Page 25 of Dead Man's Hand

He knew what she was saying. It didn’t have to end this way. He had a choice. They had a choice. If he forced her on the plane... His heart ached at the thought that it would be over for them even if Keira hadn’t betrayed him, even if he lived to tell about it. He couldn’t imagineneverseeing Sadie again. She would be walking away with a huge chunk of his heart he hadn’t even realized he’d given her. But it would kill him if he got her hurt any more than he already had.

“I need to re-bandage that wound,” she said as if the discussion was over. For her it was. “If you don’t take me with you, I’ll rent my own SUV,” she said as if reading his mind. “I heard the directions to the cabin. I’m not leaving you, DJ. Not when you need me more than you ever have before. So don’t even think about driving off and leaving me the first time I’m out of your sight.”

He’d just been planning that exact thing. The thought made him sick inside that he would stoop to tricking her, since he’d always tried to be honest with her. She would go up to the cabin on her own. That kind of loyalty made the thought of Keira betraying him all the more painful. He saw her look around the SUV.

“Do you know what happened to the scarf I had tied on your wound?” she asked.

“I’m sorry. I must have lost it.”

“It’s not important.” She met his gaze. “Keeping you alive is, though.”

He couldn’t take his eyes off her. The woman had always amazed him, but never as much as she did right now. Yet he couldn’t help thinking that she’d picked the wrong horse to put her money on. “You seem to have some fool idea that you can save me from myself. What if you can’t, Sadie? What if I’ve been a lost cause all along?”

She shook her head. “You have a twin sister who’ll be standing at the altar soon waiting for her twin brother. You’re going to show up and not let her down or die trying. She needs you and you just might need her and the family she’s offering you. Now let me see your arm.”

BUCKCALLEDJAMESback at Colt Brothers Investigation the minute he got off the phone with DJ. He quickly told him everything that had happened.

“The man you believe to be Ansley’s twin is headed up in the mountains to confront a woman he grew up with and is probably walking into a trap?” James asked. “What is wrong with him?”

“Apparently, DJ and this young woman, Keira, were raised together there on the ranch. He considers her his sister. He doesn’t believe she would betray him.”

“You told him he might have a twin sister, a real sister by blood?”

“I think he’s worried it’s a scam,” Buck said. “You have to understand, he isn’t very trusting and given the way he grew up, I get it. I’m on my way back to Lonesome. I have a scarf I found in my pickup with his blood on it. I’m hoping Willie can get us a DNA sample from it to confirm that DJ Diamond is Ansley’s lost brother. He looks way too much like her not to be. Stubborn to a fault like her, too. Also I followed a trail from Lonesome and the woman who sold the babies to DJ Diamond. It’s too much of a coincidence for him not to be the missing twin. The real kicker, though, is that he had the gold bracelet his birth mother had made for him with the initials DJ on it. I get the feeling it’s his talisman, his good-luck charm. He’s the real deal.”

“Where are you headed now?” James asked as if he already suspected Buck’s next move.

“As soon as I get back to Lonesome, I’m going to hook up to my snowmobile trailer and head up into the mountains. Keira Diamond Cross left directions to the cabin where she said she’d be waiting. DJ will be coming from the west side of the mountains. I plan to beat him to the cabin. I can’t let him walk into a trap.”

“Even without the blizzard, the freezing temps and killers possibly waiting at this cabin?”

“I can’t let Ansley down.” It was more than that. He liked DJ Diamond. He didn’t want to see anything happen to him or to the woman with him.

“Getting yourself killed would be much worse than not having her brother at her wedding,” James said. “There would be no wedding without you. That’s why I’m going with you.”

“Me, too,” Tommy said, making Buck realize that he’d been on speaker.

“You have a pregnant wife,” both Buck and James said at the same time.

“She’s not due for a month,” Tommy protested. “Stop by my place with the trailer. We’ll throw on a couple more snowmobiles. Safety in numbers, you know.”

Buck chuckled. “I’m on my way. But one more thing. DJ has a woman with him, Sadie Montclair. See what you can find out about her.”

SADIECHECKEDDJ’SWOUND,cleaned and bandaged his upper arm against his protests that it was just a flesh wound. It had been a clean shot, tearing through skin and flesh and fortunately missing the bone. It had to be painful, but he didn’t show it. So like DJ, she thought. The man was the strongest, most determined man she’d ever known. He was also the kindest and surprisingly, the gentlest. His heart was so big, which she knew was why he was in so much emotional pain over Keira. The one thing he wasn’t was a lost cause, no matter what he thought. She hoped she could prove that to him before it was too late.

The weather report they heard on the radio was dire. It was still blizzarding across the state. Residents were advised not to travel except in cases of an emergency. Sadie listened to the steady clack of the windshield wipers. They were doing their best but seeming to struggle to keep up. Because of the falling snow and the wind whipping it, visibility was only a matter of yards.

DJ seemed oblivious to the blizzard and the snow-covered road. She watched him drive, his strong hands on the wheel, his expression calm, maybe too calm, his amazing blue eyes intent on what road he could see ahead.

“Florida didn’t seem to diminish your winter driving skills,” she said, hating that the whirling snow outside the cab was making her nervous. She was born and raised in Florida. She hadn’t even seen snow until she was in her teens. She’d never been in a storm like this one. How could something so beautiful be so treacherous?

“Driving in the snow is like falling off a bike,” he said.

“I believe the expression is like riding a bike,” she corrected, playing along.

He grinned over at her for a second. “We’ll be fine. You trust me, don’t you?”

She knew he meant more than with his driving in this storm. “I trust you with my life.”

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