The next day, Bonnie was as good as her word. Though she was needed at the San Xavier Cafe for her job as a waitress by the dinner hour, in the morning beforehand she accompanied Jacob to the general store to choose a new shirt. He found a soft fabric in dark colors, and purchased enough for two new shirts.
While the pair walked farther down the street to the seamstress, Bonnie tried to talk Jacob into letting her sew it for him.
“Are you worried I won’t do a good job?” she teased.
“No, I’m worried you won’t get any sleep. I appreciate the offer. I really do, and your help today has been exactly what I needed. But if you’re going to be at the cafe the rest of the day, when will you have time to sew a shirt?”
“All right,” she relented easily. “But this is something I’d like to be able to do for you in the future. If you’ll allow me.”
“I’m sure that day will come eventually,” he said.
After placing his rush order with Miss Holliday—she’d have both shirts ready for him to collect in the morning—Jacob walked Bonnie to the cafe and then ran the rest of his errands before leaving town.
Later that night he found himself in the Golden Saddle Saloon. Jacob was never much of a gambler, but the friends and company he enjoyed at that watering hole brought him back again and again.
Lucky and Abe were holding court at their usual table in the corner. Professional gamblers, they were just good enough to win regularly and avoid having to find any other work, but just smart enough to let the other Tucson residents and visitors win occasionally too. Abe had confided to Jacob that they had been getting tired of having to move to new towns whenever they won all the money from everyone else who lived there. They seemed to be content to lose often enough here in Tucson to be able to stay put longer.
“Should I deal you in, Payne?” Abe asked as he saw the bounty hunter approaching.
“Nope. Not me.” Jacob had grabbed a beer from Pete the bartender, made his way across the full room and leaned against the wall by where the men were sitting. “I’m heading out tomorrow and just want to relax a bit tonight. You know I’m never quite good enough to beat you.”
Mondays tended to be busy nights for the Golden Saddle Saloon. After behaving themselves at home all day on Sundays, many men wanted to reward themselves as soon as possible the next day. With as many people as were in the saloon that night, laughing, chatting and having a good time, Jacob knew he would have a hard time being part of the conversation if he didn’t sit down at the table. Nevertheless, he still preferred to stay out of the game and just enjoy the time as it was with these men.
“Suit yourself.” Abe shrugged. “Where you off to?”
“You leaving Bonnie again?” Jacob’s one other good friend in town, Edwin Hogg, never missed an opportunity to tease him about that. “Think I could take her to supper one of these nights?”
Jacob refused to rise to the bait. “Miss Bonnie Loft is her own person and can spend her evenings with whoever she chooses … But I would probably drop dead with shock if she chose you.”
The other men, including Edwin, all laughed. They were happy he had met such a fine woman, and he suspected when he wasn’t around they all wondered the same thing the marshal had brought up the previous day.
“I’m heading east,” Jacob said, picking up the thread of Abe’s question. “East and north to the White Mountains. I don’t have much of a lead just yet, so I may be awhile if I have to spend some time sniffing out the fella.”
“White Mountains?” The younger man across the table from Abe spoke up. Jacob thought his name might be Matt or Martin, but he hadn’t ever officially met him. “You know it’s cold up there this time of year, don’t ya? Someone told me this was your first winter in Tucson. Is that right?”
“Sure is. It’s about time I have use for the heavy coat I brought out from Virginia. I was despairing of it ever getting below fifty degrees here.”
“Oh, it’ll get even colder in a month or so,” the young man said. “I’ve lived around this territory most of my life. It may only last a few weeks, but especially if you’re going to mountains, you’ll be glad you have that coat.”
“Speaking of the mountains,” Edwin said, nodding toward the door. “Didn’t Pierce just come back from there?”
Jacob looked up to where he indicated and saw the bounty hunter Clifford Pierce entering the saloon. The man was a few inches shorter than Jacob, with ashy brown hair and a face in need of a shave. Otherwise, he was unremarkable and, Jacob had to admit, probably did an excellent job blending into the crowd when hunting for outlaws.
The other man caught Jacob’s eye and saw him watching. Without acknowledging, Pierce made his way to the bar and leaned over to speak to the bartender.
“You’ve met Pierce, right?” Edwin asked.
