Texas Hold 'Em

by Christie Craig

  Austin motioned to the woods, and Roberto frowned.

  “Not to the left,” the nasal-sounding guy spit out. “Straight back.”

  Austin’s finger tightened on the trigger. Brad slipped behind some trees.

  “I don’t see anything,” the other man said. “But go check it out.”

  Footsteps moved at the side of the shed. Austin and Roberto aimed their guns where the man was about to appear. Roberto cut Austin a quick glance that said exactly what Austin thought. They were fucked.

  CHAPTER FORTY

  TENSION FILLED AUSTIN’S chest as the man continued forward. Then a bullet popped off from the woods. Brad?

  “Motherfucker! I’m hit.” The man, sounding only a foot away from the back of the building, slammed against the shed.

  Bullets shooting into the woods came from behind the shed.

  “Throw down your weapons, you’re surrounded!” Dallas’s voice boomed from the trees.

  So not smart, Austin thought. Gunfire blasted off in the direction of Dallas’s call. Austin hated being right.

  A barrage of voices now echoed behind them, along with the sound of glass breaking. More gunfire exploded. His gaze shot to the woods, praying Dallas and Tyler had taken cover.

  “Is it the cops?” someone asked.

  “Don’t know,” another person shot back.

  Austin nodded at Roberto and held up three fingers. He hoped the man understood. On the count of three, he was going to go around his side of the cabin and shoot like hell.

  One. Images flashed in his head. Leah’s dimple winking at him. The sight of her asleep on his chest. The scent of her hair, waffle ice cream cones. He needed more time with her.

  Two. He imagined the house he’d wanted to build. Would Leah be interested in helping him?

  Three. Don’t kill her brother.

  There were five guys, and five guns shifted at Austin. Roberto suddenly appeared. Austin fired at the same time Roberto did. One guy took a bullet in the leg—another dropped to the ground. A car engine roared in the front. Probably DeLuna trying to escape. If the guy was good at anything, it was running.

  As bullets whizzed past, he heard the sirens. Backup had arrived.

  “Police!” voices yelled. Had they stopped DeLuna? More gunfire exploded. Shit, had they killed DeLuna? He thought of Leah.

  A cold pain hit Austin’s arm, but it was the one that hit him in the chest that knocked him on his ass. He drew in air, but none came.

  Leah sat in the chair and watched the television. He’d been gone for four hours. She couldn’t relay what was on TV if someone paid her a million bucks. The flickering flat screen was simply a place to stare. A focal spot while her heart continued breaking.

  Rick sat on the other chair in the room, in front of the door, staring with the same intensity. She had a feeling he wasn’t watching TV, either.

  His phone had rung thirty minutes ago. All he’d told her was it was over. When she asked specifically about Austin, he’d said, “Alive.” When she’d inquired about Roberto, he’d said the same. When she’d inquired if anyone was hurt, he said Austin should arrive soon.

  She accepted this meant that Rafael hadn’t come out of this alive. A thread of shame whispered through her heart. Shouldn’t she care? Tears filled her eyes, but she wiped them away. Shame should be enough. It had to be, for she couldn’t even determine whether her tears were for Rafael or for her own personal heartbreak.

  She’d already called a friend of Luis and asked if he would take her to Austin’s cabin to get her car. Prolonging good-bye would make it harder.

  The hotel door opened and Austin walked in. His gaze zeroed in on her, his brows pinched with concern. His light blue chambray shirt held bloodstains. She stood up, her heart aching, and her tears doubled. “You okay?”

  She expected him to send Rick out, but he walked over and reached for her. His arms encircled her. She let him pull her into his embrace, knowing it would be one of their last.

  Sweat dampened his shirt. She breathed in his scent, so warm, so comforting. Was this what her mom had felt for her dad? Was this feeling why she accepted that having a little of him was better than losing him entirely? She wasn’t her mother. She wanted more.

  Then, remembering the bloodstain on Austin’s shirt, she pulled back.

  “You were shot?”

  “Just nicked in the arm.” He tilted her face up so he could look right at her. “I’m sorry.”

