“Humph,” the sound that came out of the woman draped in fur was anything but ladylike. “Pierce has a lot more going than this dive,” she said, as Blake placed a cup of coffee in front of her. “He didn’t make all his money bootleggin’ or in a hole like this.”
Blake stirred his coffee and leaned toward Darcy. He could tell she was upset and though he hated himself for doing it, he had to know more.
“Where’s he go on all these trips?” Blake asked sipping from his mug as Darcy lifted hers. “If I had a girl like you, I wouldn’t be taking off and leaving her alone all the time.”
Darcy chuckled but there was no mirth in it. “Is that what you want Turnip?” she asked. “You want to be a big man like Pierce. Have people jumping every time you snap your fingers? Keep others at your beck and call? You could move right up the ranks you know. If you’re willing to play the game.”
“And what game is that?” Blake’s eyes met her dark brown ones and he wanted to grab her hand and run from this place. There was no future for her here, and he knew that if Pierce found out that he was pressing her for information, they would both be in trouble. Darcy drank too much, and when she did, she talked too much.
“You really did just fall off the truck, didn’t you?” Darcy said, sagging against the bar again. Her coat slipped from one shoulder exposing an expanse of white satin night gown and bruised shoulder. “Pierce is a bad man,” she whispered. “Powerful in the right circles and influential in others. Just last night he had a cop in here wining and dining him. He keeps his eye on everything.” Again she sighed and Blake knew she was thinking of herself.
Hating himself for his next words Blake leaned in close. “Maybe I could be a big man one day if I knew how,” he whispered. “Maybe you wouldn’t be stuck here in Cheyenne anymore.”
Darcy snorted, pushing her mug away. “He’d kill you if he heard you say that. Wait long enough Turnip, and you’ll find out what’s what.” Her eyes flashed. “If I thought it would do any good, I’d tell you everything, but you’ll just leave like all the rest. He’ll move you to another place where you’ll do what he says or end up in prison.”
“Where’s he going Darcy,” Blake pressed. “What’s he doing?”
Darcy leaned across the bar until their noses almost touched. She smelled of lilacs and smoke, but her eyes held his. “There’s this bank up in Casper,” she said, a hard smile spreading across her face. “He’s going to take it this weekend when no one’s around.”
Blake’s heart was pounding, but he didn’t dare blink. He couldn’t give himself away. “Who knows about this job?” His voice was steady though his knees had gone weak.
“No one. I heard him talking to someone on the phone about it. That’s how I got this.” She pointed at the black eye. “I told him he was a fool going after a bank when he had everything he needed here.”
Blake swallowed his mind racing as he tried to figure out what to do next. If he went to the commissioner with this information, Darcy would be in danger of more than a black eye. If he didn’t, how was he going to stop the heist?
“Do you love him?” the words were out before Blake could stop them, but he held her eyes even as shock slipped into his belly.
“I thought I did at one time,” she said, slipping back onto her stool wearily. “I…I was grateful, awe struck, naive.”
“What do you want Darcy?”
“A drink.”
Blake reached forward grasping both of her hands in his. “What do you really want Darcy?”
Darcy studied his face earnestly. “Freedom,” she whispered.
“What if I can get it for you?”
Darcy shook her head, her short hair swinging around her neck. “No one can do that.”
“I can if you’ll help me.”
Darcy swallowed hard her throat bobbing as her coat slipped further. “Who.” She paused. “Who are you Turnip?”
“Someone who can take you out of here.” Blake’s gaze never wavered. “Someone who can put Pierce where he belongs.”
“You’re crazy,” Darcy pushed herself from the stool swaying on her feet. “He’ll kill you.”
Blake grabbed her hand holding her in place as he came half way over the bar. “What do you have to lose Darcy? What if I can do it?”
Darcy shook her head, hope warring with fear. “I can’t.”
“You can. If you help me you can start over again. You can go home.”
“I have no home.” The words fell flat in the quiet room.
“Then I’ll make you a new one.” Something turned in Blake’s heart as the words spilled out, and he knew they were true. He would take her wherever she wanted to go, give her a home, hope, help if she would just work with him.
“You mean it don’t you?” Darcy stepped back to the bar gently pulling her hand from his. “Who are you?” She studied his face seeking answers there.
Blake looked at her for several seconds. “I’m your chance at redemption.”
Darcy shrugged the fur coat back up over her shoulders pulling it tight as if to ward off a chill. “You’re a cop.”
Blake didn’t reply letting her work through the whole thing on her own.
“You’ll get us both killed.”
“Not if you don’t tell and play your part.”
“How do I know I can trust you?”
“How do I know I can trust you?”
Darcy turned looking at the door on the far side of the saloon that led to the apartment upstairs. “What if I don’t want to give this all up?” She turned back to capture Blake’s eyes again.
Lifting his hand tenderly Blake touched her cheek below the bruise. “You mean all this?”
Darcy sagged back into the stool with a sigh. She had
