Suddenly, her hand was gone and he opened his eyes. Crystal was standing in the entrance to the room, glaring at both of them.
“I was just helping him reach an itch, Miss Crystal,” the girl said.
“I’ll bet you were, Gloria.”
“I have to go upstairs now and…take care of something,” Gloria said. She eased by Crystal carefully and left the room quickly.
“What was that all about?”
“She was telling the truth, Crys. I did have an itch that I couldn’t reach.”
“I’ll bet. And little Gloria was the only one who could reach it, right?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” he said. “If you had come in instead of her, you’d be scratching it.”
“Don’t bet on it!” she said frostily, her arms folded in front of her.
“Don’t start acting like a wife, Crystal. We’re not married.”
“That’s right, we’re not; we’re just partners.”
Moran almost pointed out that it was his money that started the Palace, and that he could run it just as well without her, but he thought better of it.
“Look, honey—”
“Don’t ‘honey’ me, Red,” she said, turning around to leave the room, “just don’t ever ‘honey’ me.”
After she left he tucked his shirt back, realizing that he was experiencing more than just two kinds of itch.
Over the past couple of days he was realizing that he was getting the itch to move on. Once he had thought he would be able to settle down in San Louisa, but things had changed. Most of the townspeople disliked him, and he knew that the town council was starting to lean the mayor’s way.
He was tired of being sheriff, tired of living here, and he was even getting tired of Crystal.
It was time to leave.
He figured he’d leave Crystal the Palace, and maybe even some money. She’d be able to make some more in no time. Just as he’d be able to run the place without her, she’d do fine without him.
And then there was the Bank of San Louisa.
Every day that he passed it he thought about going in and robbing it.
That was the biggest itch of all, and there wasn’t anyone else—Gloria, Crystal—anyone, who could help him scratch it.
Chapter Thirty
That night when Decker entered Crystal’s Palace, he was amazed at how the inside looked. He’d seen fancier places, but for a town like San Louisa, this was pretty fancy.
Already there were men waiting for a free girl, and he was also surprised to notice that there were no drinks being served. Perhaps that would be their next step.
He had not seen Red Moran on the streets of San Louisa the whole time he’d been there. Moran didn’t seem to be taking his duties as sheriff all that seriously. He was sure, however, that he would be seeing the man here, tonight.
“Good evening, sir,” a woman’s voice said.
He turned his head and found himself looking into two of the greenest eyes he’d ever seen. The woman had pale skin and red hair, and a full, firm body fitted into a low-cut green dress. The cleft between her breasts was smooth and creamy.
“Welcome to Crystal’s Palace,” she said. “I am Crystal, your hostess.”
“Thanks for the welcome.”
“This is your first time here, isn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Well, I should tell you that there is a membership fee before you can enter.”
“How much?”
“Five dollars. After that you can pick out a girl and make your arrangements with her, depending on what you want.”
“I don’t see any girls,” he said, looking around the sitting room, “only men.”
“Well, all of our girls are busy at the moment. Would you like to stay?”
He took out five dollars and handed it to her.
“I’ll stay.”
“Thank you. I’m sure you won’t regret it.”
“Excuse me,” he said as she turned to walk away.
“Yes?”
“If all of the girls are busy…what about the hostess?”
She smiled at him and said, “I’m afraid that would cost you more than you could afford.”
“And it would probably be worth it, too.”
Her smile broadened—and became more real—and she said, “You’re very sweet. Please, have a seat and someone will be available shortly.”
“Thanks.”
Decker entered the sitting room, which was inhabited by cigar-smoking men who were engaged in conversation about various things. As he listened he heard some of them discussing business, and others discussing the merits of some of the girls who worked at the Palace. He counted almost a dozen men, and not all of them were Mexican, and not all of them were from his town.
He took a seat and lit up one of his own cigars, almost in self-defense. As he continued to look around the room he saw a couple of women come down the stairs, each of them Mexican and quite pretty. One was tall and full-breasted, while the other was shorter and slimmer. They each picked a man out who seemed to have been waiting for them and went back upstairs to work.
Decker was there almost a half an hour before he got what he wanted.
He was watching the steps from upstairs and recognized the man immediately.
He was tall, broad-shouldered, wearing a sheriff’s star on his shirt, but what clinched it was the face. It was the same smooth, handsome face that was on the poster in his pocket.
There was twenty-five hundred dollars, coming down the stairs.
Behind him a stunning blonde woman came down, and at the foot of the stairs the red-head was glaring up at the two of them. From what Decker could see the fact that they were coming down at the same time was probably a coincidence, but the redhaired Crystal apparently didn’t see it that way. She and Moran got into a heated discussion and Moran finally gave up and walked out.
Yep, Decker thought, things are sure heating up for Moran in this town. Shouldn’t be long before he made his move.
