Page 19 of Daybreak

At that moment, the skin crawled on Gunner’s neck. If he’d been on a stakeout, he would have sworn he’d just witnessed some kind of payoff. But he also knew Cliff was a notorious gambler, and that might have just been a payoff from a bookie. The hard part for Gunner was the feeling that there was a dirty cop somewhere in Homicide, but he wasn’t at the point of placing blame.

He leaned back in the chair, stretching his long legs out before him as he began thinking of tonight’s phone call with the family. He could only imagine what they must be thinking. His brothers would think he was in trouble, and his dad would probably be hoping it would be news related to him finally settling down. Being the only unmarried brother in his family meant he was the stooge for all of the single jokes and blind date suggestions.

At that point, his thoughts went straight to Holly Dillon. Of all the people to run into. Having lunch with her had been an impulse, but it left him wanting to know more about her. The skinny little redhead with the oversize baseball cap constantly blowing off her head had grown up to be a knockout. He knew she’d be at work now. Maybe tonight after office hours he would give her a call and see if she was free to go out this coming weekend.

About an hour later, his car was ready to go. The toast he’d eaten this morning was long gone, and he’d already missed lunch, but he hated eating in public alone, so he made his usual choice. It was either food to go or food ordered in. And today, it was barbeque to go from the Texas Smokehouse, which he picked up on his way home.

Today, the quiet of his house and the food going in his stomach was the solace he needed. In a couple of hours, Holly should be off work, so he occupied his time with doing laundry. The house cleaners would be here tomorrow, but he’d be at work, and they wouldn’t have to clean around him.

Despite his best intentions, it was after 8:00 p.m. before he sat down to call her. The phone rang enough times that he thought it was going to voicemail when he heard her answer.

“Gunner? Is this you?”

The quaver in her voice let him know something was amiss. “Yes, it’s me. If you are ill, or this is a bad time, I can call at a later date.”

“I’m at home, on the ranch. Mom was killed in a wreck yesterday. It’s absolute chaos here. We’re all between lost and losing our minds.”

Shocked, Gunner’s empathy was instantaneous. “My God, Holly! Honey, I’m so sorry. You have my deepest sympathy. Losing your mother at any age is devastating. Please give your dad and Travis my condolences. I won’t bother you further and…”

“No, wait. Don’t hang up. It’s good to hear your voice. Talk to me about something you’ve been doing. Oh, wait… You can’t talk about cases. So, tell me what’s going on in Big D that I might need to know about. I heard on the news that somebody in Dallas finally won that huge Mega Millions jackpot last night.”

Gunner took a deep breath. He didn’t want to lie, but he wasn’t ready to reveal it to the world.

“I know it happened, but no identification has been issued. I’ve just been chasing bad guys and keeping myself out of trouble,” he said. “I don’t know how long you plan to stay, but I’m going to be heading to Crossroads soon for a quick visit with Dad and Pearl. If you’re still at the ranch, maybe we could grab a meal at the Rose. Pearl and Dad are together at his place now, but she’s still running the café. It wouldn’t be the Yellow Rose without Pearl in the kitchen, right?”

Holly sighed. “I would love that. I know this madness will fade and we will find our own levels of peace, but right now it’s all just so awful.”

“It couldn’t be anything else,” he said. “Of course, I’ll let you know my arrival date, and if you’re still in the area, we’ll make that happen. Again, honey, I’m so sorry.”

Tears thickened the words, making them hard to get said. “So am I, Gunner. God, so am I. Thank you for calling, and for not forgetting about me.”

“I already told you that’s not likely to happen. Feel free to call me any time you need to vent. I’m a good listener and a safe place to fall.”

The call disconnected in Holly’s ear. She was grateful that he actually called her, and for the honest empathy she’d heard in his voice. And then she thought of the Kingston family history, and how young those three boys had been when their mother took her own life. That was a whole other kind of tragedy. But all she kept thinking was that Gunner Kingston had kept his word and called her back.

Her eyes welled again. “Oh, Mom, how did this happen? I wish you were here to talk to. There’s no one left to share my dreams with now.”

Chapter 4

Gunner was in shock as he hung up the phone. He’d known Garrett and Helen Dillon all his life, and Holly had been the little kid in the background of his high school years, following him around like a shadow. Seeing her in the supermarket all grown up had been great, interesting, even mind-blowing.

But this tragedy just put a whole new light on Holly Dillon. She was hurting, and in a way he understood. He glanced at the time and then went to shower. As soon as he made the call to his family, he was going to bed. He was way past needing sleep and had to get the call over with before he fell asleep standing up.

By the time he had shaved and showered, it was time to make the group call. He called Asher first, then connected Dylan, then last but not least, their dad, Jacob.

“Okay, we’re all here,” Asher said. “What the hell have you done?”

“Are the ladies on the call?” Gunner asked.

All three of the men said yes, then Jacob added, “We can ask them to leave if you need to—”

Gunner interrupted. “No. We’re all family, but I am asking every one of you to please keep this to yourselves. It’s all going to come out eventually, but I need the time to get some stuff in place before it happens.”

“Gunner, we’re here for you, bud,” Dylan said. “Just spit it out. Whatever is wrong, we’ve got your back.”

“A couple of days ago, I bought a Mega Millions lottery ticket, and it turned out to be the winning ticket. I won. All of it.”

There was a brief moment of shocked silence, and then Asher said, “Is this a joke?”