High Stakes: A Texas Heat Romance

by Camilla Stevens

“Okay, look,” he said, bending down slowly to set the bags down. Chance watched him with cautious eyes.

  Ah shit.

  Even in the blinding rain, he could read the man’s reflexes: the sudden release of the bags at the last moment; a hard clenching of his shoulders; a quick movement with his arm.

  By the time he stood up, Chance already had his finger on the trigger. He pulled before the man could even aim the gun he’d either brought with him, or taken off one of the two men inside.

  At the same moment, thunder went off, drowning out the sound.

  Once again, Chance was grateful for the nasty weather.

  He looked down at the dead man before him. He’d never killed a man before and, despite it being self-defense, he took a moment to absorb the solemnity of the moment.

  He still didn’t even know the man’s name.

  Since the recently deceased dealer had managed to make it out of the building with all three bags of money, Chance felt safe enough entering the warehouse to inspect his handiwork.

  Both men lay dead on either side of the table. Or so he thought.

  He approached Leo first. He had one bullet wound to the shoulder and one straight through his head. Definitely dead.

  “You should have just let sleeping dogs lie, you sad sack of shit. That’s for my brother.”

  Chance stared down at Leo a moment longer, then rounded the table and found Peter with three bullet wounds to the chest. He blinked, which caused Chance to flinch in surprise. The pool of blood beneath him was rapidly growing. He gave a soft, slow wheeze as he stared up at Chance.

  “This is for my father. I’m going to stay right here and watch you take your final breath. You can look the man who is responsible for your death right in the eye as you die, which is more than he got.”

  Peter actually gave him a hint of a smile, as though he could respect that.

  A minute later he was dead.

  The plan had actually worked.

  The lights flickered briefly, this time actually caused by the thunder outside. Chance had a quick opportunity to see his handiwork. About one-third of the cards on the table, specifically the face cards and aces, glowed with a large neon X on the back of them. They had been placed there with one calloused fingertip throughout the course of the game. There was also soft, green glow on both Peter’s and Leo’s fingertips obtained second-hand from holding some of those cards. It was enough for both of them to think the other was responsible for the marked cards. It was enough for both of them to draw the guns they had brought with them.

  The brightest glow of all came from the “diamond” in the ring Chance had on his finger.

  He pulled out his phone and dialed. It was answered on the first ring.

  “I’m coming back to you, sweetheart.”

  42

  The Plan

  EARLIER THAT WEEK

  “So we have to figure out how to become the players.”

  Each woman looked at Chance and he could see the agreement in their eyes.

  “I think we’re going to need more bourbon,” Juliet said, still looking at him.

  Katherine turned to her with a wry grin. “I think I’m beginning to like you.”

  The three of them were sitting at Katherine’s dining room table with their glasses of bourbon in front of them. Chance was at the head with Katherine and Juliet on either side of him.

  “So how do we become the players instead of the pawns?” Juliet finally asked.

  “Find a way to beat them at their own game.”

  “You mean poker? But you already play and play well, I thought.”

  Chance gave his mother a look. She returned it and then looked away, bringing her glass up to her lips.

  It wasn’t lost on Juliet. “What’s going on here?”

  He turned to face her again, reaching out to take her hand. “Juliet, this isn’t a game of poker. This is a trap. Both of those men want me dead, almost as much as they want each other dead. They certainly aren’t going to let me walk out of there with not only three million dollars, but vengeance on my mind.”

  She pulled her hand out of his and gave him an incredulous look. “What? Well then why the hell are you agreeing to play? Chance are you crazy?”

  Neither of the other two said a word and she pushed her chair back to stand up. “Well?”

  “Because it’s the only way to end this,” Katherine finally said, setting her glass down.

  “Sit,” she said calmly, nodding to the chair Juliet had just leapt out of.

  Juliet just stared at her.

  “She’s right, Juliet. There’s only one reason why they would invite me. I’m not sure if they are in on it together—”

  “They aren’t,” Katherine interrupted.

  Now both Juliet and Chance were looking at her. She set her glass down. “You have no idea what it was like when I first married your father. I had been promised to Peter. I accepted it, it was my obligation.”

  She smiled at them, then down into her glass. “Then I met your father. He was…like a breath of fresh air. So different from any man I’d known. He made me laugh. I knew that first night I was going to run away with him.”

  She looked up at them again. “So I did. Peter never took a slight like that lying down, and I had humiliated him in front of every family in New York. We were hounded everywhere. Jackson couldn’t play at all on the east coast. He was beat up over and over. I honestly think they would have killed him eventually if not for my family putting a stop to it. Peter left it alone…or so I thought.” Her eyes clouded over, no doubt recalling the truth about how her husband had died.

  “Now Peter has his chance for the ultimate revenge, my son. And he will take it, game or no game.”

  Juliet sank into her chair.

  “And Leo is paranoid enough to believe that we’ll hold Chip against him,” Chance said. “And he’d be right. So I have no choice but to play.”

