He could pay a visit to Nate and Ruthann, but he didn’t feel like sitting. Moving helped drive the thoughts of Norah and Maddox from his mind, and besides, he felt he ought to do something to further discover more about what happened the night of the robbery.
Particularly since Norah was doing just that as she pretended to flirt with Maddox.
Stuart curled his hands into fists as he strode down the sidewalk. The sun had set, and with that, the saloons and gambling halls had come alive. He paused outside the one where they’d found Maddox last evening as a thought occurred to him.
If Maddox had been here, his group of associates had probably been inside. And it was possible they were here again tonight.
He pushed open the doors. Inside, the room was hazy with cigar smoke and loud with conversation and the sound of an out-of-tune piano somewhere in the rear. Stuart moved toward the bar as he searched for Maddox’s friends. Finally, at the far end of the bar, he spotted a shock of red hair. Only one man he knew had that hair. Sid Chase, Maddox’s closest confidant.
As he grew closer to Chase, he began to recognize the other men around him. It was the same group Jeremy had fallen in with in those months before the robbery.
The group for which he’d cast aside his real friends.
Stuart forced himself to swallow those bitter feelings and slid in behind a tall blond fellow whose name he couldn’t recall. He ordered a drink from the bartender and pretended to be riveted by the large, dirty mirror that hung behind the bar as he listened to the conversation beside him.
They were speaking of Guelph’s Freight Company. One of the men was bragging about being hired on. Stuart truly wondered if old Mr. Guelph had finally lost his mind, giving work to one of these poor excuses for men, but it was a good way to work himself into the conversation.
Particularly when one of the other men noted in a rough sounding voice that he wished he’d been able to get work at Guelph’s too.
“If you’re wanting to work in the freight business, you ought to try Joliet’s. We’re in need of a new clerk.” He didn’t look at them as he spoke, but they heard him all the same.
They were quiet as they turned to look at him. Finally, the man wishing he’d gotten work at Guelph’s spoke up.
“You work for Joliet’s?” he asked.
Satisfied to finally be funneling the fifty different emotions he felt about Norah into something useful, he turned to face the man who’d spoken. The fellow was short and squat, with some angry looking blemishes on his face. He was hardly the sort you’d want greeting potential customers, with that gruff voice and that wary look in his eye.
“I do. Stuart Joliet.” He gave the man a quick nod in lieu of holding out a hand. “You ought to inquire about it at our offices in the morning.”
The man looked to the fellow standing next to him before turning back to Stuart with an amused half-smile. “Thank you, Joliet. I’ll do just that.” He paused. “Chase over there just started work at Guelph’s. You know Guelph’s?”
Asking if he knew Guelph’s was like asking if he knew his own two hands. But Stuart gave a friendly nod. “I do. Good company.”
“They keep accounts with the silver mines. And the coalfields.” Chase added the latter as almost an afterthought. “I haven’t heard of Joliet’s having customers like that.”
Because we don’t feel the need to tell the town about our clients’ business.Guelph’s did good work, but they were hardly discreet.
“We keep some larger accounts,” Stuart hedged.
“No mines?” the man with the blemishes who was so interested in a job asked.
“Maybe,” Stuart said carefully. They were awfully interested in the mines. He tucked that thought away to consider more later. “We pride ourselves on not publicly discussing our clients’ businesses.”
The squat man frowned, clearly disappointed, while Chase raised his eyebrows.
“One needs to work there to earn this privileged information,” Chase said. “I respect that.”
Stuart had the very strong feeling he’d find the short man with rough-sounding voice in their offices tomorrow, asking after a position with the company.
He was about to ask Chase more about his work with Guelph’s when Maddox’s voice sounded from behind him. He turned around to find the man wearing a fine suit and ordering a whiskey. He’d unknotted the string tie at his throat and had slung his coat over his shoulder.
Maddox’s eyes slid immediately to Stuart. “I remember you.” He held up his drink as if in a toast. “I must thank you for introducing me to Miss Parker. The lady and I spent an enjoyable evening together.”
Stuart dug his nails into his palms as he watched Maddox drink. So much for the man’s claim that he didn’t indulge in whiskey—not that Stuart had expected him to be a truthful sort. “I didn’t introduce you.”
Maddox raised his eyebrows in amusement as he set the glass down. “Ah, yes. I remember now. Well, I hate to be the one to disappoint you, but I expect you won’t be seeing much of Miss Parker any more.”
Maddox was goading him. Stuart knew that, and yet he couldn’t keep himself from responding. “And why is that?”
