Free Blood Ties by Quincy J. Allen Page B

have a way with that fella,” Cole said, smiling.
    “I s’pose,” Jake offered slowly. “You just gotta know how to bribe him is all.” He spurred Lumpy into a fast walk, wincing slightly at every bounce. Cole fell in beside him. “Besides, most of the mean musta’ come out when he put you into the wall.” Jake winked. “Much obliged.” Jake tipped his hat to Cole in gratitude for his partner’s sacrifice.
    “I’d say ‘anytime,’ but I’d be lyin’.”
    “Don’t blame ya one bit,” Jake replied.
    “So, Jake …” Cole asked slowly.
    “Yeah?”
    “Ummm … you know the Tong is probably gonna try and stick sharp things in us the second they see us, right?”
    Jake nodded slowly, a thoughtful expression on his face. “Look on the bright side,” he said way too easily. “At least we’ll know who’s trying to kill us this time.”
    Cole wanted to argue—tried real hard in his head—but he came up short, which made him feel even worse.

Chapter Seven – Consarned Contraptions
    “I was always grateful for the clockwork that gave me my life back, but I can sure as hell see why normal folks hated machiners.”
    ~ Jake Lasater
    Midday sun beat down on Jake and Cole as they rode along the trail leading into Denver. Jake shifted his butt in the large saddle strapped behind Lumpy’s hump, wishing the Good Lord had invented larger horses. Lumpy was not at all well suited to riding, but Jake didn’t like putting his clockwork weight on a horse. It made him feel guilty. Besides, having a Brahma around came in handy from time to time … like when you had to drag a twelve-foot-tall monster up a mountain valley for instance … but that’s another story.
    “So, what’s the plan with Qi?” Cole asked. He eyed Jake from behind his tinted brass goggles and pushed his hat a bit further back on his head.
    “Well, she’s a tinker there in Chinatown … you may recall a shop right down the street from Hang Ah’s where you and I met.” Jake shifted again in the saddle, relieving some of the pressure on his sore butt.
    “Qi’s Emporium of Wondrous Power?” Cole asked, impressed and surprised all at once.
    “That’s the one,” Jake confirmed. “That’s hers, and it’s where we’re headed.”
    “You know, I actually met her … played cards with her at Hang Ah’s, in fact.”
    “Chinatown ain’t that big,” Jake said with a smile.
    “She took me for a hundred and fifty dollars playing five-card one night. Hell of a player.…” Cole slid Jake a suspicious sidelong glance. “And drop-dead gorgeous as I recall.” Cole had loaded the observation with an accusation of impropriety and hit Jake with both barrels.
    “That she is,” Jake agreed with a tone that implied Guilty as charged.
    “There wasn’t a man in Hang Ah’s who didn’t want to walk out the door with her on his arm.…” Cole’s voice trailed off, and he looked at Jake from the corner of his eye. “So … uhh … how well do you know her?” he asked with as much innuendo as he could muster.
    Jake grinned like the Cheshire Cat and chuckled slyly. After a mischievous pause he said, “A gentleman doesn’t kiss, or anything else for that matter, and tell.” He winked at Cole. “I will say we did more than play cards.”
    “Oh, you dog!” Cole almost shouted. “And since when are you a gentleman?”
    “I can be,” Jake wanted to defend his honor, but that would be even more hypocritical than taking the moral high ground with Skeeter. “You’ve just never seen me at my best.”
    “I suppose not. All I’ve ever seen is the dreg I’m lookin’ at now.”
    “Dreg?” Jake cried, sounding injured. “I’ll have you know I’ve courted some of the finest ladies ever to grace God’s green Earth … on both sides of the Mississippi!”
    “Yeah, right,” Cole replied dryly.
    Jake’s gaze drifted away from Cole and focused on something in the distance. “What the hell is that?” He nodded in that