“Yeah, yeah, okay, Ollie,” Kendall said. “I’ll go out the back. Just let me check her ropes.”
“Just get it done,” the bartender said, and left.
* * *
Clint was able to make out most of their conversation. Kendall was going to try to move Eve. But as Clint put his eye to the window again, Kendall seemed to be in no hurry to leave. He leaned over Eve and put his hands on her. Clint could see now that her eyes were open. Kendall undid the buttons on her shirt and stuck one hand inside. He was fondling her breasts.
* * *
“You and me are gonna get better acquainted, girlie,” Kendall told her, pinching one of her big nipples hard. “Yeah, I’m gonna take you someplace private and then we’re gonna get along just fine.”
He got both hands in her shirt so he could squeeze her big breasts. If Ollie hadn’t busted in on him, he was going to rape her. Now he was going to have to wait for that pleasure. And what did it matter? How could it be rape when she was a whore to begin with?
He pulled his hands out of her shirt, but left it unbuttoned. He checked her bonds to be sure she was securely tied. Then he turned and headed for the back door.
* * *
Clint considered several options. He thought of grabbing Kendall when he came out, or of simply knocking him out. In the end he decided to let the man leave, then go inside and rescue Eve. It would be simpler and cleaner to get in, untie her, take her to Danny’s cab, and then take her home.
He hid himself behind a pile of garbage before Kendall came out. When he did, the man made his way down the alley and onto the street. If he was going to a livery stable a few blocks away, Clint didn’t have all that much time. He was going to have to kick the door in, and hope that the burly bartender didn’t hear it. If he did, and he came running, he’d deal with it then.
He went to the door, tried the doorknob again, then pressed his shoulder to the door, just to satisfy himself that it was too solid to open that way.
In the end he backed away, then lifted his foot and kicked out at the door just above the doorknob.
THIRTY-SEVEN
“What was that?” Ollie said.
He was handing a beer to one of the two customers who were in there every day.
“What was what?” the man asked. “I didn’t hear nothing.”
Ollie stared at him. The man’s hands were opening and closing, waiting for his beer. Ollie finally handed it to him.
“Yeah,” he said, “I didn’t hear nothin’ either.”
That was going to be his story.
* * *
Clint found himself in a hallway. He paused, waiting, listening to see if anyone was going to come running. When it was clear no one was, he turned to the door on his right. Hoping he wouldn’t also have to kick that one in, he turned the doorknob. It was unlocked. He opened the door and rushed in.
* * *
Eve had given up hope. After all this time of being tied up, waiting to be saved, she finally realized nobody was coming. Who would? Only Adrienne would miss her when she arrived, and what could she do? She was a stranger in town. Even if she went to the police, what could she tell them?
Tears came to her eyes. She could still feel Kendall’s hands on her skin. He’d pinched her nipples until tears came to her eyes. Sure, she was a whore, and she’d had men’s hands on her, but they had paid for the right, and she had granted it. This was totally different.
This was being violated, and she knew the end—first rape, then death—was coming.
Until the door opened and a man she’d ever seen before came in.
* * *
Clint saw Eve’s eyes widen. Of course, she had no idea he was there to help her. He could have been as bad, or worse, as Jake Kendall.
He crouched by the bed. Her hair was lank, there were dark smudges under her eyes, and she smelled as if she hadn’t bathed in some time. She was as beautiful as her sister, though. He spoke to her in low tones.
“Eve, my name’s Clint Adams. I’m a friend of Adrienne’s. She sent me to find you. Do you understand?”
Eve nodded.
“I’m going to take off your gag. Don’t yell out, okay?”
She nodded again, and he slipped the gag from her mouth.
“They’re coming back,” she whispered.
“I know. I heard them. I was right outside the window. I’m going to get you out of here and back home.”
“Then you better hurry!”
He untied her and got her to her feet. Her legs gave out but he grabbed her before she could fall.
“My legs are asleep,” she said. “I’ve been tied up a long time.”
“I’ve got you,” he said. “Just relax.” He took his gun from his holster and handed it to her. “Hang on to that. If anything happens, shoot.”
“Don’t worry,” she said. “I will.”
He lifted her into his arms, carried her out both doors and down the alley to the street.
“Put me down,” she said. “I can walk now.”
He set her down and let her lean against the building. She gave him back his gun. He peered around the corner, saw Danny’s cab several storefronts away. There was no sign of Jake Kendall, and no one had come out of the saloon.
“Okay,” he said. “We’re going to walk down the street to a cab I have waiting.”
“Can we run?” she asked.
“That would attract too much attention, Eve,” Clint said, holstering his gun. “Let’s just walk, okay?”
“You’re the hero,” she said. “Whatever you say.”
“Let’s go.”
* * *
Danny turned at that moment and looked down the street. He saw Clint and a woman walking toward him. They were moving quickly, and it seemed as if Clint was supporting her. He grabbed his reins and started backing up his horse.