The blonde eased past the redhead and came into the sitting room. She saw Decker just as he was standing up to leave and came walking over to him.
“Are you waiting for me, lover…I hope? I’m Gloria.”
“Well, actually—” Decker said.
“He’s waiting for me, Gloria,” Crystal said, coming up behind the blonde.
Gloria turned and looked at Crystal in surprise.
“For you? But I thought—”
“This is by special request, dear,” she said, looping her arm through Decker’s. “Run along and take care of old Mr. Velasquez.”
The blonde looked over at the white-haired, beer-bellied man Crystal was talking about, then rolled her eyes and walked over to him.
“He’s the undertaker,” Crystal said, “and he smells like it.”
“Well, now that the joke is over,” Decker said, disengaging her arm, “I think I’ll be leaving.”
“Leaving?” Crystal asked, looking puzzled. “But you did ask me if I was busy, didn’t you?”
“Yes, but you said—”
“Well, I’ve changed my mind. I think you’ve been kept waiting so long that only the best will satisfy you.” She put her arm through his again and said, “Shall we go upstairs?”
Decker recognized that this was a very dangerous situation. Crystal was obviously Moran’s woman, and she was just doing this to get back at him after the argument they’d just had. At any moment, Moran could return and find them together.
Still, this was a place of business, and Decker really had nothing better to do with his time.
He looked at the creamy valley between her breasts again, and her green eyes, and said, “Yes, why don’t we?”
Chapter Thirty-one
The next morning Decker slept late, because he’d had a strenuous time at Crystal’s Palace the night before. Crystal had not been exaggerating her prowess in bed when she’d indicated that she was “the best.”
He could also
afford the luxury of sleeping late because now that he had successfully tracked his prey and the man had no idea he was there, there was no need to rise early.
He had decided to give Moran until the end of the week—three days—to make his move. If nothing happened by then, he’d have to take the man by force and bring him back to the United States. From what he’d been able to gather, there wouldn’t be any great hue and cry once Moran was gone. The man had apparently worn out his welcome here—even with his pretty partner.
Crystal awoke to an empty bed. That hadn’t happened since she and Moran became partners, but she wasn’t sorry.
Moran had obviously not come home last night, but she found that she didn’t mind. The man she had taken up to her room with her had more than made up for Moran’s absence. In fact, he had made her realize that there was life after Moran.
She wondered how soon she’d be able to pay him back now that the business was going well. The original idea for the place was hers, and she really didn’t need Moran anymore. After all, her original plan had been to simply use his money to set the Palace up. It had been ridiculous to start thinking that he might be the man for her.
There were many men out there, and it would be silly to tie herself down to one.
She rose and decided to take a hot bath. She had not yet been able to provide a private bath for herself, so she had been using the one downstairs, which was also used by the rest of the girls. It was a small price to pay, and soon enough she would have her own.
On the way down she thought that maybe if she could find out what Moran had done—why he was hiding out here in Mexico—she could turn him in herself. If what he had done had netted him so much money, there was sure to be some kind of a reward.
Moran had slept at the sheriff’s office.
The argument the night before with Crystal had clinched it for him. All he had done was walk down the stairs, and because Gloria had been behind him Crystal had jumped to conclusions.
Well, Red Moran didn’t need that kind of grief from any woman, and he certainly didn’t need the shit this town was heaping on him.
When he’d gotten to his office last night, he’d found the mayor waiting for him.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Mayor?”
“Sheriff—uh, this is very difficult for me to say.”
“Well, just spit it out all at once, Mayor. That’s usually the best way.”
“The town council and I have, uh, reconsidered our position on your standing as sheriff.”
“Is that a fact?”
“Si, we think that it would be better for everyone—especially the town—if we held an open election. Of course, you would be free to run…”
“So you’d like me to give you back my badge?”
“Si, if you, uh…would.”
“Well, I won’t.”
“Señor, for the good of the town—”
“You and the council are upset about my extra business activities in town, Mayor. That is, you’re mad because you’re not getting as much of my money as you used to get. I was naive to think that you would have some other reason for welcoming me into your town, and for making me sheriff. Well, for better or for worse, I’m your sheriff.”
“Señor,” the mayor said, with more backbone than Moran would have given him credit for, “the town council can take your badge away from you.”
“I happen to know that you and the council are deadlocked on that question, Mayor—and I’m the tie-breaking vote. Guess which way I’d go.”
Moran sat behind his desk at that point, laced his fingers behind his head and said, “Come back and see me when you get one more vote.”
After that the mayor left, dragging his tail between his legs because his bluff had not worked…
Still, Moran decided, it was time to move on, and sometime in the next few days he’d make his move. First he had to decide just how much he wanted to leave Crystal. After all, the business had been started with his money.
And the other thing he had to do before he left was get that blonde, Gloria, into bed.
