Inez leaned back, shocked. “How awful!” following with “I suspect the elder Mr. Gallagher did not take well to this turn of events.” Harry was a man who liked to control everything and everyone in his orbit.
“Oh, that’s not the half of it,” said Flo bitterly. “He blames me for Robert’s bolting. I had nothing to do with it! Sure, I listened to him when he was in a talkative mood, which was most of the time. When he came to visit the girls, he never was one to screw, pull up his suspenders, and slink out the door. He liked to hang around after and talk to me, ask my advice. I swear, the boy was looking for a mother, not a—”
“You listened.” Inez crossed her arms on the table top, staring hard at Flo. “What else did you do?”
“Well,” she shifted in her chair a little. “I might have given him some money. Enough for a one-way ticket West.”
“Flo!” Inez was aghast. This was quite unlike the hardnosed businesswoman. Oh, she could be kind to her girls and had gone the extra mile for them on occasion, but for a client?
“I know, I know,” Flo looked down and straightened the seam of one glove. “I’ve gone over it a thousand times, how stupid that was. I felt sorry for him, and he caught me in a moment of weakness. It’s really all Harry’s fault. He shouldn’t have pushed Robert the way he did.”
“Harry found out?”
“He found out all right.” Her round blue eyes narrowed. “He threatened to close me down if I didn’t come with him and find that whelp of his and drag him back by the short hairs. My words, not his. Robert will be lucky if he has any short hairs left by the time his father is done with him.”
“Why San Francisco?” Inez asked. “There’s New York, Chicago, St. Louis, many other cities. And why are you bringing me into this? I don’t know this…Robert. Or, rather, I can think of several Roberts, all of whom have been in town longer than the one you are looking for. Trust me, my life is very circumscribed here.”
“He said he was going to San Francisco. You see, it wasn’t just the girl. He and Harry tangled about running the mine. Robert had this notion of ‘workingmen’s rights.’ He believed the miners weren’t getting a fair shake under his father. He tried to change things and, well, Harry didn’t approve. So, it didn’t happen.”
“I can imagine. It sounds like Harry said, ‘Manage the mine, but manage it my way.’”
Flo nodded. “And much as Robert would hate me saying this, I will say it: Like father, like son. Neither can stand being told no.”
“San Francisco,” Inez repeated, frustrated. “If he’s got a notion to come to the aid of the workingman, he must have been drawn to the labor movement here.”
Flo nodded. “But that’s not all. He intended to pursue a career as a professional musician, something his mother apparently supported. Lessons from the time he could walk and all that. Music is all he has ever cared about doing. Well, in addition to the usual things young men his age care about.”
Music.
Now it was becoming clear.
“Mrs. Sweet,” said Inez ominously, “Did you tell Harry about what I am doing out here? About this store?”
Flo raised her hands, palms out. “I swear to God, I have not breathed a word of your whereabouts or what you are up to. But Harry knows, at least in part. He has connections, agents, working for him. He knows you are here in San Francisco. I think he knows you are in the music business, in some way or another. What else he knows, I can’t even begin to guess. But he didn’t learn it from me.”
That sent a chill down Inez’s back, but she focused on the problem at hand. “There are hundreds of professional musicians here. Hundreds! Why would he even think I might know his son? If this Robert is in the city, he’s probably too smart to go by his own name.”
“I know, Inez. But try to convince Harry of anything other than what he wants to believe. Anyhow, he insisted I come to San Francisco with him. He said if I don’t cooperate in finding Robert, he’d see me ruined and my girls thrown out into the street.”
“How could he possibly do that?” Inez asked. “You have your supporters in Leadville. Why, with the taxes and fines you pay, you probably support half the city government!”
“Leadville has changed in the year you’ve been gone. Every month, there is less and less tolerance for businesses like mine, or maybe I should say ‘ours.’ All the so-called proper women pull their skirts aside when any of my girls or I walk by.” She looked furious. “It wouldn’t take much for the city fathers to decide businesses like ours should be ‘quarantined’ in the poorer part of town or shut down altogether. And Harry is perfectly capable of nudging things in that direction. I probably don’t need to point out that if Harry follows through on his threat, it’ll be a disaster for you and me. As for why I’m here, warning you of all this, he knows that you and I, we have a…” she cleared her throat, “…connection.”
“A connection.” Inez repeated, her stomach dropping. If Flo’s lucrative, high-class house of ill-fame disappeared, Inez’s share of the profits would vanish as well. She could weather that. Probably. But if word got out that she was part-owner of a brothel, no matter how
