Chapter Twenty-four
A log cabin in the woods
“Raise!”
A bundle of twenty-dollar bills held together with a currency strap joined several others heaped in the centre of a pine table that looked as if it had been scored with a knife and used as an ashtray. The sound of liquid being poured resonated in the smoky room as the gambler who’d upped the stakes splashed three fingers of Kentucky bourbon into a chipped glass, drinking it down in one go. He smacked his lips in satisfaction, his eyes trained on the pile of money.
“Fold!” called a voice roughened from years of tobacco smoke and hard drinking. Cards slammed down onto the table.
“Since you got nothing else to do, get us another bottle from the kitchen,” ordered the player who’d raised the bet. He took a puff from an illegally obtaine