* * *
Clint saw Danny backing toward them, cutting down the distance they had to walk. Good man, he thought.
“Get in!” he said to Eve as they reached the cab. He practically lifted her and put her in the cab, then climbed on behind her.
“Danny, Eve,” Clint introduced, “Eve, Danny. Drive, boy!”
Danny flicked the reins at his horse and they went off at a gallop.
THIRTY-EIGHT
Danny drove them to her house, where Adrienne was still waiting.
“What if they come after me?” Eve asked.
“They’ll have to go through me,” Clint said. “And the police. Don’t worry. You’re safe now.”
She covered her face.
“I have to tell my sister what I am,” she said. “What I’ve become.”
“Adrienne’s not going to care, Eve,” Clint said. “She’s just going to be glad to see you alive.”
She dropped her hands and looked at him.
“How do you know my sister?”
“We met on the train to Austin,” he said. “She had nobody else in town to turn to, so I decided to help.”
“Well,” she said, “I’m very glad that you did, Mr. Adams. I’m so very glad that you did.”
Danny pulled to a stop in front of the house, and Clint helped Eve down.
“Thank you, Danny,” she said. “Please, come inside.”
Danny looked at Clint, who nodded.
“Yes, ma’am.”
They walked her up to the front door and Clint knocked. When Adrienne opened the door, she looked completely drained of energy. But when she saw her sister, her face lit up.
“Oh my God, Eve!”
She grabbed her sister and the two women embraced, and cried.
“Let’s get inside,” Clint suggested, gently pushing them both in. Danny came in behind them and closed the door.
“How�
�but where—what happened?” Adrienne was asking.
“Your friend, Mr. Adams, found me,” Eve said. “I was being held against my will, tied up. They were going to . . . to kill me.”
“But . . . why?”
“It’s probably a long story,” Clint said. “Let’s sit down so she can tell it.”
“Can I have some coffee?” Eve asked.
“Of course, dear,” Adrienne said. “I’ll make it. Clint, will you and Danny stay?”
“I will,” Clint said, “but Danny’s going for the police.”
“I am?”
“Yes, you are,” Clint said. “Go and find Detective Taylor and bring him back here so we can tell him the whole story.”
“But . . . do we know the whole story?” Danny asked.
“We will.”
* * *
Danny left to fetch the police. Adrienne made a pot of coffee, brought it and cups into the living room. While she was doing that, Eve had washed up and changed her clothes. Her hair was still lifeless and dirty, but she looked and smelled a lot better.
Adrienne poured the coffee and handed them the cups.
“All right,” Clint said. “Why don’t you tell us what happened, Eve?”
“First,” she said, “I have to confess to you, Adrienne. I—I have been working as a . . . a prostitute.”
“I suspected as much, darling,” Adrienne said. “I mean, given what we had heard while we were looking for you.”
“But not a whore, Addy,” Ever said. “Not a common whore. I set myself up in business, catering to the needs of gentlemen. Never working the streets, or the cribs.”
Clint could tell from Adrienne’s look, and her silence, that she wasn’t sure she could accept this about her sister.
“Eve,” he said, “I think this part can wait. We have to find out who kidnapped you, and why.”
She looked at him, then nodded her head.
“We know about Hamilton Kane and Arnold Van Eyck, and we know both of them were sent to you by Harold Wheeler, the aide to the lieutenant governor.”
“Wheeler,” she said. “Yes, he sent for me, and when I arrived, I was attacked from behind. I woke up tied and gagged.”
“Do you know why?”
“No,” she said, “I was never told. Wheeler came to see me while I was tied up, that animal Kendall came to paw me.”
“What about the big bartender?”
“He never touched me.”
“Eve,” Clint said, “there must have been something you saw or heard that made them grab you. Since Wheeler’s involved, I think it may have something to do with the reason I’m here.”
“Which is?”
“The lieutenant governor hired me to build a special gun for the governor.”
She laughed.
“Edgerton,” she said. “He’s the worst of them all.”
“He was a customer of yours?”
“My best customer,” she said, “and he sent me all the others.”
“So he was behind grabbing you?” Clint asked.
“I don’t know,” Eve said. “I only saw Kendall and Wheeler, but Wheeler works for Edgerton.”
“And Edgerton is your best customer.”
“Right.”
“I don’t understand,” Adrienne said.
“I don’t either,” Clint said, “but I’m going to have to go and find out. Meanwhile, you two are going to stay here.”
“But . . . what if they come back for me?” Eve asked.
“I won’t leave until Danny gets back with the police.”
“Okay,” Adrienne said, “then we’ll be safe . . . but what about you?”
“I’m going to get the whole story behind this,” Clint said. “I don’t like being used.”
“Then the reason you’re here is connected to Eve being kidnapped?” Adrienne asked.
“Everything is connected,” Clint said. “There is no coincidence.”
