Chapter 20 Pane #2
“It’s up your ass, is where it is. You know I can’t stand you.”
He scowls. When she leaves, he mumbles, “She’s just pretending to hate me.”
“No, I ain’t,” she calls with her back to us. “Not after what you did.”
His face flushes red, but he quickly turns his attention back to the game. “So, you and Rowe . . .”
I glance over my hand at him. “Me and Rowe?”
“Are you two, you know . . . together?”
“What’s it your business, Luke?” Isaac asks after sipping his drink. “The two of you aren’t a thing.”
“No reason. She’s just one you wouldn’t want to be with.”
“Can we play cards?” McCauley says impatiently.
Ron folds. Isaac folds. McCauley and I stay in, but Luke wins. Again.
How is he beating us?
I lift my drink to take a sip, trying to wrap my head around what he’s doing. There aren’t any trick cards, he’s not pulling anything out from his sleeves—but the man is cheating, I have no doubt.
Just as I think that, the glass rumbles in my hand. I put it down, at first wondering if we’re experiencing an earthquake. But the chair’s not shaking. The building’s not moving.
Only my glass is quivering on the table.
The men aren’t paying any attention. They’re focused on McCauley as he deals the next hand.
As the glass quivers, the mint begins to spin like the hands of a clock, twirling and twirling, until all of a sudden, it stops. There’s a pause; then the three green leaves come together, making the shape of an arrow—an arrow that points at Luke.
Wait. I’m seeing things. Mint can’t point, and mint from a town that’s lost its magic really can’t point.
I squeeze my eyes shut, pinching them with my fingers. Maybe it’s the alcohol causing hallucinations.
When I open my eyes, the green arrow dives down into the glass, between two ice cubes, and begins curling and uncurling like an accordion, still aimed at Luke.
Maybe it’s not the alcohol after all.
The mint is frantic, pointing down.
Does Luke have something under the table that’s helping him?
I move the napkin to the right of my hand until it falls. When I lean down to get it, I take a good look at Luke.
Spilling out of his pocket is what looks like rainbow hair.
Not hair—mane.
Unicorn mane.
Luke Preston’s been stuffing magical unicorn mane into his pocket in order to win at poker.
That’s how he’s been cheating.
An idea snaps in my head. “I’m out this game, but count me in the next one.”
As I rise, I hear Luke murmur, “Must be getting tired of losing. Maybe he’s not as rich as we think.”
My back snaps tight and I turn around. “I’m not a liar.”
Luke levels his gaze on me. “Didn’t say that you were.”
“Yeah, you did.”
He winds a finger around his ear. “Hanging out at the Wadleys’ has probably broken his brain.”
I curl my hands into fists. “No. More like playing poker with you is making me dumber by the minute.”
Before he can answer, I’m at the bar, pulling Clarice aside. “I need you to do me a favor.”
“Does it have to do with Rowe?”
“No, it has to do with dropping Luke down several notches.”
“I’m in.”
“Luke, I made you a Long Island iced tea. How’s that sound?”
Clarice waddles up holding a tall glass filled to the brim with brown liquid.
Lust fills Luke’s eyes.
“Why, thank you, ma’am. See?” he says to us. “I told y’all that she likes me.”
Right when Luke reaches for the drink, Clarice drops it in his lap.
Luke jumps up and his chair crashes to the floor behind him. “Dammit, Clarice!”
“I’m so sorry! Must be my old hands!”
She makes a big show of dabbing his front pocket with the napkins she brought, but he snatches them from her. “Get away, woman,” he shouts. “Get!”
“I’m sorry,” she mumbles.
“Damn!” He shoos her off. As Clarice passes me, I extend my hand and she drops the unicorn mane in my palm.
“Gentlemen”—I shove the mane in my pocket—“let’s make this our last game. I’m getting tired.”
The men grumble in agreement as Luke blots his soaking crotch with the napkin.
A few minutes later I announce, “All in,” pushing every dollar bill I’ve got into the pile.
Luke lifts a brow. “You got that good a hand, huh?”
“You’ll find out.”
