Scarlet Lady (17 page)

“Hey, what about me?” Willie stood up, claiming his place in the game. “I could win the pot too.”

Montana cut his gaze toward Jonah.

“Sit down, Willie,” Jonah said. “One of us is about to win a plantation and I think it’s me. I’m holding four aces, Red.” He spread his cards before her. “Read ’em and weep.”

Montana saw the color drain from Katie’s face.

“Son-of-a—” Willie swore. “Beats the hell out of my three of a kind.”

“Well, Red,” Big Jonah said with a big grin. “Guess it don’t matter what you’re holding, but let’s have a look anyway.”

“No,” Katie said, folding her cards and laying them facedown on the table. “You’re right. It doesn’t matter now. If you’ll call me, I’ll make arrangements to meet with my attorney and sign Carithers’ Chance over to you. But you’ll have to give me a few days. There are some details I have to take care of.”

“No hurry, Red,” Jonah said. “I trust you. Especially
since I have two witnesses to what you promised. I’ll call you.”

Katie stood and nodded, then turned and moved slowly, almost regally out the door and down the steps. Montana watched the short black skirt until she was out of hearing range, then said, “Listen, you two, you don’t want her plantation. It’s falling apart. Before you call Miss Carithers, you call me. I figure we can work out something that will make you happy.”

It was Jonah who answered. “Sure, Montana. We’re always open to being happy, and to tell you the truth, I’m a gambler, not a farmer.”

Montana caught up with Katie outside the casino, where she was handing the parking attendant her ticket. “Wait,” he said, “bring my car. I’m driving the lady home. I’ll have someone pick hers up tomorrow.”

Katie didn’t argue. When Montana put his arm around her, she sagged limply against him in shock. The attendant returned with the sports car, and Montana helped her inside. Though he doubted that she was even aware of the cool night air, he raised the top and closed the windows.

They drove rapidly through the darkness. It was too late for recriminations and too early for Montana to come up with alternate suggestions. For now, they were just two people sharing the silence and the emotional letdown.

Instead of stopping as he’d planned, Montana drove past the
Dixie Queen
. It was unlikely that Leon was still there, and for now, once again, Katie was his priority. He hoped that Cat had gotten his message and followed
through on Leon and that Royal had found her at the Casino.

They were almost back to Carithers’ Chance when the blue lights began to flash behind them.

“Damn!” Montana swore, and pulled over. “Sorry, Katie, looks like I’ve been caught speeding.”

“You and Cat,” she said in a dull monotone. “Now I know how Carson felt. Tonight we all lose, don’t we?”

“Evening, sir,” the officer said, leaning into the open window. “Will you show me your license, please.”

Montana fumbled in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He handed the officer his license and leaned back, recalling Katie’s odd remark.

“Mr. Montana, were you aware that you were driving twenty-one miles over the limit?”

“No, I had my mind on something else.”

The officer shone his flashlight into the car, spotlighting Katie. “You all right, ma’am?”

“Yes.”

He continued to study Katie for a minute, then nodded. “You’re Miss Carithers, aren’t you? Did your friend find you?”

Montana took a quick look at Katie. “Her friend?”

“Yes. I stopped another driver for speeding last weekend. A lady. Miss Carithers was a passenger then, too. She was soaking wet. Seems she’d fallen overboard and had to swim to shore. Stopped the lady again tonight. She said she was going to rescue you again. Did you take another swim?”

“Not this time,” Katie said, “but I should have.”

One speeding ticket and fifteen minutes later, Montana pulled up to Katie’s door.

“Don’t you ever leave a light on when you’re coming home late?”

“No. Electricity costs money.” She stared through her side window and gave a humorless laugh. “Not that it matters anymore now. The new owner of Carithers’ Chance will have to worry about that.”

“Why’d you do it, Katie? You don’t legally own it, but you could have bet my boat and gotten out of there without losing your home.”