THIRTY-NINE
When Danny got back, he had not only Detective Taylor with him, but two uniformed officers. Clint suggested to Taylor that he put one man on the front door, and one on the back.
“What for?” Taylor asked.
“Do it, and I’ll explain it to you,” Clint said.
Taylor posted the men as suggested, and then Clint told him the story.
Taylor looked at Adrienne and Eve, still sitting together on the sofa, then at Clint.
“You’re trying to tell me the governor is involved in this?” he asked.
“The lieutenant governor,” Clint said.
“That’s just as bad.”
They didn’t tell Taylor that Eve was a prostitute, or that Edgerton was her best customer.
Clint pulled Taylor to one side, vaguely aware that the sisters were having a discussion.
“I have to go and talk to Edgerton.”
“I can’t let you do that,” Taylor said. “It’s my job.”
“Maybe,” Clint said, “we should do it together. Your authority can get us into the building.”
Taylor frowned at Clint.
“Am I going to lose my job?”
“Maybe,” Clint said. “Or maybe we’ll just both get killed.”
“I think I’d rather lose my job.”
“Clint!” Adrienne called.
“In a minute, Adrienne.”
“No, you have to listen.” She got up off the sofa and grabbed his arm.
“What is it?”
“I just told Eve that we talked to her neighbors on both sides.”
“Yes, so?”
“Mrs. Hellman is my neighbor,” Eve said, standing up.
“So?” Clint asked.
“There’s nobody living on the other side,” she said. “That house has been empty for months!”
* * *
Taylor and Clint went next door, where he and Adrienne had talked to a man.
“I don’t know who he is,” Clint said as they approached the door.
“You didn’t get a name?”
“It didn’t seem important at the time,” Clint said. “We just questioned him about Eve.”
They got to the door and knocked. There was no answer.
“We have to get inside,” Clint said.
Taylor took out this gun, shattered the glass, reached inside, and opened the door. They went inside and found an empty house. Completely empty—no furniture, no nothing but dust—and some footprints in the dust.
“Well,” Taylor said, “whoever it was, he’s gone.”
“But what was he doing here?” Clint asked.
“Watching you and Adrienne?”
“Maybe waiting for Eve.”
“But Eve had already been taken.”
“Then,” Taylor said, “he was waiting for Adrienne. They knew she was coming to town, and that she’d start looking for her sister.”
“But I showed up with her and ruined their plans, or they would have grabbed her, too.”
“Looks like you saved both sisters,” Taylor said.
“But what else are they planning?” Clint asked.
“Whatever it is, it involved you,” Taylor said, “or was meant to involve you.”
“Did they really want me to build a gun for the governor?” Clint wondered aloud.
“There’s somebody else we should be asking that question of,” Taylor said.
FORTY
Detective Taylor and Clint went to the Capitol Building in Danny’s cab. They approached the front doors and the ever-present armed soldiers.
Taylor wasted no time identifying himself.
“Detective Taylor,” he said, showing them his badge. “I need to see the governor.�
��
“Do you have an appointment?” one soldier asked.
“No,” Taylor said before Clint could lie. “But we need to see him.”
Both soldiers looked at Clint, who didn’t recognize either one of them. Therefore, neither of them had seen him during his other visits.
“I’ll have to check,” one soldier finally said.
“Do us a favor,” Clint said. “Check with the governor’s office, not the lieutenant governor, or his aide.”
The soldier hesitated a moment, but didn’t comment before he went inside.
Clint and Taylor walked away from the other soldier so he couldn’t hear.
“If he goes to Wheeler or Edgerton, we’ll never get to the governor,” Clint said.
“I suppose I should have gone to the chief,” Taylor said.
“Or I could have gone through Captain Monk of the Texas Rangers,” Clint said. “Let’s wait and see. We might have to do both those things.”
They waited about fifteen minutes before the soldier returned, pulling the door of the Capitol securely closed behind him.
“The governor can’t see you now,” he said.
“Who did you talk to?” Clint asked.
“Sir,” the soldier said, “I did what I could. You’ll have to leave now.”
Clint and Taylor exchanged a glance. Clint felt if he made a move, he could not depend on the detective to back his play. He just didn’t know the man well enough.
“All right,” Taylor said. “Thank you.”
They went back down the stairs and walked to Danny’s cab.
“Okay,” Clint said, “let’s each try what we said. You talk to the chief and I’ll talk to Monk. Maybe we can get one of them on our side.”
“Your cab can drop us both,” Taylor said.
“I’ll see if I can get Monk to come to the police station with me,” Clint said. “If we put the two of them together, maybe we can make something happen.”
* * *
Clint had Danny drive him to the headquarters of the Texas Rangers, where he found Captain Monk behind his desk.
“This can’t be good news,” Monk said as Clint entered.
“It isn’t, I’m afraid,” Clint said.
Monk sighed. “Well, have a seat and tell me what’s on your mind.”
The Governor's Gun Page 10
