She didn’t see Chase anywhere in the crowded room. And after she looked a second time, she finally began to really listen to the spurts of conversation going on all around her.
“If you gotta go, by God, that’s the way to do it—lovin‘ a woman!”
“Yeah, but to get it in the back, without even a chance to fight.”
“I heard they stole his pants and all.”
“He’s been winning a lot lately, but I didn’t see him gambling today. It’d be a good one on the snake who stabbed him if his pockets were empty.”
“Yeah.”
“I seen him once with the Blair girl. I think he was workin‘ on her spread for a while.”
“Well, I wish they’d hurry and bring him down. I’d like a turn with Silver Annie tonight to find out what really happened.”
Jessie ran to the stairs. Four men were coming down, and farther up, on the landing, more men stood near an open door, peering inside. She moved slowly up the stairs. She didn’t realize the saloon below was quieting down, now that she had been noticed.
When she got to the open door, Doc Meddly’s voice came to her clearly.
“It might help, Miss Annie, if you happened to have a spare pair of pants around. Do you?”
“What would I be doin‘ with men’s britches? The men who visit me take them off, but they always take their pants with them when they leave. Cover him with a blanket, for cryin’ out loud. He ain’t gonna know the difference.”
Jessie’s gaze moved from Doc Meddly’s back to the heavily painted face of the blonde, who was clad in no more than a skimpy corset and knee-length drawers. She then looked at the man on the bed.
“Is he dead?” Her voice was harsh, almost a scream.
“Why, Miss Jessie!” the Doc exclaimed. “Now, what’s wrong with that deputy? I told him not to bring you here.”
“Is he dead?” Jessie repeated in a much louder voice.
Meddly saw the ashen color of face, the horror in her eyes. “No, no,” he quickly assured her, trying to make his voice as gentle as possible. “The young man will be just fine, with proper care.”
Jessie’s body almost collapsed. She grabbed the door frame for support. Meddly smiled encouragingly. But then Jessie’s whole demeanor changed. Her back straightened, and an expression as hard as flint closed over her features as she looked at the injured man sprawled on the bed, and then at Silver Annie.
Doc Meddly hastily threw a blanket over Chase as Jessie walked into the room and approached the bed. “Now, Miss Jessie, you shouldn’t be in a place like this. I was just about to have him moved to the hotel.”
“What happened?” Jessie asked in a hard voice.
“Robbery.”
“Was there a fight?”
“You ought to be askin‘ me, honey,” Annie said in a too-sweet voice. “I was the one in the room with him when it happened.”
Jessie whirled around, and the older woman shrank from the look in her eyes. “Is that so? Well, then, why don’t you just tell me, honey?”
“There... there weren’t no fight,” Annie replied uneasily. Then she continued more confidently, “The gambler was too drunk to fight. But I guess the thief didn’t know that and he stabbed him. I thought he was dead, I surely did, and I commenced to screamin‘, see? Well, that sure made that back-stabber turn tail. He swiped up the gambler’s duds and lit out of here like a wolf-chased rabbit.”
“Is that what you told the deputy?”
“Well, sure.”
“And somebody can verify your story?”
Annie frowned. “Now what do you mean?”
“What I mean, woman,” Jessie said in a soft, thoroughly icy voice, “is, who else can prove what you’re saying is true? Was this thief seen coming out of your room?”
“How should I know?” Annie retorted defensively. “Men come and go from the rooms up here all day and night. No one takes notice of them.”
“Did you see the intruder?” Jessie asked.
“I didn’t see nothin‘. The lights were out.”
“Then how did you know Chase had been stabbed?”
“Know? I... just did.”
“How? Did he bleed on you? Was she covered with blood when you got here, Doc?” Jessie asked him without taking her eyes off Annie.
“Not that I recall, Miss Jessie. But why are you asking all these questions?”
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Annie grumbled. “Ned didn’t bother askin‘ me all this stuff.”
“Maybe he didn’t,” Jessie replied. “But he didn’t know that man lying in your bed like I do.”
“Is he close to you, Miss Jessie?” Meddly ventured.
“Close enough.”
“Holy—”
Jessie gave him a sharp look, and the good doctor said no more. He knew exactly what she meant. It was a shame she had to find her man here, but if anyone had a right to be asking about how he got hurt, she did. What a situation! And he couldn’t even tell anyone about it.
With Meddly silent, Jessie tore into Annie again. “I want to know why there is blood all over that bed, but none on you?”
Annie crossed her arms stubbornly over her ample breasts. “I don’t have to be answerin‘ your questions.”
In a flash, Jessie’s compact Smith and Wesson revolver was in her hand. “But you will.”
“Doc!” Annie shrieked.
“Jessie Blair!” Meddly exclaimed.
“Shut up!” Jessie said furiously. She moved back to the door and kicked it shut, keeping the gun level on Annie. “Now you’ll tell me, damn you, and if I have to shoot you first, well, that doesn’t make any difference to me.”
“Tell you what?” Annie screamed.
“You stabbed him yourself, didn’t you? That’s why there’s no blood on you.”
Annie backed up against the wall, stunned. “No, no, I swear! I wasn’t even near him. I was over there, on the other side of the bed!”
“You expect me to believe that?”
Annie drew frantically from her past experience. “He was so drunk, I was hopin‘ he’d fall asleep and I could wake him, well, you know, like it was all over with, and get paid for nothin’. I don’t do it often, honest, only when a feller’s as full to the gills as he was.”
“You’re lying. You lured him up here and set him up!”
“I didn’t! God, I swear! I was after him for weeks, but he wouldn’t have nothin‘ to do with me until today. He wasted half the evenin’ drinkin‘ first, said he had things to forget. I figured he could hold the whiskey, so I waited it out. But he couldn’t. A man ain’t no good when he’s that drunk. But he insisted on comin’ up here.”
“Liar!”
“Doc, Doc, stop her!” Annie was crying hysterically by then.
“She’s gonna shoot me!”
“What the hell is going on in here?” The door burst open, and a big, ham-fisted, ugly brute of a man loomed in the doorway.
Jessie swung around. “Who are you?” she demanded, not at all intimidated by his size. She, after all, had her gun.
“I happen to own this place you’re causing so much ruckus in, and I’ll thank you to take your little self out of here, pronto.”
For all the belligerence of his words, his manner was quiet and conciliatory. He was eyeing her weapon. Jessie lowered it when she felt Doc Meddly’s hands on her shoulders.
“Come on, girl,” he said gently. “Let’s get your friend out of here and into a clean bed at the hotel. I’m sure it happened just the way Silver Annie said it did. Let’s go.”
Jessie looked back at Annie, who was still wide-eyed, and in shock. “All right,” she conceded, and put the gun away. “But no one messes with what’s mine and gets away with it. You hear me, Annie? If I find out you lied about this, I’m going to put a ball through your heart.”