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“He wouldn’t play along.” Chewy cleared his throat and spit. “Just like Dax. If Slick were alive, he would’ve been all in.”
“Who tried to kidnap Jim?” She stomped her boot on the shovel to drive it into the ground again.
“That was me.” Danny coughed. “I was no good at it, but I struck a deal with Slick Kennedy that night—the Lords would help us and we’d help the Lords.”
“A match made in hell.” She threw another mound of dirt at Danny’s feet, hitting his silver-tipped boots.
“Why didn’t you read Kennedy, Scar? That’s what I was worried about with the two of you. He had the knowledge buried in his psyche and you had the ability to tap into it.”
“We didn’t need to go there. Granny knew your character. She knew you were involved, and then I heard your voice in the stairwell that night at the hotel.”
“So, that was you.” He kicked at the dirt. “But you never had any proof until Dax hid the drugs I gave him in good faith. One way or the other, we’ll take care of him just like we did his brother.”
Scarlett clenched her teeth. If Jim was really gone, she’d make sure there was no way in hell Danny ever got close to Dax. If he didn’t kill her.
Her shovel hit something pliant but not as pliant as the mud she’d been shoveling. “There’s something here.”
“Keep digging.” Chewy aimed his flashlight into the pit, highlighting the corner of a canvas bag.
Scarlett scraped her shovel across the top of it, revealing more of the canvas.
Danny shoved her aside. “Get that out, Chewy.”
The big man hunched over the hole in the ground and grabbed the sack. He tugged and pulled until he freed it from its grave. Then he swung it onto the ground.
“This is it, Danny. Now I can have it all and I’ll get you your kids. I’ll get Rocky his new kids.”
Danny swung his weapon from Scarlett to Chewy and shot him in the head.
Blood sprayed her cheek and she gagged as Chewy dropped to the ground, next to the drugs.
Danny laughed. “As if I’d trust that oaf to snatch some kids for Rocky. I guess it’s back to the drawing board for me, but at least I have my incentive to get someone to do it.”
Scarlett took a step back from the madness in her uncle’s eyes. He’d never let her live and nobody would ever find Jim in time, even if he had survived the fall into the mine.
But she’d be damned if she’d die without a fight.
She had pivoted to face Danny, her fists raised, when a shot rang out.
For a split second she thought he’d shot her, but then she noticed the surprise on his face.
Danny’s mouth dropped open as his chin hit his chest. Another bullet tore his torso and his head snapped back.
As he crumpled to the ground, Scarlett’s gaze zeroed in on the entrance to the mine, where Jim’s head was just visible over the edge.
Crying and laughing at the same time, Scarlett ran to him where he was dangling from a rope, a gun stinking of gun powder clutched in his right hand.
She dropped to the ground and flattened to her belly. Grabbing the rope tied under his arms and looped over a rock at the edge of the mine, she pulled him over the edge. With a grunt, she hoisted him up and over, and he collapsed beside her.
Smoothing a hand across his mud-caked cheek, she sighed. “You made it.”
He grinned and pulled her down for a dirty kiss. “I’ve made it through worse and never has the reward been so great.”
* * *
“WE CAN SEND you to a specialist in Seattle, Jim. I think that leg can be broken and reset.” Dr. Harrison tapped his clipboard.
Jim shrugged and took Scarlett’s hand. “It’s just a limp. I don’t mind if she doesn’t.”
“Me?” She leaned over and kissed his chin.
He’d never get tired of those lips.
“If you took away his limp, he might stop trying so hard.”
“Give up? Never, not J.T.” Dax beamed from his wheelchair, pride etched in every line of his face.
“It’s an option. Just let me know if you’re interested and I can make the recommendation.” The doctor pointed at Dax. “And you—not too long in here. You need your rest.”
