North Branch — Jeff Mann

Happening upon a fatal traffic mishap on a rain-slick Michigan highway late at night, 35-year-old Ben Marshall succumbs to temptation and absconds with a cash-filled briefcase in the possession of the elderly victim. Recently widowed, and still overwhelmed by his late-wifes medical bills and the lingering pain of her infidelity, he finds it easy to rationalize a finders-keepers mentality. But, nagged by guiltand terrified when he learns the accident victim is Michigans senior U.S. Senatorhe is too afraid to spend any of his ill-gotten fortune or risk the imagined consequences of returning it.Three weeks later, while still wavering, Marshall is stunned to discover a $2-a-week petty gambling habit has dealt him a second unexpected windfall. He is the sole winner of the Michigan Lotto drawingand its $15-million jackpot! With official confirmation, comes the slow realization that it also provides the perfect cover for his original dilemma.But as carefully as Marshall has covered his tracks, he has unwittingly left footprintsmissteps that ultimately catch the attention of those still scrambling to recover the less obvious contents of the heavy satchel they had delivered to the powerful chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee only an hour before his untimely death.