The Accomplice, page 18
Even though the final round was designed to be the most dramatic, this one was especially so since both Steve and Jen were holding their breaths and clasping each other’s hands.
The first card to fall was the five of spades.
Steve hopped to his feet as his wife began clapping happily. “I told you,” Steve said. “Just like I said!”
Doc showed the second card, which turned out to be the seven of clubs.
Jen’s hands were in front of her mouth and her eyes opened wide. “Oh my Lord,” she said in an excited, muffled voice.
“It’s due, honey,” Steve said with absolute certainty. “I’m telling you, that queen is due to fall. It’s like I’ve already seen it happen.”
“You have an uncanny eye, sir,” Doc said in his easy, southern drawl. As he spoke, his fingers tapped the top of the dealer’s box in a manner to which everyone at the table had grown accustomed. This time, his finger also traced along the side of the top card in a motion that wasn’t more than a quick brush.
“Good luck to you all,” Doc said. With that, he showed the final card.
It was the five of diamonds.
Staring down at every bit of his money lying on the wrong patch of felt, Steve crumpled as if he’d been punched in the stomach. “Aw, hell.”
The other players at the table went through their normal mix of whoops, hollers, complaints, and curses as they either collected their money or left it behind. The chairs were emptied as those men quickly found some other way to tempt their fate since Doc was already in the process of packing up his table.
Steve stood in his spot, wearing the faded remains of his ever-present smile. His eyes were glued to the table where the bulk of his money had been. Although he did have a small stack of chips thanks to his bet for the five to win, most of his cash and chips had already been swept up and placed in Doc’s lockbox.
“For what it’s worth,” Doc said, “I thought you had a hell of a system.”
Nodding, Steve replied, “Thanks.” His voice was strained and cracked, even though he only had to push out that one syllable.
Standing behind him, Jen was only just starting to peek through her fingers. “We lost?” she asked in a trembling voice.
“Yeah, sweetie. We lost.”
“But you bet on the five to win, right? Didn’t we win that?”
“We did, but . . .” Steve didn’t have the heart to finish that sentence. Now that Jen was looking at the table for herself, there was no need for him to say another word.
“Oh my God,” Jen whispered. “Was that everything?”
Unable to say the words, Steve just nodded.
Jen was looking around in a daze. She was also starting to wobble a bit on her feet. “Oh my God. Oh my . . .”
Holly was already coming around the table and was in just the right spot to reach out and stop Jen from falling over. The redhead had spotted the glazed look in the other woman’s eyes and managed to steady her just long enough for Steve to take notice.
Blinking as if he’d just awaken from a dream, Steve took his wife in his arms and thanked Holly quickly.
Caleb had just emerged from one of his few mandatory stints in his office when he spotted Steve and Jen making their way to the door. “Leaving so soon?” he asked cheerfully.
Although Steve managed to put on a weak smile, he wasn’t convincing anyone when he said, “I think we just need to get some rest.”
“You look like you could use a drink. How about one on the house?”
“Thanks, but no. I . . . uh . . . we really just need to lie down for a bit.”
Steve took his wife outside, and Caleb didn’t make a move to stop him. When he turned around, he saw Doc leaning against the bar in his usual spot. Caleb walked around to pour Doc his usual.
“Did he take the fall we were hoping for?” Caleb asked.
Doc reached out for his glass and drained it in one sip. “And then some.”
Caleb let out a slow whistle and poured himself a beer. “And did anyone else see you tampering with the cards?”
“I’d be personally ashamed if they had. Especially after all the practicing I’ve done.”
“Great. How long do you think I should wait before having another word with Steve?”
“I don’t know. They were both taking it pretty hard.”
“I sent Holly over to their hotel to see about taking Mrs. Wright out for tea or something,” Caleb explained. “That way, I can talk to Steve without any interruption while the wounds are still fresh.”
Doc looked over to Caleb with something of a shocked expression on his face. Once he saw that Caleb wasn’t laughing, Doc raised his glass. “I’d have to say that’s not only one of the coldest things I’ve heard you say but a hell of an idea.”
A few moments drifted by as Doc poured himself some more whiskey. The silence was broken when Caleb asked, “If I set up a private poker game and extended Steve’s line of credit, do you think he’d come by later to try and win some of his money back?”
“I stand corrected. I believe that is the coldest thing I’ve ever heard you say.”
Suddenly, Holly burst through the front doors. Her eyes were wide as saucers, and she raced straight over to where Caleb and Doc were standing.
“I thought you were going to comfort Mrs. Wright,” Caleb said.
The redhead pulled in a breath and replied, “Too late. She went to the sheriff’s office. I couldn’t catch up to them.”
Caleb pressed his fingertips to his aching head without saying a word.
“This could get interesting,” Doc said with a smirk.
[23]
“This is an outrage! What kind of town is this where an honest man can be swindled out of all the cash in his pockets as well as the cash he left at home?”
Ben Mays swung his feet down off his desk and jumped out of his chair. The dark-haired woman had stormed into his office like a runaway bull and had taken most of the deputies by complete surprise. Although he’d heard her furious steps approaching the door, there was no way Mays could have expected the woman to come in swinging.
