Wild Country (The World of the Others #2)- Anne Bishop Page 0,47

by hauling the big suitcase. She was stronger than she looked, but she was glad the suitcase had wheels. Even with wheels, she couldn’t imagine Candice pulling it down the street while carrying a soft weekend bag and a purse over the uninjured shoulder. The woman probably had the essentials in the weekend bag so that she could abandon the large suitcase and run if she had to.

John stood beside Candice while she bought the ticket to Bennett. The man in the ticket booth seemed a little too keen for Candice to give him her name, which wasn’t necessary since she was buying a ticket at the station, but John gave the man a toothy smile and said he would take care of the personal information at his end.

They left in a hurry, getting Candice’s large suitcase stowed in the baggage car before climbing the steps into the earth native car.

Jana said nothing when Candice sat beside her. The woman was understandably spooked. Besides, once the train started moving again, people changed seats to chat and get to know the people who would be their neighbors. Hopefully by then, Candice would feel comfortable enough to take a pair of empty seats and they could both stretch out and get some sleep.

“When I first met him, Charlie was so sweet,” Candice said. “Then sweet morphed into sly. He used to take me out to dinner or pay for the tickets when we went to a movie. Then he’d show up and say he was short of cash and would I mind picking up the tab. And then he started showing up, expecting me to give him sex before he ‘borrowed’ some money and went out to play cards or do something with somebody else. By then, he’d said some things that made me realize he was part of some kind of gang and the work that was the reason he had to travel probably was borderline legal at best. But you get hooked, you know? First you get hooked because he acts sweet and then you stay hooked because you’re scared of what he’ll do if you start saying no.”

“You got out,” Jana said, wondering if she’d have to deal with many domestic disputes. “You got out, and now you’re on your way to a fresh start just like the rest of us.”

Candice nodded. Then she sighed. “Men. You can’t live with them, you can’t feed them to the Wolves.”

Jana’s breath caught. She looked around. Nobody listening that she could see. “I don’t think that’s something you want to say once we reach Bennett.”

“Nobody means anything by it,” Candice protested. “Who would take it seriously?” She stared at Jana. “Oh.”

“Yeah,” Jana agreed. She closed her eyes and pretended to sleep, but she couldn’t stop thinking about all the ways things could go wrong once more humans arrived in Bennett.

* * *

* * *

Alone in his hotel room in Shikago, Parlan dealt four hands, all the cards faceup. He studied the cards, much as he studied marks who bought a seat at his table. Whose hand would he bust? Whose hand would he help just enough to almost win the pot? And whom would he help win because the player wasn’t bold enough to bet big, thereby ensuring that Parlan would still be ahead at the end of the night?

A signal knock on the door. “Come in.”

Parlan watched Judd McCall enter the room. A handsome man in a rough sort of way, Judd’s light eyes didn’t betray his taste for spilling blood when the spilling was needed—or even when it wasn’t needed.

Judd took a couple of glasses and a bottle of whiskey from a tray on the dresser and poured two stiff drinks before sitting at one of the seats at the table. He studied the cards. “You finished up early.”

“Half the people who used to come to play aren’t alive, and I had a feeling that half the people I played with tonight were hoping I wouldn’t realize any IOUs they wanted to put on the table to bankroll their play weren’t worth anything.” Parlan dealt more cards. “Of course, anyone putting in a worthless IOU had a string of bad luck tonight.”

“Of course they did,” Judd agreed. “Do I need to persuade any of them to make a payment?”

“No. Not worth it.” Parlan gathered the cards. “Want to play some blackjack to pass the time while we’re waiting for the others to arrive?”

Judd laughed, a soft, jagged sound. “I know