It was still early when Winnie slipped up to the back door of the saloon and knocked on the door. Nobody came and she knocked again. This time a little louder. After the third knock, the door swung open and a Chinese man in a white apron almost to the floor and a long braid down his back stood before her.
“You at wrong place, lady. Nobody here you want.” He started to close the door.
“Please. I have to see Mr. Stockton.”
“Boss man still sleep. He work late. No want company in early morning.”
“It’s almost ten.” Winnie moved forward, causing the cook to back up. “Please tell him I’m here.”
“No. Boss not like I wake him. You go now.”
“If you don’t want to wake him, I’ll sit right here in your kitchen and drink coffee until he comes for breakfast.”
“He not come. I take food to him.”
“Good. When you take it, I’ll go with you.”
“No. No. Boss not like.”
Winnie spied the tray the cook had sitting on the sideboard. “I see you’re fixing his breakfast now. Don’t let me hold you up.”
The Chinese man seemed to realize he wasn’t going to win the argument. “Why Boss have to make me handle all the crazy ones,” he muttered as he turned to fill the plate with ham, eggs, biscuits and potatoes. He sat a jar of preserves on the tray and took a coffee mug from the cabinet. “Ling Sing have no time to fight with fat lady. Women be down soon and want food. I should go back to China. Women know place in China. No argue with Ling Sing. Women here argue all the time.”
“So Ling Sing is your name?”
He whirled around and looked at Winnie. “How you know?”
“You called yourself Ling Sing.”
“You not ’posed to listen.” When he finished filling the tray he turned to her. “You stay here. I tell Boss you here.”
“No, Ling Sing. I’m coming with you.”
“Boss be mad.”
“I don’t care.” She looked at the tray. “Take an extra cup. I want some coffee, too.”
Ling Sing shook his head, but he did reach for another cup.
Winnie followed him up the back stairs and down a long hall. They passed several doors she knew housed the women who worked the saloon trade. When they reached the end of the hall, Ling Sing opened a door and they went down another short hall.
He paused beside a door. “Boss stay here. Nobody come here. He be mad when he see you.”
“He’ll get over it. Now, you knock on the door or I will.”
“Not your job.” He rapped three times.”
“Come in, Ling Sing. I’ve already unlocked the door.”
When the cook hesitated, Winnie said, “Go on. He invited you.”
“He gonna be more than mad. You see.” He opened the door. “Boss, I sorry. I try to keep her back, but she come.”
Hank whirled around. He was shaving and half his face was still covered with foam. He had on his pants, but he was shirtless. Winnie couldn’t help noticing that for a man his age, he still had muscles rippling up and down his back and chest.
“What are you doing here, Winnie?”
“I have to talk to you, Hank.”
“Well, you’re going to have to talk to me later. I have things to do this morning.”
“I don’t think so.”
“I don’t want to be rude, but you need to leave. I’ll come to Mrs. Potter’s and speak with you when I have time.”
“It might be too late, Hank.”
“Don’t be ridiculous. What’s so important?”
“Your niece.”
Hank looked as if he’d been shot. He turned to his cook. “You can go now, Ling Sing. I’ll talk with the lady now.”
Ling Sing frowned, but he didn’t argue with Hank. He bowed and hurried out the door.
“Have a cup of coffee and I’ll be with you in a minute.” He turned back to his shave. When he finished, he wiped his face on a linen towel and took a blue silk shirt from his wardrobe. He slipped it on and tucked it in his pants. He then walked over to the table where his breakfast sat. He picked up the coffee and looked directly at Winnie. “Now, tell me what you have to say.”
“I’ve missed you, Hank.” She looked at him and sipped her coffee. “You were a good business partner. One of the best. Our bordello was famous all over town. Some of the richest business men in New Orleans were regulars at The Golden Dove and if you’d wanted, we could have had so much more.”
“Don’t start that, Winnie. No matter how much you wanted it to be different, you know partners were all we ever were.” He drank his coffee. “You said something about my niece.”
