Page 2 of Dead Man's Hand

“That might be a problem dressed the way you are,” he said as he settled his Stetson on that head of thick dark hair, then stepped to her and reached for the end of one thin strap that kept her halter top up.

She caught his hand. “You didn’t getthatlucky tonight.” It was an old joke between partners whose relationship was strictly business. But more and more, she felt an undercurrent between them, one she suspected went both ways. Yet she never knew with DJ.

He chuckled, giving her that Diamond grin that apparently worked on women everywhere. “I do know a good barbecue place and I know how you feel about ribs.” He grimaced as he touched his own ribs.

“Don’t you think we should get rid of the loot first?”

“Couldn’t I at least count it before we hand it over?” He flashed his baby blues.

“You don’t need to count it and neither do I. We both know the take. You’re stalling.”

“Can you blame me? We should get hazardous pay for this.”

“We should get into a new line of work,” she said, knowing that he never would. He was a born poker player with larceny in his blood. “One of these days... In the meantime, let’s get out of here. That one player made me nervous.”

“There’s always one who makes you nervous,” he said as he put an arm around her and steered her toward the alternate exit door.

“The one that’s going to get us both killed one day,” she said under her breath.

His cell phone rang. He removed his arm from Sadie’s shoulder to step away and take the call. “What’s wrong, Keira?” She was sobbing, begging him to help her. He stepped farther away, never mixing business with family. “You have to stop crying so I can understand you.”

She let out a cry and suddenly the voice on the phone was male. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong, Diamond. Your sister owes me money. A lot of money. Otherwise, we’re going to have to sell her parts to the highest bidder.”

“ONEOFYOURGIRLFRIENDS?”Sadie asked as he caught up to her at her SUV in a parking garage blocks away from where they’d held the poker game. She’d left him to his phone call. Now, though, she noticed that his face was pinched, blue eyes flinty; his usual charm had vanished. Her first thought was that one of his women had called him to say she was pregnant. Then again it could be some angry husband threatening to kick his adorable ass. “You all right?”

“It’s just something I need to take care of,” he said, his voice tight. “Back in Montana. I’ll be gone for a few days.”

She went on alert. “You need help?”

“No, but thanks. Don’t worry, I’ll be back.”

“Keep in touch,” she said, and opened her car door. She saw him looking at her shoulder bag and shook her head. “You can’t.”

Nodding, he gave a shrug. “No, I can’t. We had a deal. Don’t worry, I’m sticking to it.” He glanced around but she’d already made sure that the dark street was empty. As usual she wouldn’t take the same route when she left, she would watch closely for a tail, she would take the usual precautions until tonight’s take was locked up safe and secure.

Climbing behind the wheel, she closed the car door, but hesitated. She powered down the window. “DJ?” She’d noticed a tell she never saw at the poker table. He wasn’t just nervous, he seemed...scared. “DJ, if—”

“I’m good. You take care.”

“You, too,” she said as she watched him walk, head down, toward his pickup parked even farther away. All her instincts told her he was in trouble. She reminded herself that he wasn’t her responsibility. Theirs was a business partnership and nothing more. As long as they both stuck to the deal...

DJSLIDBEHINDthe wheel of his pickup and rubbed a hand over his face. He’d tried to protect Keira from this life. He’d watched over her since the first time she’d shown up at the ranch—skinny, scraped up, hungry and scared. He suspected he’d probably arrived at the hardscrabble, rundown ranch in the same shape.

It wasn’t much of a ranch, small by any standards. The only thing they raised was dust as criminals came and went. The place was straight out of an old Western movie set, a hideout where some came to recover from gunshot wounds. Others to cool their heels from the law. The ranch had been a dumping ground for lost souls. As the way of the ranch, no one asked questions. DJ and Keira had just been taken in like all the others, fed and clothed and conditioned to never know what to expect next.

Charley Diamond had been a small man with a hearty laugh and kind eyes. He was also a crook but with a code of the West. He helped those needing help—people like him down on their luck who always knew they had a place to recover. But he also took from the richer and pocketed the take.

When DJ had asked about his parents, Charley would rub the back of his neck and look up as if thinking. “Sorry, kid, I have no idea. You just arrived one day looking hungry and lost. Can’t say who dropped you off. Doesn’t matter. You’re here now and I’m darned glad to have you. I could teach you a few things to help you survive for when you leave here.”

DJ figured he’d been dropped off at the ranch just as Charley had said. He wondered, though, if his parents had promised to come back for him—and just hadn’t. He also wondered if Charley knew more than he had told him. Not that worse things couldn’t have happened to him—and to Keira. They both helped out around the ranch, earning their keep and becoming the only family either of them knew of—other than the man they called Uncle Charley.

When his uncle had fallen on hard times and lost the ranch, DJ was sixteen. Lucky for him, Charley had taught him the grift. Keira, who was six years younger, was too young for the road. She’d gone into foster care.

The next two years DJ spent staying one step ahead of the law and tough guys who wanted to kill him and his uncle. A born poker player, it didn’t take DJ long though before he went out on his own way—eventually going legit since he found that he could make plenty of money without cheating.

He always kept in touch with Keira, made sure she had what she needed, and once she finished high school, paid for her college education and her wedding. Uncle Charley had given her away, even though like DJ, he didn’t care for her choice of a husband. Luca Cross lacked ambition, while Keira wanted it all.

DJ suspected that Keira might be the reason her husband had gotten involved with gamblers and loan sharks. Now they were using her to collect what was owed. The same way DJ had ended up where he was now—owing the wrong people for all the wrong reasons.

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