Page 121 of Gambler's Fallacy

I hear a disgruntled noise from behind Earl. One of his goons must have heard me.

Earl starts pacing. “This is going to ruin everything!” He stops in front of me. “You did this to sabotage me, didn’t you? You’ve always had it out for me. First you steal the casino from me?—”

I bark out a laugh. “You sold it to me, Earl, for exactly what it was worth when I bought it.”

“No!” Earl stomps his foot like a toddler. “You conned me! You knew… you knew the market was turning around, and you had those investors, and?—”

“Wait,” one of the goons says. “Is he?—”

Earl turns to glare at him. “My nephew! Caleb Spade! Why the fuck did you take him?”

“He wouldn’t get out of the way!” the gunman protests. “What were we supposed to do? Shoot him and leave a body behind? Then you’d really be pissed.”

The Diamante curses. “Caleb Spade? That’s why he wanted to talk to… Shit, we gotta take him back.”

I smirk at Earl. “You need to listen to him. Grandfather might not be my biggest fan, but he does like all the money I’ve made for him with the casino. He would not be happy if I died.”

Earl wants to argue, but he knows I’m right. Leon had allowed the transfer of ownership, and he hadn’t forced me to sell the casino back to Earl despite Earl’s many protests after it had recovered.

“Why’d you get in the way?” Earl demands. “You’re always undermining me! Always trying to stop me from getting ahead. When Gerard hears about this?—”

“Dad will tell you to shut the fuck up and let me do what I want,” I shoot back. “If you let me and Seven go now, this can all be water under the bridge. You can still change course.”

Earl shakes his head, though. “No! I already told the Lockwoods I’d get the kid to them tomorrow. I can’t piss them off.”

“So you’d rather piss off Grandfather and Dad instead?” I strain against the ropes. “Untie me, Earl, and we can figure something out.”

The Diamante has his gun aimed in our direction. I glare at him, and after a few seconds, he sighs and lowers the gun.

“Why didn’t he just say he was Caleb Spade from the start?” the third man asks. “Fuck, why’d you kidnap Caleb Spade?”

“I didn’t know he was Caleb Spade!” the other man says. “How the hell was I supposed to know he’d risk his ass for some kid?” He doesn’t have his gun raised anymore, leery now that he knows who I am. “Let’s get him back to the city. Leave the kid here. Then we all get what we want.”

I meet Earl’s eyes. “That was your plan anyway, right? Let the kid suffer overnight, so he’d be much more pliable in the morning?”

Earl shifts uncomfortably. “Yes. But…” He groans. “You owe me for this, Caleb.”

He unties me, and I breathe easier once I’m free of the ropes. I get out of the chair and rub my sore wrists.

Then I brace myself on the back of the chair Seven is tied to. “Will they want him if he’s half-dead?”

“They want him in any condition, as long as it’salive,” Earl mutters. “They were very specific about that last part.” He glares at me. “I’m not sharing the reward. That’s mine, fair and square.”

I look at his familiar features, and I think: I’m going to enjoy watching him die.

“You owe me for all this trouble,” I counter. “I have a deal with Grandfather, too. He promised protection from the Lockwoods. You’re undermining him.”

Earl blanches. “What? No. He wouldn’t offer that. He doesn’t give a shit about some kid.”

“He doesn’t care about Seven, but he cares about me and the casino,” I point out. “And you lost me a full day of work.” I sigh. “I don’tthink the kid would survive a night out here, anyway. Were you going to give him any water? A blanket for the cold desert night?”

I can tell Earl had no idea he had to do any of that.

I make a frustrated sound. “Of course not. Well, go get the water. I’m dehydrating here anyway. We can figure out how we’ll split the reward, since you’ve already ruined everything.”

There’s a long moment where I think Earl might grow a brain cell, but in the end, he growls and heads out the door. The goons end up following him, probably wondering what the plan is now.

I immediately get to work untying Seven.

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