HEARTS AND ACES
Kelsey’s Burden Series: Book Seven
KAYLIE HUNTER
This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, businesses, incidents, etc., are the imagination of the author, and any resemblance to actual persons or otherwise is coincidental.
Copyright 2019 by Kaylie Hunter
All rights reserved.
Cover design by Selfpubbookcovers.com/riafritz
BOOKS BY KAYLIE
Kelsey’s Burden Series
Layered Lies
Past Haunts
Friends and Foes
Blood and Tears
Love and Rage
Day and Night
Hearts and Aces
Hunt and Prey
Heroes and Hellfire
Standalone Novels
Slightly Off-Balance
Diamond’s Edge
For a complete, up-to-date list of novels, visit BooksByKaylie.com
Table of Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
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
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
Chapter Thirty-Two
Chapter Thirty-Three
Chapter Thirty-Four
Chapter Thirty-Five
Chapter Thirty-Six
Chapter Thirty-Seven
Chapter Thirty-Eight
BOOKS BY KAYLIE
From the Author
Dedication
To my mom:
Thank you for having my back as I leapt, weaved, and ducked into the publishing world. Your support made all the difference.
Love Always…
Your favorite child
Chapter One
We all agreed our suspect was the thief; now we had to prove it. Our client, the owner of a chain of jewelry stores, was paying us top dollar to catch the bad guy. So I sat alone, hours after everyone else went to bed, monitoring the operation from my dining room table while Bridget and Trigger were in Delaware ready to pounce if our guy made his move.
Someone unlocking the front door pulled my attention away from my computer and I glanced at the clock. Three in the morning. I stood and stretched before going to the kitchen to fill another coffee cup. “Good morning, Tyler,” I said without turning around.
“How’d you know it was me?” he asked, relocking the door and taking the cup.
“Who else is insane enough to still be up?”
“Some of the guards at Silver Aces haven’t gone to bed yet, although they’re hammered so I’m not sure it counts.”
“Dumbasses. If they don’t slow down they’ll be hospitalized for alcohol poisoning before the weekend gets here.” I returned to the table, nodding at a chair for Tyler to join me. “Why are you patrolling tonight?”
Tyler was a prospect for the Devil’s Players, a local motorcycle club I had befriended years ago. When I realized he had good instincts, I hired him to keep an eye on the family, the retail store where most of the family worked, and our three houses. I also gave him the freedom to set his own hours. Some weeks, he worked only a few hours, just checking in periodically. Other weeks, he practically lived on our back deck, guarding the house like a sentry.
I looked up at Tyler when he remained silent. “Well, out with it. Is there a problem I’m not aware of?”
“None,” he said, shaking his head.
Tyler and I both looked toward the front of the house, hearing a car approaching. We pulled our Glocks. Tyler slid out the back door into the dark. I moved to the front door, stepping outside with my gun aimed toward the truck that pulled into the driveway. The driver turned on the interior light as he parked. Ryan, one of the security guards at Silver Aces, waited in the truck with his hands up as he looked calmly back at me.
I called out to Tyler, “All good. It’s Ryan!”
Tyler came around the corner of the garage, holstering his weapon. I tucked mine back into my holster as Ryan escorted a woman from the truck to the house.
“Figured someone would be up,” Ryan said as I held the door open for the woman. Tyler followed them in, relocking the door behind us.
“Did you just get into town?” I asked him.
A multitude of guards were expected this weekend for a tournament of sorts. Carl had built a fighting machine, The Circle of Hell, and the guys wanted to compete against each other. The competition was originally scheduled last month, but between Lisa banning Donovan from competing until his fractured arm healed and Nicholas’ birthday party last weekend, requiring everyone to pitch in to control two dozen nine-year olds, the guys had agreed to postpone. Unfortunately, postponing only gave the guys more time to plan an even bigger tournament which now included other events.
“No,” Ryan answered, raising an eyebrow at the woman with him.
Ryan wasn’t much of a talker. While his blondish-brown hair, loose-fitting jeans, and sun-kissed skin suggested an all-American facade, the way he moved and spoke screamed badass street fighter. More recently, I’d learned that Ryan possessed a knack for explosives and enjoyed playing with things that go boom.
The woman stood there watching us as she fidgeted. Her light blond hair bounced around her shoulders as she looked back and forth between Ryan and me. Her right hand twisted the material of her bright flowery dress. “Reel said I might be welcome to use your kitchen as long as I don’t make too much noise.”
“Reel?” Tyler asked.
“Disregard,” Ryan growled, glancing down at the woman.
“I’m Kelsey Harrison. Are you a client?” I asked the woman, more than a little confused.
She giggled, looking up at Ryan. “No. I’m his wife, Tweedle-Dee.”
“Or you can call her Deanna, like normal people,” Ryan said, sighing.
She reached over and pinched him. “Behave.” She stepped past Ryan, setting her purse on the kitchen counter and taking off her jacket. Looking about the kitchen, she began opening cupboards. “I hope you don’t mind. I promise to be quiet, but I’m a baker and when I get nervous, I like to bake. Reel’s
