I woke up again, this time on a bed of gravel. The river flowed next to me, my face inches from the waves. A cut on my cheek stung from where I struck the river bank.
I sat up and spat out river water.
I remembered Rowena and I staggered to my feet.
I didn’t see her. My heart sank. She was probably gone by now, well down the river.
A dancing, metallic glint caught my gaze and drew it upward. The majestic St. Louis Gateway Arch rose into the sky above me, reflections of the water swirling against its surface. The St. Louis skyline glowed underneath it. On any other night, it would have been a beautiful sight.
I was maybe a mile from the casino, on another pier. A river frontage road separated me and a series of steep steps that led upward into the national park under the Arch.
And the
