that point.
Thomas waited at a corner table, two whiskeys in front of him. Leon slid opposite and picked up his glass, knocking it back with a single gulp.
“You need to buy me another.” He grinned. “I've already made our job a whole lot easier.”
Thomas slid his drink toward Leon. “What did you do?”
“Asked the boys in the stable about our girl. Not only do I have the name of where she's singing, but I know what time she goes on tonight.”
“How much time have we got before she's on?”
“Another four hours. And she's just two streets down, so we've got time for dinner, time to relax...” Leon sprawled in his chair, his foot casually nudging Thomas's. “Time for whatever you want.”
Thomas offered one of his half-smiles. “If we take the time to do whatever I want, we'd probably be doing it for a lot longer than four hours. How's your foot?”
The heat in his words would likely have gone unnoticed by anybody other than Leon. But he'd had a week to learn the nuances of this man's speech, how he could convey so much with just a lift of a brow or a lowering of his voice. It went straight to Leon's gut, more than anything ever had before. That was dangerous.
Leon lived for dangerous.
“Not too bad,” he replied. “A little achy, but nothing that's going to slow us down. It gets stronger all the time.”
“Was the coach worth fucking up your ankle and putting a bounty hunter on your tail?”
Leon regarded him for long seconds as he toyed with the second whiskey. “My ankle wouldn't have gotten fucked up if the badge on board that coach hadn't shot out my horse while I was at a dead run.”
“True, but he wouldn't have shot your horse if you hadn't stopped the coach.” Thomas shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “I'm not trying to get on your case again. It didn't make a huge difference to me when I was going to drag you in, and it makes even less of a difference now. But I've seen the things men can do to each other—robbery, rape, torture, murder—and my question was genuine. Was it worth it?”
“A few months ago, I would've said no. Now?” Leon picked up the glass, ready to down it. “Yeah, I'd say it was all worth it.”
“I don't understand. This last robbery was all worth it, somehow? Robbing coaches in general wasn't worth it?”
The whiskey burned going down, giving Leon needed strength. He couldn't explain that this last robbery had given Amy to Kenneth, that his best friend had finally found a woman who recognized his worth, that he was finally getting the life he'd always wanted even when he'd said otherwise to Leon. But Thomas was going to want an answer. Leon knew him well enough now to recognize when he had a burr under his saddle.
“It's put me on the straight and narrow, didn't it? I can't go back to that, not on my own, and definitely not with my shit ankle.” He set his empty glass back on the table. “I would've thought you'd say that was worth it.”
“Sure, it's worth it to get back on the straight and narrow. If that's where you want to be, or where you intend to stay. But something pushed you off the straight and narrow once before.”
Leon snorted. “Yeah. Life.”
“Plenty of people live their life without turning to hurting innocent people,” Thomas said mildly. “But what's going to stop you from veering off the straight and narrow again?”
“Why do you care?”
Thomas regarded him for several beats, his face impassive. “Because if you keep up the way you've been, you're going to meet a lawman who can shoot straight, or a bounty hunter who needs that five hundred enough to chase you down, or a sharpshooter who doesn't take kindly to being robbed.”
He squirmed in his chair. He knew Thomas was right. In his own way, he cared enough about Leon at the moment to not want that to happen. Another example of that caretaker disposition he wouldn't admit to out loud.
“I haven't gone this long by being dumb,” he said. “I don't plan on
Thomas waited at a corner table, two whiskeys in front of him. Leon slid opposite and picked up his glass, knocking it back with a single gulp.
“You need to buy me another.” He grinned. “I've already made our job a whole lot easier.”
Thomas slid his drink toward Leon. “What did you do?”
“Asked the boys in the stable about our girl. Not only do I have the name of where she's singing, but I know what time she goes on tonight.”
“How much time have we got before she's on?”
“Another four hours. And she's just two streets down, so we've got time for dinner, time to relax...” Leon sprawled in his chair, his foot casually nudging Thomas's. “Time for whatever you want.”
Thomas offered one of his half-smiles. “If we take the time to do whatever I want, we'd probably be doing it for a lot longer than four hours. How's your foot?”
The heat in his words would likely have gone unnoticed by anybody other than Leon. But he'd had a week to learn the nuances of this man's speech, how he could convey so much with just a lift of a brow or a lowering of his voice. It went straight to Leon's gut, more than anything ever had before. That was dangerous.
Leon lived for dangerous.
“Not too bad,” he replied. “A little achy, but nothing that's going to slow us down. It gets stronger all the time.”
“Was the coach worth fucking up your ankle and putting a bounty hunter on your tail?”
Leon regarded him for long seconds as he toyed with the second whiskey. “My ankle wouldn't have gotten fucked up if the badge on board that coach hadn't shot out my horse while I was at a dead run.”
“True, but he wouldn't have shot your horse if you hadn't stopped the coach.” Thomas shrugged and leaned back in his chair. “I'm not trying to get on your case again. It didn't make a huge difference to me when I was going to drag you in, and it makes even less of a difference now. But I've seen the things men can do to each other—robbery, rape, torture, murder—and my question was genuine. Was it worth it?”
“A few months ago, I would've said no. Now?” Leon picked up the glass, ready to down it. “Yeah, I'd say it was all worth it.”
“I don't understand. This last robbery was all worth it, somehow? Robbing coaches in general wasn't worth it?”
The whiskey burned going down, giving Leon needed strength. He couldn't explain that this last robbery had given Amy to Kenneth, that his best friend had finally found a woman who recognized his worth, that he was finally getting the life he'd always wanted even when he'd said otherwise to Leon. But Thomas was going to want an answer. Leon knew him well enough now to recognize when he had a burr under his saddle.
“It's put me on the straight and narrow, didn't it? I can't go back to that, not on my own, and definitely not with my shit ankle.” He set his empty glass back on the table. “I would've thought you'd say that was worth it.”
“Sure, it's worth it to get back on the straight and narrow. If that's where you want to be, or where you intend to stay. But something pushed you off the straight and narrow once before.”
Leon snorted. “Yeah. Life.”
“Plenty of people live their life without turning to hurting innocent people,” Thomas said mildly. “But what's going to stop you from veering off the straight and narrow again?”
“Why do you care?”
Thomas regarded him for several beats, his face impassive. “Because if you keep up the way you've been, you're going to meet a lawman who can shoot straight, or a bounty hunter who needs that five hundred enough to chase you down, or a sharpshooter who doesn't take kindly to being robbed.”
He squirmed in his chair. He knew Thomas was right. In his own way, he cared enough about Leon at the moment to not want that to happen. Another example of that caretaker disposition he wouldn't admit to out loud.
“I haven't gone this long by being dumb,” he said. “I don't plan on
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