Free Under a Texas Star by Alison Bruce Page A

prefer privacy.
    "So, what can I do for you, Mr. Winters?"
    "Keep the peace in Fortuna," the older man said with a negligent wave. "Discourage bank robbers, that sort of thing."
    Winters had a pleasant face and an easy smile. Jase placed him around fifty years of age, mostly by the lines around his eyes and the steel gray hair. Otherwise, he was trim enough for a younger man.
    "Coffee?" Jase offered.
    "I think dinner would be more in order. That's why I'm here. My wife is expectin g me home or I'd invite you out. I reckoned you needed help getting free if you were ever going to eat today―or do anything else. Perhaps tomorrow we could meet?"
    "A pleasure, sir."
    "Good," Winters said. "Now, I do think we better leave through the back, d on't you?"
    Jase locked up and grabbed his rifle and a box of ammunition before following Mr. Winters out the back door. Then they shook hands and went their separate ways.
    The banker continued down The Avenue, presumably to his home, while Jase cut through The Haven's backyard to the stables.
    "You just missed Landers," the stable boy said.
    Leaving a message for his erstwhile assistant to join him at The Oasis, Jase hurried across the road before he could be intercepted by anyone else.

 
    Chapter 6
     
    After leaving a message for Jase, Marly headed over to The Oasis. The cowboys had offered her sandwiches at The Haven, but she didn't feel comfortable about accepting when she only had a few cents to contribute to the bill. Watching them eat, however, had given her an appetite.
    The hardened gamblers were already in the casino. Otherwise, it was quiet. A couple of ranchers sat near the windows and a lone gentleman in a black frock coat sat alone, as far away as possible from the other tables. There was a slightly sinister look to the man.
    Squinty eyes followed Marly across the room, inspiring her to make a beeline toward the bar. There, at least, was a familiar face.
    "Waiting for the marshal?" Arnie asked.
    She nodded, glancing over her shoulder at the lone man.
    "Oh, don't worry about Pervis," Arnie said, smiling. "He's just curious. Trouble is, he lost his spectacles a couple of weeks back and he don't see too good. Been waiting for his new pair to come in by mail. Hasn't done his business much good."
    "What does he do?"
    The bartender rubbed his stubbly chin. "He's the barber."
    Marly stifled a laugh.
    "Appreciated your help this morning," he said. "Why don't you set up here at the bar and I'll see if I can't round up a couple of sandwiches for you. My treat."
    Her stomach growled in response.
     
    Jase walked into The Oasis and found his protégée on a bar stool, a mug of coffee in her hand and a mound of sandwiches stacked in front of her.
    Marly saw him approaching and smiled.
    Arnie waved. "Want a coffee, Marshal? Or a beer?"
    "Coffee is fine. You know, Landers, you're a little young to be hanging out at bars."
    "Oh, he's fine, Marshal." Arnie set a mug down in front of Jase. "This time of day The Oasis is as respectable as it gets, excepting the casino side. I won't let him drift over there."
    Jase wasn't that concerned about Marly's safety in this familiar place, but he felt it was part of his role to play the father figure in public.
    "Where's your carbine?" he asked his charge.
    "Checked it with me, Marshal," Arnie replied. "House rules. Lawmen excepted, of course."
    "Arnie's been telling me about Fortuna," Marly said, grinning.
    "Really," Jase replied, raising a brow in Arnie's direction.
    The bartender left to sell more drinks to the gamblers.
    "Did you know that The Oasis is built on the ruins of a Spanish mission?" she asked. "The mission was destroyed by Apaches, along with the original Haven, which means that The Haven and the mission are the oldest buildings in the settlement because the dance hall came later."
    Jase had to work at keeping his smile from betraying his amusement at her newfound enthusiasm for Fortuna.
    "Anyway, that was the last time Fortuna was