He sat at the table and carefully arranged the chips, clearly excited about the game.
She couldn’t resist goading him. “What does your opponent get if he wins?”
“He won’t win.”
“But what if he does?” she challenged. “Does he get another half-million dollars this time?”
“This time he does get a sizable amount of money, but more important, he gets his freedom and my promise that I’ll never bother him again.”
“He doesn’t want to be here.”
The Shark shrugged. “I actually think he does. Made me twist his arm, but I saw the change in his eyes when he accepted the challenge.”
“Why him?”
“How can it be a rematch unless we have all the players from the first game?”
“You sent Lenny into the woods. You bet I’d be the one to find him.”
He smiled. “Betting is a hard habit to break.”
The Shark seemed to know all the angles of his opponent before the games began. “Why my type? What’s the deal with dark-headed runaways?”
“You are searching for motivation. That’s your cop mind working. Very good.”
She knew enough about interrogation to know that he’d talk more if she sounded as if she empathized. “I would wager some woman must have hurt you very badly.”
“I never thought I had a type or could really care about anyone until Angie.”
Angie had been the seventeen-year-old runaway. “How did you meet her?”
“She was following one of the bands. Young, wise beyond her years, but ultimately a lost soul.”
“And you wanted to help her.” She nearly choked on the words.
His smile faltered. “I loved her. I tried to save her from the streets until I realized she was too damaged to save.”
“How was she damaged?”
“She couldn’t control herself. I promised her the world and realized she was seeing other men.” For a moment his face took on a faraway expression. “She looked so much like you.”
“What happened? Why did you kill her?”
“I was gambling large to impress her. I took risks I’d never taken before. When the last card turned and I realized I’d won, it was thrilling. I went to her immediately and told her what I’d won for her. But the moment I took her in my arms, I knew she’d cheated on me.”
“How could you tell?”
“I could smell another man on her. When I called her a whore, she just laughed. It was her taunts that sent me into a rage. She was an ungrateful bitch.”
“Maybe she hadn’t cheated on you.”
“She had. I know it. I know women cheat, and yet I believed she was different. If I hadn’t loved her so much, I wouldn’t have killed her. My emotions ran so deep.”
“And after she was dead?”
“I missed her almost immediately. I wanted to forgive her, but she was gone. And then I started to see her face in some of the faces of the young runaways that summer. The urge to gamble returned. And so did the urge to kill.”
Riley wanted to keep him talking. She was stealing time on the slim hope Bowman would find Hanna and her. “What was it about the girls that reminded you of Angie?”
“The ones I liked the best were smart and real survivors. They were strong. Scrappers like Angie. They weren’t afraid of me. I wanted to see the fight in their eyes when I strangled them. Angie fought me to the end.”
He raised his focus, allowing it to trail over her face and hair. “I prefer it when your hair isn’t tied in a knot.”
Panic tugged at her composure, but she shoved it aside, refusing to show him any fear. She took her hair tie out, tipped her head downward slightly, and ran her fingers through her hair. “How much do I remind you of Angie?”
“More than any of the others.” His voice deepened.
She curled a strand of hair around her finger. “When this is over, the first thing I’m going to do is cut my hair.”
He laughed. “Angie would have said something like that.”
“You also killed the singer,” she pressed. “Shield’s informant.”
His expression sharpened. “That pretty girl asked one too many questions.”
“I’m not Angie. Unlike her, I’m getting out of this alive.”
Smiling, he shook his head. “You’re avoiding the real question. Don’t you want to know who was willing to risk your life for a card game?”
Yeah. That was at the top of her list. But right now she needed more time. “I’m more interested in you. Think all this rage means you have mommy issues?”
He laughed. “No. I loved my mother very much. And if you think talking will delay the game, you’re wrong.”
“I’m thinking your mother didn’t love you at all.”
The savage smile vanished.
Ah, she had hit a nerve. “Did Angie remind you of Mommy? Is that why you could never really trust her?”
Despite his age he moved quickly, raising his hand up like a cat and striking her across the face. The unexpected impact sent her head flying back as pain rocked her skull and shot through her jaw. She tasted blood.
He flexed his fingers as his breathing quickened. She was hurting, but he was also struggling.
Carefully, she touched her bruised lip. “You hit like a girl.” If she provoked his temper, his judgment in the poker game might slip. Battered and bruised was a small price to pay if the other player won and she and Hanna got out of this alive.
Seething, he raised his hand to strike again but stopped. “It’s time to play.”
“Hard to believe someone like me could scare the hell out of you.”
He leaned close so that his face was only inches from hers. “You do not scare me.”
“Liar.”
The old man shook his head. “You are trying to provoke me.”
“Just calling it like I see it.”
He smiled. “I think your strength is your best quality.” With the buzz of a bell, the man who had vanished returned. “Bring in the other player.”
“Yes, sir,” the man said.
She wasn’t expecting to recognize the player, but when she turned and saw the familiar face, she felt as if she’d been punched hard in the gut. She blinked, shaking her head as she tried to will the sight of him away.
“Duke?” she whispered, her voice tight with fear and anguish. “This can’t be true. You haven’t gambled for twenty years.”
He looked at her bruised face. A sense of resignation deepened the lines around his eyes and mouth.
She sat there stunned as the pain of betrayal cut into her. Duke. How could it be Duke? This had to be a mistake. He’d said once she was like a daughter to him, like family. Tears tightened her throat. “Duke, you met me at the bus in Virginia. You took care of me. You protected me.”
He sat at the table, staring at the sealed deck of cards. “Riley, I put you on that bus in New Orleans.”
“I don’t understand.”
He shoved out a sigh. “Gambling gets in your blood. You think you can control it, but it’s always there, lurking. I was in New Orleans and the fever to gamble hit me hard. I heard the Shark was in town and I wanted to test him. When I found out what the stake was, I went looking and I found you on the streets. I was so sure I’d win. I didn’t think anyone would get hurt. And they didn’t.”
“And if the cards hadn’t gone your way, would you have killed me?”
Duke didn’t answer.
“The Shark had already killed four girls in New Orleans,” she said.
Duke shook his head. “I had nothing to do with those games.”
“You had to have known about the girls.”
“There was nothing I could do for them. And I was so sure I could save you when I won.” He stared at her. “You were in a bad place in New Orleans. I saw how afraid and hungry you were. It was a matter of time before the streets ate you alive.”
“You knew this killer was out here.”
An ang
ry frown deepened the lines on his face. “And he knew where I lived and where you were. He knows about Maria. If I’d spoken up, we’d all have been killed. I had no way out.”
“So you let him go free?”
“Shit, Riley.” Pain mingled with anger. “Don’t you get it? Not a day goes by that I don’t regret this.”
“Why can’t I remember you and the game?”
“The drugs I gave you wiped out your memory,” the Shark said. “It was designed to make you forget several days before the game so if he did win, I could set you free without worries.”
She couldn’t look away from Duke. “And you won? What happened? Why didn’t you dump me back on the streets where you found me?”
“I couldn’t. You could barely walk, and it would’ve been like throwing you to the wolves. So I put you on a bus and made sure I met the bus. I brought you here. I saved your life.”