Chapter Thirty
Ben branched out from the campus, searching for various convenience stores where he could place bets on the upcoming CFL game. He had a little over eight grand with him and planned to spend every last dollar on the bet. It never occurred to him that the manuscript could be wrong and he could lose all his money. He also did not think of the consequences of his actions. As far as he was concerned, the universe had placed the manuscript in his possession to be exploited — a way of paying him back for dealing him such a crummy hand in life.
Ben arrived at the first store and took off his backpack. Using the inside of his backpack as a shield, he reached in and counted out one thousand dollars in random denominations, and then walked inside.
The game was Sports Select — a sports gambling game offered by the provincial government. Ben was familiar with it, but since he was neither into sports nor gambling, he had not played it before. In this case, what he was about to do could not even be considered gambling.
Ben found a small stand at the front of the store that was for filling out the paper ballots. He picked up one of the small pencils and etched in his bet, betting one-thousand dollars on Saskatchewan to win. The Roughriders were a four-to-one underdog so Ben stood to make a lot of money on the upset.
When he was done, he took the ballot to the cashier and laid down the cash. The clerk didn’t even look up while validating the ticket.
Ben left the store and moved onto the next one. He went to seven more convenience stores and placed the same bet each time. He did this to avoid suspicion and also as a way to launder the stolen money, just in case it was traceable. Now all he needed to do was wait until Sunday’s Grey Cup game and cash in all his winning tickets.
The Secret Manuscript Page 30
