“Bring in Biddle,” Jack said, “or whichever dealer you prefer, and let’s see her play. You can watch to make sure she’s on the level.”

“And what happens if I see her cheating?”

“Then Madden will pay out five times what she supposedly swindled. But . . .”

“But what?”

“Well, if she wins outright without cheating then you let her take her winnings home.”

Florence perked up at that. She could do it, no matter who dealt the cards. She didn’t need to cheat to win.

“Fine.” Donnelly strode to the door and ordered someone outside to quickly retrieve Biddle. “Now we’ll see if she possesses these skills you speak so highly of. Come on, girl.”

Florence stood and walked to the desk, which Donnelly promptly cleared off. All the money disappeared into the safe in the corner. Mamie positioned herself at Florence’s side, while Jack stood at the end of the desk. Florence tried to calm her racing heart. She hated that she’d been put in this position, but at least Donnelly was giving her the chance to prove herself.

Biddle soon arrived and unboxed a new deck of cards. Even still, Jack asked to see them. He flipped through the cards and counted to make certain the deck hadn’t been altered in any way. Satisfied, he passed the deck back to the dealer. Mamie reached out to squeeze Florence’s hand as the cards were dealt. Florence gave her a small smile. They had nothing to worry about, not with Jack here and Florence’s skill at twenty-one.

The first deal gave her a total of twelve. Not ideal. The dealer’s up-card was a three. Again, not ideal. However, she knew from Clay that odds were slightly better if she took a card in a situation like this, so that’s what she did. A six, for a total of eighteen. The dealer took two cards and busted out at twenty-three. First hand to Florence.

For the next ten minutes, the cards were dealt and no one in the room spoke. She lost two hands, one when she stupidly didn’t split a pair of nines and another when the dealer had twenty-one. The rest were all hers, and Jack began to chuckle when she won with an ace and a ten. “Has she impressed you enough, Donnelly? I’d say you’re lucky she was only up four hundred.”

Donnelly exhaled long and slow as he withdrew a stack from his pocket. “Damn it. Go on, take your four hundred. I better never see you return, miss.”

Florence stood and accepted the money. “You won’t, Mr. Donnelly. I promise.”

Jack and Donnelly shook hands, but Florence grabbed her sister’s arm and started for the door. She wanted to get out of this place as soon as possible.

“You were amazing,” Mamie whispered. “I knew you were good but that was astounding.”