“Like you said, Montana, if I cheated, I didn’t win your boat. That means I still owe the debt.”

“And like you said, Katie, if you didn’t cheat, you won.”

She turned toward him. “Are you saying you finally believe that I didn’t cheat?”

“I don’t know. If you weren’t good enough and had to cheat to win the
Scarlet Lady
, you would have cheated and won tonight. There was too much at stake, not to. I’m willing to concede that I might have been wrong.”

“You mean about the cards being marked?”

“No, about your needing to mark them. By the way, after you left the table, I looked at your cards. Jonah may have won, but with a pair of kings and a pair of tens, I’d have done the same thing you did.”

“Do those two cheat, Montana?”

“If they do, nobody’s been able to catch them at it. They’re just good, too good. They’ve been banned from gambling with the house. That’s why they rent private
rooms to do their cardplaying. You didn’t stand a chance from the start.”

“I know that now.”

He reached over and took her hand. She didn’t resist. It was as if she didn’t care. “Katie, don’t worry about Carithers’ Chance. We’ll figure out something.”

“No. I made the bet. Just like Carson, I gambled and I lost. That’s it. Maybe it’s for the best. One thing I’ve learned from all this, things and people aren’t the same. My father spent all his life trying to protect the business and the plantation. I thought they were part of our family. They aren’t. If I’d seen that sooner, Carson wouldn’t be gone. Things don’t matter. People do.”

Katie pulled her hand free and got out of the car. She opened the front door and flicked on the porch light, then turned back to Montana.

“Thanks for coming after me and for driving me home. I’ll get my car tomorrow. Cat will take me.” She looked thunderstruck. “Cat! Why was she looking for me tonight?”

Montana felt even more guilty. If he told Katie what he’d done, she’d insist on going after her friend. “She was probably just worried about you. I’ll check on her.”

“You don’t have to do that, Montana. And you don’t have to help me look for Carson anymore. I’m sure he’ll hear about what happened. Now that everything’s gone, he won’t feel compelled to gamble to deal with our problems. He can teach. You can go back to your boat and all this will be over.”

“What about us?”

“There is no us.”

There was no emotion in her voice. She sounded like a character in some kind of old-fashioned zombie movie. She was about to tuck him and the night they’d spent together very neatly into the past and put it away. Montana knew she was right. He ought just to go, but he couldn’t leave her. Not like this.

Instead, he pushed open the front door and pulled Katie into his arms. “There is an us,” he said. “Just listen to me for a minute, Katie. I never thought I’d say this, but you’re right, people matter. You matter. And I’m worried about leaving you tonight.”

She let him hold her for a minute, then drew in a deep breath and pushed away. “I don’t think I believe you. You walked away from your family, gave up, and never looked back. I let you help me because I was concerned about Carson. I told you once that I’m worth more than what you bet. I was wrong. I’m giving these back.”

She reached into her pocket and pulled out Carson’s IOUs. She dropped them and watched his face as the slips of paper floated to the floor. “I thought at first that you’d lied to me. That Carson had been there and paid you. But then I realized that couldn’t have happened, otherwise he wouldn’t have had the eight thousand dollars he sent with the note. Yet you marked them
Paid in Full
. You don’t have to lie, was having me in your bed worth that much? I don’t think so.”

Montana raised his eyes, confusion raging on his face. “You mean you thought I was paying you for—”

“Sex,” she said, cutting him off. “I understand and that’s okay. I’ve known from the beginning how you felt about getting close to someone. Actually, I should have paid you. I was the one who asked. So, add your price to my bill. I’ll just have to pay you off a little at a time. That, or you can take a lien on the house and work out the details with Big Jonah.”

“You don’t mean this, Katie. You’re just emotionally drained. Whether you believe me or not, I wasn’t paying for your body. I’m not sure I understand my actions, I just wanted you to stop gambling. The truth is, I’m just as big a scoundrel as you think. But there’s something between us and I know you feel it, too.”

