concerned.
Unfortunately her diversion backfired. News traveled around the room in about two seconds, everyone converged on Tag's position, and there went her hope of getting to the stairs. But there was a wide-open path to the front door.
Sighing, she went back out to the street and pointed her weary body toward the sheriff's office. A wafer-thin cot over wire mesh was a far cry from the soft mattress she'd been looking forward to, but she was at the point where anything horizontal would fit the bill.
She woke up an indeterminate time later, and after the second attempt at trying to stand up she decided it might be best to lie there for a few minutes. Vertical was still a bit much to ask for. Her head was buzzing and her muscles were stiff. If not for her rumbling stomach she probably would have slept the night through.
Matt hadn't been there when she arrived earlier that afternoon, and he wasn't there now. Probably somewhere in town breaking up… something. Or arresting somebody.
That got her on her feet. She didn't want to be around when the occupancy rose in these particular sleeping quarters.
The clock on the wall said it was past midnight by the time she began the eight-block walk to the bar. The clouds of the day before had cleared off completely, but Casteel didn't count streetlights among its modern conveniences.
From the look of things a tent city had sprung up in the grazing land across the river. There were a lot of lights that appeared to be campfires over there, anyway. The street seemed to be pretty deserted, but Alex felt like somebody had painted a target on her back. All those warnings from Tag and her run-in with Junior were getting to her, she decided.
Or maybe it was the two guys who grabbed her from behind and shoved her into the alley between the sheriff's office and the bakery next door while she was in that first breathless moment of disbelief and shock.
She got a handle on herself pretty fast and put her back to the wall, heart pounding, eyes straining to make out anything in the absolute blackness of the alley.
"What did Donovan tell you about the treasure?" one of them said, his face close enough to bathe her in garlic breath.
Disgusting, but she had more to worry about than a few singed nose hairs. Like how to get herself out of this alley in one piece. Amped on adrenaline, she could probably handle herself against one ruffian, but not two, especially if they were armed. She didn't have her Winchester because Matt didn't allow guns to be carried in town. She thought it was a bit too optimistic to hope her assailants were obeying that particular ordinance.
"He didn't tell me anything," she said, thankful to hear her voice steady after the first couple of words. Dealing with men was like dealing with any other animal. If you showed them fear you could kiss your ass good-bye.
"What do you take us for, idiots?"
No, dangerous idiots. She kept that to herself, though. "Do you really think he would tell me his secrets and take a chance I'd head out on my own?"
Okay, maybe not complete idiots, since the logic of that appeared to be working its way past the steroids and testosterone to somehow find the few operating brain cells they possessed. They conducted a short, whispered conversation that Alex didn't try to overhear since she was busy attempting to slip away while they weren't paying strict attention to her.
"Hey!" Garlic-breath finally clued in and slammed a hand against the brick wall next to her head. "You'll have to come with us," he said. "Donovan wants you to guide him for a reason."
"So you're going to force me to guide you instead? Without Donovan's alleged information? And what happens if we don't find the treasure?"
"You better hope we find it."
"We're not going to actually hurt her, are we?" the other guy wanted to know.
"She wouldn't be much good as a guide if she was hurt."
Alex was happy to hear that, but there was no way she'd let these two morons drag her out of
Unfortunately her diversion backfired. News traveled around the room in about two seconds, everyone converged on Tag's position, and there went her hope of getting to the stairs. But there was a wide-open path to the front door.
Sighing, she went back out to the street and pointed her weary body toward the sheriff's office. A wafer-thin cot over wire mesh was a far cry from the soft mattress she'd been looking forward to, but she was at the point where anything horizontal would fit the bill.
She woke up an indeterminate time later, and after the second attempt at trying to stand up she decided it might be best to lie there for a few minutes. Vertical was still a bit much to ask for. Her head was buzzing and her muscles were stiff. If not for her rumbling stomach she probably would have slept the night through.
Matt hadn't been there when she arrived earlier that afternoon, and he wasn't there now. Probably somewhere in town breaking up… something. Or arresting somebody.
That got her on her feet. She didn't want to be around when the occupancy rose in these particular sleeping quarters.
The clock on the wall said it was past midnight by the time she began the eight-block walk to the bar. The clouds of the day before had cleared off completely, but Casteel didn't count streetlights among its modern conveniences.
From the look of things a tent city had sprung up in the grazing land across the river. There were a lot of lights that appeared to be campfires over there, anyway. The street seemed to be pretty deserted, but Alex felt like somebody had painted a target on her back. All those warnings from Tag and her run-in with Junior were getting to her, she decided.
Or maybe it was the two guys who grabbed her from behind and shoved her into the alley between the sheriff's office and the bakery next door while she was in that first breathless moment of disbelief and shock.
She got a handle on herself pretty fast and put her back to the wall, heart pounding, eyes straining to make out anything in the absolute blackness of the alley.
"What did Donovan tell you about the treasure?" one of them said, his face close enough to bathe her in garlic breath.
Disgusting, but she had more to worry about than a few singed nose hairs. Like how to get herself out of this alley in one piece. Amped on adrenaline, she could probably handle herself against one ruffian, but not two, especially if they were armed. She didn't have her Winchester because Matt didn't allow guns to be carried in town. She thought it was a bit too optimistic to hope her assailants were obeying that particular ordinance.
"He didn't tell me anything," she said, thankful to hear her voice steady after the first couple of words. Dealing with men was like dealing with any other animal. If you showed them fear you could kiss your ass good-bye.
"What do you take us for, idiots?"
No, dangerous idiots. She kept that to herself, though. "Do you really think he would tell me his secrets and take a chance I'd head out on my own?"
Okay, maybe not complete idiots, since the logic of that appeared to be working its way past the steroids and testosterone to somehow find the few operating brain cells they possessed. They conducted a short, whispered conversation that Alex didn't try to overhear since she was busy attempting to slip away while they weren't paying strict attention to her.
"Hey!" Garlic-breath finally clued in and slammed a hand against the brick wall next to her head. "You'll have to come with us," he said. "Donovan wants you to guide him for a reason."
"So you're going to force me to guide you instead? Without Donovan's alleged information? And what happens if we don't find the treasure?"
"You better hope we find it."
"We're not going to actually hurt her, are we?" the other guy wanted to know.
"She wouldn't be much good as a guide if she was hurt."
Alex was happy to hear that, but there was no way she'd let these two morons drag her out of
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