Hazard Read Online Free Page B

entry on the tote board. “Could be an overlay,” she said.
    â€œCould be,” he said.
    The number-three horse had been a two-to-one favorite on the morning line but was now ten to one. The odds were being affected by an unexpected amount bet on a couple of other horses in the race. Keven was very excited about it. To her it was like finding a fantastic bargain at Bloomingdales. A favorite going at a good price.
    Hazard concentrated for a few moments and again mentally handicapped the race. His conclusion was that the number-three horse had a definite edge. That meant someone was purposely manipulating the odds and would, at the last possible moment, chunk down on number three. An overlay.
    â€œIf only the price stays up,” hoped Keven.
    Hazard grunted.
    Then she looked at him and changed. He could feel her pull away before she did.
    â€œYou’re a cheat,” she said.
    â€œWhat the hell did I do?”
    â€œI’m not going to care anymore. You just go ahead and do whatever you want. Ruin yourself, I don’t care.”
    He suspected she meant the hot dog but he wasn’t ready to admit it. “I didn’t do anything.”
    â€œYou don’t have to lie.”
    â€œI’m not. I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
    â€œEating that horrible stuff.”
    â€œWhat horrible stuff?”
    â€œThey’re full of sodium nitrate and other toxic things,” she said with distaste.
    He knew she knew. He couldn’t get away with anything, the way she was tapped in on his mind.
    â€œYou’ve got mustard on your mouth,” she told him.
    He was relieved to hear that. Caught but relieved because at least it was something tangible that had given him away. He rubbed his mouth while his eyes were on the pari-mutuels. “It definitely looks like an overlay,” he said, to change the subject.
    She remained cool, dug into her purse for some raw almonds and ate them. An intentional object lesson. He could hear her teeth crunching on them.
    â€œI’m going to bet,” he said, and started away.
    â€œI want to leave.”
    His look told her she’d better not.
    She went with him, and during the wait in the long line at the seller’s window Hazard tried to make small talk but couldn’t get a word from her. He believed the punishment exceeded the crime.
    After that race Hazard was ready and happy to leave. The number-three horse won and paid eighteen-fifty. Hazard had two hundred on it so for the night he was ahead by fifteen hundred. And Keven was two hundred fifty richer. It called for some laughs but during the ride back to the city she only talked to the Yorkshire, who seemed to agree when she said how stupid most people are, the way they mistreat themselves. However, when they were going down Lexington Avenue she turned to Hazard and with a contrite smile asked, “Baskin-Robbins?”
    He was happy to hear it.
    That chain of ice-cream stores had a branch in the next block and he double parked while she went in to get a double cone for him and a pint for herself.
    Now it was time for laughs, as he drove and licked fast to keep pistachio from dripping, and she eagerly spooned cocoa bean revel, her favorite, straight from the carton. The only excuse she offered for this total lapse in her health-food convictions was an immodest reference to herself as an uncontrollable ice-cream freak. She was such a regular Baskin-Robbins customer that she deserved having at least one of their thirty-one flavors named after her. Keven Krisp Caramel, for example. Anyway, she was the only girl Hazard knew who could devour a whole pint alone, with ease.
    The Packard pulled up at the entrance to her apartment building. “My tongue is frozen,” she complained between spoonfuls.
    Hazard said nothing. His fingers were sticky from the ice cream. He wondered if this was one of the nights when she wanted him to take the initiative. She