Raising the Stakes

“You sure we won’t miss that turnoff?” Gray said, ignoring the kind of insult that would ordinarily have wrung a sharp retort.

“We’d both have to be blind not to see a pair of boulders the size of Godzilla’s balls.”

“That’s the first marker. You said there were two.”

“The second’s a mesa, about half a mile from the Ranch. Look, you want to do something useful, check once in a while to make sure Dan’s still behind us. Otherwise, just shut up and count yourself lucky I let you come with me.”

“Don’t push it, O’Connell,” Gray said softly. “That’s my woman out there.”

“Your woman?” Keir laughed. “You don’t even know her. How long have you been here? A week?”

“Ten days,” Gray said tightly. “And I know her, all right, same as I know that the man she’s married to would as soon make her suffer as breathe.”

Keir’s hands tightened on the wheel. “Amazing how things worked out, isn’t it? You turn up. Then he turns up, and it’s all one big coincidence.”

Gray looked at Keir. A muscle knotted in his jaw and he looked back at the road.

“It’s no coincidence. I was stupid. I underestimated Kitteridge. I forgot that snakes aren’t as smart as humans but that doesn’t stop them from being just as deadly.”

Keir glanced at Gray. There was pain in the man’s voice. Okay. Maybe he’d cut him some slack.

“How about telling me why you came to Vegas looking for Dawn?”

Gray craned his neck, saw the fast-moving dust cloud that was Dan Coyle’s SUV behind them. “It’s a long story.”

“And it’s a long drive. We’ve got time.”

“Yeah. Okay.” Gray ran the tip of his tongue over his lips. “Well, I have an uncle.”

“Wow. That’s unusual.”

“You want to hear this,” Gray snarled, “or you want to do stand-up comedy?” He took a minute to collect himself. “My uncle’s an old man. He’s sick, he’s rich and he’s had what you might call an interesting life.”

“I don’t see what that has to do with Dawn.”

“You will, if you stop interrupting me.” Gray shifted in his seat and looked at Keir. “A few months back, he asked me to do him a favor. He told me this story about a love affair that went wrong half a century ago.”

“I still don’t see—”

“My uncle got involved with his partner’s wife. When his partner found out, he divorced her. Months later, she gave birth to a child. A daughter. My uncle never knew about it until recently and he figures it’s possible he fathered the girl. Her name was Orianna. She grew up and had a daughter, too. She named her Dawn.”

Keir scowled as he worked it through. “Let me get this straight. Your uncle is Dawn’s grandfather?”

“Maybe. He’s not sure but if he is, he wants to include her in his will.”

“I still don’t see your involvement in this.”

“Yeah.” Gray sighed. “Well, neither did I but my uncle insisted on playing this close to the vest. He didn’t want anyone to get wind of what was going on until he had some answers, so he asked me to find Dawn Lincoln Kitteridge—Dawn Carter—and check her out.”

“Check her out, how?” Keir looked at Gray. “You gonna tell me all you’ve been doing is getting samples of her DNA?”

“What I’m telling you is that I’m tired of your smart mouth,” Gray said coldly.

“Okay. Take it easy. I guess that was a little out of line.” A scrawny coyote darted across the track just ahead. Keir cursed, swung the wheel and missed the animal by inches. “Traffic hazards, even out here,” he muttered. “Check her out, how?”

“See what she was like. Her personality. Her lifestyle. Don’t look at me that way, man. I know it sounds nuts but if you knew my uncle—”

“Jonas Baron. Yeah. He’s got a reputation for coming up with unusual requests before he makes an investment.”