Page 65 of A Convenient Heart
Jack kept moving, slower now, toward Morris.
“I’ll cut the deck once. Then you cut it.”
It was only because she couldn’t tear her eyes away that she saw the minute nod. Who was Jack nodding to?
“Whoever draws the higher card wins. I win, and you leave and never come back.”
Morris shook his head. “I don’t gamble?—”
But Jack twisted his hand, and every card in the deck flew toward Morris’s face.
The split second of distraction, when the bigger man batted at the flying cards, was enough for Jack to lunge at him. A man came off the front row of chairs, tackling Morris’s booted feet.
Morris was thrown off-balance, and when Jack pummeled him, he was knocked to the floor.
But he roared, and Merritt knew he wasn’t done fighting yet. She was terrified he’d reach for one of his guns.
“Merritt, get outta here!” Jack grunted.
Someone pulled her off the stage, and she lost sight of the tussle.
“That’s enough!” Danna’s strong voice rang out, and she strode through the doors, flanked by two deputies with their guns drawn. They ran to the front, training their guns on Morris.
Danna tapped Jack’s shoulder, and he sat back on his haunches as Morris put his hands over his head.
Merritt stood on trembling legs and saw the trickle of blood below Jack’s nose before he wiped it away. Jack’s eyes searched the crowd and settled when they caught hers.
And then one of Danna’s deputies stepped between them, reaching down to disarm Morris.
Morris was shouting and swearing, and Merritt glanced at the stairs to see little feet and the hems of costumes on the top few steps. The children must be terrified.
“I’ll get them,” the nearest mother murmured, heading that way.
“We’re gonna take this outside, you hear?” Danna said to Morris, who stood between the two deputies, expression belligerent.
Danna looked around the room and waved for Merritt to accompany them.
She trailed the three lawmen and Jack, who walked slightly in front of her with an air of tension.
He’d come back. But why?
On the boardwalk, darkness encompassed them. She shivered in the cold, having left her cape inside, but sidled next to Jack anyway.
The two deputies kept Morris between them. Danna faced him directly. “We can do this here and now, or we can do this over at the jail, with you in a cell. You threatened a young woman and caused a public disturbance.”
“Ain’t no need for that,” Morris growled, “s’long as Jack gives me the money he owes my boss.” His evil gaze flicked to Jack, and he spat in his direction. “You cheated him out of it.”
Jack didn’t react outwardly. “I never cheat. There were three other men at the table with us. Witnesses that I obtained my winnings fairly.”
“You got a name for those men?” Danna asked.
Jack rattled off three names unfamiliar to Merritt.
“What’d you do with the money?” Danna asked.
Now there was a hesitation from Jack. “I gave it away,” he finally said.
“Liar!”