“Settle down, ma’am,” Mays said. “What’s the problem?”
“I’ll tell you what the problem is! We’ve been cheated!”
“And who are you?”
“My name’s Jennifer Wright, and this is my husband Steve.” As she said that, Steve came walking in. He was huffing for breath and reaching to take hold of her arm as if he had any chance of stopping her. She shook him off with ease.
“What happened?” Mays asked. “What are you talking about?”
“My husband was cheated out of his money at one of your saloons.”
“Which one?”
“The Busted Flush.”
That caused Mays to take notice. Not only that, but the ears of all his men perked up as well. “Go on,” the Texas Ranger said.
“It was in a faro game,” Jen continued. “He was cheated. I know he was, because that very same dealer took him for enough to force us to sell our business in Dennison to pay him off.”
“This sounds more like a local matter,” Mays said. “Have you been to see Sheriff Hopper?”
“Yes, I have. He said that gambling is perfectly legal and that my husband was taking his chances when he laid down his money.”
Mays shrugged and then immediately flinched. “He does have a point there.”
“Maybe for an honest game,” Jen explained as tears welled up in her eyes. “But isn’t cheating illegal? Isn’t there something you can do about this?”
“Do you happen to know who this man is?” Mays asked.
“I certainly do. His name is Holliday.”
Mays turned to look at his men and got a few knowing smirks from them. “Actually,” he said while facing Steve and Jen, “I may be able to help you, after all. This isn’t the first complaint we’ve had regarding Holliday. Him and several others have been fleecing plenty of good folks out of their hard-earned money, and it’s time to put a stop to it.”
“Are you going to do something about this?” Steve asked.
“I’ll most certainly try, sir. Are you able to prove any of these claims? Or, do you perhaps know anyone that will back you up?”
Jen looked to Steve and leaned into her husband’s arms. “No,” she said after choking back a sob. “That’s why the sheriff wouldn’t do anything.”
“Well, you just sit tight and let me handle this,” Mays said. “I think we might just be able to help you two, after all.”
The lawmen fell upon the saloons like a plague of locusts. Ben Mays and his men tore through the large and small establishments alike in a sweep that took less than two hours to finish.
It was a well-planned affair and went off without a shot being fired. On the contrary, the gamblers went along quite willingly, since they were used to being hauled in every so often and shaken down for a percentage of their winnings. When they saw how quickly the jail cells were being filled, however, they realized this wasn’t just another collection run to fill the city’s coffers.
Doc was eating breakfast when the lawmen came storming into the Busted Flush. He barely took notice of them at first, but it was hard to miss them when they made a line straight through the saloon and directly to him. Seeing those men charge toward him with pistols and shotguns held at the ready, Doc found his hand moving reflexively for the gun holstered under his arm.
“Go on and draw it, Doc,” Mays said. “That would save me a whole lot of trouble.”
That’s when Doc spotted the badges on the men’s chests. He also saw a look in their eyes that told him they would burn him down happily if he gave them the first excuse to do so. Extending his arms, Doc stood up and allowed his gun to be taken from him as the lawmen hauled him outside.
“What the hell is this?” Caleb asked as he stormed out of the office.
Mays shoved Doc ahead of him as he moved toward the front door. “Town’s getting sick of these gamblers cheating its citizens. You want to come along with us?”
“No, but—”
“Then shut yer mouth. Say your piece to the judge. I don’t want to hear any of it.”
And just like that, the lawmen stomped out of the Flush. And Doc wasn’t the only one missing. In their wake, there were a whole lot of confused players sitting at half-empty tables.
“Looks like they made off with Clem and Jerry,” Hank said from behind the bar.
“Great,” Caleb fumed. “That means we don’t have anyone to deal blackjack or spin the roulette wheel! I just got that damn wheel, and now this happens!”
“Hell of a shame,” came a voice from one of the tables at the back of the saloon.
When Caleb glanced back to see who’d spoken, he spotted a familiar if unwelcome face. He marched straight for that table with his eyes practically boring a hole through the man sitting there.
“What the hell are you doing here, Weeks?” Caleb snarled.
Weeks sat at the small, round table by himself. Playing cards were spread out in front of him, showing that whoever had been there before had been midway through a game of solitaire. “I wanted to be here to see the look on your face when this happened.”
“What? You mean you had something to do with Doc getting hauled off?”
“Not just Doc, but several others who won’t come around to my way of thinking. By the way, have you given my offer any more thought?”
“Two weeks aren’t up yet.”
“Yeah, well, an opportunity presented itself. You wouldn’t believe how much better I’m going to look in the eyes of the politicians who run this town thanks to this little move. I may just move into government myself if it starts paying out more than I can make in the saloon business.”
After pulling a few breaths into his lungs, Caleb felt his blood start to cool off a bit. “This isn’t the first time there’s been a sweep like this. Last I checked, it only resulted in a bunch of ten-dollar fines.”
“That may be,” Weeks admitted, “but there’s more to this game than just rousting the likes of you and your pasty-skinned friend. I was interviewed by the Herald today. Joining up with me might just be the best thing you could do for yourself as well as this here place.”
