Donna Kauffman - Here Comes Trouble

“I didn’t think it would follow me.” He crossed the room in three strides, but she folded her arms across her chest, barring him. He respected that. Hated it, but didn’t push. She deserved to hear the rest. “It hasn’t, actually. But now I’ve brought the world of poker here, and I guess that problem came with it. I’m sorry. If I thought-” He broke off as her expression changed from one of honest confusion and concern to that shuttered look he hadn’t seen in quite some time now. He silently swore and vowed right then that as soon as Thad was done here and he was reasonably certain Kirby was okay left here by herself, he was heading to the resort. Maks wasn’t going to touch another person he cared about.

“What kind of trouble?” she asked, a carefully blank tone in her voice.

“I-when I stopped playing, when I retired, not everyone was happy about it. I was the poster boy for a lot of big events and it drew money to the tables, both during the event itself and before and after, just from the publicity of it. I was the biggest name and the easiest money to be made, promotionally speaking. So I know it wasn’t a great day for promoters and casino owners when I stepped down. There aren’t many others with the easy name recognition that I had and it will likely be a while before someone dominates the sport.” He lifted a hand. “I’m not saying any of this to toot my own horn, just-”

“No,” she said quietly, “I know you’re not like that. Just…go on.”

“So, there were a series of…events. Set up to look like accidents, but after a while, it was too coincidental to have all those things happening to me. Or to people I cared about.” Her shoulders slumped then and he couldn’t help it, he grasped her folded elbows and tugged her closer. “Kirby, we could never prove anything; the police chalked it up to bad luck. The running joke was all the ridiculous luck I’d had during my career had flipped on me when I left the sport. But I-I didn’t want anything bad happening to anyone I cared about. And I needed time and some space to figure out what I was going to do. So I took off, figuring if it was one of the folks hounding me to come back, then they’d either follow me or let up once and for all.”

“Did anything else happen after you left?”

Brett shook his head. “No. Dan has kept an eye out and it all stopped as soon as I left. Word got out and people stopped calling. I haven’t had to deal with any of that fallout since crossing the Nevada state line. Which you can take as proof it was someone there, or maybe it was just bad luck.”

“But you didn’t think so.”

“No,” he said, “no, I didn’t.”

“What did Dan think?”

“I would have told you that Dan was the one supporting my decision to get out, only now I’m not as sure about that. I was working for him after I quit, which, as I told you before, is something I had done off and on since I was a kid. It wasn’t a permanent thing, just helping him and giving myself something to do while I figured out what I wanted to do next.”

“But now you think it was someone. And that they’re here. Because you’re playing again.” Her eyes went wide. “That Russian guy? Maks-whatever? You think it’s him, don’t you?”

“I don’t know what else to think. Kirby, honestly, you know I’d have never put you at risk like that if I had any idea-”

“Okay,” she said, cutting him off, obviously still trying to process the whole thing. “So, why do you think he’s behind it?”

“They were probably the least happy when I retired. I had done a few events for them when they’d started up, and it always went well for them. And for me, I won’t lie. So they leaned pretty hard to try and get me to continue on, at least with their events.”

“And you turned them down.”

“Flat. And then…things started happening.”

Her carefully controlled expression shook for just a second, but the fear he spied in her eyes was all he needed to see. “I’m going to put an end to it, Kirby. Once and for all. As soon as we report this to the sheriff’s office, I’m going up to the resort.” He thought about taking Thad with him, then immediately reconsidered. A small town local cop was not going to intimidate Maks. In fact, it was probable he was counting on that. As he was counting on the local female innkeeper not being able to bring much pressure to bear, either.

Well, Maks was about to learn that he was all kinds of wrong on that score.

“I’m going with you.”

“What? No. Not because I don’t think you can handle yourself and not because you don’t deserve a crack at him, but I understand the world we’re from. You don’t. And I can’t-” His grip tightened on her elbows. “I’m not putting you in the middle. I’ll leave here before I do that.”

“What, and keep running?”

He tried not to wince at that, but she was close enough. “No,” he said, and meant it. “If he’s left town, I’ll go back to Vegas after him. I’ll pull every string I have, cash every marker. But I’m done. All done.”

She took a deep, shuddering breath. “This is all…a lot.” She gently disengaged her elbows from his grip. “I-I need to call Thad. And my insurance company, I guess.” She blew out a breath, then turned away from him and went to the phone.

Standing by and watching was possibly one of the hardest things he did, but she knew the story now, and how she wanted to handle things, both with Thad and between them, was up to her. Not that he didn’t plan on having any influence, but she’d been happy here, going along with her plans for the future. And yes, the lack of snow had put those dreams at risk, but somehow he knew she’d have found a way, even if he’d never shown up.

He turned and looked out the rear window, looking at the shredded quilts in the rapidly fading daylight. Goddammit. If anything had happened to her…

He paced the room, half listening to her talk to the deputy, then her insurance rep, his anger building, his patience growing thinner by the second. He tried Dan’s room at the resort, planning on having him meet him in the lobby before tracking Maksimov down. Dan was the only other person in town he could trust and it wouldn’t hurt to have backup. Or witnesses.

As soon as Thad arrived and Brett gave his statement, he told Thad to please stick by Kirby, that he had some business to attend to at the resort that couldn’t wait.

Both Thad and Kirby protested, but he was already out the door and on his bike before they could stop him.

Before the night was over, it was all going to be over.

Brett parked his bike right in front of the hotel and headed inside to the registration desk. “Hi, Bobby,” he said to the young man behind the counter. He knew most of the desk staff by now. “Listen, I need to find out where-” He stopped when there was a tap on his shoulder. He turned, half expecting it to be Maks confronting him. He wouldn’t put anything past him at this point. But it wasn’t Maks, or anyone he’d seen before.

“Mr. Hennessey, sir? If I might have a word with you?” The man was massive. Tall, dark skinned, shoulders wider than most doorways. He gave big a whole new meaning. He opened his jacket to show his security badge. “Privately, please?”

Brett stepped away from the desk, but said nothing.

“Sir,” Mr. Big began, “With all due respect, I am supposed to alert you to the fact that we’ve placed hotel security out front of Mr. Maksimov’s villa. He’s not to be disturbed until someone from the sheriff’s department arrives to talk to him.”

“Okay,” Brett said. Chalk one up for the small town deputy. “I’ll just head up to my room, then.”

“I’ll escort you,” he said cordially enough, but the way he instantly flanked Brett’s steps made it clear he wasn’t going to be dissuaded.