Page 13 of Dead Man's Hand

Titus smirked as he settled into his massive office chair. “He wanted for something?”

“A wedding. He needs to give the bride away.”

Grandville laughed. “Quite the dangerous case you’re on, PI.”

“Maybe your father would remember,” Buck said as he turned to leave. “I’ve got time. I’ll drop by his place. Maybe his memory is better than yours. Shouldn’t be hard to find him since your childhood home is on the historic register.”

“Don’t bother my father. He isn’t well.”

Buck was headed for the door.

Grandville was on his feet now. “I’m serious. Leave my father out of this. He doesn’t know anyone named Darrow. Or Sheila or anything about a kid.”

“I guess I’ll see.” He walked out with Grandville cursing after him.

SADIEHADBEENgetting into her new role by spending money. She’d ordered room service and then gone shopping. She’d bought her godfather a Western bolo tie as a gift. She’d picked up a pair of red cowboy boots for herself along with some boot-cut jeans and a large leather purse with a horse carved into it. The purse was plenty big enough for everything she needed.

After she’d returned from an outing, the hotel clerk had called to say that she had a package down at the main desk. Inside it, she’d found a handgun like the one she usually used and ammunition. She’d cleaned and loaded it, telling herself that the next time she saw DJ would be no different than any other night she’d worked with him. Except she was playing a different role and her godfather wouldn’t have set up the place and the players.

While it had been dangerous the other times, she’d felt as if things had been under control. She feared that wouldn’t be the case this time as she loaded the gun and put it in her new shoulder bag. DJ was too personally involved this time, and that worried her.

After DJ’s call, she now had the time and place. All she had to do was wait. She’d already planned what she would wear, who she would be. She and DJ had signals so they could communicate if needed. Usually, it wasn’t needed because they both knew the other person so well.

Just the thought that this would be their last game together made her sad. She knew she was being silly. When her godfather had come to her about working with DJ, she’d thought he’d lost his mind.

“This guy is one hell of a poker player,” he’d said. “With you as his wingman, the two of you can’t lose.”

She’d been skeptical at best, especially after she’d met him. DJ was too handsome, too cocky, too much a cowboy even without the Stetson. He seemed like a wild card—the kind of man who could get her killed.

But after one game, she’d been a believer. He was as good as her godfather had said. And under all that cocky cowboy arrogance there was something special.

Isn’t that why DJ had gotten to her? Why she knew she’d risk her life for this cowboy without a moment’s hesitation?

Was that what she was about to do?

Chapter Seven

Buck figured Titus Grandville would have called for security at his father’s mansion. He decided to let security cool their heels for a few hours while he drove out to the old Diamond Deluxe Ranch first.

He drove south, down the mountain from historic Butte to a strip of newer businesses. Like a lot of towns in Montana, the old mining city had seen better days. Buck quickly found himself in the mountains.

Tommy had been right. There wasn’t much left of the Diamond Deluxe Ranch and yet he could read the name branded into the weathered wood arch over the road in. A few outbuildings stood along the edge of the road. Through the pines he saw a dilapidated two-story farmhouse, the paint long peeled off, the porch rotted, little glass left in the windows. There was a chicken coop and what could have once been a bunkhouse.

Buck told himself there was nothing here to find, yet he knew he couldn’t leave until he looked around. He had to climb up through a deep snowdrift that had blown in across the front porch. The front door was ajar, snow drifted across the weathered hardwood floor inside. He tested the floor. It creaked and groaned but didn’t give way as he entered.

A stairway led up to the second floor. He could hear something moving around up there. Pack rats? He started up the stairs, more sounds of movement as small animals scrambled for cover. He found a few old mattresses, a pile of metal bed rails and a couple of broken-down dressers.

There was nothing here of DelRae’s twin. For all Buck knew DJ had never even been here. The baby Sheila and Darrow Grandville had with them might not even be the missing twin. He coughed, aware of the dust and other scents in the air, none of them making him want to spend another minute here.

As he started for the top of the stairs, he saw something that made him stop. He recognized the painstakingly carved marks down one side of the door’s wood frame. He still had those on the inside of his bedroom. It was a growth chart. Buck stepped closer and felt his heart bump in his chest. He crouched to read the crudely carved dates in the pine. A child had stood here to be measured. He leaned closer, running his finger over what appeared to be initials. DJ.

Buck broke into a grin. Ansley’s missing twin had been here. His growth proved that he’d survived to live here at least until... He quickly did the math. His middle teens. That’s when the dates on the marks stopped.

Frowning, he noticed that it wasn’t just DJ’s growth chart carved into this piece of old pine. He tried to make out the name. Keira? A younger child from the dates. He took several photos, anxious to call his bride-to-be. He hadn’t found her twin, but at least he knew that DJ had survived to his teens in this place.

Buck did the math, comparing the last date on the chart to when Tommy had told him that Charley Diamond had lost the ranch. What had happened to these kids? DJ had been in his middle to late teens, but whoever Keira was, that child had been much younger. Where would they have gone? Social services?

He called Tommy, then he headed for Old Man Grandville’s. He told himself that he’d call Ansley later with the news, hoping he would know more by then.

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