Jacob glanced down at his friend still seated at the table and couldn’t help but grin at his teasing smile. Yes, Jacob had met Pierce. Jacob had even saved the man’s life, but that wasn’t the sort of thing he wanted to hold over the other bounty hunter. Nonetheless, he thought if Pierce had been up in the White Mountains he might just have the kind of information Jacob was looking for.
He should at least ask.
“Think I’ll go say hi,” Jacob said, making his excuses and leaving the poker table.
He wove through the crowd of drinking and riotous men back to where Pete, the bartender, was bringing Pierce a whiskey. As he set it down on the wood surface, Jacob called out.
“Good to see you, Pierce.”
Clifford turned around, drink in hand and without taking his eyes off Jacob, downed the whole glass like a shot.
“Can I get you another?” Jacob asked, eyeing the empty glass.
“Nah, I’ll get it.” Clifford turned back around to the bar, spoke to Pete and then gave Jacob his attention. “Something you need, Payne?”
Jacob felt a flash of temper at the other man’s rudeness, but reminded himself to be the bigger man. If Pierce wanted to be sullen and resentful over what Jacob had done for him, that was his own soul he was poisoning and didn’t really hurt Jacob any.
He cleared his throat. “Heard you recently came back from the White Mountains.”
“Yep.” Clifford leaned back against the bar, with both elbows up and behind him, taking up as much space as possible.
“I’m heading off there myself tomorrow. I wonder if you heard anything about a Billy Watts. Gambler. Kid, most likely.”
Clifford laughed; it seemed almost torn out of him, as though he couldn’t help himself in spite of his efforts. “Billy?” He grinned and raised his eyebrows. “Billy Watts is wanted now, is he?”
“He is. Marshal Santos asked me to go take a look, but I suppose if you want to join—”
“No, no.” Clifford waved his hands off, denying any offer Jacob was about to make him. Pete returned at that moment with a beer for the bounty hunter, and he took a long draught before he said anything else. “I’ll tell you what I know, but I’m not even going to bother. That boy is a fool and a fool with a gun is more dangerous than the most blood-thirsty murderer.”
“Yeah, Santos didn’t know much but I didn’t think I was looking for a professional at all.”
Pierce just continued to laugh. “I’m sorry.” He started to cough, choking on his beer. “No, not a professional. Gimme a second and I’ll tell you what I know. Have a seat.”
He gestured to the stool next to him, only recently vacated, and Jacob sat. Truth be told, Pierce’s reaction worried him a bit, but he still determined to bring the kid in. If the marshal had asked it of him, it must be important.
Clifford took another long draw on his beer, cleared his throat, and sat up straight, placing both palms on the bar.
“So, this kid—Billy Watts. I was in …” Clifford looked up at the ceiling as though the answer was written there. “Lawrence it was.”
“Lawrence, Arizona,” Jacob repeated.
“Right. But he won’t be there anymore. Anyway, I was in Lawrence following the trail of a horse thief and thought I’d spend the night playing some cards. You understand. Relax a bit.”
“Sure.”
“Now, mind you, I wasn’t in the same game as this Watts fellow, so I didn’t hear the whole conversation, but after a bit there was some yelling and shoving started, Watts waving his gun around and threatening until he had the attention of everyone in the place.”
“Did he shoot anyone?”
Clifford shook his head. “Not that night. But, it’s only a matter of time, if he hasn’t since I seen him. You know the type.”
Jacob nodded.
“Right. Man feels so victimized and out of control he thinks his only option is a show of force.”
“Boy that age hasn’t had a chance to learn better.”
“You got that right. But, luckily, that night the man he was yelling at did know better. Or at least knew to value his life more than his wallet. He gave the kid what he was demanding and got him to leave without bothering anyone else. Soon as he got out of the door we heard gunshots and a couple thuds, like the kid fired at the ground in his temper tantrum.” He shook his head.
“That makes at least the second time he’s done that, far as I know.”
“Oh, I’ve heard more like five or six,” Clifford said. “Course most of that is just rumor, but I wouldn’t be surprised. I didn’t hear where he went off to, but he left Lawrence that night or the next morning. Someone there might be able to point you in the right direction. Is there really a bounty on the kid?”
Jacob nodded. “One of his victims is a rich man of principle.”
“Well,” Clifford said after draining his beer glass. “If the world had more of those you and I would be out of a job.”
Jacob couldn’t agree more.