  She knew he meant Rafael. Nodding, her chest tightened.

  “He drew on the officers. I wasn’t anywhere near him to stop it.” He used his thumb to brush away a tear. “Even if I was close, I’m not sure I could’ve stopped it.”

  “It’s not your fault.” She inhaled and noticed a hole in the chest of his shirt. She pulled it open and saw a bright purple bruise. “What happened?”

  “I was wearing a vest, but I took one to the chest.”

  Her breath hitched. “You could have died. Anyone else hurt?”

  “Roberto was nicked in the leg. But he’s fine. Several of DeLuna’s men didn’t make it. Cruz is dead.”

  A numbness spread to her chest. “So much death for nothing.”

  He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “I’m supposed to take you to the police station. But if you’re not up to it, I’ll tell them I’ll bring you in later.”

  “No.” Another tear slipped down her cheek. “I’m okay.” And she would be, eventually. As soon as she got back into the rhythm of her own life. As soon as Austin returned to Miller and she was back to living with her emotional brakes on.

  It wasn’t like this was real love. A kitten’s whisker away.

  A Detective Sullivan took her back to a room to talk. Austin squeezed her hand before she walked away. “I’ll be here when you get out.”

  The detective asked her questions, some of the same ones more than once. She told him the truth, omitting the part about Austin kidnapping her.

  “If you’d reported it when your place was broken into, this could have been avoided.”

  She looked him right in the eyes. “Please. You’d have made a file and it would have never gone anywhere.”

  He muttered something under his breath. “But at least there would’ve been a report.”

  “I’ll remember that the next time my place is broken into.” It was hard not to be sarcastic—he looked a little bit like the guy who took the report on Snowball’s death.

  Before the detective finished, she interrupted him and asked to use a phone. She called Luis’s old roommate and asked if he could pick her up now. Face it, she sucked at long good-byes.

  Austin felt useless waiting in the lobby. He knew how hard some cops could be on witnesses. Hell, he’d been hard on a few in his day. Dallas and Tyler walked in.

  “They still have her?” Tyler asked.

  Austin nodded. “I’m giving the guy five more minutes and then I’m going in after her.”

  Dallas shot Tyler an odd look.

  “What?” Austin asked.

  “Nothing.” Dallas shrugged.

  “Don’t give me that shit. If you two know something that concerns Leah—”

  “No.” Tyler said. “He just meant you’re awfully protective of her.”

  “She didn’t deserve this shit.” Austin ran a hand through his hair. “DeLuna was her half brother. This has to be hell on her.”

  “Probably.” Tyler glanced at Dallas.

  “Then stop acting like I’m overreacting,” he bit out.

  “We don’t think you’re overreacting,” Tyler said.

  Dallas jumped in. “You’re acting like a guy who cares about a woman. It’s new for you.”

  “Am I that big of an asshole?” Austin asked.

  “Not an asshole,” Dallas said. “You just don’t let a lot of people close. Especially women.”

  Austin cupped his hands behind his neck, squeezed his elbows in, and dropped in a chair to wait. “Did anyone mention Brad Hulk to you?” he asked
his partners.

  “No,” Dallas answered. “As far as they know he was never there.”

  “Good.” The seconds were torturous. He needed to see Leah. Wanted to make sure things were okay… okay between them. “Have you seen Roberto?”

  “They were still questioning him,” Dallas said. “But I don’t think it’s going to be a problem.”

  After a few minutes, Austin spoke up again. “This isn’t the way I saw us after we caught him.” He let out a deep moan. “Shit! I can’t even be happy about this. I didn’t know what to say to her.”

  “ ‘Revenge has its own special taste.’ I think it was Job who said that.” Tyler sighed. “But DeLuna needed to be stopped. Look what he did to Luis Reece. We can’t feel bad.”

  “Yes, we can,” Austin admitted. “I feel bad for Leah.”

  Dallas nodded. “I understand you feeling that way. But we didn’t do this to him. He did it to himself. Leah can’t blame you.”

  “I don’t think she does,” Austin said. “I just… everything feels so crazy.”