He tries to hide a smile, but he can’t. He’s got this one in the bag, he thinks. “What the hell. I’m all in, too.”
Luke drops all the cash he stole onto the table, plus everything that’s in his wallet. It’s a good three thousand dollars. He sits back with a satisfied smile.
“I’m out,” Ron declares.
“Me too,” says Isaac.
“Me three,” adds McCauley.
Luke smirks. “Let’s see if that Rowe Wadley bad luck is rubbing off on you.”
“What’s that?”
“Nothing.” He scratches his beard. “Just that folks in town say Rowe’s bad luck.”
“She’s not bad luck,” I snap, glaring at him.
“Hey, don’t kill the messenger.” He lifts his hands in surrender. “I’m just saying what everybody else knows.”
“Everybody but me.”
Isaac raps his knuckles on the table. “Show ’em if you’ve got ’em.”
Luke drops a straight, and begins to gather the money with a cocky smirk when I say, “Hold on.”
His expression falls. “What do you have?”
I place my cards face up one at a time. “Ace, king, queen, jack, and ten of spades. Royal flush.”
His jaw drops. “You can’t— That’s not possible.”
“Oh, it’s possible.”
Isaac nods to me. “Pane’s the winner of this round.”
I pluck cash from Luke’s hand and drag the pot of money toward me.
Luke checks his pocket and sees that the mane is missing. He jumps out of his seat and towers over me, eyes bulging, neck veins popping. “You had Clarice . . .”
Then he stops, because he can’t admit that he’s been cheating.
But this jerk’s not getting off that easily.
“I had Clarice, what? What did I have her do?” I rise slowly, putting the bills together and folding them over. Ron, Isaac, and McCauley stare at each other in confusion. “What were you going to say, Luke?”
He jabs a finger at me. “This isn’t over, Maddox.”
I hold his gaze and lean forward. “I don’t expect that it is. Now, get out of here before you do something you’ll regret.”
Rowe’s ex studies me for a long minute. Then he pulls his lips back and sneers, “No matter what you think you’re gonna do to fix up the Wadley place, it won’t work. What’s out there, it’s used up. Wasted. And I’m not talking about the property.”
One word flashes through my mind:
Rowe.
Before I can think, I grab two fistfuls of his shirt and back him into the wall. He hits it with a hard thud.
“What did you say?” I demand.
Instead of answering, Luke pulls back his fist and slams it into my jaw. My head snaps to the right and pain blooms, but there’s no way in hell I’m going to let this loser win.
I refocus, pull him forward, and shove him back again, making sure his head smacks the wall—hard. Above us, framed pictures and buck trophies shake, threatening to fall.
Luke groans and sags against the wall.
“You got something else to say about her?” I growl.
Luke blinks, shakes his head.
I toss him to the right. He stumbles, throwing out his arms and using an empty table to break his fall. He slowly straightens, and when he turns around stiffly, Luke says, “You don’t know who you’re messing with.”
“Neither do you,” I reply, fists tight by my sides.
He stares at me for a beat longer and then storms out. As soon as he’s gone, everyone goes quiet for a moment as all of us exhale.
“Holy shit,” Isaac says, clapping me on the back.
“How’d you do that?” McCauley asks, picking up the money I dropped on the floor when I grabbed Luke. “Not scare Luke—that was awesome. But how’d you beat him?”
I pull the piece of mane from my pocket. “This is how Luke’s been cheating. Saw it in his pocket.” I rub my sore jaw. “Come on. Let’s divvy up the money. Y’all deserve to get back everything he stole from you.”
They protest, but I’m not keeping the cash. For all the times that Luke cheated them, these men deserve some sort of compensation.
Clarice walks up while I’m putting the last of the money in my wallet and pats me on the arm. “You made yourself an enemy tonight.”
I hand her a hundred and wink. “I sure did, and I couldn’t have done it without your help.”
“Kid, before you know it, you’re gonna become a local.”
“I doubt that.”
“She’s right about Luke,” Isaac says while slipping on his jacket. “You’d better watch your back.”
No. He’d better watch his, because if Luke Preston tries anything against Rowe, I’ll destroy him.
And that’s a promise.