Page 78 of Wind Called

“W-winning?” Bellamy stammered, trying to figure out if the guy was pulling her leg or whether he was only telling her the simple truth.

“Oh, yeah,” he said with a grin. His teeth were a little yellow, and she wondered if he smoked or vaped, even though those vices weren’t very common anymore. “You got all six, plus the bonus number. A hundred and fifteen million.”

This couldn’t be happening, could it?

How was it possible that their thief had somehow possessed a winning lottery ticket?

Well, someone had to win, she supposed, although she knew weeks often passed when no one did and the money just rolled over to the next drawing.

As to why the dreadlocked stranger had bought the ticket in the first place, she still couldn’t hazard a guess. Maybe it was a ritual of his, a way of rolling the dice before he set out on the next mission the Collector had assigned him.

“It’s still early enough to get to Phoenix,” the clerk went on, and she stared at him as if he’d just told her to prepare for a trip to Mars or something.

“‘Phoenix’?” she repeated.

In answer, he rummaged around under the counter and then pushed a brochure across the worn laminate. “This has the address to the lottery center in Phoenix,” he explained. “With such a big win, it’s just better if you get that ticket turned in as soon as possible. And sign your name on the back — you wouldn’t want to have someone steal your millions, would you?”

Probably not. She smiled shakily as the clerk handed over a pen, and then she signed and dated the back of the ticket. The whole time, she felt like even more of a fraud, but since Marc had insisted the ticket was hers and its original owner sure as hell didn’t need it anymore, there wasn’t much else she could do.

“Thanks,” she told the man as she got out her wallet and tucked the ticket inside, then put it and the brochure back in her purse. “I guess I’d better get going.”

“For sure,” he replied. “You’ve got until five o’clock.”

And it was almost two o’clock now. The drive down to Phoenix would probably take about two hours, maybe more, depending on where in that huge urban sprawl the lottery office was even located.

She hurried outside and climbed into Marc’s truck. The monsoons hadn’t quite made it out here yet, so the day was still blazingly hot and the air conditioning felt heavenly as she closed the door behind her.

“Well…?” Marc asked.

“It’s a winner,” she said briefly, and his eyebrows lifted.

“For real?”

“For real,” she replied. “One hundred and fifteen million. The clerk said we should drive straight to Phoenix to turn it in at the lottery office there.”

Marc had kept the engine running the whole time, but he didn’t seem inclined to pull out of the parking lot quite yet. “That’s…crazy.”

“I know,” she said. “And I’m sure the elders won’t be thrilled about it. We’re supposed to be keeping a low profile, you know?”

“Oh, I know.” His head tilted slightly. “But lottery winners can request to be kept anonymous, right?”

“I’m pretty sure they can,” Bellamy replied. That knowledge steadied her a little. No one outside the clan would even have to know that she’d won millions of dollars.

Well, until she turned around and bought herself a Rolls Royce or something.

She knew she wouldn’t do anything like that, though. Her little Fiat convertible suited her just fine…although she thought maybe it would be nice to get a Wrangler, something with real four-wheel-drive so she and Marc could explore the back country whenever they liked.

Of course, that assumed he planned to stick around. With all that had happened over the past couple of days, discussions about their future had sort of been put on the back burner.

But with the threat of the Collector still out there somewhere and no one exactly sure what that mysterious warlock might try next, Marc wouldn’t leave her alone…would he?

He’d finally gotten the truck moving, heading to the right so they could stay on 89A. That made sense, because they needed to get to the intersection with Highway 260, which would take them down to the interstate through Camp Verde and then all the way into Phoenix.

The craziest thought danced in her mind. She had absolutely no idea how long it took for the people at the lottery to disburse the funds, but even if it was more than a month, that couldn’t stop them from shopping, could it? After all, she would need a permanent place to land at some point, even if her current plan had been to find a short-term rental while she got her life sorted out. And people wouldn’t think buying property would be nearly as out of character for her as acquiring a fancy car, since almost all the McAllisters eventually settled down in a house of their own.

Might as well go for broke, she thought, and see where she and Marc really stood.

She looked over at him, at his fine profile, at the dark scruff of beard that couldn’t hide the strength of his chin and jaw. Maybe he hadn’t been in her life for very long, but she certainly couldn’t imagine a world without him in it.

“Want to go house shopping with me?”

A slow smile spread across his lips.

“Thought you’d never ask.”

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