Page 19 of The Bastard Heir (The Gilded West #2)
Chapter Nine
A saloon on the wrong of side of Helena wasn’t how Castillo had wanted to spend this night.
He’d spent two days chasing Bennett Derringer only to have to deal with the unexpected presence of Caroline Hartford at the ranch the night before, coupled with the unpleasant conversation with Tanner.
A day of playing attentive suitor to Caroline and that damn kiss just a few hours ago had nearly made him forget all the reasons he couldn’t have her.
Castillo was in no mood for saloons. He wanted to sleep in his comfortable bed back at the Jameson Ranch for one whole night and forget the mess his life was in right now. But that fire had been a signal. He’d gone out to meet one of the hands who’d told him Zane wanted to meet him in town.
It was early in the week, but the place was busy.
A sign written in chalk out front had advertised a faro tournament, so most of the tables were filled with men competing.
A woman in a low-cut gown and an abundance of cosmetics played what might have been a pleasant tune on a piano in the center of the room, but Castillo’s head pounded with every chord.
A few men at the tables took in his presence inside the door, but most were too busy concentrating on the cards before them.
It was just as well. Castillo was in no mood to be friendly.
In fact, he might appreciate a fight tonight to ease some of the frustration threatening to boil over inside him.
It was a stupid disposition to bring to a saloon, evidence that he shouldn’t be here.
He wouldn’t be here if Zane hadn’t sent him a message to meet.
Castillo kept his hat on as he stepped into the room on his way to the bar in the back.
He wasn’t Castillo Jameson tonight. He wasn’t even Castillo Reyes tonight.
He hoped that, with his hat pulled down low, he looked just like any other straggler passing through town.
Someone these men would notice just enough to avoid.
He caught sight of Zane sitting at a table in the corner and changed course. “Do you have anything?” he asked as he pulled out the chair beside his friend and sat down facing the door.
“Good evening to you, too, brother.” Zane flashed a smile that did nothing to make him look friendly and upended a shot glass, filling it with whiskey from the bottle on the table.
Castillo grunted and looked over the men around them. He didn’t expect Bennett to be there playing faro, but Castillo had made many enemies over the last few years, so he was always looking for them in places like this. “Have you found out anything?” he asked again.
Zane threw back the whiskey and the smile dropped from his face. “I think there’s a spy at Victoria House. Someone went through my room. They didn’t take anything, so I can only assume they were looking for information.”
“Money?” Castillo asked.
“I keep a hundred or so in the armoire. It was still there.”
Castillo let out a breath. “A hundred is a lot, especially for someone working at the brothel.”
“It wasn’t touched.”
Castillo grimaced at the implication. Victoria House was the most exclusive brothel in Helena.
Glory Winters, the brothel’s madam, had approached Hunter for help a couple of years ago when a group of men had decided that they’d be better at running such a lucrative establishment than she would.
Castillo and the gang had provided the necessary muscle to make the men realize they’d have more success in another town.
Since then, Castillo and Glory had become associates of sorts, coming to each other with bits of information the other might need.
He didn’t want to think of her as a traitor, but he couldn’t rule out the possibility.
“The spy either didn’t need the money or is being paid more than that.
” Glory was richer than sin and, as far as he knew, was the only one in that brothel who wouldn’t be tempted by that amount of money.
She was also the only one who knew about their outlaw activities.
It didn’t make sense that she’d have anything to do with Derringer, but Castillo had to consider it. “Have you mentioned this to Glory?”
Zane shook his head and his jaw clenched as his gaze passed over the room.
Clearly, the possibility that she was somehow in cahoots with Derringer, or whoever had ordered Zane’s room searched, had occurred to him.
Zane, who knew firsthand the risks involved with loving the wrong woman, harbored a soft spot for the madam.
For his sake, Castillo hoped she wasn’t a spy.
Castillo tossed back the drink and rose to his feet. “Let’s go talk to her.”
