Dead Hand: A Cold Poker Gang Mystery Read online

  On the fourth day the story had finally hit the papers, without any mention of the vast number of people being processed. The story was about how thirty-one people around Las Vegas had been arrested in connection to a massive kidnapping ring. Details would follow, but Pickett had been glad to see the mug shot of August LaPine, the owner of August Tux Shop on the front page of the paper.

  The Chief had warned all the Cold Poker Gang members to not come back on the sixth day to help. That’s when the press would be there. But over the three days Pickett had gotten to witness more reunions than she could ever imagine. All of them full of tears of happiness and disbelief.

  Pickett was glad that now, for her and Sarge and Robin, it was over.

  But it was a long ways from being over for all the survivors and all their families.

  For them, the recovery was just starting.

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  October 25th, 2016

  Las Vegas, Nevada

  THAT NIGHT, FOR the first night in five days, he and Pickett found themselves alone in his apartment, sitting on his deck, sipping a white wine and staring out over the lights of the city.

  Even with all the ugliness they had uncovered, he still loved the city spread out below him. Loved it more than he wanted to admit, actually.

  And he knew for a fact he was in love with the wonderful woman sitting beside him.

  “That was a great dinner,” she said, holding up her wine glass in a toast. “Thanks.”

  “My pleasure,” he said.

  And it had been. They had stopped at the grocery store and bought a couple of steaks and some salad fixings and he had grilled steaks for them. It had turned out better than he had thought it would considering how tired and drained he felt.

  “What are you thinking about?” she asked, “besides this fantastic view.”

  “Actually,” he said, “wondering what we were going to do tomorrow, now that this case is over for us.”

  “I have no idea,” she said, taking another sip of her wine. “But I do know what I would like to do tonight.”

  “And what might that be?” he asked.

  “I’m thinking we go downstairs, take off all our clothes, crawl into that wonderful large shower of yours and then toddle off to bed together.”

  “Can I wash your back?” he asked, glancing over at her.

  She smiled. “Please.”

  “Then I like that idea a great deal,” he said, toasting her with his wine glass.

  They sat for the next thirty minutes just sipping on their wine, mostly in silence, letting the cool night air and the wonderful view clear their minds of the last five days.

  Then they headed for the shower and bed. They made love comfortably, not in a hurry, and she fell asleep in his arms just a moment before he dozed off as well.

  Perfect.

  And for the first night since going down into the tunnels, he didn’t have a nightmare.

  The next morning they ended up reading the papers over breakfast in the Golden Nugget Buffet. It seemed that the press was having a field day now and the national news led with the story.

  Sarge felt very happy right now to be retired and out of it.

  After a while Pickett put down her iPad and looked at Sarge. “No matter how ugly all that was, we saved a lot of people, didn’t we?”

  “We did,” Sarge nodded.

  “That feels wonderful,” she said.

  With that he could only agree. It did feel great, and he was going to stay focused on that instead of the nightmare they had seen and experienced underground.

  “So how about we go rescue some more beings?” she asked, smiling at him.

  “As long as I don’t have to go underground,” he said, knowing exactly what she meant.

  “That I can promise,” she said.

  They walked leisurely back to the Ogden and took her car and headed out the old Boulder Highway.

  Twenty minutes later they were standing in a large glassed-in room that held a number of cats and kittens in large cages while others ran loose. The cat shelter was clean and modern and the cats all looked happy and well-fed.

  Almost in no time he found himself holding two ten-week-old orange kittens in his arms. Pickett had a black kitten in her arms from the same litter.

  And he was smiling wider than he had smiled in a very long time.

  The moment he had seen the two kittens he knew they had to come home with him.

  Instant love at first sight.

  And she had picked up the little black kitten first and hadn’t put it down as well. There was no doubt the two of them had bonded instantly from the way the little kitten sort of cuddled on her arm and just looked around without fear.

  “Don’t you dare call those kittens Come and Go,” she said, then laughed at how one of the kittens was climbing up his chest.

  “Wouldn’t think of it,” he said, enjoying more than he wanted to admit the two kittens in his arms. “What are you thinking of naming that little sweetie?”

  She held up the tiny kitten in front of her and then smiled. “Looks to me like he’s going to be a long hair, so how about Harry.”

  “Well, that settles it,” he said, smiling at her. He pointed to one of the orange kittens. “This is Dick and this one is Tom. That way if we ever live together the cats will be Tom, Dick, and Harry.”

