The Accomplice (23 page)

She nodded nervously and started to ask a question, but was sidetracked when Doc asked for her assistance in a card trick.

“How much did you win just now?” Caleb asked as he pulled Steve away from the table.

Steve kept turning to get a look at his chair without seeming to notice that Caleb wasn’t about to let him get back to it. By the time he was led to the end of the bar, he let his eyes settle back onto the man who’d led him there.

“How much?” Caleb repeated.

“Um, a few hundred.”

“That’s not enough to pay me back, but it’s a start. Hand it over.”

Judging by the look on Steve’s face, someone might have thought he’d just been asked to sign his wife into slavery. “But I can’t! The next bet is the last one!”

“And when I close up tonight, your first batch of loans are due. Remember our deal?”

Steve cringed and glanced reflexively over to Jennifer. It had been hard work for Caleb to convince him to open his line of credit, but once Steve had more money at his disposal, he’d accepted the next couple of loans without hesitation. Of course, Doc had a knack for feeding him just enough wins to make Steve certain he’d be able to pay back what he owed and still be left with a healthy profit. After a few long nights, Steve had found himself in deeper than he liked to admit.

“Not so loud,” Steve whispered. “I don’t want Jen to get worried.”

“And I don’t want to make this ugly,” Caleb said with a bit of a snarl. “But you owe me over five thousand dollars, and after tonight, I’ll have to start tacking on interest.”

Finally, Steve nodded and said, “All right. If I can pay off at least that first loan tonight . . .”

“That would be great,” Caleb said before Steve finished. “Since you’re such a good fellow, I’ll be willing to let the interest slide a bit longer if you could scrape together enough to pay off that first loan. I believe it was two thousand.”

“Two thousand?”

“Actually, that’s the first two loans, but if I’m going to hold off on the interest, that’s what it’s going to have to be.”

Nodding before it got any worse, Steve drifted toward the table. “All right, all right. I just need to get back there before Doc deals that last round.”

“Don’t let me stop you,” Caleb said. As he watched Steve run to the table, a grin worked its way across his face.

 

 

“Here comes the cat-hop,” Doc said, announcing the last round of the game where three cards were dealt instead of two. Apart from the normal betting, there was a special bet in which players could guess the order in which the cards would appear. That one, as Doc was quick to remind everyone at the table, paid double.

“You hear that, sweetie?” Steve said as he sat back down in his chair and his eyes darted to the abacus where the spent cards had been marked off. “Double.”

Doc drummed his fingers on the dealer’s box as he said, “This is the big one, my friends. Make it good, and don’t spend all your winnings in one place.”

Nodding to himself, Steve let out the breath he’d been holding before turning to look at his wife. “I’ve got it figured out,” he said. “I know what the order’s got to be.”

Jen looked at him and leaned in so she could whisper to her husband. “How can you know for certain?”

“I’ve got a hunch. Look at the cards that have to drop,” he said while pointing toward the abacus. “There’s a queen, two fives, and a seven left in the deck. Of all the games I’ve played the last two days, I can’t recall the last time a face card has come up dead last.”

“So?”

“So, that means it’s bound to show up! It’s due to come. That’s just the odds talking. See what I mean about science?”

She winced and began nervously wringing her hands. “Maybe, but there’s still two other cards to bet on.”

“Let’s get those bets out there,” Doc announced.

“There’s two fives left,” Steve said quickly. “That means the odds should be pretty good that one of them will be first. But, the odds that they’ll be in a row can’t be nearly as good. It’s like in poker! The odds of getting a pair are less than pulling two other cards, right?”

“Yes,” Jen said as she began nodding. “So that only leaves one to choose.”

“You got it. What do you say, sweetie? Should I go with my gut?”

When she saw the expectant look on Doc’s face, Jen started to fidget. Glancing between her husband and the money in front of him, she covered her eyes with both hands and said, “Do what you want. I just can’t watch.”

“All right, then,” Steve announced confidently. “I’m ready to make a bet. Thanks for waiting again, Doc.”

“Not at all,” Doc said. “Just make it a good one. The natives are getting restless.”

Without another moment of hesitation, Steve pushed a few of his chips forward to make his normal spread of bets. The bulk of his chips, along with some money he took from his pockets, went to mark his bet on the cat-hop. The order he’d chosen was five, seven, queen.

Seeing that Steve had all of his money in play, Doc quickly peeled the first card. “Here we go,” he said. “I believe this is called the moment of truth.”

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.

“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.