Her pale skin, red hair and green eyes made her the only whore in town that didn’t have dark hair and skin.
“What brought you here from Texas?” he asked.
“I rubbed somebody the wrong way.”
“Who?”
“The wife of a wealthy rancher. She said if I ever showed my face in Texas again she’d shave my—well, I just better not, that’s all.”
She slid her shoes on and stood up.
“So what brought you here?” she asked.
“I come here from time to time. I like it. It’s quieter that the United States.”
“Yeah, but maybe too quiet. Now that you’re the sheriff, though, will you be staying longer?”
“That depends.”
“On what?”
“On how long you’re staying?”
She grinned, walked to the dresser and took the money he had left there for her.
“Ooh, thanks,” she said, after counting it. “I almost feel as if I haven’t earned it.”
“Believe me,” he said, “you have—and there’s more where that came from.”
“You could make a girl stick around longer than she intended,” Crystal said. “See you later.”
“Count on it.”
When Crystal left the hotel it was just getting dark. She started walking to the rooming house in which she was staying.
There was an idea rolling around in her head, one that would take her smarts and Red Moran’s money—if he was telling the truth about there being more of it.
As she passed an alley two girls jumped out and grabbed her, dragging her in.
In the alley she turned to face Carmen and Rosa.
“It is time for you to leave town,
“That’s an odd thing for you to be calling me,” Crystal said, indicating that she had some understanding of Spanish. “Tell me why it’s time for me to leave.”
“It is bad enough we had to share senor Red’s mon—bed with each other,” she said, catching herself just in time, “we do not intend to share him with you.” Rosa was trying to match Carmen’s tone, but her voice was just too small and high to pull it off.
“You don’t, huh? Well, now, that’s really funny,” Crystal replied.
“Why is it funny?” Rosa asked, looking confused.
“Well, I wasn’t intending to share him—or his money—with either one of you, either.”
“Take our advice,” Carmen said.
“Leave town,” Rosa added.
“Forget it,” Crystal said, moving to walk past them.
Carmen moved to block her path and Crystal swung her fist and hit the larger woman in the stomach. The blow was unexpected, and Carmen folded up, fighting for air. Crystal turned to face Rosa then, who backed off, her hands held up in front of her.
“When your friend gets her breath back tell her—and the other girls in this town—that you all better be nice to me from now on.” Crystal marched to the mouth of the alley, then turned and added, “You’ll all be working for me, soon. Wait and see!”
Crystal left the alley, knowing that she had just taken a big step towards achieving her goal, the one she had set for herself when she first arrived in town.
All she needed now was Red Moran’s money.
Which, considering her considerable charms and talents, should be easy enough to get her hands on.
Chapter Seventeen
In the morning Decker entered Juanita’s room but decided not to wake her. He leaned over, kissed her on the forehead and left.
“She will be very angry with you,” Paco said as he came downstairs.
“Tell her I couldn’t bear to wake her.”
“I will tell her.”
The place looked considerably cleaner since Decker had swept out all the wreckage and righted the tables. He had even thrown out the batch of food that had been mixed with the ground glass and cleaned out the pot.
Decker went to the livery, collected his horse and paid the kid.
“Oh no, senor. The sheriff he say—”
“Keep it, son.”
Decker mounted up and rode out of town—whatever the hell name they were going to pin on it next—and his only regret about his decision to leave it behind him and never return was the disappointment that would cause Juanita.
Still, the whole town made him sick because he knew that the next gunman or
They deserved whatever they got.
Chapter Eighteen
That same afternoon Jose heard Raquel calling him from her cell. Since he’d been thinking about her ever since they had put her in the cell, he got up and hurried back.
“It’s very hot, Jose,” she complained. Her shirt was open and he could see her breasts very clearly. They were large and firm and they glistened with her sweat. A large knot formed in his throat.
“I am sorry—”
“Please, if I could just have a bath—”
“That would mean I would have to take you over to the hotel.”
“Well, you are the sheriff, are you not?”
“Yes.”
“Then you can do it if you like.”
She came right close up against him so that the bars were all that separated them.
“And since we will be at the hotel anyway, with all those beds.” She lowered her voice and whispered, “I have not had a man in a long time.”
Jose backed away quickly, banged into the wall, hurried out to get the cell key, and then came back in and unlocked her cell.
“I will have to stay with you while you take your bath,” he warned.
She smiled at him, ran her finger along his jaw-line and said, “I would not have it any other way.”
It was two hours later when she finally returned with the cell keys. Although bedding the sheriff had successfully scratched the itch she’d been feeling, she was sorry that it had not been Decker, instead.
“It took you long enough,” Gilberto complained as she unlocked his cell.
“I had to wait until I was in bed with him to catch him off guard,” she said innocently.
“Sure, you just had to see what he had inside his pants before you killed him, eh?”
Gilberto came out of the cell, followed by his other three men.
They all went out into the office and found their guns. Raquel had used the sheriff’s own weapon to kill him.
