BACK IN HER HUSBAND'S BED by Andrea Laurence Page A

and she was completely unprepared to play poker. With the way she felt, she might just choke and get eliminated before she could fulfill her end of the bargain with Nate. What would his price be then?
    Annie settled into her assigned seat and eyed Gordon Barker. He was three seats down. Gabe had arranged for her to share a table with him today because he was on their short list of suspects. She’d heard a rumor or two about him over the years, but they’d never been as loud as the ones about someone like Eddie Walker. If he was involved in some elaborate scheme, he was smart enough to keep it quiet.
    Personally, Annie hadn’t had a lot of experience playing with him, so she wasn’t sure either way. As the tournament started, she decided to spend the first few hands focused on her game and building her chips. Once she had a healthy cushion above the other players, she would feel more comfortable breaking her focus to watch Gordon. She had to play well if she was going to be successful in any of this.
    As the lunch break approached, Annie was pleased with how the day had gone. A few players had been eliminated. Gordon was still playing, but she’d seen nothing suspicious and she hadn’t lost any hands to him. He was probably another name she could cross off the list, but she wasn’t about to rule him out yet. If she was too good at her job, soon there wouldn’t be anyone but Eddie on Nate’s radar. Toppling him would not only be difficult, but destructive. Tessa would not be happy if she found out Annie had sent her boyfriend to jail.
    When the tournament stopped for lunch, she grabbed her food and went to sit down beside the Captain. She figured he was probably her safest bet for company. He wasn’t much for gossip. With any luck, she could attempt to make conversation and dig for information as required, but he wouldn’t deliver anything but another one of his long-winded Navy stories. It was the perfect choice.
    “Afternoon, Mrs. Reed. How’s your game going today?”
    Annie smiled and shrugged. “Too early to tell.”
    “Don’t let yourself get distracted by thoughts of that handsome husband of yours. You two seem to be enjoying this second honeymoon of sorts, but it can mess with your game. It’s no coincidence that every time I won the championship, I was between marriages.”
    She opened her bag of chips and let a smile curl her lips. The Captain always seemed to be between marriages. She’d lost count at six. Her one marriage was too much for her to handle. “I’ll try. I’m worried about Gordon Barker, though. I’ve heard rumors he doesn’t play a fair game. I’d hate to get bumped out because he’s dirty.”
    The Captain shook his head and took a bite of his sandwich. “You don’t need to worry about Gordon. He’s been clean for years. Had a brush with the law that was a little too close for comfort a while back and he straightened right out.”
    “Oh,” Annie said. Well, at least the conversation was getting her somewhere and Gabe couldn’t accuse her of not doing her job. She was hoping to string Gordon along as an option for a while longer, but now she could focus on the rest of her game instead of him. “That’s a relief.”
    “You’ll want to watch out for Eddie Walker, though.”
    Annie stopped, her bottle of water hovering in midair. She hadn’t expected this at all, but she should’ve known the Captain would want to look out for her. He’d been the closest thing she’d had to a father over the years. “He’s not at my table today.”
    “Well, the problem with Eddie is that he works with a circle of players and dealers. It’s actually better if he’s at your table because he always keeps his own game clean. He’s a tricky bastard. I wish to God someone would catch him so we wouldn’t have to deal with the scrutiny. It messes with my game to know how many security people are circling around and watching my every play.”
    She immediately felt guilty for talking with