Page 35

Thirty-four

AFTER A SHOWER and fresh change of clothes, thanks to Mali’s sister who’d left clothes in the guest room and was about the same size, Riley felt like a new, clean, and warmed-up person when she joined the other three at the dining table.

Grey was in a black brushpopper shirt, dark-wash Wrangler jeans, and a pair of cognac Lucchese cowboy boots with matching belt. His hair was mussed from the shower, and the five-o’clock shadow he’d left in place made for one stunning man.

“Please join us,” Mali said, waving her over.

“Thank you.” She sat.

“Coffee?” Phillip asked.

“Please.”

He took the cup from her place setting and poured the coffee from a clay pitcher with a black wolf howling at the moon painted on it.

“Thank you.”

“So dare I ask what happened?” Phillip said, setting the pitcher down.

Grey caught his friend up to speed.

“Why am I not surprised?” Phillip said. “Trouble seems to follow you.”

“Not so much follows me as some of us chase it down,” Greyson said, casting his gaze on Riley, a soft smile on his lips.

She shrugged with a smirk.

“You said the retreat is claiming their casino is on our land?” Mali asked.

Grey nodded.

Phillip sat back and crossed his arms. “I’ll have to pay them a visit. Sounds like an illegal one to me if they’re trying to pass it off as one of ours.”

“It definitely felt underground to me,” Riley said. The setup, the people working it, the dark room, high-stakes poker tables. Far different from the flashy casinos in Vegas, at least.

“I concur,” Greyson said.

“All right. If it’s not on our reservation, I don’t have legal jurisdiction. I’ll call the county sheriff, Mack Gaines. He’s a good guy.”

“I think that’s who Roni called when this started.”

“Good, then he’ll already be familiar with the basics of the initial case. I’ll explain the situation as of now with the retreat and that you found her luggage. Knowing Mack, he’ll call the gaming commission in to determine if it’s an illegal casino or not and head out there to poke around and see what can be found.”

Greyson leaned forward. “It’s definitely far worse than an illegal casino.”

“Based on the missing woman and the men chasing you, I’d say so.” Phillip set his coffee cup down. “Have you reported her missing to anyone else?”

“My brother Deck reported it to our local sheriff, Joel Brunswick, since Kelly is a Jeopardy Falls resident and she was in Jeopardy Falls the morning she left the retreat—leaving something on my doorstep.” She rubbed her hand along the outline of the key in her Levi’s pocket. “Given what we’ve found and the amount of time passed, Joel filed a missing person’s report on Kelly.”

Her cell rang, and she pulled it from her pocket. “Speaking of Deck...” She stood. “Excuse me a moment.” She took the call in the other room. “Hey, bro. What’s up?”

“We got a lead. They just found Kelly’s car in Las Cruces.”

“You’re kidding? That was fast.”

“Yeah, I told you Joel was on it. The police found it less than fifteen minutes ago.”

“You think they’re trying to run for the border?”

“Looks that way.”

“Guess we’re heading south as soon as we get a car.”

“There’s more,” Deck said.

“All right?”

Deck hesitated, and he never hesitated.

Nervous tingles shot through her. “What’s up?”

Grey joined her, and she switched the phone to speaker.

“I found something that ties Jared and Kelly together—or is an enormous coincidence.”

“You know I don’t believe in coincidences,” she said, leaning against the wall by the roaring fire.

“I know you don’t.”

She twirled a strand of hair around her finger. “What did you discover?”

“Kelly and Jared both lived in Vegas until a year ago.”

Vegas—twice in as many days. Please keep Vegas out of this. Don’t lead the investigation there.

She hadn’t been back since that night, and she’d sworn she never would.

Grey glanced over at her, compassion welling in his stormy eyes.

“You okay, kid?” Deck asked.

“Yep.” She’d make herself be.