He jumped out of bed with her clutching fingers grasping at him. He dressed in record time and leaned over to give her a real (for her) or fraudulent (for him) goodbye kiss.
She sleepily said, “Don’t forget. Dinner with my parents tomorrow. Marriage license the next day.”
He said, “Certainly, dear” and walked out.
Chapter Three
Victoria Manning opened the telegraph notice. It said, “You’re hired. Have wired money to Kansas City Bank & Trust. Come quickly.”
She happened to be in her classroom at the time. She dismissed her class and took a carriage to the bank. The money was there. She withdrew it, packed and was on the 2:15 PM train west.
Chapter Four
Artimis called his partners together. He and two other men sat at a table in the upper room of the Bright Diamond Saloon. They occupied their hands with well-played and ruthless hands of Texas Hold ‘em.
The man to the right of Artimis said, “Raise two hundred.”
Artimis tapped his cards on the table. “The bastard’s going to find a whore to have his kid. I wanted him to contest the will.” His hand moved quickly and efficiently. “See the two hundred.”
The man on the right was named Tim Rheihnold. He was a little below medium height and tubby. His skin was sallow and had a yellow tinge. He had no hair on his head of any kind. He said, “Can you tell me again, why we don’t just shoot the asshole.”
“Denver’s not the kind of town that lets you get away with that. It used to be but not anymore.” He looked at Tim with aggressive eyes. “There’s another reason.” He paused. He was demanding that Tim ask him about the other reason. He needed to assert his dominance in their little group.
Tim waited until he knew Tim wasn’t going to go forward with the game or anything else until Tim asked the question. “Okay. I’ll bite. What’s the other reason?”
“Because I said so. That’s the other reason.”
Tim carefully and obviously looked Artimis up and down. After a significant period of time, he said, “You’re not bulletproof.”
Both men started to rise from their chairs and their hands went to the revolvers in their holsters. A bored voice stopped them. “Gentlemen, sit back down. We’re together for the money, not to be each other’s bosom friend. Raise another hundred.”
Both men took their seats. Artimis examined his hand again. “See the hundred.” His chips clinked against the others already in the table.
The third man owned three banks and a railroad. His name was J. Wilkinson Hardy. He was patient and thorough with strong charisma. He never got excited and never took chances.
Tim said, “The river, gentlemen.” His thin fingers flipped over an ace. It lay on the table demanding that something be done.
Texas Hold ‘Em is a variation of straight poker. Everyone starts with two cards hidden in their hands. They bet. Three cards are dealt face up (the flop) and the players bet again. The dealer throws another card called ‘the turn’, then another card called ‘the river’. The player makes more bets, players fold or stay, and the players put down their cards. The hand is decided according to the traditional hierarchy of winning combinations in traditional poker.
If the player has strong confidence in his cards, he can bet everything. It’s called, “All In”. Artimis called, “All in” and shoved all of his chips in the center of the table. Artimis never showed any emotion over the cards in his hand. Neither of his opponents had any idea about his ability to strip them of everything they had.
Hardy folded, with reluctance and threw his cards on the table. The cards included another ace.
Tim waited. He had to think about his odds of winning the hand as well as the position of himself and Artimis in their trio. A loss could damage either one of them. Having put all of his chips in the game, Artimis held the high ground.
Tim threw his cards in. “Damn.”
Artimis finally smiled. As he retrieved the cards and shuffled them, he said, “We don’t kill Nathan Burdette. That would lead straight back to me. And we don’t kill which ever woman he uses to get the heir. That would lead straight back to me. We let the state kill her.”
Hardy grunted. “The long way around I say. What if you can’t make the state dance to your tune?”
Artimis gave them another smile. “With my contacts in Denver? Not much chance of that.”
Chapter Five
The train steamed into Denver the next morning.
Nathan stood straight and tall and tight lipped on the platform. Victoria walked off with her face set in a neutral expression. She was withholding judgment until she saw the man in person. She wasn’t going to contribute her virginity to an ugly or an old man.