into their path. Manda grabbed a full ice bucket and dumped it over the man’s head. Surprised, he staggered back, and they walked on.
In front of them, a rather large policeman was carrying two waitresses, one under each arm like so much firewood, out the door.
Someone lurched into Sydney. She stuck her foot out to regain her balance and inadvertently tripped a man who was lunging for Addie.
Finally, at the door, they faced one last barrier—a policeman. “No one is allowed to leave,” he said firmly. “Just go on back in. One of my men will get to you eventually.”
Addie turned her dark brown eyes on him and smiled. “We’re leaving now.”
A disconcerted expression crossed his experience-worn face, and he nodded. “You’re leaving now.”
Addie sailed through the door, but when Manda and Sydney went to pass him, he stopped them. “No one is allowed to leave.”
“We’re with her.” Manda said, pointing toward Addie, now standing outside.
The policeman looked at Addie and she nodded. “All right,” he said.
“My car’s over there.” Sydney said, nodding vaguely toward the other side of the parking lot.
“You’re riding with us.”
“But you don’t have a car in Brisbane,” Sydney pointed out, smiling because she had figured that fact out.
Addie took the wind out of her sails. “We rented a car at the airport.”
“And Jacto will drive your car back to your flat,” Manda said.
Sydney jerked away from her sisters. “Jacto! Oh, I’m so happy Jacto came. Where is he? I’ve got to say hello.”
A tall black-skinned man materialized out of the darkness.
“Jacto! How wonderful that you’re here. I lost all my money... and... I’m going to be sick.”
“It will pass and perhaps get better,” Jacto said.
“I don’t think so. Oh, help!”
“Take her over there behind that car.” Manda told Addie, grabbing Sydney’s purse from under her arm. “I’ll find her car keys.”
Addie held her sister patiently while Sydney’s stomach disgorged the champagne. When she was through, Addie wiped her face with a handkerchief. “Now you feel much better, don’t you?”
Sydney nodded obediently.
“Sydney! Sydney!”
Turning around, Sydney saw Harvey at the door of The Wombat, being forcibly restrained by the policeman.
“Sydney,” Harvey called, “I’ll see you around sometime, okay?”
With an effort, she raised her hand. “’Bye, Harvey.”
Manda pulled the car to the curb in front of Sydney’s apartment. “It’s all right, love. Addie and I haven’t reached our goals yet either.”
“But I lost everything! I don’t have one cent left.”
“We have two weeks to go,” Addie said in a soothing voice. “A lot can happen in two weeks.”
“It’s no use, Addie. Your magic isn’t going to work this time. I’m worried.”
Glancing in the rearview mirror, Manda turned off the ignition and pulled the key out. “Jacto’s right behind us. Let’s go in and see if we can’t come up with some solution.”
Addie touched Sydney’s arm reassuringly. “That’s right. After all, the three of us together are invincible!”
Sydney groaned. “Not when one of us has a hangover.”
* * *
Nicholas, standing in the moonlit shadows of the porch watched as Sydney and two bright-haired women climbed out of a minicar. An Aborigine having parked right behind them, soon joined them.
He heard one of the women, the one with the shoulder-length cinnamon-colored hair, laugh and say, “Jacto!”
The other woman had shorter hair, a flaming red. She said something that he couldn’t quite make out, but he definitely heard a cuss word. It surprised him since she had such an angelic look about her.
But Sydney had the major portion of his attention. Her head was down, her eyes on the path. When she reached the steps, she looked back. “Manda, do you have the key?”
“Right here.” Manda moved past Sydney and bounced up the steps, coming to a stop when she saw Nicholas.
Jacto immediately moved into a position where he could intervene if necessary.
Manda eyed Nicholas with interest. “Hel-lo! Who are you?”
“Nicholas Charron.” He looked past Manda to Sydney, who at the sight of him had stumbled and fallen against Addie. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“She’s fine.” Addie assured him. “You’re the one who owns the ‘Glass Palace,’ aren’t you?”
“I own the Isle of Charron,” he answered, and took the few steps necessary to bring him to Sydney’s side.
Addie looked at Manda. “That’s what I said.”
Manda’s eyes were on Nicholas. “Hi. I’m Manda and this is Addie. We’re Sydney’s sisters.”
“How do you do,” he said.
“Can we please go inside?” Sydney requested, not at all sure how much longer her legs were going to hold her up.
“Oh, right!” Manda suddenly sprang into action, inserting the key into the door and opening it.
As they all filed into the small flat, Sydney’s head whirled, and this time it wasn’t because of the champagne. What could Nicholas possibly be doing here? She had known that he might be upset to find that she had left, but she never for a moment considered that his anger would propel him off the island to find her.
