“All right,” Billy Watts said, taking charge of the game. He snatched up the deck and began to shuffle.
Watts was to Jacob’s right; Pierce was to his left. Kate Marlowe sat directly across from Jacob and he kept catching her eye. There was no doubt she was an attractive woman. There was also no doubt that she knew this about herself and intended to use it to her advantage. For this reason, Jacob didn’t trust her. He was more than willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, but no further.
He watched Watts carefully as the kid dealt, and remembered what Mrs. Schmidt had told him about his tell. That one little piece of knowledge should give Jacob a leg up on Pierce, at the least. There was no telling how good a card player this Miss Marlowe was.
Jacob watched the others, and they all watched him, as the four sat in almost total silence drinking their whiskey and examining their cards.
The game progressed slowly, uneventfully. Players calling, raising. Marlowe trying to engage the others in unrelated conversation. Watts and Pierce both telling stories of previous escapades, each trying to impress or belittle the other. Only Jacob stayed mostly silent as the game went on. He would answer questions when asked, but otherwise kept to himself and kept watch.
Pierce, Marlowe and Watts all had their own strategies about how to dominate the game and read the other players. Jacob just wanted to get through it.
After close to an hour, the pot growing steadily, Pierce was dealing and offered Marlowe one card as requested.
Kate Marlowe reached out to collect her card.
The King of Spades fell out of the cuff of her sleeve, plopping face up on the table in front of them.
Jacob caught the look of shock and fear flash across her face before she controlled it. He realized this must be why she was dressed as she was. It was far easier to manipulate the cards with sleeves that went all the way to her wrists, no matter if such attire made her stand out otherwise.
Kate moved to sweep up the fallen card into her lap, but Watts had already seen it.
“What’s that?” he demanded, grabbing for her wrist.
She deftly outmaneuvered him, keeping her arm out of his reach while still leaning toward the kid seductively. “What is what? I believe I—”
“I saw it!” Watts was beginning to sound hysterical. “You’re cheating! You can’t cheat me. You can’t cheat me!” He stood up angrily, knocking his chair over in the process and drawing his gun.
“Whoa now,” Jacob said, also standing. “Let’s just everyone calm down.”
It seemed as though the eyes of everyone in the Rat Hole were now aimed at their table. The last thing Jacob wanted was more attention. Embarrassing the kid—or any outlaw—when they were taken into custody almost always made things worse. And now he had another cheating good-for-nothing to deal with.
“I’m sure we can figure this out,” he said as he studied Kate Marlowe.
Her expression flitted between a myriad of emotions. She seemed to be debating her next move and considering any manner of possible reactions to being accused of cheating.
But her instincts were too slow.
Before Marlowe could make her move, Pierce was on her.
“Not so fast, missy,” he growled at her as he lunged.
She moved at the same time, pushing back from the table and sliding her chair across the floor. Pierce took two long steps straight for Marlowe, just at the same moment one of the legs of her chair caught on the gap between two floorboards. She was pushing herself back too quickly to stop herself, and the chair tipped.
Marlowe gasped as she and the chair fell backward onto the dusty saloon floor. A couple men nearby moved to help her up, but were warned back by Pierce almost barking at them. Instead, he loomed over the woman, reaching down with both hands to wrap around her wrists and wrench her to her feet.
“Pierce,” Jacob said from where he stood on the other side of the table.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Pierce demanded, shaking the woman. “A cheating snake like you? We oughtta—”
“Pierce,” Jacob said more sharply.
The other bounty hunter finally looked at him. “What?”
Jacob tried to indicate that people were watching them, without making it too obvious. He inclined his head slightly toward Watts, reminding Pierce of why they were there in the first place.
Pierce huffed, frustrated.
He kept his hand in a solid grip around her arm. Marlowe looked sullen but accepting of her situation. Jacob moved closer so he and the other bounty hunter could talk more quietly, in as much privacy as they could manage with everyone in the saloon looking toward them.
“Pierce, if she did this as a regular thing she’d be better at it than she is. My guess is she’s just … It can’t be easy to be a woman out west on her own. Maybe she doesn’t have any other options.”
Pierce threw a look at Marlowe, who regarded him impassively.
“Do you have anything to say in your own defense?”
She shrugged. “Decide what you’re going to decide. I won’t fight it either way. I got plenty of other irons in the fire to worry too much about this one.”
“Arrogant little—”
“Pierce.” Jacob scolded him abruptly.
“I don’t like this one bit,” he said.
“I know. But, it might be more trouble than it’s worth. Let’s just let her go. Leave it alone. We don’t have to punish her, but we don’t have to let her stay either. We got other things to worry about.”
“Fine,” Pierce said darkly. “Get her out of my sight.”
“Yeah, get her out of my sight too!” Watts agreed.
Jacob was grateful to not have a bigger fight, and simply took Marlowe’s arm, just above her elbow, and bid Pierce to let go.
“I’ll handle this. I’ll be right back. Then we’ll sort out the rest.”
With all the patrons’ eyes on them, Jacob guided Marlowe between the tables and out the door of the Rat Hole. Night had fallen, and most of the storefronts on the main street were dark. Jacob hated to let a woman loose into the darkness like this, unprotected and alone, but she seemed like one who could take care of herself.
They walked in silence a little ways, until Jacob had guided her clear of the line of sight from the front of the saloon.
“Is there somewhere you can go?” he asked gently.
He loosened his grip and she pulled away. Marlowe rolled her shoulders back and straightened her coat. She brushed back a few loose strands of hair and tucked them behind her ear, all the while glaring at Jacob. She didn’t do any more than glare, though; this would be a fight she couldn’t win.
“I’ll be fine,” she answered. “Fine. You just get back to taking that poor fool’s money and comfort yourself knowing you did it all above board.”
Kate Marlowe didn’t even look back as she walked off into the darkness.