Grinning, Caleb said, “You can spout off all you want to the newspaper, Weeks. It won’t change a damn thing. Folks read that and then line birdcages with it two minutes later. I’m not about to change my mind, since I’ll have my dealers back before nightfall. As for Doc, I don’t think ten dollars is gonna cause him too much grief.”
“Then maybe you should worry more about yourself. Or, more importantly, this place. Grissom’s already been here and scouted it out. He’s got his heart set on putting this saloon to the torch, and he’s even picked out the best spots for the first spark to go.”
Caleb thought back to when he’d first laid eyes on Grissom’s gnarled face. The burned man had been sitting in a dark corner of the Flush like a ghoul. At the time, Caleb had wondered what the man in the blue bandanna had been studying so closely. Now, he knew the answer to that question.
“I won’t give you an answer now,” Caleb said. “I’ll take my two weeks, just like we agreed. If you can’t even hold up that much of the bargain, then I’ve got no reason to go into business with you.”
Weeks stood up. “Fair enough. I know you’ll make the right decision. Joining up with me could very well be the break you’ve been looking for.”
“I’ve been doing just fine on my own. Now get the hell off my property.”
Before he took one step toward the door, Weeks took a hard look at the man in front of him. He dismissed the angry glare in Caleb’s eyes and focused more on the gun handle peeking out from his waistband. “You going heeled now?” Weeks asked.
“Damn right, I am. I don’t intend on being pushed around by you or anyone else.”
Weeks nodded and gave Caleb a wide berth as he walked by. He took his time leaving the Flush and was immediately joined by four of his men the moment he stepped outside.
“I don’t know what that was about,” Hank said, “but it didn’t look good. Care to enlighten me?”
As much as Caleb wanted to spell it all out for the other man, he simply couldn’t. There was too much going on and too much at stake for it all to be explained in any short amount of time. Besides, there wasn’t any use in poking a hornet’s nest when the damn things were already so worked up.
“Nah,” Caleb said. “Just some prick trying to talk tough. That’s all.”
Hank’s eyes fixed on Caleb. He bit his tongue, though, until his eyes landed upon the gun in Caleb’s waistband. “Since when do you start carrying that around?”
Reflexively, Caleb reached for the gun and tried to put it out of sight. “With everything that’s been going on around here lately, it seemed like a good idea to have something more than a club on me.”
“Yeah,” Hank replied unconvincingly. “I guess you’re full of good ideas.”
[24]
“Should I pay my fine now, or wait until later?” Doc asked as he was herded in the middle of three lawmen.
None of the men answered, although one of them gave Doc a shove in the middle of his back that was almost enough to force the dentist to the ground.
Doc stumbled for a step or two but kept his balance. “I wouldn’t mind you telling me what brought all this on.”
“You being a filthy cheater is what brought it on,” came a voice to Doc’s right.
The man who’d just spoken was in his late thirties and had the leathery skin of a man who’d made his living under the sun rather than a roof. He had the walk of a cowboy and the snarl of someone who no longer needed a reason to be pissed at the rest of the world.
“I assure you, I am no cheat,” Doc said. With a shrug and a grin, he added, “No more than anyone else, I imagine.”
That got a snicker from one of the other deputies, which was quickly silenced by a backhand from the grim-faced spokesman of the group.
“Don’t laugh at this, asshole,” the first deputy said.
“You’re a gambler,” Doc said to the deputy who’d been the one to laugh. “I think I sat in on a few games with you over at Thompson’s.”
The man didn’t respond, but the twitch in his eye was just as good as a nod.
Moving on, Doc looked at the others surrounding him. “I don’t know your name,” he said to the first deputy, “but I know I’ve seen you before.”
“Shut yer fucking mouth and keep moving,” the first deputy snarled as he gave Doc a powerful shove.
Although Doc stumbled again, he kept his balance just fine. “If I recall, you missed the turn for the ranger’s office.”
“I said shut up.”
“Yeah, Doc,” Ben Mays said from behind the group. “Keep your mouth shut for a change. It’ll make this go a lot easier.”
“Go where?” Doc asked. “We’re not even headed toward Sheriff Hopper’s. What the hell is this all about, anyway?”
Mays stepped past his men and into Doc’s line of sight. “You want to know what this is about? This is about troublesome sons of bitches like you who keep things from running smoothly. It’s about stubborn assholes like your Injun friend who’s too damn stupid to know what’s good for him. Now all our hands are forced, and it’s come down to something like this.”
“No need to get yourself worked up, Ben.”
“Don’t give me the innocent act, Doc. It’s way past that now. Mr. Weeks knows that you and that Injun are in this together. What happened? Did you get all soft on him when he shot down Mike Abel for you?”
“For your information,” Doc said in a voice that got rougher with each syllable, “I think Mr. Weeks is a very generous man.”
“Too late,” Mays grunted as he shoved Doc forward and got the rest of the men moving as well.
“In fact, I’d be more than willing to have a word with Caleb about working with your employer. In fact, he’s not all that opposed to a partnership anyway. Especially since things seemed to have worked out so well with Charlie and the other saloon owners.”