“I did want it to be different, Hank, but I understand why you were never attracted to me.” She sighed. “I didn’t come here to hash over old hurts. I came to tell you I went to see Princess yesterday. She’s up to something, Hank.”
“I know. Princess is always up to something.”
“She doesn’t like Quinn.”
“That’s because Ashe has shown some interest in Quinn. Princess doesn’t like that.”
“She’s using Ashe, Hank. I don’t know why, but she is.”
He eyed her. “Maybe it’s the other way around. He may be using her.”
“She’s still mixed up with Templeton.”
Hank raised a brow. “How do you know?”
“Do you remember that little statue he always brought with him when he visited Princess at our place? He said he put in the house he stayed in as his good luck charm?”
“Yeah. I remember it. I thought he was crazy, but he always set it on a table in Princess’s room.”
“I saw it sitting on a table in Princess’s parlor yesterday.”
“So, he’s here somewhere, and unless I miss my guess he’s up to no good.”
“It looks that way.”
Hank sat back and looked at her. “What has this to do with my niece?”
“Princess told me Quinn was getting in her way.” She looked into Hank’s eyes. “You know what Princess is capable of when someone gets in her way.”
“I know well. I remember when one of the girls went after Templeton, Princess stabbed her in the back coming out of his room. Though she didn’t seem to care, it was lucky for her the girl didn’t die.”
“Of course, it didn’t matter to Princess whether the woman lived or died. It only mattered that she didn’t take Temp away from her.” Winnie sighed. “Hank, I know you thought she loved you when she came to work for us after that trip to Memphis with Temp, but I don’t think my niece is capable of loving any man, except maybe J.C. Templeton. And I’m not sure that’s love.”
“It’s all in the past, Winnie.”
“Is it? I’ve been nosing around. I heard you got involved with her when she came to town.”
“I visited her a few times. Scared the Hell out of her because she thought I’d blow her cover. I admit I took advantage of her fear. She’s still a beautiful woman, even if she is evil.”
“Why didn’t you expose her?”
“Why should I? She was married to Norwood when they arrived. Of course he didn’t live long. Had an accident at one of the mines he owned.”
“His dying left Princess a rich woman, didn’t it?”
“Not as rich as she thought she’d be. He provided for her, but the bulk of his wealth went to a son back East. When Junior came and claimed the estate, Princess tried to con him out of it, but he said if she tried to do anything he’d have what his father had left her taken away. I think she decided to take what she could and not fight for more.”
Winnie put her cup down. “When you left The Golden Dove, I had a hard time. Princess decided to try her luck elsewhere and she again left with Templeton. Then you took my next best girl, Cindy, with you.”
“I know. She brought in almost as much business as Princess. I guess I was trying to punish you and Princess both by taking her.” He chuckled. “Of course, Cindy didn’t do me much good. She worked a couple of months for me then ran off with a cowboy who wanted to give her the honest life. From what I heard before I moved on to Colorado they have two kids and she’s happy in her new life.”
“I guess I’m vindicated, then. At least she didn’t make you a fortune either.”
“Not at all.”
“I met Fred Norwood the summer after you left.” She laughed. “Believe it or not, I’d become a respectable business woman. I opened a small restaurant and was making money. Fred ate there all the time. It wasn’t long until we started seeing each other. In fact, he asked me to marry him and I knew I could at last live a normal life. My whore of a niece had left town with Templeton and the people were beginning to accept me as one of them.”
She paused and Hank asked, “What happened?”
“Templeton picked up a new slut in St. Louis and kicked Princess out. Of course, she came back to town. At first she seemed delighted I was going to marry a man who could give me the material things I wanted as well as love me like I’d never been a whore. Then it all fell apart. I closed the restaurant early one night and went home because I thought Fred was coming back the next day. I wanted to get things ready to welcome him and surprise him with what I’d done in planning the wedding.” She took a deep breath. “I was the one who got the surprise. I walked in and found Princess and Fred on a rug in front of the fireplace. They were both naked and in the throws of passion.”