  “It is crazy,” Dallas said. “I’m not happy Leah’s brother died, but I’m happy this is over. I would have been happy to have seen him behind bars. He didn’t have to die; that was his choice.”

  “I know.” Austin felt confused, about everything. And damn it, he didn’t blame them for being happy. If he wasn’t so concerned about Leah, he’d feel differently. Not thrilled at DeLuna’s death, but at least relieved that the person who had caused them so much pain, and continued to hurt others, had been stopped.

  The door swung open and Leah walked out. She met Austin’s gaze. He went to her and, needing to touch her, ran his palms down her forearms. “Hey. You okay?” He didn’t care who saw him. He pulled her in for a hug. And he held on. She allowed it for only a second before pulling back.

  “What do you need?” he asked, loosening his hold. “Food? Wine? You want to go back to the cabin? You want to go see Luis? Whatever you need, we’ll do it.”

  She looked at Dallas and Tyler, then moved to the glass doors. “I… called a friend of Luis. He’s going to take me to my car, and I’ll go see Luis by myself.”

  Austin didn’t think he’d heard her right. He replayed her words in his head. “Why would you do that? I can take you. I figured you’d want to see him. I just thought you might be hungry or…” God, why was he rambling like this? Because he didn’t know how to act. Not about her half brother being killed and not about… his feelings.

  She bit down on her lip, a sure sign she felt agitated, or nervous. Amazing how he could read her after such a short time, but this… this “by myself” crap blindsided him.

  Inhaling, she started talking again. “I thought you’d have plans with your partners.”

  “I don’t. So I can take you. It’s fine.”

  He reached to touch her again. She pulled back. Who knew a couple of inches could hurt more than the bullet to the chest? “What’s going on, Leah?”

  She glanced down, then up. “Everything happened so…” She paused. “This…” She waved a hand between them. “I’m not sure it’s…”

  “Whoa,” he said. “I thought it’s been great.”

  She shook her head. He saw her gaze shoot to the glass doors again. “I can’t…”

  A car pulled up. He was losing her; his heart dropped. “Is this because of DeLuna?”

  She didn’t answer. “Thank you for… everything. I owe you. I’ll send a check. But I can’t do this.” She waved a hand between them again.

  He watched her leave. Watched her walk away. He couldn’t breathe. Dallas and Tyler came to stand beside him.

  “Something wrong?” Dallas asked.

  “No,” Austin said. “Everything is as it always is.” They fucking walk away. Why had he expected anything different?

  Leah got back to her car at the cabin. She packed up four cats. Remembering Austin’s newfound relationship with Spooky, she didn’t take his cat, but she left a note saying if he decided he didn’t want him to please drop the cat off at her office. Then, with her cats in tow, she drove to Luis’s new hospital. It was almost seven when she got there. The cats weren’t happy. But she didn’t plan to stay long. And a good thing, too. She barely kept herself together through the visit. While his swelling had gone down, he was almost completely purple. What she wanted to do was weep. Fall to the floor and cry.

  But crying hadn’t seemed smart with Luis’s girlfriend there. As soon as Luis had been told it was safe, he’d called her. She was there holding Luis’s hand, worrying over him like… like she loved him. It only made Leah want to sob harder.

  So she kissed her brother, hugged his girlfriend, and told them she’d see them the next day. Then she drove back to Heartbroke. Damn if the name wasn’t appropriate.

  When she passed her vet clinic, she dropped in and grabbed her phone and purse. She had several missed messages. She held her breath as she went through the recent calls, thinking she’d hear Austin’s voice. She didn’t.

  Of course not.

  Absence made the heart grow fonder.

  Austin went to the cabin, hoping maybe she’d still be there. Thinking she’d say she hadn’t meant it. He’d have forgiven her, just like he’d have forgiven his mom when she’d come back into his life the first time. Just like he’d have forgiven Cara if she’d come running back saying she’d made a mistake.

  But Leah wasn’t at the cabin.

  She’d left the damn cat and a note, though. Not about them, or about how she’d been wrong, but about the cat.

  On the way back to Miller, cat in tow, he went by the liquor store. He hadn’t wanted to stay at the cabin. It reminded him of Leah now.

