alley along the side to get to the front. She was about to step out onto the boardwalk when she thought she saw something move across the street, in the shadows. She stepped back and waited, and sure enough, saw two men standing in a doorway, looking up at the hotel.
She had a feeling she knew what they were looking at, so she decided to settle in herself and see what was going to happen.
11
After Dol left, Roper sat down on the bed, which was so hard it barely sagged beneath his weight. The girl was lucky she had not already gotten herself killed. He hoped she would listen to his advice and leave Fort Worth.
He rubbed his hand over his face—actually “Andy Blake’s” face—feeling the unfamiliar rasp of stubble on his palm. Tomorrow he’d have to go ahead and make his contact with the stockyard workers, but maybe he needed to do it at a different saloon, one where a saloon girl had not shown such interest in him. But he’d already put three days of research into this saloon and this group of men; he hated to waste the time.
He got undressed, doused the lamp, and got into bed. He hadn’t brought anything to read, because it wouldn’t do for “Andy Blake” to have Mark Twain or Charles Dickens in his room, just in case somebody came up to take a look.
He put his gun on the flimsy night table next to the bed and tried to go to sleep.
* * *
“There,” Giles said, “the light went out.”
“Let’s go,” Hague said, stepping from the doorway.
Giles grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
“We have to give him time to fall asleep,” he said.
“If he’s awake, we can just kill him,” Hague said.
“I wanna do this without killin’ him if we can,” Giles said. “We’re just tryin’ to rob him.”
“Killin’ him would be a lot easier.”
“And it would get the law on our asses,” Giles said. “So far all I’ve done is rob people, and the law just figures that’s the price of doin’ business in the Half Acre. But if we kill him, that’ll change.”
Hague didn’t appear to like the idea, but he said, “You’re the boss.”
Giles
was
the boss. The robberies were his idea, and he was starting to think that maybe Ed Hague wasn’t the best recruit. After this one maybe he’d cut the man loose and look for someone else. Someone not quite so bloodthirsty.
“Fifteen minutes,” he said to Hague, “we’ll give it fifteen minutes.”
* * *
Dol watched the two men, saw one step from the doorway and the other pull him back. They were planning something, something in that hotel. It may have had nothing to do with Roper, but she decided to stick around and make sure. If they
were
after Roper, maybe this was her chance to prove herself to him.
She touched the .32 Colt she had tucked into her belt. And hoped when the time came, it would be enough gun.
* * *
Giles nudged Hague, who actually seemed to have fallen asleep standing up.
“Let’s move,” he said.
“Finally.”
They crossed the street and entered the hotel. The lobby was empty except for the clerk nodding off behind the cheap, flimsy front desk. There was a threadbare sofa with a cheaptable in front of it, but that was it for lobby furniture. The hotel was mostly used by the higher-class whores who didn’t work the streets.
The clerk looked up as they approached.
“Room six,” he said.
“Thanks.”
As they went up the stairs, Hague asked, “How much does he get?”
“Five percent.”
“Yer givin’ away a lot of your money.”
“Yeah,” Giles agreed, “I think maybe I am.”
* * *
Dol watched the two men enter the hotel by the front door, then retraced her steps down the alley to the back door and let herself back in. She used the back stairs to get up to the second floor in time to see the men creeping along the hallway. When they stopped in front of a door, she felt sure it was Roper’s.
She took the gun from her belt and started her own way down the
She had a feeling she knew what they were looking at, so she decided to settle in herself and see what was going to happen.
11
After Dol left, Roper sat down on the bed, which was so hard it barely sagged beneath his weight. The girl was lucky she had not already gotten herself killed. He hoped she would listen to his advice and leave Fort Worth.
He rubbed his hand over his face—actually “Andy Blake’s” face—feeling the unfamiliar rasp of stubble on his palm. Tomorrow he’d have to go ahead and make his contact with the stockyard workers, but maybe he needed to do it at a different saloon, one where a saloon girl had not shown such interest in him. But he’d already put three days of research into this saloon and this group of men; he hated to waste the time.
He got undressed, doused the lamp, and got into bed. He hadn’t brought anything to read, because it wouldn’t do for “Andy Blake” to have Mark Twain or Charles Dickens in his room, just in case somebody came up to take a look.
He put his gun on the flimsy night table next to the bed and tried to go to sleep.
* * *
“There,” Giles said, “the light went out.”
“Let’s go,” Hague said, stepping from the doorway.
Giles grabbed his arm and pulled him back.
“We have to give him time to fall asleep,” he said.
“If he’s awake, we can just kill him,” Hague said.
“I wanna do this without killin’ him if we can,” Giles said. “We’re just tryin’ to rob him.”
“Killin’ him would be a lot easier.”
“And it would get the law on our asses,” Giles said. “So far all I’ve done is rob people, and the law just figures that’s the price of doin’ business in the Half Acre. But if we kill him, that’ll change.”
Hague didn’t appear to like the idea, but he said, “You’re the boss.”
Giles
was
the boss. The robberies were his idea, and he was starting to think that maybe Ed Hague wasn’t the best recruit. After this one maybe he’d cut the man loose and look for someone else. Someone not quite so bloodthirsty.
“Fifteen minutes,” he said to Hague, “we’ll give it fifteen minutes.”
* * *
Dol watched the two men, saw one step from the doorway and the other pull him back. They were planning something, something in that hotel. It may have had nothing to do with Roper, but she decided to stick around and make sure. If they
were
after Roper, maybe this was her chance to prove herself to him.
She touched the .32 Colt she had tucked into her belt. And hoped when the time came, it would be enough gun.
* * *
Giles nudged Hague, who actually seemed to have fallen asleep standing up.
“Let’s move,” he said.
“Finally.”
They crossed the street and entered the hotel. The lobby was empty except for the clerk nodding off behind the cheap, flimsy front desk. There was a threadbare sofa with a cheaptable in front of it, but that was it for lobby furniture. The hotel was mostly used by the higher-class whores who didn’t work the streets.
The clerk looked up as they approached.
“Room six,” he said.
“Thanks.”
As they went up the stairs, Hague asked, “How much does he get?”
“Five percent.”
“Yer givin’ away a lot of your money.”
“Yeah,” Giles agreed, “I think maybe I am.”
* * *
Dol watched the two men enter the hotel by the front door, then retraced her steps down the alley to the back door and let herself back in. She used the back stairs to get up to the second floor in time to see the men creeping along the hallway. When they stopped in front of a door, she felt sure it was Roper’s.
She took the gun from her belt and started her own way down the
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