Chapter Twenty-two
DEIRDRE STEPPED BACK, a hand over her mouth. Two men followed Liam. One shoved him through the door, while the second closed and locked the door behind him.
“Who are you?” she demanded. The man who had pushed Liam turned to face her, and she caught the glint of a small revolver in his right hand.
“Deirdre,” Liam warned.
Deirdre curled her hands into fists at her sides but kept any additional protest to herself.
The other man, the one who had shut the door, was tall with dark hair and an unfriendly smile. His eyes traced her in an uncomfortable manner before he spoke. “Please forgive us for the intrusion, Miss Hannan. We’re associates of your brother’s.”
Deirdre swallowed her fear. “It’s Mrs. Wiley,” she said. “But I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage, as I do not know your names.”
That only made the man smile more, which, in turn, sent shivers down Deirdre’s spine. “You didn’t mention that your sister is so charming, Hannan.” He spoke to Liam while keeping his eyes on Deirdre. “I’m Jonas Morgan, and my colleague is Gordon Dunn. And we’re here about the money your brother borrowed from our boss, Mr. Rodgers. Would you know much about that?”
“She doesn’t know anything about it,” Liam said. He took a step forward only to meet Dunn’s outstretched arm with the revolver pointed directly at him. Liam stopped, raising his hands just slightly. “She doesn’t know anything about the money.”
“I believe I was asking Mrs. Wiley, not you.” Morgan extended a hand toward Deirdre and gestured at the settee. “Why don’t you sit down and we can have a conversation?”
Deirdre crossed her arms. “Liam is correct. I don’t have anything to say to you.”
“Well, that’s too bad,” Morgan said as he sat down himself and extended his arms across the back of the settee. “Mr. Hannan claims to be unable to repay his loan. And that doesn’t bode particularly well for him. Now, if you know something, Mrs. Wiley, then that might put your brother in a somewhat better position.” Morgan eyed her as she stood fixed to her spot by the door.
Deirdre swallowed. It was clear there were words Morgan wasn’t saying, but he fully expected her to catch his meaning. She glanced at Liam, who watched her with worried eyes. She didn’t know the entirety of what had happened with the foreman and the money meant to pay his men, but she suspected the man had made off with all of the funds Liam had borrowed from this Rodgers.
Her stomach knotted as she looked back to Morgan. He and Dunn had arrived so quickly, faster than any of them had anticipated. And that meant only one thing—the telegraph Liam received had been delayed. These men must have already been on their way to Crest Stone when that was sent.
“I’m in no particular hurry, Mrs. Wiley,” Morgan said as he crossed his legs. “I’m a more patient man than my boss. I believe Dutch might have made mention of his impatience to your brother up in Denver, am I right, Hannan?”
“Tell him I’ll get it to him as soon as I can,” Liam said. “You can do that for me, right? I’m a man of my word. Ask anyone in town, and they’ll tell you that’s true.”
Morgan lifted his hands from the back of the settee. “That’s not for me to believe or disbelieve. Weren’t we just speaking of Dutch’s impatience?”
“I’ll get it as soon as I can,” Liam said. “I’ll sell something. It shouldn’t take long.”
Morgan pushed himself up from the settee. “You should’ve thought of that before we arrived. Now, I believe we were waiting on your sister to determine whether she knew the whereabouts of any of the remaining cash?”
“I don’t know about any of that,” Deirdre said, trying to keep her voice steady. “I’m his sister, not his business partner.”
“That’s too bad.” Morgan walked a circle around her, and Deirdre dug her fingers into the backs of her arms. “I suppose that means we’ll need to come up with some other way for Hannan to repay his loan.”
“Do you want the house?” Liam asked. “Tell Dutch he can have it. Or the hotel property. Whichever he prefers.”
Morgan paused, stopping closer to Deirdre then was comfortable. But she wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction of taking a step back. “What do you think, Dunn? You think the boss is interested in property?”
“Not out here. Too far away.” Dunn’s voice was lower and colder than Morgan’s. He still kept that revolver trained on Liam.