Gloria woke up and could still smell old Mr. Velasquez. She decided to go down and have a hot bath before sitting down to take stock and formulate her plans.
She had been in Mexico long enough.
Gilberto and Raquel gave their horses to one of the men and went into the cantina. It did not serve liquor that early, but they were more interested in food than liquor.
They had camped an hour outside of town last night because they wanted time to look the town over. To this end they had sent in one of their men—Juan—to look around. He had returned late with the news that the town had one sheriff, and apparently no deputies, and the sheriff was rarely seen on the street. At first light they had mounted up and ridden in, and now they’d have breakfast sitting at a real table rather than around a fire.
From where they had camped they had easily picked out the whorehouse. It was the building that was most lit, and had the most traffic in and out.
“I am surprised you were able to contain yourself last night,” Raquel said after they had ordered breakfast.
“What do you mean?”
“I thought you would run right down to that whorehouse the first chance you saw.”
“My sister, I am not controlled by animal lust. Besides, tonight will be soon enough.”
“First we must find out if Decker has been here, or is still here—and if he is here we must not be seen.”
“He will recognize either of us, but perhaps not the others.”
“We will see, Gilberto.”
When Gloria reached the bathroom she found that Crystal was already there, sitting in one of the two tubs.
“Oh, sorry,” she said, starting to back out.
“There’s another tub, Gloria,” Crystal said. “You can come in and use it.”
“I wouldn’t want to intrude—”
“It’s no intrusion, really.”
Gloria came in, wondering what Crystal had on her mind that she was being so accommodating.
Gloria heated her own water, filled the tub, and then took off her robe. She was aware of Crystal’s appraising look as she stepped into the tub.
“You have a lovely body you know,” Crystal said.
Uncomfortable with the compliment from another woman, Gloria simply said, “Thank you.”
“You’re not like most of the whores here, Gloria.”
“What do you mean?”
“Carmen, Rosa and the others, they’re all doing this because there’s nothing else they can do. You, on the other hand, are a lot smarter that they are.”
Gloria smiled thinly.
“That’s not really saying that much, Miss Crystal.”
Crystal threw her head back and laughed.
“Don’t I know it. You know, you and I are the only non-Mexicans here. Maybe we could become friends.”
Gloria doubted that, but said, “I think I would like that.”
“There’s something you should know about me and Red Moran, then.”
“I know he’s your man, and I wouldn’t—”
“That’s just it,” Crystal said. “He’s my partner, Gloria, but he’s not my man. If you want him, you’re welcome to him.”
Gloria frowned.
“You’re from Texas, aren’t you?” Crystal continued.
“Yes.”
“Did you ever hear of Moran there?”
So that’s what she was after. She was trying to find out Moran’s background.
“No,” Gloria lied, “I never heard of him until I reached here. Why?”
“Oh, no reason,” Crystal said, soaping herself, “no reason at all…”
Chapter Thirty-two
Decker woke and walked to the window. He opened it and took a deep breath. This, he thought, smells like a town, and he found he missed the fresh smell of the Rio del Gato.
Staring out the window he saw three men walking from the hotel to the cantina, as if they had jus
t checked in and were now on their way to get a drink. He almost thought nothing of it when he frowned and took a second look.
If he was not mistaken, those were the same three men he and Jose had knocked unconscious in the livery—Gilberto Diaz’s men. Had he seen any of them alone he would not have recognized them, but all three together were hard to miss.
So, in addition to having Moran in town, he also had those three. Could Gilberto and Raquel be far behind?
It wasn’t that big of a surprise that they had been able to escape from Jose. After all, he wasn’t exactly the model of an efficient lawman. The question this brought up, however, was whether or not their presence here in San Louisa was a coincidence.
He thought not.
How they had found him he did not know, but the fact that they had bothered could only have been fuelled by a desire for revenge.
Things were about to get much more complicated than he needed.
Chapter Thirty-three
Before meeting Gilberto and Raquel at the cantina, Juan, Martinez and Orlando went to the hotel to secure three rooms. Gilberto and Raquel would each have their own, while the three men would be forced to share one.
While waiting for their rooms, Juan went through the register and saw Decker’s name. This was the news he gave the bandit leader and his sister, now.
“Then he is here,” Gilberto said.
“How much further will we have to follow him to find the man he seeks?” Raquel asked. She looked at Juan and asked, “When did he arrive?”
“Yesterday.”
She looked at her brother.
“If he is not leaving today, then he has found the man he is hunting for.”
“Here, in this town?”
“Yes.”
“Then we have them both.”
“All we must do is identify the man,” Raquel said, “and then we will no longer need Decker.”
“Identifying the man should not be difficult,” Gilberto said. “He will also be a gringo, and there are not many here.”
“The sheriff,” Juan said.
“What?” Gilberto asked.
“The sheriff is a gringo.”
The Lawman Page 10