“No, I don’t. Not anymore.” She couldn’t accept that. No matter what he said, she couldn’t believe him. He’d turned his back on his family. How could she trust him to care about hers?

“But you can’t give up your plantation. You’ve never known a life away from Carithers’ Chance. What about growing cotton? What will happen to you?”

She pushed him firmly out the door, gave him a long, sad smile, and said, “I don’t know. I’m very tired. I guess I’ll think about that tomorrow. Frankly, Montana, right now I don’t give a damn.”

The door closed, and this time he heard the lock snap into place.

Long after the sound of Montana’s car motor had disappeared into the night, Katie stood leaning against
the door, dry-eyed and stiff. Everything she’d worked for, everything she’d believed in was gone.

Her parents were dead.

The business was bankrupt.

Carson was missing.

She’d lost Carithers’ Chance, and Montana was out of her life. Only her concern for Carson kept her hanging on. Even if he had abandoned her, she would never do that to him.

The only hope she had left was that sooner or later Carson would hear what she’d done. There would no longer be any reason for him to hide. Once he came back, one way or another, they’d get on with their lives.

Even if hers would be empty. For one brief moment she’d held success beyond her wildest dreams in her hands. Montana had been right. In the end, a person had to look after himself. Families weren’t always there for you, and even if they were, they might let you down.

Montana. Just the thought of his name brought back the picture of him, dark, brooding, handsome, giving her that wicked smile that dared her to be someone different. She’d shared one night of love with the most wicked man on the river. But it, like everything else in her life, was only temporary. Like all the Caritherses since the original Carson, she’d gambled her future for her past. She’d gambled and lost.

She moved slowly up the stairs and into her bedroom, shedding the boots and Western outfit as she walked. Flinging herself into bed, she lay, wide-eyed and numb. Tomorrow she’d call her attorney. Tomorrow
she’d go back to work. Tomorrow she’d have to find a new place for the hospital fund-raiser. And she had to find a place to live.

For the first time there was no comfort in knowing that tomorrow was another day.

NINE

“Sorry, boss,” Royal said, “Old Leon was gone before we got there.”

Montana swore. “What about Cat?”

“I found her all right. She’s with me now. Hold on, she wants to talk to you.”

“Hello, Montana. Is Katie okay?”

Montana hesitated. “I’m not sure.” Cat was Katie’s friend, but he didn’t feel comfortable telling her about Katie’s bad luck. Instead, he simply said, “The cards were against her tonight. She’s pretty discouraged.”

“Rats! I was afraid that would happen. She was too distracted.”

Like he’d been the first night he’d seen her, Montana thought.

“If we could just find Leon,” Cat went on, “that would help.” There was a long static-filled minute on the line before she suddenly said, “Wait a minute. I
don’t know why I didn’t think of it sooner. René. René will know.”

“Who’s René?” Montana asked.

“An old friend. A swamp rat. Runs a place between here and New Orleans. He knows everybody from way back.”

“Where can I find him?”

“It won’t do you any good to go by yourself. He wouldn’t tell you how to get to the road. I know!” Cat’s voice was suddenly filled with inspiration. “Take Katie. She knows René. René always did have a soft spot for her.”

“Katie? How would she know a swamp rat?”

Cat simply laughed. “I know Katie doesn’t travel in René’s circles, but there was a time when I did. And I got into as much trouble as Carson. René would call Katie and she’d rescue me about as often as she rescued Carson. Trust me, René will help Katie.”

Cat gave Montana directions to René’s Place, then hung up. Montana glanced at his watch. It was very late. Katie had seemed so completely drained. He ought to go to René’s Place alone and let her rest. He ought to, but he couldn’t. Leaving her alone tonight would be a mistake. If Carson was with Leon, she’d want to see him. If he wasn’t, she’d never believe it until she’d seen for herself.

He turned the car around and headed back to Carithers’ Chance. With all the bad things that had happened to change Katie’s life, finding Leon would be something positive he could do for her.