Illusion of Luck (31 page)

“
Yeah, Sandy
did.”

She kissed him again.

“
You know what, Honey?” said
Greg. “When you agreed to marry me, I thought I was the luckiest
man in the world. But it wasn’t
luck
.”

“
It wasn’t?”

“
No. It
was…
destiny
.”

“
Yes, it was, Baby.” She
leaned down and started a passionate kiss that made him forget
all about his headache.

**********

“
You’ve got to be kidding
me,” said Rebecca. “What’s this?”

The assistant manager heard her, and walked
over to answer her question. “They’re deck chair cushions. Our
maintenance guys stacked them up there while they were cleaning
the deck chairs.”

“
Unbelievable,” said Sandy.
“I’ve never seen such luck.”

“
You think he knew they were
there? Or is he just plain crazy?”

“
You know what? I’m tired of
thinking about Larry. Cynthia’s safe, and Greg gonna be okay. And
it looks like Crow’s off the hook, since Larry is obviously not
dead. So, now we can enjoy a couple of days together
here.”

“
I don’t know. What’s to say
Larry won’t come back for more?”

“
He won’t have a chance. I
betcha the police have him in custody by morning.”

“
That’s awfully
optimistic.”

“
Well, I’m just an
optimistic guy.”

“
Okay, then. Put your money
where your mouth is.”

“
Alright. I’ve got fifty
bucks that says Larry is in the slammer by noon
tomorrow.”

“
Wait a minute—you said by
morning, not by noon.”

“
Is it a bet or
not?”

“
Fine. You’re going to owe
me fifty dollars at noon tomorrow if he’s not in jail.”

“
Or dead.”

“
Okay, sure.”

“
Good. So, we can catch a
cab to our hotel room and…”

She frowned at him, but Sandy wasn’t buying
it. He took her in his arms.

She resisted slightly and then reached up
with both hands and grabbed his head, pulled it down to her, and
planted a big kiss on him. “Let the fun begin.” She grinned.

“
I knew you were
faking.”

“
But our room has
two
beds,
right?”

“
Yeah, sure. I think
so.”

“
What do you mean,
‘you
think
so?’ You
promised
.”

“
Oh, alright,” said Sandy.
“They might still have a double available.”

Rebecca punched him in the arm.

Sandy grinned. It
felt
good
.

**********

Larry didn’t know exactly where he was, but
for now, it didn’t matter. The back road he had taken was dark and
deserted—a perfect spot for typing up a new chapter. Later, he
would go to a Starbucks parking lot and post the chapter via the
free wireless internet.

He had outsmarted them once
again. When were they going to learn? Having
his
kind of powerful luck was as
good as having a super power. Like Superman—without the pesky
Kryptonite issue.

In less than an hour, he had
keyed in the chapter. The redhead would never be safe. And one day
he would finally get her. Whether it took months or even
years…he
would
get her.

He shut down his laptop and set it on the
passenger seat. The Jaguar purred to life and he started to drive
away. The shoulder was soft and muddy, and the tires spun out
slightly before catching traction on the pavement. But then he
realized that something was wrong. He pulled back over to the
shoulder, killed the engine and got out to inspect the tires. The
rear tire on the passenger side was completely flat.

He opened the trunk and got the spare tire,
the jack, the tire tool, and a flashlight. It might be better to
move the car over onto the road, he thought, to give the jack a
firmer footing. But, what if some idiot came barreling down the
road and slammed into his beautiful Jaguar? He couldn’t chance
it.

After positioning the scissor jack and
raising the car slightly, he used the tire tool to remove the lug
nuts, and then jacked the car up higher so he could take off the
wheel. He tried to pull it off, but it was stuck. So, he
repositioned himself, and yanked harder. It suddenly broke free
more easily than he had expected, and the weight of the wheel threw
him backward to the ground. At the same time, his left foot slid in
the mud and went under car. Then he realized that the jack was
sinking into the soft ground, and the car had become unstable and
was shifting toward him.

He pushed the wheel off his chest and to the
side as he frantically tried get away from the lunging Jaguar,
which seemed determined to crush his body. And even though the
ground was slippery and slimy, he somehow got away—except for his
left foot.

The pain was excruciating. He needed to get
his foot out—fast. But the jack was on its side, jammed under the
frame of the car. He couldn’t budge it.

Call 911, he thought, reaching for his cell
phone. Then he remembered he’d left it in the car. Maybe somebody
would come along soon.

Larry tried to relax, hoping it would ease
the pain. But as his flashlight went black, he began to worry about
creatures lurking in the darkness. He held his hand up to his face
and could barely see it.

What was that? Sounded like a splash. He
hadn’t realized he was near water. You idiot, he thought, this is
Florida! Oh, please, don’t let it be an alligator!

But alligators don’t usually attack people
for no reason. At least that was what he’d heard somewhere. So, he
would just hold still, and it would go away.

But something was moving toward him. He
could hear it getting closer, but forced himself to be as still as
a rock.

The alligator clamped onto his right arm and
he could feel the teeth cutting through his flesh. He screamed and
began to thrash wildly. But the beast held on tight. So, he started
punching it with his left fist, and the animal finally let go.
Larry half expected his head to be bitten off at any moment. He
cried and screamed until he was hoarse.

After a few more seconds, he realized the
alligator was gone.

Lucky Larry had been victorious. He had
beaten impossible odds once again.

He couldn’t feel or see the blood gushing
from his arm.

After a while he fell asleep. He figured
somebody would find him in the morning. They would call an
ambulance. He would be fine.

But then he woke up, and realized the
alligator was back. He would hit the animal with his left fist, and
scare it off the way he had done earlier. But his left arm was
heavy. Very heavy. He couldn’t pick it up. He tried to yell, but
didn’t have the strength.

Now the alligator was ripping the shirt
sleeve off his right arm. No, wait—that’s not my shirt he’s tearing
off—it’s my flesh! He’s tearing my arm off! No!

Then the alligator clamped onto his
torso.

He’s eating me alive, but I can’t move!

The horrendous things he had done throughout
his life began to flash across his mind. Shooting the woman behind
the convenience store after stealing her money. She had told him
she had a husband and three kids, but he didn’t care. Bludgeoning
that old woman’s head into the side of her car. Breaking Melanie
Maylin’s neck. Poisoning Erin and incinerating her body in the
barbecue pit. Murdering his own parents.

He heard splashing nearby. Another one,
coming to the feast!

As he lay there in horrible agony while the
alligators ripped him apart, Larry’s final thought was that his
luck had finally run out.

He had lived his life as though he was
special—thinking he had been blessed by the god of luck. And that
he could do anything he wanted—without consequence.

But luck is not real. It only exists in the
mind.

And Larry was not special. He was just a
murderer and a fool—seduced by the ILLUSION of LUCK.

THE END

###

Thanks for reading my book.
I hope you enjoyed it. And please connect with me on my
website:
RobertBurtonRobinson.com