Whiskey Rose (Fallen) (5 page)

“
Why did
n’
t you tell me you were mixed up with them
?
” Her head snapped up and she glared at him.

“
I am not mixed up with them
.
”

“
I am looking for a murderer. I need to know every criminal type that comes around here
.
”

“
Well then I would suggest you go out and investigate instead of getting in my way here
.
” She began angrily scooping up glass. He was angry but he knew she was right. He did
n’
t say anything he just stood and walked away. Just as he reached the doorway he heard her gasp. His instincts made him turn back.

Rose felt the sting and gasped. She shut her eyes tightly and surged to her feet. She did
n’
t look at it but it was too late she could smell it. She focused on getting back to her room. She walked straight for the door she was dizzy and the edges of her vision grew dark and closed in on her until it was all she could see.

Matt watched her weave and stumble toward him. She was holding her hand down at her side and he could see the blood running down her fingertips. He stepped toward her just as she stumbled and fell forward. He jumped and barely caught her. It would have been funny if she was
n’
t so completely unconscious. He swept her up and carried her to her room.

Rose blinked and blinked again before she sat up. She looked at her hand it was bandaged, there was no sign of blood.

“
You okay
?
”

“
I’
m fine
,
” she mumbled.  He watched her for a moment as she gathered her wits
.“
Did you bring me in here
?
”

“
Yeah. The cut was
n’
t bad. No stitches required
.
”

“
Did anyone see you
?
” she demanded.

“
No. Wha
t’
s the big deal? A lot of people have a problem with blood
.
” Her gaze focused on him.

“
You ca
n’
t tell anyone
.
”

“
Wha
t’
s the big deal
?
”

“
Promise me you wo
n’
t tell
,
” she insisted.

“
Alright I wo
n’
t tell anyone
.
”

“
Promise
.
”

“
I promise
.
”
 
She finally seemed to relax a bit and pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead.

“
Oh
,
” She groaned
.“
Did I hit my head
?
”

“
No you just fainted
.
”

“
Well at least I did
n’
t vomit this time
,
” she mumbled and he smiled.

“
Yes, that would have been much worse
.
”

Rose surged to her feet and headed for the door. When she reached it she paused she looked back over her shoulder at him.

“
Thanks
,
” she mumbled. She did
n’
t wait for him to respond she just walked out. He hesitated and allowed himself just a moment to smile while she could
n’
t see him. She despised weakness, she must really hate that she had this one.

When he caught up to her in the kitchen she was
n’
t alone. Several of the other women were already in there.

“
Well i
t’
s nice to see that something can make you sleep in
.
” Katrina commented and the others giggled. Rose gave the expected smile but she did
n’
t correct the woman and tell her she had already been up for hours.  In fact she poured herself a cup of coffee. Furthering the impression that she had just gotten out of bed.

“I’m surprised you’re up now. If my husband showed up out of the blue I wouldn’t
come out for a week.” Dixie laughed but she wasn’t looking at Rose, she was looking at him. He kept his face neutral not reacting to the suggestion in her eyes. Rose didn’t respond to that either. She took a sip of the coffee then she walked to the door. She handed him the cup on the way out and he smiled. He took a drink and then followed her. He saw her stop at the doorway to the saloon and draw a deep breath. She walked slowly in and he could tell she was bracing herself to see the blood in the floor. When she didn’t find any she turned back and looked at him.

“
I did
n’
t figure you would be able to clean it up
.
” He shrugged.

“
I could have
.
” She lifted her chin defiantly
.“
Thank you
,
” she relented and turned away.

Matt stepped out into the bright sunlight and looked around. It was a small town, the kind where everyone knew everyone else’s business. He saw an older woman turn up her nose as she walked past him and figured the Whiskey Rose was only popular with the male population. There wasn’t a lot of activity in the street but there was enough that he didn’t stand out as he walked down the boardwalk. It was like every other small down. It didn’t have that fear that hung in the air when there was there was a killer on the loose. He was fairly certain that half these people didn’t even know someone had been killed. Those that did probably thought it was related to the Saloon, a grudge to be settled.  He walked into the general store and looked around. In a town of this size the general store was always the best source of information.

“
Afternoon
,
” he said, there was a woman in a white apron behind the counter and a man in a white apron sweeping up in the corner.

“
Good afternoon, can I get you something
?
” The woman asked.

