Page 47 of Dead Man's Hand

“We’re arresting you for the murder of Keira Cross and attempted murder of DJ Diamond and Sadie Montclair as well as the deaths of Lloyd Tanner, Butch Lamar and Rafe Westfall and the shooting of PI James Colt.”

“Is that all?” Marcus Grandville said with a laugh as he moved out of the cops’ way.

“You realize that you can’t prove any of this, right?” Titus said.

Titus looked around for a way out, his gaze going to his father who was standing back, smiling as if to say, “Told you so.” It was something he’d heard all his life. He’d killed the good son, his father’s favorite, and Marcus had never let him forget it.

“Enjoying this, old man?” Titus said as one of the cops began reading him his rights and the other cuffed him. Soon he would be doing the perp walk through the Grandville building out to a squad car. “You’ve been waiting for this day, haven’t you?”

His father nodded, then grimaced, his hand going to his chest as he fell back against the wall and slumped to the floor. One of the cops hurried to him and quickly called 911 to report that the elderly man appeared to be having a heart attack.

“Go ahead and take him down to headquarters,” the cop said to the other cop as he began to do CPR on Marcus.

Titus stared at his father, wondering why the cop was bothering. “You’re wasting your time. He has a bad heart. It’s rotten to the core. There’s no saving him.”

The cop jerked on his arm, dragging him to the door.

“I want to call my lawyer,” Titus said. “I’m going to sue you and the police department for false arrest. You have no proof that I’ve done anything.” On the way out of his office he saw two men in suits coming toward him. The one in the lead flashed his credentials. FBI. He waved a warrant.

“When it rains, it pours,” Titus said, and smirked at agents demanding to see all records and confiscating all computers and phones.

Before they reached the street, EMTs raced past them on the way up to the top floor. Titus looked out at dirty snow in the street and told himself he’d be out of jail before the EMTs reached the top floor. He was a Grandville, the last of them, finally. All of this was his. He was finally taking his rightful place. These people had no idea who they were dealing with.

WHENSADIEWOKElater that evening, the nurse told her that she had another visitor. She was glad to see Buck Crawford enter her room. “I heard you were getting better. I had to see for myself.”

She smiled at him, sitting up a little. She knew little of what had happened up on the mountain. DJ had glossed over it when she’d questioned him on one of his many visits. Clearly, he hadn’t wanted to relive it—not that she could blame him. “Tell me what happened after I was shot. It’s all such a blur.” She listened as he told her about the avalanche.

“Keira?” Buck shook his head. “She took one of the bullets. She was gone before the cornice broke and fell. We barely got you out before the avalanche hit the cabin. Her body will be recovered and when it does, DJ said he plans to have her buried next to Charley Diamond on the mountainside cemetery back in Butte.”

“And the Grandvilles?” she asked.

“Titus was arrested earlier today in Butte. One of the men from the poker game, Keith Danson? He’s turning state’s evidence against Titus. He might never get out of prison. The FBI has been investigating him for some time apparently. They raided his office earlier. I suspect whatever they find added to murder and attempted murder...” He shrugged. “I’d say the reign of the Grandvilles is over, since his father died of a heart attack during Titus’s arrest.”

Sadie shook her head. It all sounded too familiar. “How is DJ?” she finally had to ask.

“He won’t have any trouble with the law,” Buck said. “Both Butch Lamar’s body and Rafe Westfall’s bodies have been retrieved from the avalanche. I’m sure their connection to Titus Grandville will be of interest to the Feds, but DJ is in the clear.”

“So it’s over,” Sadie said, thinking of DJ.

“It doesn’t have to be,” Buck said as if reading her thoughts.

She smiled, wishing it were true. She was DJ’s past. These people and this town, they were his future. He’d come by the hospital constantly to see how she was doing. Each time, she asked about his new family and each time, he would smile and tell her. She saw that he was indeed overwhelmed by their acceptance and even more so by their love.

When the doctor told her that she was being released in a few days, she knew it would be best if she didn’t see DJ again once she left. He had to learn a lifetime about himself, about his mother and his father, about the family he had only recently found. But he was fortunate that he had people to tell him the stories, to fill in the gaps in his life, to share memories of his father. He also had his mother, who was now part of the Colt family circle. She, too, had missed out on so much, but at least she’d gotten to watch the Colt brothers grow up.

Sadie had no idea what DJ’s future held—just that he needed to sort it all out. She wanted him to have this time. They both needed it. She could admit it now. She loved DJ Diamond and always would. Which was why she couldn’t say goodbye. It would hurt too bad. She also knew that he would try to get her to stay and she might if he asked. She couldn’t imagine ever loving anyone as much as she did him. Her heart couldn’t take a long goodbye.

On the day she was to be released, the nurse came in to tell her that she couldn’t leave until a wheelchair was brought up for her. “Then please hurry,” Sadie had said. “I have a plane to catch.” The nurse gave her a disapproving look but turned and left.

Sadie pulled out her phone and called her godfather before she could change her mind. It was a call she’d been putting off and was grateful when he didn’t answer. She left a voice mail. “Headed home. Will see you soon.”

Chapter Twenty-One

DJ told himself that he was ready to look toward the future as he hurried up to Sadie’s floor at the hospital. Yesterday, he’d put Keira to rest in the cemetery next to Charley. He still couldn’t help feeling as if he’d failed her even though he knew Charley would have told him that it all came down to genes.

He’d been rediscovering his own genes. He was a Colt from his dark hair to his blue eyes. The more he was around his twin and his half brothers, the more he saw himself in them. They’d taken a different path in life, but they weren’t that different. The Colt brothers risked their lives at their jobs—just as they’d risked them in the rodeo. It seemed something in their blood craved adventure. They were all gamblers at heart.

Pushing open Sadie’s hospital room door, he couldn’t contain his excitement. He couldn’t wait to tell Sadie what he had planned. He’d never bought flowers for a woman before, and he felt uncomfortable holding the large bouquet. There was so much he had to say to her, words that had been stacking up, ready to burst out of him since he’d admitted how he felt about her.

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