  He wanted the numbness of a heavy evening with some Jack Daniel’s. He stayed away from the wine. It would have reminded him of Leah, too. He tried to be happy about DeLuna getting his just dues, but that reminded him of Leah, too. So he pushed that out of his mind.

  He settled into his townhome, and after about four drinks, he decided he needed a distraction. He picked up his phone to call Holly Macon, the flight attendant.

  Hadn’t she said something about having a few days off this week? Maybe she’d fuck Leah out of his mind.

  He never hit her number. He tossed the phone on the other side of the sofa and let out words that a sailor would have kicked his ass for saying. Spooky didn’t seem to appreciate it, either. Austin had a couple more drinks. Doubles.

  He was passed out on the sofa when he heard his doorbell. Over and over again. Leah? His forced himself to get up, stumbled to the door, and stood there a second trying to remember how to open it.

  He knew it had something to do with the knob. When he got that puzzle solved, and the door open, he latched on to the frame and tried to focus. The room started spinning, and no matter how hard he tried to make the blurry figure look like Leah Reece, it didn’t work. But didn’t he recognize this woman?

  And then it hit. Not clear vision. Not recognition. Nausea. He bent at the waist and hurled. Several times. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hands, he saw the pair of old-lady pumps swimming in barf.

  For some stupid reason it seemed funny. He looked up and tried not to laugh. And that’s when recognition hit. Son of a bitch!

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  WITH MORE JACK Daniel’s in his veins than he’d ever had, his emotions went wonky. He continued to laugh. He couldn’t help it. “Hi, Mom,” he said. But the moment he said the word “mom,” the humor escaped him.

  “Let me help you.” She stepped inside, kicked off her shoes, caught him under his arms, and guided him to the sofa. He should’ve been madder than hell, her showing up here, and part of him was. Yet the half a dozen times he’d actually drunk this much he’d been told he was a happy drunk.

  But once his butt hit his leather sofa, he looked up, and happiness faded. “You can go. The door’s that way.”

  She picked up his almost empty bottle of whiskey and turned toward the kitchen.

/>   “What’re you doing?”

  “Putting it away,” she said. “And making coffee.”

  He scowled. “Don’t pretend to care.”

  “I’m not going to pretend anything,” she said. “But I know from personal experience when someone’s had enough.”

  She walked toward the kitchen. He should insist again that she leave, but another wave of nausea hit. He collapsed back and shut his eyes. The smell of coffee stirred him out of his stupor. He opened his eyes. A cup waited on the coffee table. The woman had pulled a kitchen chair beside him and sat there staring.

  “I want you to leave,” he muttered.

  She handed him a damp washcloth.

  He wiped it across his face. “The door’s that way.”

  She leaned forward. “Let me say a few things first. Chances are you won’t remember them anyway.”

  “I’ll remember. I don’t forget things… like leaving my kid at day care for over two decades.”

  She frowned. “I deserve that.”

  “Yup,” Austin said. “But why do you think you deserve a chance to clear your conscience?”

  She held her chin high. “I don’t deserve anything, but I thought you might deserve to know some things.”

  He pushed a palm over his face. “I’ve had a shitty day, so leave.”

  “What happened?”

  He propped his elbows on his knees and then dropped his pounding head into his hands. After a second, he looked up. “I had another woman walk out on me. This makes the third. No, fourth. You got me twice.”

  She frowned. “Did she leave because of your drinking?”

  His sour stomach clenched. She had no right to judge him. “You think I’m like you? I’m not a drunk or a druggie.”

  She just stared.

  “Okay, tonight I’m drunk. But I’ve only done this… Oh, hell, why am I talking to you?” Because he was drunk.

  She sighed. “Why did this woman walk out on you? She meet someone else?”

  Austin felt compelled to defend Leah. “She’s not like that. I did something she can’t forgive me for.” I got her brother killed. At least that was part of it. He didn’t know what the other part was. She obviously hadn’t cared enough. “Isn’t the whole forgiving thing ironic? Because I can’t forgive you for…” He needed to shut up. Why the hell had he opened the door?