  Juliet looked back and forth between Chance and Katherine, then she took a long sip to consider everything they’d just said. Both of them waited, as if knowing she was coming to a decision.

  She placed the glass down and stared at it for a while. Then she met their stares.

  “So how do we kill two birds with one stone?”

  “Cheating.”

  The pizza had arrived and Juliet finished her bite. “You’re going to cheat? But you said that if you win then they’ll kill you.”

  “Not me, them. We have to make them both think that the other is cheating.”

  She gave a small laugh. “How do we get them to cheat?”

  “We can’t,” he said. “But we can make it look like they did.”

  “How?” Katherine asked. Juliet could hear the weariness in her voice. She could sympathize. This entire endeavor seemed overwhelming.

  Chance fell back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know.”

  They all sat there staring at the half eaten pizza as their minds furiously went to work.

  A few minutes later, Chance sat up with a thoughtful look on his face. “Mom, remember when Chip bought those magic trick cards? The design on back had little marks so you could guess what each card was. Dad threw them out because he said the McCoys weren’t cheats.”

  She nodded, remembering it.

  “So you’re going to sneak a trick deck of cards in?” Juliet asked doubtfully.

  “No, but if there was a way I could mark the cards,” he said. His voice trailed off at the end as though he realized it was futile. He fell back in his seat with a look of intense concentration on his face.

  “Yes!” Juliet said, an idea coming to her. She put her hands up, warning them to be still while she worked it out in her head.

  The room was silent, as if the air itself was holding its breath. Then she snapped her fingers rapidly. “I’ve got it!”

  She looked up at Chance. “Remember I told you about those glow in the dark stars my dad got me? During the day you could barely see t
hem, but at night they glowed. There’s a gel that does the same thing.”

  Both Chance and Katherine leaned forward, the air of hope in the room waking something in them.

  “But how would we get this gel into the game?” Katherine asked.

  A furrow came to Juliet’s brow. “Tell me everything about the game, from the moment you enter to the end.”

  Chance began. “There’s a pat down. Every game. Mostly for weapons, but they look for any other contraband as well, so we’d have to be careful there. After that….”

  When he was done, Juliet played around with everything she’d just heard. “So what can you take to the table?”

  Chance went through the list. It was short.

  Juliet thought some more. “What about jewelry?”

  Chance gave her a considering look, then turned to his mother. Katherine had been watching Juliet with growing anticipation. Now she looked back at her son with a smile.

  “The ring.”

  “The ring,” he repeated.

  “So it would have to be only the face cards,” Juliet said, “to make it seem legitimate.”

  “Got it,” Chance said.

  “You can’t do every card. It would just be a glow in the dark mess, and wouldn’t make sense. They’d just be confused, not suspicious. So when you get a face card, you just—”

  “Rub the ring and mark an X. I got it.”

  “Right. And make sure you go a few rounds before losing. Each of them needs to handle some of those cards at least a couple of times. When you turn off the lights they both have to think that the other was cheating. Otherwise—”

  “Juliet,” Chance said reaching over to take her face in his hands. “I’ve got it.”

  He knew she was just nervous, covering all bases on repeat for his sake.

  “This is going to work. How can it not with that brain of yours at work?”

  “Don’t say that,” she said, a wrinkle forming in her brow. “Already I’m thinking of all the ways it can go wrong.” She fell back in her chair. “Oh Chance, this is so risky. Are you sure about this? How do you even know they’ll both have guns?”

  “They will. This isn’t a normal game, Juliet. This is a hit job. Definitely on me, probably on one another.”

  Chance could see it all over her face. That did nothing to make her feel better. He needed to put her mind at ease, especially with what he was about to tell her.

  “Juliet, this will work. You’ve come up with the plan. I’m the one acting on it. I’ll out of the game before either of them gets itchy fingers.”

  She didn’t look convinced, but nodded all the same, probably realizing that her worrying was just making it worse. She gave a loud sigh.

  “Okay, so I’ll get to work making the fake diamond. It’s the least I can do since—”

  “No,” Chance said.

  She blinked and then stared at him wide-eyed. “What?”

  “I need you as removed from this as possible.”

  “Chance,” she laughed. “Are you serious? No way am I leaving you in the middle of all this. We’re a team.”

  “I’ll leave you two alone for a while,” Katherine said, rising out of her seat. She squeezed Chance’s shoulder as she passed by him.

  Juliet watched her go with growing unease, then turned her attention back to Chance, waiting for him to explain.

  “Juliet, if they think you mean anything to me at all, they’ll come after you. Especially if this plan fails…which it won’t,” he assured her.

  “I already told you I can’t go to San Antonio. My family….”

  “And I’m not asking you to. I don’t want them involved any more than you do. Which is all the more reason we have to make this seem real.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “We need to break up.”

  43

  “I’m coming back to you, sweetheart.”

  All Juliet could do was choke out a sob. She handed her phone to Katherine.