“
Just thought
I’
d have a look around
.
” He smiled. She smiled back
.“
This is a nice little town yo
u’
ve got here
.
”

“
We like it. Are you just passing through
?
”

“
Yeah. You get many outlaws up this way
?
”

“
No, we are a pretty quiet town
.
”

“
Really, I thought I read somewhere that this where that standoff happened between the Rangers an
d
… what was his nam
e
… Hardin
?
”

“
Oh yeah that was a couple of years ago, but he never bothered the town. All of his crimes were committed somewhere else. Kind of like those Cannon boys
.
”

“
The Cannon boys do
n’
t bother the town either
.
” Matt glanced at the man sweeping up in the corner as he asked the question.

“
Not the decent folk
.
” The woman said, but Matt could see by the subtle change in the man that there was more to the story.  The Cannon boys were probably shaking down every business in this town.

“
So no shootouts
?
”

“
Not for a while. I think the last time someone was killed was when that whole Hardin thing happened.

People were already arriving when he returned to the saloon. Rose was already behind the bar, Izzy was already dealing cards. He stood there debating where to go. He looked at Rose and saw her drink from the flask he had seen the day before. If she was drinking now it stood to reason the she would be completely drunk before closing. He wondered what she was like drunk. Is that when she let her hair down? Did she still wear that chaste Victorian night gown if she was drunk or did she only wear that for his benefit? Drinking seemed out of character for her. She was so in control of everything in her life. Drinking was like giving up control.

He was lost in his thoughts when a shrill whistle cut into his trance. He looked around for the source of the sound and saw Izzy wave him over.

"Do you know how to deal?"

"Yes."

"Good take my place." He stood up and handed him the deck. Izzy didn't wait for him to respond he just walked away. Matt sat down and began to shuffle the cards.

"What's the game gentlemen?"

Rose watched Izzy walk out of the Saloon into the hall way toward his office and followed him.

"You alright?" she asked.

"Yeah. I'm just tired is all.
" She looked at him for a long moment. He did look tired, in fact he looked more than tired he looked weary.

"Maybe you should take a break. Go spend a few days away from this place."

"I know I just don't want to leave you here alone."

"I can take care of myself. Besides the Ranger is here now."

"You better stop calling him that, you'll blow his cover. You want me to call you Savannah?" he chastised.

"No," s
he snapped glaring at him. "Matt is here," she amended.

"I'll think about it." S
he nodded and turned to go but he stopped her, "How much longer?" She didn't have to ask what he meant she knew.

"If business stays this good, three maybe four months
.
” Izzy nodded and Rose felt strangely uncomfortable
.“
You can run this place when I am gone. You do
n’
t need me
.
”
 
He smiled at her but it did
n’
t make her feel any better.
 “
My original offer still stands. You could come with me
.
”

“
That kind of defeats the purpose. Yo
u’
ll never have a completely new life if you still have me in tow
.
” She did
n’
t bother to argue with him.

“
Get some rest
,
” she said simply and walked away.

Matt barely moved from the card table the whole night. It gave him the chance to evaluate the gamblers at the table but not much else. He scanned the room between each hand but on the whole not much was happening. Rose was behind the bar and the girls were circulating as usual. No one got rowdy and nothing exciting happened. He was beginning to wonder if he was going about this wrong. Maybe this hadn’t been the right place to go undercover. Maybe Benji’s murder had nothing to do with this place.

Izzy had never reappeared after passing off the cards so when Rose began closing up he started picking up the chairs. Rose was writing in a ledger when he returned to the bar.  He took note of every movement as he approached. H
e’
d seen her drink from that flask so many times he was certain she was
n’
t going to make it through the night. Yet here she was moving through her routine as if she had
n’
t had a drop. She must have built up an extreme tolerance.

“
Ho
w‘
bout a drink
?
” he said when he reached the bar.  She looked up at him but did
n’
t say a word. She put a glass on the bar and poured whiskey into it. She started to turn away but he caught the bottle before she did. She looked into his eyes surprised
.“
I meant have a drink with me
.
” She looked into his eyes a moment longer before she relented and retrieved another glass. He picked up the glass and motioned to the nearest table. She sighed but she followed him and sat down at the table.

“
You look tired
,
” he said softly.

“
Boy you really know how to flatter a girl
,
” she said dryly.

“
I did
n’
t mean it like that at all. You ar
e
…”