Her eyes met his. Oh, yes, he was definitely angry, but he seemed to be dealing with another emotion too. How puzzling, she thought, and tried to decide what to do with him.
With her two sisters, the tall, silent Jacto, and Nicholas in it, her flat seemed full to overflowing. She supposed that, technically speaking, she was the hostess, but for the life of her she couldn’t think what to do.
Addie took the matter out of her hands. “I think Sydney could do with coffee. Why don’t we all go into the kitchen?”
“Good idea,” Manda said with an enthusiasm that Sydney wished for.
But then again, Sydney mused, following her sisters into the kitchen and taking a chair at the small table that filled most of the space in the room, Manda didn’t know Nicholas. She didn’t understand how he could take a woman and tangle up all her emotions so that she didn’t know what she was doing.
Sydney decided to warn Manda and Addie. “Nicholas comes out only at night. I’m sure he’s a vampire.”
Her sisters looked at her worriedly, then Addie turned to Nicholas. “She’s fine. She’s just had a sip too much champagne.”
They didn’t understand, Sydney thought mournfully, and dropped her head into her hands.
“Looks like she’s had more than a sip too much.” Nicholas murmured, gazing at her with a worried frown on his face.
“Never you mind,” Manda said, pushing him unceremoniously into the chair across from Sydney’s. “She’ll be right as rain as soon as we get a few cups of coffee and some protein into her. I’m going to make some sandwiches. Would you like one?”
“No, but I’ll take a cup of coffee.”
Addie already had the pot perking. “It’ll be ready in a jiffy.”
Manda poked her head into the refrigerator. “Sydney, you don’t even have a stick of celery in here!”
“Ivebeenaway.”
“What?”
Sydney raised her head out of her hands. “I’ve been away.”
Addie cast her a disapproving glance. “That means you didn’t have anything to eat before you went to The Wombat. What in the hell were you thinking about? No wonder you got drunk.”
“I didn’t get drunk,” Sydney mumbled.
“You went to The Wombat!” Nicholas exclaimed. “That place is dangerous.”
“It wasn’t so bad,” Sydney answered.
“Not until the police came,” Manda put in, her head now in Sydney’s pantry. “Look, you’ve got some cans of tuna here. If we could lay our hands on some bread, we’d be in business. Maybe one of your neighbors has some.”
“All my neighbors will be asleep,” Sydney said. “Better send Addie.”
Addie nodded. “Right, then. I’ll be back soon.” Silently Jacto followed her.
Nicholas frowned. “Who is that man?”
“He’s my friend,” Manda responded. “We go lots of places together.”
“What are you doing here, Nicholas?” Sydney asked.
“I’ve come to take you back.”
“Coffee’s ready.” Manda announced, placing a cup in front of both Sydney and Nicholas. “Drink,” she ordered her sister, then sat down to watch that she did.
Nicholas looked down at his coffee cup. “Sydney, can I speak to you alone?”
Manda crossed her arms over her chest and fixed steady amber eyes on him. “No, you can’t. Not until she’s feeling better. I don’t know what’s going on between the two of you, but I can tell with one glance that a person would need to be feeling at the top of her form to deal with you.”
“It’s all right, Manda.” Sydney reached across the table and patted her sister’s hand. “Nicholas, I can’t go back to the island.”
“I’m not leaving here without you.”
“What are you going to do when the sun comes up?” Manda asked with real interest.
Sydney took a sustaining drink of the coffee. The heat and strength of it hit her immediately. “I can’t go back to the island, because tonight I lost all of my money.”
“All of it?”
Addie breezed in, with Jacto behind her. “Hi, everybody, we’re back. Sydney, your next door neighbor, Mr. Carson, is a love. He gave me a whole loaf of bread.”
“Mr. Carson is one of the grouchiest neighbors I’ve ever had. Addie, and no one who lives around here has ever described him as a love.”
Addie’s brows drew together in bewilderment. “That’s funny. Oh, well, who wants sandwiches?”
Manda hopped up from the table. “We all do, and I’ll help you make them.”
Without taking his eyes off Sydney, Nicholas leaned back in his chair and lit a cigarette. “I don’t understand how you could have lost all your money. You’re just too good.”
“She was dealt a three,” Addie explained.
“And then there was the champagne,” Manda added.
“What?”
Sydney pushed back from the table and stood up. “Look, I really don’t want to talk about this right now. I’m going to take a nice long shower.”
“That’s a good idea.” Addie said. “You’ll feel lots better when you’re done.”
“And while you’re gone, we’ll get to know Nicholas better.” Manda said. “Nicholas, how do you like your tuna sandwiches?”
