Jacob sat back down and looked to Pierce. The two bounty hunters exchanged a glance as the young man they were both looking to capture sauntered through the door. Billy Watts looked from one side of the Rat Hole to the other, walking slowly into the establishment and calling out loudly for whoever would be up for a poker game. His arrogance astounded Jacob, though it explained all that he had heard about the kid’s actions up to this point.
Of course a young man who felt as though he were invincible would continue to so blatantly break the law in such a way. Of course a young man who believed he was the best poker player in five territories would continue to seek out more and more opportunities and then find himself beaten again and again.
And, of course, such a young man would think to solve any minor inconvenience with his pistol.
Jacob took a deep breath, steeling himself for what he needed to do. Though it went completely against all of Jacob’s instincts, he had agreed to try to bring in Billy Watts via subterfuge. He could track a man on sun-parched earth. He could prevail in a quick draw. He could even wrestle a man to the ground and physically overpower him. But cunning and trickery were far outside Jacob’s usual toolbox.
“Who all wants to try me?” Watts called to the room at large as he settled into a chair.
The two men already seated at that table got up hastily. Jacob wondered how much this kid’s reputation had preceded him. Maybe he and Pierce weren’t the only men in the room who had heard about this fool.
“I’ll go in for a game with you,” Pierce said, standing from the bar stool where he had been camped for several hours.
Jacob thought he noticed the man swaying on his feet, by virtue of all he had imbibed throughout the day, but perhaps that was just wishful thinking. For his own part, Jacob elected to stay back and not seem too eager.
“Wonderful. Bartender! Whiskey!” Watts called.
As Pierce made his way to the kid’s table, Jacob took one last stock of the room. Guns rested on every man’s hip. If Jacob were to try to take Watts by force now, Pierce would try to stop him and there was the chance that every other man present would find themselves in the middle of a shootout.
It was too risky.
Jacob would have to play.
“I’m in,” he called, as he stood from his own stool.
Watts barely glanced up to acknowledge him as he sat down at the table across from him. Pierce, however, grinned mockingly at Jacob, as though reminding him that the bounty hunter was right where he wanted him.
Jacob took a deep breath, filling his lungs completely. He was committed now. If he was going to do this, if he was going to let Pierce pull his strings this far, he was going to do it right.
“Anyone else?” Watts called. “It’s gonna be a good night. Got a lot riding on this game.” He said it casually, as though both wanting the attention but also not trying to make a big deal about it. Jacob could only think that this kid had a long way to go before he was a real man. It was a shame he was squandering his only chance.
“Me,” a soft voice said from the bar.
Jacob looked up. He had just sat at the table between Watts and Pierce. He was dismayed that another person was going to get mixed up in the outlaw’s antics, and even more dismayed to see the person who was making their way through the room to his table.
A beautiful woman, old enough to have a streak of gray hair growing back from her left temple, but still young enough to have a soft unwrinkled face, strode confidently toward them. She was dressed not as the other women in the Rat Hole were, with corsets and layers and lace and wide skirts. Instead, she wore a finely tailored man’s suit. It showed off her hourglass figure without having to boast about it.
“Kate Marlowe,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for a game just like this.”
Jacob was so surprised by this woman’s appearance and demeanor he spent the next minute distractedly trying to figure out how he hadn’t noticed her before this moment. He had been in the Rat Hole for hours, and prided himself on his exceptional observational skills. He could only conclude that she must have equally exceptional skills of remaining unnoticed. There must be a reason she wore a man’s suit, after all.
It unnerved him. Jacob didn’t like this one bit. And he sure didn’t like having to beat Miss Marlowe in a poker game.
“Pleased to meet you, Miss Marlowe,” Pierce said, tipping his hat. “May the best man or woman win.”
She smiled serenely at him, but Jacob picked up a little menace behind the smile. This was a woman who was used to all kinds of nefarious attention from men and likely knew how to handle it.
No, he didn’t relish having to play against her at all.
“Miss Marlowe,” Jacob said, nodding and tipping his hat as well.
The bartender arrived just behind her, bringing over a full bottle of cheap whiskey and four glasses.
“There’s one more chair. Anyone? No one else?” Watts called, as he filled each glass. “Suit yourself.”
He passed over the glasses to Pierce, Marlowe and Jacob, sloshing the whiskey up the side of the glass and spilling on the wooden surface as he did so.
“Cheers, boys,” Watts said to the two men both old enough to be his father. “Kate.”
He grinned at the woman so wolfishly that Jacob was tempted to warn the kid against her. Between two bounty hunters and Miss Kate Marlowe, Billy Watts had no clue what he was about to go up against.
Jacob watched the other three each take long drinks of their whiskey, while he barely sipped his own. He would have to stay on his guard. His poker strategy itself needed enough of his focus that he couldn’t risk letting loose even a little.