Page 9 of Dead Man's Hand

“No,” he said, shaking his head. “Thanks, but no. If you don’t want to do this, just say so. No harm, no foul.”

“I told you. I’m here. I’ll do it. I just thought...” She could see that she’d offended him. “Sorry.”

He shook his head. “I can’t take your money.”

“I get it.” Sadie considered him for a moment. DJ saved what money he made when gaming legally. He was a hell of a poker player. She was betting that he had a whole lot more than seventy-five grand lying around. So if he wanted to, he could pay off his sister’s creditor. This wasn’t so much about money, she suspected. This was about getting even. With this Grandville he mentioned?

“Want to tell me what you have planned?”

“Just a friendly game of poker.” He grinned as he looked over at her. She knew that look. He loved this. “I’m keeping you under wraps. Butte’s an old mining town. I’ve got you a room at a local historic hotel that’s been completely renovated. It’s fancy—just like you. Room service, a bar, order whatever you want, any clothes you need.”

“Sounds like you’ve thought of everything. So I’m the mark,” she said, and shook her head in amusement. “A new role, huh?”

“One that clearly you were born into,” he said, his gaze taking her in again.

She tried not to read too much into the look. She knew DJ. He couldn’t help the charm. The man had an appreciation for women. All women—she couldn’t let herself forget that.

Sadie told herself that this was just going to be another poker game like so many others they’d played together. She knew the drill. The two of them had it down pat. But as she studied him while he drove, she had to ask, “You sure about this? Once things get personal—”

“Like your godfather says, otherwise it is only money.”

“Don’t kid yourself. He likes the money just as much as the retribution.”

They drove in silence for a few minutes. “It will be our last time.” DJ tapped on the steering wheel, seeming lost in thought. “I know we’re close to paying my uncle’s debt. However much he owes for interest, I’ll pay it from my own money. I’m done.” He glanced at her as if to see how she was taking the news.

She nodded. “Talk about like minds. I was going to tell you the same thing. My godfather says you’re paid in full.” He turned to give her a suspicious look. “I had nothing to do with it. He says it’s time.”

DJ turned back to his driving and chewed on that for a while. She was wondering if he would miss it. If he would miss her. “One last big score.” When she said nothing, he asked, “You’re really up for this?”

“We’re a team. If this is our last time...I wouldn’t want to miss it for anything.”

His gaze locked with hers for a few earth-shaking moments. She felt heat rush to her cheeks and quickly turned away. Was this really their last game? Her heart ached at the thought of never seeing DJ again as she watched the snowy landscape blur past her side window. Probably for the best, she thought, because she seemed to be losing her resistance to his charm. She couldn’t let down her guard now when it was almost over. She knew how DJ was with women. She didn’t want to be one of them.

It surprised her, though, that he’d been ready to end their relationship, even if it had been all business. Maybe like her, he’d decided it was time. Yet it made her uneasy, as if he was worried this was their last game for another reason. Just how dangerous was this going to be?

“You can still walk away,” he said as if reading her mind.

He had to know her better than that. “Have I ever let you down?” she asked, still not looking at him.

“Never.”

She heard something in his voice, an emotion she hadn’t heard before. But by the time she dared look over at him, all his attention was back on the highway ahead.

BUCKHELDHISBREATH.This was the first decent lead he’d had on finding the missing twin. He couldn’t help but think of Ansley. He had to find the last missing piece of her. She’d risked her life to find her birth mother, who had been told that both babies died.

“Can I go to prison for this?” Luella asked, her voice cracking.

“You aren’t going to prison,” he said. “Unless you harmed the baby.”

“Oh, good Lord, no,” she said, sounding shocked. “I’d never hurt a precious baby. He was so sweet, so tiny, so precious. I didn’t care where Judy had gotten him. I should have. I know that was wrong. I just wanted to help her. She was beside herself, afraid he wasn’t going to make it. I assured her I could help.”

He saw her hesitate and suspected he knew where she was headed. “You knew someone who could take care of the baby.”

“I’m not saying who, but yes. We took him over there and my...friend who’d just given birth six months before was still breastfeeding. He took right to it like the little champ he was and perked right up.”

Buck thought how easy it would be to find out if Luella had a daughter or daughter-in-law who’d given birth that year—but only if it came to that. “So you left the baby with her?”

“Only for a few days. I still didn’t know where Judy had gotten the little darling. Had I been younger, I would have kept him. I wanted to, but there would have been talk. Lonesome is a small town.” She shook her head. “It wasn’t possible. But it was so hard to give him back.”

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