«But then, you’re not a lady,» Reno said. «You’re something that was bought off an orphan train and sold whenever a man was interested enough to hand over a dollar.»
«No man, ever, paid for anything from me.»
«You just gave your, uh, favors away?» Reno suggested ironically. «And the men were so grateful, they left a little present on the bedside table, is that it?»
«No man ever got under my skirt, with or without paying,» Eve said icily.
Reno rolled aside, freeing Eve. Before she could move away, his hand settled at the apex of her thighs, where a bronze thicket guarded her sultry core.
«Not true, gata. I’ve been under your skirt, and I’m a man.»
«Go to hell, gunfighter,» Eve said through clenched teeth, her voice steady despite the tears of shame and rage in her eyes.
Reno saw only the rage. It occurred to him that he would be wise not to turn his back on his little saloon girl until she cooled off. Eve was quick, very quick, and at the moment she looked fully capable of picking up the shotgun and emptying both barrels into him.
«Mad enough to kill, aren’t you?» he asked sardonically. «Well, don’t worry. Nobody ever died of it. Now, talk.»
Eve watched Reno through glittering golden slits. He lifted one black eyebrow.
«If you don’t feel like talking,» he said, «I can find something else for that quick little tongue of yours to do.»
4
«Sosa found gold,» Eve said, her voice vibrating with anger. «He paid the King’s Quinto and bribed the other officials and kept the truth about the mines to himself.»
Reno looked away from Eve’s flushed cheeks and pale lips, feeling something close to shame for pushing her so hard. Then he cursed himself for feeling anything at all for the saloon girl who had done her best to get him killed while she stole everything in sight and ran to safety.
«What was the truth about the mines?» Reno asked roughly.
«All of them weren’t listed for the tax collectors. The silver mines, yes, and the turquoise mine and even two of the gold mines. But not the third one. That one he kept to himself.»
«Go on.»
Though Reno wasn’t looking at Eve any longer, she thought he sounded truly interested for the first time. She drew a discreet, relieved breath and kept talking.
«Only Leon’s eldest son knew about the secret gold mine, and then that son’s eldest son, and so on until the journal came into Don Lyon’s hands at the turn of the century,» Eve said. «By then, Spain was long gone from the West, the Leon name had become Lyon, and they spoke English rather than Spanish.»
Reno turned back to look at Eve, drawn by the shifting emotions in her voice.
«If there’s a gold mine in the family,» he asked, «why was Don Lyon making his living cheating at cards?»
«About a hundred years ago, they lost the mines,» Eve said simply.
«A hundred years. Was that when the Jesuits were thrown out?»
Eve nodded.
«The family was closely tied to the Jesuits,» she continued. «They had enough advance warning to bury the gold that had been smelted but not shipped. They covered over all signs of the mine and fled east across the mountains. They didn’t stop running until they came to the English colonies.»
«Didn’t any Leon ever try to find the gold they had left behind?» Reno asked.
«Don’s great-grandfather did, and his grandfather, and then his father. They never came back.» Eve shrugged. «Don always wanted the gold mine, but he didn’t want to die for it.»
«Smart man.»
She smiled sadly. «In some ways. He was far too gentle for this world, though.»
«A gentle cheater?» Reno asked ironically.
«Why do you think he cheated? It was the only way he had any chance at all against men like you.»
«A gambler who’s that bad at cards should find another profession.»
«That’s not what I meant,» Eve retorted. «Don was a small man. He didn’t have the strength to fight with his fists, the speed to fight with a gun, or the greed to be a good cardsharp. He was a kind man rather than a strong one.
«But he was good to Donna and to me, even through we were weaker than he was. That’s more than I can say of the big men I’ve met!»
One of Reno’s black eyebrows rose. «I suppose if you had been cheatingforrather than against me, I might feel more kindly toward you myself.»
Eve’s smile was as small and cold as the spring hidden against the cliff.
«You don’t understand, gunfighter.»
«Don’t bet on it, saloon girl.»
She tossed her head, sending her deep gold hair cascading over her shoulders.
«I thought you were different from Raleigh King, but you’re not,» she said. «You haven’t the least idea what it’s like to make your way in a world that is stronger, harder, and more cruel than you could ever be.»
«You won’t get into my good graces by comparing me to the likes of Raleigh King.»
«I’m not trying to get into your good graces.»
«You’d better start.»
Eve took one look at Reno and bit back the angry words that were crowding her tongue.
There was no gentleness now in Reno’s eyes or in the line of his mouth. He was dead angry. When he spoke again, his voice was as cold and remote as his ice green eyes.
«Be grateful Raleigh needed killing,» Reno said flatly. «If you had set me up to kill a country boy, I’d have let Slater have you. You wouldn’t have liked that. Slater isn’t one of those kind men you so favor.»
«He can’t be any worse than Raleigh King,» Eve said bleakly, remembering the night she had come back late from one of Canyon City’s saloons and discovered what Raleigh had done to the Lyons. «No one could be worse than him.»
«Slater has a reputation with women that’s too sordid to repeat — even to a saloon girl who cheats at cards.»
«Did Slater ever torture an old man who had tried to sell a gold ring to pay for medicine for his dying wife?» Eve asked tightly. «Did Slater ever pull the truth from an old man one fingernail at a time while his wife watched helplessly? And after the man was dead, did Slater ever take his knife to an old, dying woman and…»
Eve’s voice crumbled into silence. She clenched her fists and fought for self-control.
«What are you saying?» Reno asked in a low voice.
«Raleigh King tortured Don Lyon to death while he dragged out the truth about where the emerald ring was hidden, and the journal with the treasure map. Donna tried to stop Raleigh, but the wasting disease had left her too weak even to lift her derringer.»
Reno’s eyes narrowed. «So that’s how Raleigh knew about the map.»
Eve nodded tightly. «When Raleigh was finished with Don, he turned on Donna.»
«Why? Didn’t Raleigh believe her husband had told the truth?»
«Raleigh didn’t care,» Eve said bitterly. «He just wanted…»
Her voice dried up into a painful silence. No matter how many times she swallowed, she couldn’t force out words to describe what Raleigh had done to Donna Lyon.
«Don’t,» Reno said.
He put his palm gently over Eve’s lips, sealing in the bitter words she was trying to speak.
«I guess he and Slater were well matched after all,» Reno said softly.
Eve grabbed Reno’s hand, but not to push him away.
«’Tell me,» she said urgently. «You killed Raleigh King, didn’t you?»
Reno nodded.
She let out a long breath and whispered, «Thank you. I didn’t know how I was going to be able to do it.»
All gentleness vanished from Reno’s expression.
«Is that why you set me up?» he demanded.
«I didn’t set you up. Not in the cold way you mean.»
«But you saw the chance and you took it.»
Eve’s mouth tightened. «Yes.»