“I’m sorry, Winnie.” His face showed he really was.
She shrugged. “Of course they told me they hadn’t meant for it to happen. Fred begged me to forgive him and said he’d never be unfaithful to me again. Like a fool, I believed him and went on planning the wedding. A month later Princess told him she was pregnant. Being an honorable man, he said he had to marry her. Two days later they packed up and left town. I learned later she’d cleaned out my bank account and I lost everything. I went back to work in a bordello and saved enough money to track her down. When I read about Fred Norwood’s death in the paper I knew where she was. As soon as I got the money I came here to confront her.”
“So you’re telling me all of this because you think Princess is capable of anything.”
“I think she plans to kill me if she can and I wanted you to know about it. If anything happens to me, she’ll be the one who was behind it. I wouldn’t put it past her to go after Quinn. She’s set on marrying Ashe and she won’t let anybody get in her way. Quinn is a complication and she won’t stop until all complications are out of her way.”
“Then, Winnie, it looks like we have no choice in the matter. We’re in business together again.” He half smiled at her. “This time we’re not running a brothel, we’re going to make sure your niece doesn’t do any more damage to the people around her.”
* * * *
Ashe didn’t mean to go to sleep, but after Lola’s visit and getting his wounds tended, he was more exhausted than he thought. When he opened his eyes again, he was in his room alone. He wondered if Quinn had gotten mad and left after the rude things Lola said to her. He hoped not. He liked having her here. Maybe he should’ve defended her when Lola kept harassing her, but Quinn seemed able to take care of herself.
As these thoughts swirled in his head, he knew he had to know if she was still in the house.
“Quinn,” he called.
There was no answer and he called again.
When she didn’t answer, he figured he’d been right. She’d been insulted and left.
With effort he managed to get to a sitting position and swing his legs over the side of the bed. His head spun and he had to sit for a few minutes to get oriented. It was then he realized he was naked, but he wasn’t far from his dresser. He could get some underwear there and pants from the wardrobe. Surely he could make it that far.
When he felt stronger, he tried to stand up. It didn’t work. His legs wobbled and he had to sit. After a few minutes, he tried standing again. This time he took a step. He got to the end of the bed and grabbed the foot board. He didn’t know if he had the strength to go further. He wondered if there was anything in the room he could use for a cane.
Not seeing anything, he took a deep breath, let go of the bed and started toward the dresser. It wasn’t a smart thing to do. His wobbly legs gave out and he fell flat in the floor.
* * * *
Quinn came rushing into the room. Tossing the laundry basket to the floor, she ran to him. “Oh, my Lord, Ashe. What are you trying to do?” She knelt at his side.
“I thought I could walk.”
“Well, now you see you can’t.” She put her arms around him and tried not to look at his nude body. “I’m not sure I can get you off the floor, you’re going to have to help me.”
They struggled, but there didn’t seem to be any way she could lift him. He was more than twice her size.
Ashe finally said. “Pull that chair over here. I’ll pull myself up by it and you can steady me until I can sit on the bed.”
Quinn did as she was told. It was still a struggle, but in a little while he was back on the bed. Sweat was beading on his face as well as hers.
“Don’t you dare try getting up again.” She pointed a finger at him.
“I won’t. I promise.” He closed his eyes. “I was afraid you’d gone and I was looking for you.”
“Next time call me. Until your brothers get back, I’m not going anywhere.”
“And you won’t let Lola run you off.”
She looked at him. “No I won’t. I’ll only leave if you tell me you want her to come to look after you.”
“I want you.” His voice was getting weak. “You’re the only woman I ever want to come into this bedroom.”
Quinn didn’t know what to say, but it didn’t matter. He’d already drifted back to sleep. She lifted his legs and got him back in the bed. As she spread the sheet over him she couldn’t help noticing how well endowed he was. Her cheeks were burning hot when she finally got him covered and even the sheet didn’t hide from her mind what she knew was lying beneath the cover.