Free This Gun for Hire by Jo Goodman Page B

released her father and went to stand in front of Quill. She extended her arm to shake hands with him. “Thank you, Mr. McKenna. I am confident that you will persuade Miss Nash to come to Stonechurch. When you are not kowtowing to my father, it is your particular talent to be persuasive.”
    Quill released her hand. “Thank you. I think.”
    “Oh, it was a compliment.” Turning, she fled the room, pausing only to slide the pocket doors closed behind her.
    Ramsey Stonechurch was the first to fill the silence that followed. “What happened here?”
    Quill avoided a direct reply. “What do you think happened?”
    “I think I was outmaneuvered.”
    “She is your daughter,” said Quill. “There is reason to be proud.”
    “She was good, wasn’t she? I did not suspect that she could be so forward. I believe she must have practiced.” He did not require a response and did not wait for one. “And then there is you. What do you have to say for yourself?”
    “You should not have told her that I suspected it was a young man keeping her here, and you definitely should not have commanded me to sit as if I were your pet monkey. I will reluctantly tolerate the first, but speak to me again like that, and I will be gone.”
    “Seems to me you had your revenge. You forced my hand with this Calico Nash business.”
    “Believe that if you like, but we both know you were considering the merits of it when Ann interrupted.”
    “I was in full agreement that protection for Ann is necessary but questioning the suitability of someone like Calico Nash.”
    Quill regarded Ramsey Stonechurch for several long moments, weighing his words, judging their consequence before he spoke. “This needs to be said because I cannot tell if you are denying yourself the truth or only denying it to me. Ann does not need someone
like
Calico Nash. She needs Calico Nash. Ann has provided us with the perfect cover for Miss Nash. You see that, don’t you?”
    Ramsey did not respond. Instead, he raised his pocket watch, examined it, and turned the face so Quill could see. “The bank, remember? My appointment with Raymond Garrison. I need to get to the bank.”
    “Did you hear me, Mr. Stonechurch?”
    “I did indeed.” Ramsey stood, put away the pocket watch, and nodded once at Quill. “You told my daughter you would take care of finding Miss Nash. God help you if you don’t. God help you if she doesn’t agree. I never asked you if you were a praying man, but if you’re not, you should be.”
    November 1888
    Falls Hollow, Colorado
    Joe Pepper looked up as the door to his office was pushed open. A blast of cold air swept into the room along with an eddy of snowflakes and Calico Nash. He rose from behind his desk as she stomped clumps of wet snow from her boots. Her spurs jangled musically. She was wearing a heavy coat with the lambskin collar turned up around her ears and a green wool scarf wrapped around it to keep the collar in place. Her black Stetson with the telltale braided leather bandwas pulled low over her forehead. Her buckskin trousers were tucked into her boots. She crossed her arms and slapped at her shoulders, dislodging more snow from her coat.
    “Put yourself by the stove,” Joe said. “Coffee?”
    “Yes. No need to trouble yourself. I’ll get it. You get the whiskey.” She tore off her gloves, shoved them in her pockets, and held her hands out to the stove. After turning them over a few times, she took down a cup from the shelf by the stove and poured coffee. She did not drink immediately, using the cup instead to continue to warm her hands. When Joe added whiskey, she thanked him. “I don’t remember the last time I was this cold,” she told him. “I suppose I have to count that as a good thing, else I would never go out in the snow again.”
    Joe nodded. “I know exactly what you mean.” He stayed at her side until she sipped and pronounced the whiskey to coffee ratio a good one. He added a little whiskey to his own cup