Page 21 of Dead Man's Hand

“Buck Crawford.” She smiled. “I’m Sadie Montclair.” She looked at DJ. “If he’d just as soon I not hear what it is you have to tell him—”

“NO,SHESTAYS,”DJ said as he looked from her to the PI. He’d kept so much of himself from the rest of the world, maybe especially Sadie because he hadn’t wanted her to think the worst of him. But all that had changed tonight when he’d almost gotten her killed. He was still shaken at how close he’d come to losing her.

“Anything you have to say to me you can say in front of her,” he said, his voice cracking as he shifted his gaze back to her and swallowed the lump that had risen in his throat. They had to make this quick. If the PI was right and Grandville already knew what had gone down here tonight, he would be sending more of his men for them.

“I’ll give you the abbreviated version,” the PI said, no doubt seeing how anxious he was. “About thirty years ago your mother was pregnant with twins, a girl and a boy. It was a rough delivery. She believed that you both had died. But you’d both been given away by a woman who thought she was doing the best thing for the two of you. I’m here on behalf of your twin sister, who is getting married at the end of this week. She didn’t know about you until recently. Actually, she didn’t know that the people who raised her weren’t really her biological parents. Once she found out, she wouldn’t stop until she found her birth mother. That’s when she found out that she had a twin brother. I believe you are that missing twin.”

DJ scoffed. Did he believe any of this? It sounded like a con. “That’s quite a story.”

“We won’t know for sure until we get your DNA, but you look a lot like Ansley. The dark hair, the blue eyes... It’s kind of incredible.”

Incredible, DJ thought, feeling like he needed to ask what’s the hitch. “So what’s in it for you if I’m this missing twin?”

“I don’t blame you for being suspicious. Other than finding my future bride’s brother for her, I’m hoping you’ll be at our wedding.”

DJ felt his eyebrows shoot up as Crawford nodded.

“Ansley Brookshire is my fiancée.”

“Brookshire?” That was a name he’d heard. It was right up there with Grandville—just not as old money. “Sorry if I’m having trouble believing this.”

The PI pulled out his cell and flipped through the photos for a moment before handing the phone over to him. DJ stared down at the pretty woman with the dark hair and familiar blue eyes. His heart raced. Could this be true? “Other than I resemble her, what makes you think I’m the twin?”

“I’ve followed a trail from the birth mother to here,” Crawford said. “I found your growth chart out at Charley Diamond’s ranch. I’m pretty sure Darrow Grandville left you out there. It’s a long story, but the sooner we get a DNA test the sooner we’ll know for sure.”

“If you’re telling me that a Grandville was my father—”

“No,” Buck said with a shake of his head. “If you’re who I think you are, then your father is Del Ransom Colt, a former rodeo bull rider and the man who started Colt Investigations in Lonesome.”

All DJ could think was that he couldn’t trust this. Trust had always been an issue with him. Until he met Sadie. But hadn’t he always wondered who he was, how he’d been left out at the ranch with Charley and if anyone had ever wanted him? He looked at Sadie as he handed her the phone with the picture of the young woman who could be his twin.

She glanced at the photo, her eyes widening in the same shock he’d felt. Maybe itwaspossible, but the timing couldn’t have been worse.

A set of headlights bled through the falling snow that had accumulated on the windshield.

“All this is interesting, but we really need to get out of here,” DJ said. “Grandville’s men are going to be looking for us.” He waited until the vehicle coming toward them passed before he started to open his door. “I’m going to have to get back to you.”

BUCKCOULDN’TFINDAnsley’s twin only to have him disappear again. “Look, I can see that you’re in some kind of trouble,” he said quickly. “Let me help you.” He pulled out his business card with his cell phone number on it.

“Sorry, but you can’t help,” DJ said as he reluctantly took the business card and handed back Buck’s phone. “A friend of mine is in danger. I have to get to her before they do.”

“You might want to get some medical attention for that wound first,” Buck said.

“I can see to it,” Sadie said like a woman who’d done her share of patching up gunshot wounds. Buck had to wonder who this woman was and just how much trouble the two of them were in. But if Titus Grandville was involved, it was dangerous.

“I could help you more if you told me why Titus Grandville is after you—and your friend. If it’s money, maybe I can—”

“It’s more than money,” DJ said. “But thanks for the offer. With me and Grandville it’s apparently personal. My...friend’s husband owes Titus money. He’s pressuring her. I’ve got her hidden. After what went down tonight, I’m afraid of what they’ll do to her if they find her, and I have no doubt that they are looking for her.”

“DJ, if you go to her now, you’ll lead them right to her,” Buck said quickly. “I can keep all of you safe if you come back to Lonesome with me.” He saw the answer and quickly added, “At least let me keep your friend safe until this is over. You can trust me.”

DJ shook his head. He was clearly someone who’d been taking care of himself for so long that he was suspicious of help. But before he could decline the offer, the woman spoke.

“He’s right. If you go to Keira now, you’ll just be putting her in danger,” she said, reaching back to take DJ’s hand. “I trust him. He just saved us back there.”

Keira. The name of the other child from the ranch. Buck could see that DJ was having a hard time trusting him. But there was something between these two, the woman he called Sadie and DJ himself. Apparently, DJ did trust her, because Buck saw him weaken.

DJLOOKEDATSADIE,felt that lump form again in his throat as she nodded her encouragement. He’d almost gotten her killed tonight. He should have trusted her and aborted when she’d signaled for him to. But he hadn’t. He’d been so sure he knew what he was doing. He’d trusted only a few people in his life. He realized that if there was one person he trusted with his life, it was Sadie. But did he dare risk Keira’s life by trusting this PI?

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