Sydney was perfectly sure that Nicholas never ate tuna sandwiches. However, that wasn’t her concern, she decided as she slipped from the kitchen and made her way into her bedroom. Although Manda and Addie were a formidable twosome, Nicholas was well able to handle himself.
She stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower. Leaning against the wall, she let the water beat down on her, hot and hard, massaging her tense muscles and clearing her head.
But soon she became aware of tears slipping silently down her face and an awful sickness that ached in her stomach, and neither had anything to do with the champagne she had drunk. She had let down her sisters by losing that money, and more important, she had let down her father. Without her portion of the money, there was no way they would be able to reclaim the land that would make Killaroo whole again.
For long minutes she let the water pour over her head until her hair was soaked and the color of dark burgundy. Slowly the last effects of the champagne cleared from her head, and she began to feel more like herself. She wasn’t quite so ready to give up as she had been. But what could she possibly do in two weeks’ time, she asked herself, to earn, gain, or win five hundred thousand dollars?
And last but not least there was Nicholas—sitting in her kitchen. He had come to take her back. He could have his pick of the women at his casino, but he had come to get her. She was amazed.
She shut off the water and stepped out to dry herself and dress. Ten minutes later she was back in the kitchen, wearing a pair of jeans and a plain cotton blouse.
Addie looked up. “There you are and looking more like yourself, I must say.”
Manda handed her a cup of coffee.
“Thanks.” She glanced at Nicholas and found him watching her. She looked back at her sisters. “Listen, if you wouldn’t mind, I think I had better speak with Nicholas alone.”
Sydney could tell Addie and Manda were dying of curiosity, but to anyone who didn’t know them, there would have been no clue.
Manda picked up her coffee cup. “Sure, no problem. We’ll just wait in the other room.”
When Manda, Addie, and Jacto had left the room, she turned to Nicholas.
“Sit down, Sydney. Have some coffee.”
She took a sip, but remained standing. “Hadn’t you better be getting back to your island, Nicholas? It will be getting light in four or five hours.”
“As soon as you say you’ll come with me, we’ll be on our way.”
“You have never listened to me, Nicholas. I lost all my money! I can’t go back.”
Smoke from his cigarette momentarily blocked her view of his face, but she heard the anger in his voice. “And of course gambling would be the only reason you would want to go back to the island.”
She looked away. “I couldn’t even afford the price of a room.”
“And if I said you could stay with me?”
“I’d say no.”
“And if I said you could have a room in the hotel without cost?”
“I’d say no.”
He crushed the cigarette out with particular vengeance. “And if I offered you a job?”
“A job!”
“A job, with room and board thrown in.”
“Doing what?”
“As a dealer.” She opened her mouth to object, but he held up his hand. “Hear me out, Sydney. I’ve never seen anyone better with cards than you. I’ve watched you, and I’ve finally figured out that you have a photographic memory. When you lose, it’s not because you make a mistake in the count of the cards. As a dealer, you could put that ability to use for me.”
“But—”
“I said, hear me out. Now, I know you have this obsession about winning five hundred thousand dollars. If I don’t understand it, I accept it. So, I will stake you with ten thousand dollars. If at the end of, say, three weeks you have not made your goal, you will come to work for me.”
“I don’t have three weeks. I only have about two weeks.”
“Even better for me. You’ll be working for me that much sooner.”
Never before had her perfectly ordinary kitchen seemed charged with so much peril. Briefly she wondered how he did it. He was sitting perfectly still, but she could feel his energy coming at her in waves. In spite of it, or perhaps because of it, she met his gaze steadily. “And what if at the end of that time I can pay you back your ten thousand dollars?”
He seemed to hesitate. “Then your obligation to work for me will be ended.”
Her heart was thudding heavily and there was nothing she could do about it. “Why are you willing to do this, Nicholas?”
“You have an obsession, Sydney—winning that money. Well I also have an obsession.” He smiled. “I notice you’re not asking what my obsession is.”
“N-N-Nicholas—”
“What’s your answer. Sydney? Will you accept the job?’
She combed her fingers through her still wet hair. “Ten thousand dollars. That’s a lot of money.”
“Don’t worry about it. I figure I can’t lose. You’ll either pay me back or you’ll come to work for me. And either way I’ll have you on my island for at least two more weeks.”
“Y-y-you understand that most of my time during the next two weeks will be taken up with gambling.”
“Most of your time... not all.” He paused. “So, Sydney, what is your answer?”
She told herself that she had no choice.
She told herself that she could handle two weeks on the same island as Nicholas.
She told herself, but she didn’t believe it.
“I accept. And thank you very much.”