  “Not a chance,” she said, shaking her head and looking slightly horrified.

  “No chance we won’t live together?” he asked, knowing that wasn’t what she meant.

  “No chance we’re going to name these cats any of those names,” she said. “Let’s get them home and let them tell us what their names are.”

  “I like that idea,” he said, moving toward the front of the shelter with the two kittens. “But for the moment can I call them Pete and Repeat?”

  “No!” she said.

  “Spoilsport,” he said, laughing.

  “That’s not what you said this morning in the shower,” she said and gave him the arched eyebrow look.

  “Did I actually say anything intelligent in the shower?” he asked, glancing at her and her new black kitten.

  She laughed. “I’m not telling. But I honestly don’t know since I was a little preoccupied.”

  “That’s their names,” Sarge said, smiling at her and pretending to be excited as they reached the shelter’s front counter. “One is Pre and one is Occupied.”

  “No!” she said, her voice stern, her face slightly red. “Just no.”

  Then she reached over and scratched the chin of one of the orange kittens. “Trust me, little one, I’ll save you.”

  Sarge laughed. He liked the sound of that and the promise of the future that it meant.

  A wonderful future with a beautiful woman and three really cute cats. Didn’t get much better than that in his book. As long as he stayed in his penthouse condo far, far above any tunnels under the city.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Considered one of the most prolific writers working in modern fiction, USA Today bestselling writer Dean Wesley Smith published far more than a hundred novels in forty years, and hundreds of short stories across many genres.

  At the moment he produces novels in four major series, including the time travel Thunder Mountain novels set in the Old West, the galaxy-spanning Seeders Universe series, the urban fantasy Ghost of a Chance series, and a superhero series starring Poker Boy.

  His monthly magazine, Smith’s Monthly, which consists of only his own fiction, premiered in October 2013 and offers readers more than 70,000 words per issue, including a new and original novel every month.

  During his career, Dean also wrote a couple dozen Star Trek novels, the only two original Men in Black novels, Spider-Man and X-Men novels, plus novels set in gaming and television worlds. Writing with his wife Kristine Kathryn Rusch under the name Kathryn Wesley, he wrote the novel for the NBC miniseries The Tenth Kingdom and other books for Hallmark Hall of Fame movies.

  He wrote n
ovels under dozens of pen names in the worlds of comic books and movies, including novelizations of almost a dozen films, from The Final Fantasy to Steel to Rundown.

  Dean also worked as a fiction editor off and on, starting at Pulphouse Publishing, then at VB Tech Journal, then Pocket Books, and now at WMG Publishing, where he and Kristine Kathryn Rusch serve as series editors for the acclaimed Fiction River anthology series.

  For more information about Dean’s books and ongoing projects, please go to www.deanwesleysmith.com, www.smithsmonthly.com or www.fictionriver.com.

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  But wait! There’s more. Sign up for the WMG Publishing newsletter, too, and get the latest news and releases from all of the WMG authors and lines, including Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Kristine Grayson, Kris Nelscott, Fiction River: An Original Anthology Magazine, Smith’s Monthly, and so much more.

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  Look for These Other Titles from Dean Wesley Smith

  Cold Poker Gang Series:

  Kill Game

  Cold Call

  Calling Dead

  Bad Beat

  Doc Hill Series:

  Dead Money

  “The Road Back”

  Sign up for the WMG Publishing newsletter to receive updates about new releases, bonus content and more at wmgpublishing.com

  Copyright Information

  Dead Hand

  Copyright © 2016 by Dean Wesley Smith

  First published in a different form in Smith’s Monthly #29, WMG Publishing, February 2016

  Published by WMG Publishing

  Cover and Layout copyright © 2016 by WMG Publishing

  Cover design by Allyson Longueira/WMG Publishing

  Cover art copyright © Stephanie Swartz/Dreamstime.com

  This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or incidents is purely coincidental. This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.

  Table of Contents

  Dead Hand

  PART ONE

  PROLOGUE

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  PART TWO

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  PART THREE

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  PART FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  PART FIVE

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

  PART SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX

  CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE

  PART SEVEN

  CHAPTER FORTY

  CHAPTER FORTY-ONE

  CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

  CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  PART EIGHT

  CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

  About the Author

  Newsletter Signup

  Look for These Other Titles from Dean Wesley Smith

  Copyright Information