Page 22 of Dead Man's Hand

He looked at Buck Crawford, reminding himself that Sadie was right—the man had just saved their lives back there. But it was Sadie’s trust in the man that made him decide. “Her name’s Keira Cross. She’s in Whitehall at the Rice Motel. Tell her I sent you. She won’t believe you, so you’ll have to show her this.”

He dug in his pocket and pulled out the tiny, tarnished gold bracelet with his initials on it. For a moment all he could do was rub his thumb over theDJengraved in the gold. He’d had it from as far back as he could remember. It was why they’d called him DJ at the ranch.

He’d carried it for luck. He didn’t even know who’d given it to him—just that it had been his talisman. He handed it to the PI. “Keira means a lot to me.”

Crawford nodded as he took the bracelet and pocketed it. “I’ll make sure she’s safe.” He handed his phone back to DJ. “Put your number in there. I’ll call you when I have her.” DJ took the phone again and keyed in his number, hoping he wasn’t making a mistake. “The wedding is next Saturday.”

DJ shook his head as he handed the phone back. “You aren’t even sure I’m your future bride’s missing twin.”

“I’m not much of a gambler, but I’d put all my money on it. Next Saturday. It would mean everything to Ansley and me if you were there.”

“Aren’t you worried that I’m a wanted criminal who could be behind bars by then?” DJ asked, amazed by this PI.

“I’m a pretty good judge of character. Also, I know a good bail bondsman,” Crawford told him. “I’ll call you the minute I have Keira safe.”

Chapter Eleven

“Can you ever forgive me?” DJ asked as he started the SUV’s engine without looking at Sadie, and waited for the wipers to clear the windshield. He heard her buckle her seatbelt before she finally spoke.

“There’s nothing to forgive,” she said, her voice sounding hoarse.

His gaze swung to hers in disbelief. “I almost got you killed!”

“I’m fine.” She wasn’t. He could hear in her voice the scratchy sound of her bruised throat. It had to hurt since he could see the bruised area where Lloyd had held her too tightly. He gripped the wheel until his fingers turned white just thinking about Lloyd with his arm around her neck cutting off her air. “I should have listened to you and gotten out of there before—”

“I thought it was Frank. I saw his ankle holster and gun right after I sat down. He looked like former military or an ex-cop. I panicked.”

DJ shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. I was wrong. You went with your instincts, and they were right. I’m so sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for.”

He shifted the SUV into Drive and started down the street. “How can you even say that? If I had listened to you, we would have gotten out of there before Lloyd grabbed you.”

“Would we have? I really doubt they were going to let us just walk out.”

DJ didn’t argue the point as he took a road out of Butte. It didn’t matter which way he headed as long as it was out of town. “I thought I knew what I was doing. You were right. I was too personally involved. I believed that Grandville wanted his money bad enough that he’d let me win enough to pay him off. I underestimated him. I doubt now it was ever about the money.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sadie nod. “Do the two of you have a history?”

“Back when we were kids,” he said. “Just a couple of brief occurrences when our paths crossed. He was the rich kid. I was nobody. But I must have made an impression on him.”

“You do have that ability,” she agreed, and he saw her smile. “Do you think he might have used Keira to get you back in Montana?”

So like her to cut to the heart of it. For a moment, he couldn’t answer. The thought hurt too bad. He refused to believe the kid he thought of as his little sister would betray him. “I’ll ask her when I see her.”

His words kind of hung in the air. Sadie didn’t say anything. The only sound was the swish of the windshield wipers as he drove through the falling snow. He saw that he was headed for Helena. He knew he was waiting to hear from Crawford and simply driving to stay one step ahead of the men after them.

It didn’t matter what town they reached as long as it had an airport, where he planned to put Sadie on a plane home. It had been a mistake calling her and getting her up here. He’d selfishly wanted her with him, he could admit now. He hadn’t really needed her. He’d been right about one thing, though...it had been their last game. He’d almost gotten her killed for nothing.

“You know that I have to finish this.”

Sadie said nothing for a few moments. “What exactly is this?”

“I thought I was just coming back here to pay off Grandville and free Keira from the debt and her no-account husband. Now I’m not sure what this is. All I know is I never should have gotten you involved.”

THEDRIVETOWhitehall took longer than Buck had expected because of the storm. He didn’t think he’d been followed, but he’d still taken precautions just in case. The one thing he couldn’t let happen was leading Grandville’s thugs straight to Keira Cross’s motel room. He’d gotten DJ Diamond to trust him. Now Buck just had to prove that his trust had been warranted. It was the only way he was going to get the missing twin to his and Ansley’s wedding.

He tried not to worry about DJ and Sadie or speculate on just how much trouble the two were in with the Grandvilles. DJ was the missing twin. Didn’t the bracelet prove it? But how to keep him alive was the problem. There was nothing he could do about that—at least not at the moment. Once he had Keira and knew she was safe...

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