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The inside of the building was just as he suspected. He’d seen a high-end whore house a time or two when he lived in Texas and this one catered to a higher class of patrons. The men present weren’t the average cowpoke. The ones not in suits were cleaner than the average saddle bum.
He was seen almost immediately. A woman in a flame red dress walked his way. She was petite in stature, her eyes a bright shade of blue and she wore so much face paint she looked ridiculous. She smiled as she greeted him.
“Well, you look like you’re in need of a little tender loving care.” She looped her arm through his and pulled him deeper into the room. “Let’s find someone to take care of you.” She raised an arm, motioning to a brunette standing close by to come over.
“I’m not looking for company. I’m here to see Jack and get my wife.”
The woman stiffened at his side but her smile remained. “Jack who?”
Something in her eyes told him she knew exactly the Jack he was referring to. He removed her arm from around his and smiled down at her as big as she was smiling at him and said, “If I don’t see Jack or Alex in front of me in the next five minutes, I’ll tear this place apart and anyone who gets in my way now go find them. Now.”
She didn’t hesitate, motioning the girl away before scurrying toward the back of the room where a crowd gathered around a small table. Those standing near the table shifted when Jack stood and looked his way.
He took his sweet time crossing the room, that smug grin on his face the whole time. Jesse laid his hand on the butt of his pistol, Jack’s gaze following.
“Now you wouldn’t shoot me with so many witnesses would you, hero?”
“Where’s Alex?”
Jack shrugged and lifted the cigar in his hand to his mouth. “Can’t say that I know at the moment.” He took a drag from the cigar and blew the smoke out. “She’s around here somewhere. You got my money?”
“I want to see Alex.”
“When I see greenbacks, you can see that pretty little wife of yours.”
His fingers twitched. He wanted to pull his pistol and force him to hand Alex over but knew things would end up badly for all of them. He ground his teeth and stared at Jack until the hatred he felt crawled across his skin like a living thing. “I’ll be back with your money and Alex better not have a mark on her.”
That insufferable grin of Jack’s was the only thing the man offered. Jesse turned to the door, pausing to look around the room again before leaving. Owen said Jack forced Alex to work the room. What exactly was it she was being forced to do? The possibilities made his blood boil.
Twenty-Nine
She was done. Finished with this whole ordeal. Alex started down the stairs and saw Jack staring at the door as it closed. She reached the bottom landing and called his name.
He turned, something like surprise showing in his eyes before it vanished. “Just the lady I was looking for.”
Alex lifted her chin a notch. “I’m leaving.”
He raised an eyebrow, one corner of his mouth quirking up. “Is that so?”
“Yes. I’m through with this entire mess. You can’t keep me here. It’s illegal to keep someone against their will and I’ll scream the rafters down and let everyone three streets over know exactly what is going on in here if you don’t let me go.”
He walked to her so slowly it felt as if she were being stalked by some dangerous prey. The look in his eyes changed as he progressed. Gone was the surprised amusement, replaced with a deadly intent she’d not seen from him before. “You will do exactly what I say or you’ll live to regret it. Now go serve your drinks like a good girl and I promise you the moment your hero gets back I’ll let you see him.”
Her hero? Who was he talking about? Jesse? “What do you mean, when he gets back?” She looked toward the door. Was that who just left? Was Jesse here?
She lunged for the door but Jack caught her by the arm before she took two steps. “Not so fast sweetheart.”
“Is he here?”
“He’s off to get my money so let’s not distract him from his task.”
She jerked in his grasp and yelled. “Let me go!” When several men looked her way, she did it again. “Someone help me! I’m being held prisoner here.”
She didn’t realize Jack’s intent when he raised his arm but when his palm landed on her cheek hard enough to rattle her teeth, she gasped as her eyes started to water. She pulled away and he let her. He looked as surprised as she felt and she didn’t wait around for him to say anything else to her, turning and running back up the stairs to her room and slamming the door behind her. She rushed to the window, staring out at the crowd below and searched the bodies for Jesse. Frantic minutes of looking and she finally saw him. He was on his horse headed for the far end of town. Raising her fists, she hit the window as hard as she dared. “Jesse! I’m here!” She smacked and beat on the window and turned to look for something to smash it with. There was nothing but the chair. She reached for it, raising it from the floor as the door opened. It was Jack again.
He said nothing, his gaze meeting hers before finding the chair. She lowered it back to the floor as he looked back up at her. “I came to apologize for hitting you. That was never my intention so please, forgive me.”
“Go to hell.”
