“I’m scared.”
“So am I.” Blake’s words were barely a breath, but they rang in her ears like a call to arms. The truth raced through her setting something deep inside free.
chapter 9
It was three days before Blake saw Darcy again, and the nervous itch that rode his shoulder blades increased with each one.
He knew Pierce was still out of town, and that the man’s henchmen were busy keeping an eye on the Dog and Bone as well as the woman upstairs. What he didn’t know was if Darcy had told anyone else her suspicious about his true reason for being there.
It had been a huge risk letting her in on his secret, but he needed her help, and he knew she needed his. Only time would tell how everything would work out.
Blake placed a small barrel of whisky under the bar, tapping it and setting it on a shelf for the bar tender’s use. He scanned the empty room knowing that in only a few hours the place would be bustling with rich and poor alike. Men and woman seeking a bit of fun and a release from the long days of toil or boredom. Perhaps the new laws had been passed with the thought of protecting the weakest in society, but the reality was that it had led to more lawlessness and disregard for the dictates of God than it had quelled.
“Why the long face?” Jim stepped up to the bar running a scarred hand over his stubbled jaw.
“Just thinking on how our world seems to be turned upside down.”
“It’s workin’ out good for us though,” the big man mused, slapping Blake on the shoulder. “We got work, and a nice place ta stay.”
Blake nodded, lifting a cloth and dusting the bar. “A lot of things have changed though. Seems folks think nothing of breaking the law.”
“Folk is the way they always have been. You tell them often enough they can’t have somethin’ and that’s all they’ll think about.”
“Too true Jim.” Blake looked around the room, pure proof of the statement.
“You ain’t getting cold feet is ya?”
“No, I’ve got better work with more pay than I’ve seen in my life. I’ll keep doing my job, you can count on that.”
“That’s good,” Jim grinned, showing a chipped tooth. “I kinda like you and wouldn’t want ta see nothin’ happen to you.”
Blake chuckled. “Kind of sentimental aren’t you?”
The big man shrugged turning as the door on the far side of the room opened. His eyes traveled up Darcy’s slim form and a flicker of light filled their depths. He didn’t leer at the woman the way some men had, and he never touched her, but Blake was sure the man was in love with her just the same.
“Jim, Blake,” Darcy greeted. “You’re up early.”
“Miss Darcy,” Jim nodded. “You need somethin’?”
“No, I’m fine Jim.” Darcy offered the man a smile and a soft pat on a beefy arm. “I’ve been taking some time to myself to get it together before Pierce comes home. I don’t want him to think I’ve let myself go.”
“Not you Miss Darcy,” Jim said. “You always have yourself put together real nice.”
Darcy smiled up at the man. “You’re too kind Jim. Now would you mind heading down the street to that bakery I like and bring us a few snacks? I’m just famished.”
Jim bobbed his head, turning on his heel and striding from the room, his jaw set.
“That man would go through about anything for you,” Blake said, watching the big man slip through the door. “Why’d you want him out of the way?”
“I’ve been thinking.” Darcy met Blake’s eyes. “I think I’ve figured out what bank it is, and I think we’d better go to Casper soon.”
Blake nodded but didn’t speak as the words raced through his mind.
“You know one of Pierce’s men will be watching you.”
“Not if they think he sent for me.” Darcy’s smile was bright and her eyes clear as she pulled a slip of paper from her tiny bag. “See, this is from another time. I changed the date so it looks like he wants us to go up to Casper this weekend.”
“If you go through with this you know there’s no going back.”
“There’s been no going back for a long time,” Darcy said, reaching for a bottle and splashing whisky into a glass. “There is nowhere for me to go but down from here, so I might as well get out while I can.”
“Are you sure?”
Darcy touched lightly at the nearly faded bruise around her eye. “Sure as I’m going to get.”
Blake nodded. “I’ll get the car ready, and you get your things together. It’s not that far to Casper from here, only a couple of hours.”
Darcy patted his hand as if he were a small boy recounting a new lesson he had just learned. “Not far at all.”
“I didn’t know exactly what you wanted,” Jim closed the heavy door behind him shuffling toward the bar with a large box. “I got a little of everything.” His smile was wide and hopeful as he looked between them.
Darcy turned patting him on the jaw with a grin. “Jim I don’t know what I’d do around here without you.” Her eye lashes fluttered slightly and Blake saw a flush rise up the other man’s face. It was amazing, almost terrifying, how easily Darcy could manipulate someone like Jim. He only hoped she wasn’t doing the same thing to him.
If he got to Casper and this whole thing was a set up, he didn’t need to worry about getting home for the round up this year. He’d be a memory to some and a sorrow to others.
God I hope I’m not doing the wrong thing here. These men have caused devastation and death everywhere they’ve been. I can only do what
