sigh.
“His name is Dugan. Harold or Hal or something like that.” The dealer lowered his voice as a couple of men in suits passed. “There’s this poker palace down on Pridemore called the Lady Luck. Supposedly just a bar, but everybody knows there’re backroom games going on for the patrons no longer welcome in the casinos. Dugan’s a regular.”
“Gee, thanks,” Joe drawled.
“Hard to say no to a lovely lady,” the dealer said with a shrug and a wink at Jane. He laid another card on Joe’s hand. A three of clubs.
Joe grinned. “I’ll stay.”
The dealer’s smile was halfhearted. He dealt himself a queen, which put him over twenty-one. “A winner again.” He pushed the chips toward Joe. “Another hand?”
“Actually, I promised my wife we wouldn’t spend all day in the casinos. But thank you very much for the games.” Joe rose, pocketing most of the chips but leaving a generous tip for the dealer.
“Thanks on behalf of the employees,” the dealer said with a nod. “Hope you enjoy your stay in Reno.”
Joe tucked his arm around Jane’s waist and guided her toward the cashier’s booth to cash in his chips. “You’re quite the little storyteller, aren’t you?” he murmured, his lips brushing the tip of her ear. A spark of pure electricity zigzagged through her at the light touch.
“Got us the information we were looking for,” she replied softly.
“If it’s the same guy,” Joe warned.
The cashier took the chips and started handing Joe cash. Jane watched her count out the bills, her eyes widening with surprise. He had won over $3,000 at the blackjack table.
“I get the feeling you’ve gambled before,” she murmured as they stepped into the midday sunlight outside the casino and started west toward their motel.
He gave her a considering look, dropping his arm from her waist. He faced forward, quickening his pace. “I don’t make a habit of it.”
Jane hurried to stay in step. “Took guts to double down with the dealer holding ten.”
He glanced at her. “How would you know?”
She stumbled to a halt, considering the question. “I have no idea.”
He paused and looked back at her, a little frown creasing his brow. He released a soft sigh and motioned with his head. “Come on. Let’s get back to the hotel. I could use a rest before we go looking for your con man.”
She caught up with him, putting her hand on his arm. “I’m sorry-I’m pushing you too hard.”
He looked faintly horrified by the notion. “I’m fine. But we haven’t had a lot of sleep in the past few days.”
She couldn’t hold back a soft chuckle. “Well, it helps to sell our newlywed cover story.”
He slanted a look at her, his lips curved with a half grin that made her heart skip a beat.
The Admiral Arms Motel was a couple of blocks off the strip, within walking distance of several of the town’s casinos. It hadn’t been exactly cheap, and they’d taken one of the last rooms available, but the room had been clean, with a pair of double beds. They’d even managed a few hours of uninterrupted sleep before rising early to start their tour of the casinos in search of information.
Of course, the easiest way to find out who she really was would have been to head for the Reno Police Department, let them take her fingerprints and check them against their records. But she couldn’t risk it. What if she was wanted for more than being a con man’s shill?
She hadn’t told Joe everything about her dream, only the memory of the con man and the certainty that she had known him here in Reno, although the more she thought about it, the sillier she felt about being so reticent. He already suspected her of complicity in his brother’s murder. What was fraud compared to that?
Joe grabbed the phone book as soon as they got back to the room, sitting on the edge of the bed to thumb through the listings. “Well, what do you know? There’s no Lady Luck listed in the phone book.”
Jane sat across from him on the other bed. She picked up the phone, drawing a small frown from Joe. She dialed the number for the front desk.
A woman picked up. “Admiral Arms Motel.”
“I’m trying to find a particular establishment in the phone book and I’m having no luck. A business associate asked me to meet him there later this evening. It’s a tavern called the Lady Luck, on Pridemore, but I’m not familiar with that part of town. Have you ever heard of the place?”
There was a brief pause before the clerk answered. “I’ve heard of it. I’m sorry, I don’t know the phone number, but we do have city maps available for sale at the front desk if you’d like to pick one up. It will show you where Pridemore Avenue is.”
“Thank you. I’ll do that.” Jane hung up.
“No luck?”
“Well, it exists. And it’s on Pridemore Avenue, I think. And going by the tone of her voice, the desk clerk thinks I’m nuts even to consider going there.” She pushed her fingers through her hair, scraping it back from her face. “I’m hungry. Are you hungry?”
“A little.”
She pushed off the bed. “Give me a ten and I’ll run down the strip to one of the burger joints for us.”
He stood, as well. “I’ll come with you.”
“Don’t be silly. You rest. I’ll be back in a flash.”
“You’re not going anywhere without me.”
She stared at him in growing dismay. “You mean you don’t trust me to go anywhere without you.”
He shook his head. “I mean I don’t like the idea of you out there by yourself with someone gunning for us. We’re safer together.”
He was right, she knew, but she wasn’t sure he was telling her the whole truth, either. Clearly, he didn’t trust her, and who could blame him? A woman with a hidden past, a dangerous present and an uncertain future? She wasn’t even sure she trusted herself. What if her past came rushing back to her while she was out there alone? What would she remember? What might she do?
She nodded finally, conceding his point. “Okay. You’re right. Together it is.”
She followed him out of the motel room.
JOE AND Jane bought a couple of burgers and shared an order of fries at one of the fast-food joints not far from the motel. At midday, the temperature was nearing seventy degrees, warm enough for Jane to suggest they eat their meal at one of the outdoor tables.
“Have you ever been to Reno before?” Jane asked Joe.
He shook his head. “Some buddies and I took a trip to Vegas once, during spring holiday, but not Reno.”
“I think I like Idaho better. Closer to the mountains.”
He finished his hamburger and wadded up the paper wrapper, spinning it between his fingers on the concrete table in front of him. “I went to college in Texas,” he said, smiling at the memory of his four years in College Station. “Hot as hell from March until October, and flat as a pancake. I missed the Rockies.”
“I wonder how long I lived here in Reno.” Her green-eyed gaze swept over the street scene in front of the hamburger joint as if seeking something familiar.
“What do you remember? Besides just being here, I mean,” he added when she turned to look at him.
“Not much,” she admitted. “A street scene. The black-haired man playing three-card monte.”
“What makes you think this man can tell you anything about yourself?”
She sighed, bending a thin French fry between her restless fingers. “I’m pretty sure I worked for him.”
The confession shouldn’t have surprised him. God knew he’d thought much worse things of her. But her soft admission made his heart sink. “Worked for him how?”
“In one memory I had, I picked a man’s pocket on his cue.” Her gaze skittered away from his, her face flushed. “And in a later dream, I was talking a mark into a shell game the man was running.”
“How do you know these memories are real?”
She plucked at the bun of her half-eaten hamburger. “I guess I wasn’t sure. Not until we talked to that blackjack dealer and he knew the man I was describing.”
“Do you know how old you were then?”
“I don’t even know how old I am now.” She looked up suddenly, an eager light in her eyes. “Do you?”
“I’m not sure,” he admitted. “You told me you were twenty-five when we first met. That was almost a year