  Even when she’d seen his name on the screen of her phone, she hadn’t actually believed it was him until she heard his voice. Now she was practically faint with relief.

  She could read the same relief in Katherine’s eyes as she took the phone.

  “Chance, baby.” His mother had watery eyes as she listened to him on the other end.

  Juliet sank onto the sofa as Katherine talked to her son.

  “Yes, we’re fine.” She paused to listen to him, then chuckled. “Jacob? Jacob is…well let’s just say his isn’t a happy camper. Your girl is no one to screw around with.”

  Juliet’s eyes fell on the man who was bound and gagged on the sofa. He had a completely defeated look on his face.

  Both of them were looking out the front window of Jacob’s house. As soon as Chance’s pickup truck parked on the street in front, Juliet ran to the front door.

  She ran across the lawn through the pouring rain as he exited and rounded the front of the truck. Chance saw her and opened his arms wide to accept her as she flew into them. She wrapped her arms and legs around him tighter than a vice grip, as though making sure he was really there.

  The pouring rain drenched them as they kissed each other. It was long and fierce and intense, both of them releasing all the stress and pent up anxiety of the last 48 hours.

  Her hair was a mess. What little make up she’d worn was a mess. Her clothes were a mess. She was a mess.

  She didn’t care.

  Chance was back. He’d come back.

  A million questions ran through her head and she shut them down.

  Chance was back.

  He carried her up to the house and into the front entryway, holding on tightly the whole way. He was the one to finally pull away, looking over her face as though also wondering if she was indeed there.

  She laughed at look on his face, knowing she was mirroring it.

  “Everything copacetic?”

  “Everything is copacetic, Jule,” he responded, then he gave her a sober look. “I’ve got three million dollars to my name and I’m a bona fide killer. If you still want to stick around with me, I’ll tell you all about it.”

  “Absolutely,” was all she said.

  Chance was looking down at Jacob with murder in his eyes. Jacob just stared up at him warily, his mouth still stuffed with the tie Juliet had procured earlier.

  Finally, he huffed out a laugh and looked at Juliet. “So you did this?”

  “I wasn’t thinking,” she said, shrugging.

  “I knew I picked a winner when I picked you,” he said with a grin.

  She ticked her head to the side. “I thought it was a random act of nature.”

  He laughed.

  “Oh for heaven’s sake,” Katherine finally said. “You two, go. You let me handle this one,” she said, nodding down to Jacob.

  Katherine had already gotten in her round of hugs and kisses, grateful to have her son back safe and sound.

  Chance and Juliet just looked at each other with a smile, needing no further encouragement.

  They were back at the Hotel ZaZa. This time Chance had had no qualms about splurging. After all, he had it on good faith that any debt he owed was now conveniently erased.

  Juliet was lying against his side, both of them completely naked under the covers. This round of love-making had been more fervent and passionate than any time before.

  “So it’s all copacetic?” Juliet asked again.

  “What did the past half hour tell you?”

  Juliet laughed, before letting it fade away in the face of all that had happened that day. “I just want to be sure that all the bases are covered.”

  “All the bases are covered,” Chance assured her.

  She pulled her head up and frowned at him. “This is serious, Chance. You could go to jail or worse, what if—?”

  He brought one hand over to caress her cheek, silencing her. “I was careful, Juliet. How could I not be with the world’s most analytical mind guiding me? I wipe
d every thing I touched. I dumped the bags off in my truck before making my way back to the bar. I even gave the bartender another fifty for good measure so he’ll remember me.”

  Though she was loathe to bring it up, she had to address the most important part. “And the banker or checker or whatever you call him?”

  “Somewhere at the bottom of the bayou,” he said, his voice more somber now. “They’ll find him eventually. Until then, everyone will assume he ran off with the money.”

  That had been a fortuitous, if sobering turn of events. Even Chance hadn’t expected to kill anyone himself, though he’d been prepared for the possibility. Juliet had all but told him as much, based on every scenario in her head. No way would the man have walked away from that much money after the only other two parties had killed one another. In the best case scenario, Chance would have simply used his gun to intimidate the man and get at least the money he had borrowed back. Juliet was the one who predicted him having a gun, which was the main reason Chance had been packing in the first place.

  Juliet brought her head back down to his firm chest, squeezing him tight. “This is crazy, Chance. What have we done?”

  “Hey,” he said nudging her head with his shoulder.

  She brought her head up to face him again.

  “We saved our lives and got rid of some bad men. If they hadn’t brought their guns into that game, fully intent on killing me, neither one of them would be dead right now.”

  Everything he said was true. If he’d actually played the way they intended him to play, he’d be dead. That alone made any regret she had about the whole sordid business disappear. They should have never involved Juliet Dumas…not when her man’s life was at stake.

  She looked at him, wondering what her life would be like without him in it. The picture was colorless and mundane. Chance was the exact opposite of that.

  Right here, right now, she knew: This was the man she was destined to end up with.

  “I know,” he said, looking down at her thoughtfully.

  “I didn’t even say anything,” she protested.