Chapter Thirteen

Lucky studies Priscilla Lachaise’s lunchtime routine and Nico’s guardhouse habits, recognizing a narrow window to flee before her lies about the storage locker are exposed. She befriends Janet during lunch, trades hats and sunglasses, and claims their dog-walking duties were switched to secure Betty’s leash.

Wearing Janet’s Angels cap and cheap aviators, Lucky keeps her head down and walks Betty past Nico, who is distracted by lunch and poker on his phone. She slips through the gate and, once out of sight, runs to the storage facility, where she correctly recalls the keypad code on a final try and retrieves the winning lottery ticket hidden in a smoke detector.

Outside, Reyes’s card falls from Lucky’s wallet, prompting her to call for help. Reyes picks her up, and as they drive, Lucky admits she sought Priscilla first to learn Cary’s fate; Priscilla suggested he might be dead. Reyes acknowledges Lucky’s conflicting feelings for Cary and asks where to take her.

Learning dogs aren’t allowed on buses, Reyes offers to keep Betty while Lucky travels. Lucky commits to going to Devereaux Camp near Cooperstown to find her mother and seek help with the ticket. She declines Reyes’s offer of money, provides only the destination for contact, and notes movement in her father’s case may come quickly.

At the bus station, Lucky promises Betty she’ll return soon and thanks Reyes. She departs alone for New York State, leaving Betty with Reyes and carrying the recovered ticket and a fragile plan for what comes next.