“You did. I didn’t know anything about Julie.” Enough time had passed that he could talk about it now. He still burned inside, but he didn’t eat himself up with thoughts of revenge. Someday, Emile Julie and his men would find Lola and take care of it for him. “A word to the wise. Don’t underestimate Julie and don’t think he’s forgotten. He’s out there, and he’s looking for you.” She wouldn’t believe him. Or maybe she did, but he knew her. She’d outfoxed Julie once, and her expression said she believed she could do it again if the need arose.
“What the hell are you two talking about?” Caldwell asked, leaning forward and twirling his whiskey glass between his knees.
Dal turned his eyes toward the settee. “It’s none of your business.” Caldwell frowned and stiffened, but he had the sense to keep his mouth shut. Dal looked hard at Lola. “You owe me fifteen thousand dollars.”
“Interesting that you should mention money, because money is part of the reason I wanted to see you again,” she said prettily, dancing away from any offer to repay the sum she owed him. She waved the whiskey under her nose, letting him see her sniff the aroma before she took a sip. Dal swallowed, almost tasting the liquor on his own tongue.
“We have a proposition for you,” Caldwell stated coldly.
Dal kept his gaze on Lola’s glass of whiskey. “That’s an interesting trick. Caldwell’s lips move, but I hear your words.”
Caldwell half rose out of his seat, but Lola waved him down. “Jack and I have… an arrangement. Joe’s will provided for a representative of my choice to accompany the drive and make sure I don’t get cheated. Since Jack has an interest in the outcome, he’ll represent me.”
“He has an interest in the outcome? Already lining up the next husband?” Dal asked, looking back and forth between them.
Lola gave both men a coy smile. “I’m too fresh a widow to make an announcement at this time, but…” She blew Caldwell a kiss. “Of course, I’m not going to stay here sitting on my thumbs while you boys play with my future, not when I got so much at stake. I’ll follow the herd but along more conventional routes, and Jack will report to me from time to time.”
So Lola would be part of the drive, too, only not as visible as his other observers. Mentally, he traced the stage routes, guessing where she planned to rendezvous with Caldwell.
He withdrew his pocket watch. “I’ll give you five minutes to say what you have to say.”
“Tell him, Jack.”
Standing, Caldwell hooked an elbow on the fireplace mantel. “We know what your arrangement is with the Roark sisters. You get around sixty thousand dollars if the drive is successful and you sell two thousand steers in Abilene.”
“Luther Moreland talks too much.”
“We’re prepared to double that figure if you lose enough steers to fall below the required number. Considering your past history, that shouldn’t be too difficult,” Caldwell said.
Dal crossed an ankle over his knee, forcing himself not to jump up and break pretty boy’s jaw. “Your puppet isn’t too tactful,” he commented to Lola. “In fact, he’s pissed me off. So, which one of you do I tell to go to hell?”
She laughed. “This offer is my idea, I guess you tell me.” Leaning forward enough to give him a glimpse down her bodice, she patted his knee. “Now, Dal honey, before you get your balls in an uproar, just consider. Everyone knows you lost your last two herds. And the truth is, it’s not likely that you’ll bring this herd in either, not with three uppity women working the line. So, this is a generous offer. We’re prepared to pay you a small fortune just for letting things happen as they will anyway. All we’re asking is that you help things along if a miracle occurs and it starts to look like you might actually bring in the required number of cattle. You make sure that doesn’t happen, and we all get rich.”
Caldwell tossed back his whiskey and slapped the empty glass on the mantel. “The way I hear it, you’re finished. With $120,000, it won’t matter.”
Lola tapped his knee again. “We’ll write up a contract, nice and legal. Not with Luther, of course. Luther can’t know about this. The minute I sell Joe’s ranch, you get paid. In cash. This is the easiest money you’ll ever make, Dal.”
Minus a few refinements, like the contract and the amount, the speech was similar to the one she had made to convince him that selling the army’s herd to the French would make his fortune. Except he wasn’t drinking now.
“I’ve waited a long time to tell you to go to hell,” he said softly.
“Dal honey, you know you aren’t lucky, you never have been,” she said, holding his gaze. “You’ll never get two thousand steers to Abilene, not with three women in the outfit. So why not take my offer and relax? A man has to look after his own interests.”
On his last drive, he’d lost a hundred cattle in a single river crossing. But if he accepted her offer and a similar disaster occurred on this drive, he’d ride into Abilene knowing it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t end up with empty pockets.
“Are you still dreaming about Montana?” she asked, running a finger down the back of his hand.