Catch by Michelle D. Argyle

whatever he
wants and needs, I sure don’t feel very free. My friends at the
Bellagio have helped me out as much as they can. They’ve helped me
stay in a room there, but that’s all they can really do, short of
lending me money. I was too proud to ask, too proud to beg, and too
stupid to think I could get it easily. I hit the casinos first,
since I’m all right at some of the games. I made a fair
amount—enough to live off for a while, anyway. I figured if I could
keep rolling it in and making something , I’d be okay,
right?”
    She nodded. “Sure.”
    “Except … my father pretty much has his hands
in everything, including the casinos, even ones he doesn’t own. He
knows people. He must have started spreading the word to keep me
out of as much gaming as possible. I was told to leave tables over
and over, and if I wasn’t told, I was pretty much driven away
because I couldn’t seem to win no matter what I did.”
    Miranda was starting to feel sick to her
stomach.
    “My father’s point was clear,” Ollie said.
“He found me on the Strip one night and offered to give everything
back to me if I’d start working for him as a full-time employee.
But I was stupid and I said no. I told him what he’d done to me was
better than being controlled by him. I told him I’d find another
job and be just fine. He told me good luck and left, and I knew … I
knew he was going to do everything in his power to keep me from
succeeding. See, I know my father pretty well by now. I know this
can’t go on forever. We care about each other too much, even if
that sounds crazy to you. This is a game to him—a way to teach me a
lesson, to show me what it’s like with no money, no security, no
options. And he’s right. He really is. I’d probably be happier
giving in, but then … well—”
    “No!” Miranda leaned forward and grabbed his
hand. “You can’t give in to that. He’s a tyrant.”
    “He’s my father.”
    “Yes, but that doesn’t make any of this
right. All you wanted was a little freedom, and look what he’s done
to you.”
    “That’s what I thought too. That’s what I
thought when I saw that man steal another purse, and I thought to
myself, there’s something my father can’t control. So I did it. I
stole a purse, and then another, and another. I sold what I could,
used the money to get another phone and buy some new clothes so I
could try to build myself from the ground up. Then … then you happened.”
    She froze with her fingers still curled
around his hand. He was warm, and she had to admit touching him
sent a thrill straight through her like an electric current.
    “What about me?” she whispered.
    He looked down at her hand and then returned
his attention to her eyes, his voice dead serious as he said,
“You’ll have to win another round to get your answer to that.”
    “You … ugh!” She was halfway between laughing
and reaching out to punch him in the arm. “Fine.”
    They started slapping down their cards as
fast as possible, but she could see she was losing her edge as
Ollie took more and more of her cards. Finally, two jacks. Miranda
set three cards face down on top of her jack and flipped over her
fourth at the same time as Ollie. Hers was a two of diamonds and
his was an ace of hearts. Damn.
    “About time,” he said, gathering up his
spoils. “So, dear Miranda, you must answer truthfully …”
    She kept her eyes on his, her stomach turning
over at the thought of what he might ask her. She had a feeling he
didn’t know how to ask trivial questions.
    “Why did you call your phone after I stole
your purse?”
    She stopped herself from letting out a sigh
of relief. She didn’t want it to seem like it was too easy to
answer, not after he had spilled out so much painful information to
her.
    “It was my sister’s idea,” she explained.
“She dialed my number because she thought it would be funny and
that I’d get over losing everything easier if I saw that trying to
reach you