A Devil's Hand

A Devil’s Hand: Monk High Stakes Series Book Two Shilo West Contents Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37 Chapter 38 Chapter 39 Chapter 40 * GIVEAWAY * ARC Sign Ups Freebie Friday Book Shark What Do You Crave? Before You Go… About the Author A DEVIL’S HAND: Monk Copyright © 2023 by Shilo West. All rights reserved. First Print Edition: March 2023 Crave Publishing Kailua, HI 96734 www.cravepublishing.net Formatting: Crave Publishing ISBN-13: 978-1-64034-661-1 No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to locales, events, business establishments, or actual persons—living or dead—is entirely coincidental. One MONK Now As he looked out the window above the clouds, Monk was deep in thought retracing his steps. But each time, he always ended up right back in the air, on this plane, alone, following a plan he didn’t like very much. He laughed to himself, remembering how his mother used to say, “Don’t waste your time worrying. You’ll pick the wrong worry every time!” Monk had a number of worries to choose from. Too many to sleep. Too many to ignore. It’s not like he hadn’t seen it coming. From the moment he saw Juno, he knew. There was no loving her without loving danger. There was no way to separate the two. Had that been the attraction all along? What did it matter now? He loved her, all of her. Her reckless spirit and her tremendous heart. He knew she was out there somewhere. He knew she was in danger—but Juno lived in the danger. She brought it with her to the table in Vegas where he saw her first. She brought it to Vermont, to his family, though danger was nothing new to any of them. She brought it with them to the island where they tried to escape. She would not set it down or she would stop being Juno. That wasn’t anything Monk expected of her. This would be their life together. He smiled, considering how he was running to rescue a woman who had never needed a rescue. But she could certainly show her appreciation for one, especially a dramatic one, and he felt like he might be on the verge of just such an entrance. She’d packed in a hurry, throwing a pair of jeans and two black t-shirts in a carry-on bag. “You’re not worried, are you? You know I’ve got this.” It took everything Monk had to nod yes. “I will text you as soon as I land, and I’ll text you after the meeting. Monk, this could be it.” Juno jumped into his arms, and he clasped her hard, his eyes closed tight, wishing he could keep her there without her thinking he didn’t trust her. That he didn’t believe in her strength and intelligence. He believed in her with all his heart. But he saw that she was being pulled toward something he did not trust, and that’s what worried him. He didn’t know when the texts started. When they came to Greece, to this remote island with more goats than people, they agreed to keep a pair of cell phones in their postal box in town. If anyone—meaning Mitchell, who remained at large—managed to track them through phone calls, they’d at least have a day or so to get out and away. Over time, they’d both relaxed. Monk had a phone he secretly kept in the kitchen in order to stay in touch with Sal. He had no doubt Juno also had a phone tucked away as well in a flowerpot or behind the nightstand. Turns out she did have a phone, and she came clean about it reluctantly after the messages about Jack, her missing brother, started to come through at regular intervals. “I’m sorry,” she said, with the guiltiest look he’d ever seen from her. To stop her tears, he’d climbed the stool and fetched his own phone from the high shelf in the kitchen. She’d punched him and laughed. “Outlaws,” she whispered before kissing him. “We always have an escape plan.” She showed him the messages. They’d started last fall, she told him, but she didn’t have to. Monk had known something was happening to Juno, something far away from their secret island. The occasional distant smile, a pause while they were walking. She always seemed to have reason, but Monk was relieved to know finally what had been on her mind. “I know you’re skeptical,” she said while he was still reading all the messages in reverse order. “I only paid attention at first because I wanted to figure out who it was, how they got this number. I was angry. You’ll see when you get to those. But whoever it is, they know Jack. They know things—I know they may not be with him right now, but whoever this is texting me,” Juno pointed at the screen and stared at it, as if she might see through it to find her lost brother, “Monk, they know something.” Monk scrolled carefully. He glanced up at Juno for a half-second, and she began again. “I know, I know. I know who you think it is.” She didn’t say Mitchell’s name. In some ways, Monk felt like this whole