Hard Money by Luke; Short Read Free Book Online Page B

put out his hand and tried to talk, and then shook his head, grimacing.
    He beckoned Seay to a door in a wall at the far end of a bar. Halfway there, a row started back on the dance floor and there was a quick scuffling of feet. A bouncer fought his way to it. Jimmy directed a worried gaze in that direction, but his height was against him, and he could see nothing but a tangle of milling shoulders and heads. He shrugged, and Seay followed him to the door, and they both went into the office.
    â€œHonest to God, Phil, what I need is a corral with a roof on it,” Jimmy said wistfully after he shut the door. He shook Seay’s hand again and motioned to a chair.
    â€œBusiness good?” Seay asked.
    Jimmy said, “Too good. If it keeps up, I’m goin’ to give the drinks away. I can’t collect for half ’em now with this mob.” He eyed Seay with friendliness and sat on the desk. “Heard you got took.”
    Seay hunkered down in his chair and pulled out his pipe, nodding.
    â€œWell, you landed on your feet you son-of-a-gun,” Jimmy said, smiling. “You never belonged in this business anyway.”
    â€œThat’s what Bonal thought.”
    â€œA Big Augur now, hunh?” Jimmy murmured. “Well, it don’t take you long, Phil. You started at Reese River with a half-dozen teams and you wound up on top of the heap.”
    â€œBroke.”
    Jimmy laughed and dropped his cigar into a spittoon. “Who didn’t?”
    They chatted of Reese River a few moments, and when a pause occurred Seay asked, “Where’s the big game tonight, Jimmy?”
    Jimmy regarded him shrewdly and slowly drew out a cigar from a pocket of his open vest.
    â€œYou mean the giant killer?”
    Seay made a wry face and shook his head. “I never sat in a game where the white chips come at a hundred. I wonder how it would feel,” he mused.
    â€œAsk Abe Comber.”
    â€œMaybe I will,” Seay murmured. “No, I’m looking for a high limit where a man can have ambition.”
    â€œThat’s hard to find in this man’s town.”
    â€œThat’s why I came to you. If there is one, it’s floating. Where is it tonight?”
    Jimmy took out his cigar and studied its tip with frowning concentration. Then he raised his glance and said, “In the back room here.”
    Seay laughed. “I didn’t think you’d let a white shirt in the place, Jimmy.”
    â€œIt’s their idea. Too many buckos loose with the same ambition you’ve got, but this outfit’s clubby. So they change the room every night.”
    â€œAnyone I know?”
    â€œMaybe. Bonal hits it once in a while when Hugh Mathias brings him. Then there’s the super for the Pacific Shares, Herkenhoff. Curtin, the fire chief. Ferd Yates, the marshal. Sometimes, Chris Feldhake and—”
    â€œFeldhake,” Seay murmured, suddenly remembering Tober’s mention of this man. “Do I know him?”
    â€œHe’s a big blond moose and salty,” Jimmy said. “You wouldn’t forget him.”
    Seay shook his head. “Who else?”
    â€œWell, one night Feldhake brought Janeece in. Bonal was there that night.” He shook his head. “It was quite a party.”
    â€œBonal won,” Seay said.
    â€œHow’d you know?”
    Seay only smiled and shifted in his chair. “Can I get in tonight?”
    Jimmy studied him and then the canvas sack which lay on Seay’s knee, and then he raised his glance again to meet Seay’s eyes. “It can get pretty bloody, Phil.”
    â€œSure. Can I get in?”
    â€œNot if they’re smart,” Jimmy said dryly, rising. “Come on. They’ll take my word for you.”
    They stepped out again into the mob in the barroom. Jimmy shouldered his way to the back stairs and climbed them. At the top, they traveled a long corridor to the rear of the building, then turned into