Zane nodded and followed him out. A light drizzle had begun to fall while they were inside, but Castillo didn’t hurry his steps.
It was a short walk to Victoria House, and they’d need to keep their eyes open for anyone who could be following them.
Castillo had given it a lot of thought and he didn’t think Bennett’s presence in the area was a coincidence.
Derringer had likely figured out who he was and was hoping to take him out before Castillo found him. That was the most logical explanation.
Castillo had stabled his horse across town and left one of the men behind to keep watch.
But the streets were dark in this part of town, and now that they were deserted because of the rain, he wondered if it wouldn’t be better to have another man with them.
The air was thick with the smells of mud and horses.
The sounds of music and revelry were partially muted behind closed doors and windows.
If there was ever a time to corner them alone…
this was it. Zane’s hand went to the gun hidden in the holster beneath his coat, and Castillo knew he was worried, too.
Victoria House was a three-story brick building that towered over all the other squat structures in the district, and it would’ve been at home on the reputable side of town had it not been a brothel.
Castillo exchanged a look with Zane and they navigated the two blocks to reach it.
Despite the mud, they kept to the street and avoided getting too close to any darkened storefronts.
Part of him wanted Derringer to confront them now, just to get it over with.
But a confrontation in the dark on Derringer’s terms wouldn’t be wise.
“Let’s go in the back,” Zane said and took the turn into the alley. “There’s a dinner tonight and likely to be too many people in the foyer.”
Castillo agreed and followed Zane, but they both stopped when a shadow separated itself from the dark exterior wall of the general store.
As they watched, it darted across the alley to disappear around the corner of the building and down a small alley barely wide enough to walk through without turning sideways.
Castillo caught Zane’s eye, who nodded and went back the way they’d come to make his way around the building and intercept the shadow at the other end.
Drawing his gun, Castillo quietly headed to the corner and drew back the hammer as slowly as he could so it wouldn’t make more than a soft, metallic click.
He paused when he reached the corner, his back against the brick wall and his pulse pounding in his ears.
The shadow wouldn’t be Derringer. If the man was connected to him, he’d be a lackey, but at least Castillo would be one step closer to the man.
He strained to listen, but couldn’t hear anything except the steady patter of rain on cobblestones.
Out of habit, he pressed his palm to the golden cross that hung on a chain around his neck, tucked inside his shirt.
His mother had given it to him when he’d been a boy, telling him that it would keep him safe.
It had seemed to work so far, though he was certain dodging bullets and chasing outlaws wasn’t what she’d had in mind.
Nevertheless, he mouthed a prayer, not daring to speak the words aloud.
When he’d waited long enough for Zane to make his way around the building to reach the other end of the narrow outlet, he yelled, “We have you trapped. Throw down your gun.”
For a full minute there was nothing and then the shadow reappeared, brandishing a scrap piece of wood that had probably been lying in the darkened alcove.
Before Castillo could react, the length of wood knocked his gun out of his hand.
Castillo dove forward, tackling the shadow to the ground.
The man grunted at the impact when he hit the ground with Castillo’s weight on top of him, but he wasted no time in striking back, catching Castillo with a fist to his chin that left him reeling.
He rolled from the impact but didn’t loosen his grip, so his assailant rolled with him.
Castillo recovered before the man could get another punch in and hit him hard with a right hook that knocked him backward.
Following him down, Castillo took another hit to his cheekbone before landing enough blows to leave the man on the defensive, his hands raised to cover his face.
Footsteps approached from the narrow alley, coming so fast that for a moment Castillo wasn’t sure if it was another attacker, but he turned to see Zane running out of the alley.
“There’s no one else down there,” Zane said.
Castillo turned his attention back to the man on the ground beneath him. “Who the hell are you?”
The man’s head lolled. He seemed to be only half conscious.
“Let’s get him inside before someone else comes,” Zane said. As if to emphasize his point, a wagon drove by on the main road, the driver whistling a tune though rain continued to drizzle.