Six Degrees of Desperation (Dirty Tricks) by Myla Jackson Read Free Book Online Page B

picking fights.”
    The bodyguard shook his head. “Nah, she
should choose the exciting, spontaneous one. Life’s too short to
end up bored out of your mind.”
    Charli stared from the deputy to the
bodyguard and back. “You two are not helping. I have to decide,
tonight.”
    “It all boils down to what you want out of
life," the bodyguard stated.
    “Sadly, I want both.” But that wasn’t the
option she had to choose from. And given that by choosing one,
she’d be sealing her fate with the other. Most likely, she’d end up
with neither. Charli laid her face on her arms, knowing she had to
get this matter settled and soon—she wouldn’t sleep until she did.
The guilt and turmoil ate at her gut, twisting her insides into
knots.
    When they arrived at the jail in Hole In The
Wall, Charli asked to use the phone. Her first and only call was to
Audrey, the one person in all her world she could count on to bail
her out. She tried the phone at the Ugly Stick Saloon. No answer.
Then she tried Audrey’s cell phone, which rang four times then went
to voicemail. Charli left a message and handed the phone to the
bodyguard. So much for being bailed out anytime soon. Hopefully,
Audrey would sort quickly through the disaster of the evening, the
sheriff's deputies and wreckage of the saloon.
    Charli cringed at what she’d find the next
day when she returned with the rest of the staff to set everything
to rights before the next wave of rodeo contestants and locals
arrived that evening. Assuming she was sprung from jail by
then.
    Focusing on the mess of the saloon helped
her to push the main source of her worries to the back of her mind,
if only for a moment.
    The deputy led her to an empty jail cell and
locked the bars behind her. “The judge is on his way in to set
bail. Shouldn’t be long.”
    “Good, I have a lot to do before this night
is over.” She sat on the inch-thick mattress on the single bunk and
stared at the empty cell across from hers, silently rehearsing the
speech she’d give Connor when she finally saw him. And no matter
what, she’d see him as soon as she was released from this hell
hole.
    Another deputy appeared, leading the
bodyguard. He opened the door to the larger cell across from her
and motioned for him to enter. The man sat on a hard bench and
leaned back against the wall, his hands clasped between his knees.
“I didn’t sign on for this.”
    “Yeah, you and me both.” Charli smiled
across the space between their cells. “Since we’re going to be
neighbors, what’s your name?”
    “Race Bennett.”
    “I’m Charli Sutton.” She smiled. “Nice to
meet you.”
    He nodded. “Same.”
    Charli clapped her hands on her bare knees,
the ruffles of her skirt sliding to either side. “So, Race, who’s
your boss?”
    “James Stratton, of the Manhattan Stratton
dynasty.”
    The name rang a bell, but Charli couldn’t
quite put her finger on it. “Should I know him?”
    “He’s one of the wealthiest men in the
United States.”
    Flashes of news reports zipped through
Charli’s head. “That Stratton?”
    The bodyguard nodded. “The one and
only.”
    “What the hell was he doing at the Ugly
Stick Saloon? Aren’t there classier joints for him to hang at?”
    A smirk twisted the bodyguard’s mouth.
“Looking for his daughter.”
    The bar scene flashed in her mind and
Charli’s brows furrowed. “Oh, that would be the guy with the
megaphone, yelling for Elizabeth somebody-or-other.”
    “Stratton,” the bodyguard corrected.
    “Didn’t she disappear a couple years back? I
thought she was dead.”
    “He won’t give up as long as there’s not a
body.”
    “Did he find her at the Ugly Stick?” Charli
couldn’t imagine finding anyone that important at the saloon.
    “He’s convinced he did. I’m not so
sure.”
    “Well, good luck to him.” Charli glanced up
as another deputy led a procession down the narrow aisle between
the jail cells. Behind him, three men in black suits marched