“Whaddya mean, you’re thinking? What’s there to think about? All you gotta do is gimme the information. That is, if you got it to give.”

“I got it all right,” Corey said. And then he smiled lazily. “I got it to sell.”

“Now look, you want that ticket, don’t you?”

“It’s gotta be more than just that ticket. A lot more.”

Hard lines showed on Kingsley’s face. He turned his head slowly, deliberately, his eyes aiming at the gun in the colored man’s hand. His head turning again, he scanned the invisible path that stretched from the muzzle of the gun to the side of Corey’s head.

He said to Corey, “You better wake up to what’s happening here. You’re in no position to quote prices.”

“Don’t bet on that,” Corey murmured.

Kingsley blinked several times. Without moving he seemed to be squirming.

Corey spoke very softly. “You know what’s in that jackpot?”

Kingsley shifted in the chair, wet his lips, rubbed his hand through his thick curly scalp. He muttered, “All right, tell me.”

“It comes in around a million five.”

“What?” Kingsley said. And then louder. “What? What?”

“I said a million five.”

Kingsley’s eyes were wide and his mouth was open. He looked at Ernie, then at Gene. They were gaping at Corey. Kingsley leaned toward Corey and said, “Let’s have that music again. Let’s have it nice and slow.”

Corey said it very slowly. “One million five hundred thousand dollars.”

Beads of perspiration gleamed on Kingsley’s forehead. He didn’t bother to wipe them off. He was rubbing his hands together and mumbling, “What a package, what a package—”

“We don’t have it yet,” Gene said.

“We’ll have it,” Kingsley said. Then he smiled fondly at Corey. “We’ll have it soon, won’t we?”

“If I’m included.”

“For how much?”

“One third.”

“Come again?”

“One third,” Corey said. “Off the top.”

“You’re joking.”

“Not hardly,” Corey said.

Kingsley was quiet for a few moments. And then, “All right, we’ll work something out. I’ll talk it over with Lita. As soon as she comes back. You don’t mind waiting, do you?”

Corey shrugged. He leaned further back in the chair. His tone was mildly curious as he said, “What’s this with you and Lita?”

“We’re tight.”

“Since when?”