For a moment, he thought he’d actually seen her at last.
But then the woman raised a hand and he realized she was looking right at him. She smiled.
And he smiled in return.
It was Jane, and she was playing her role, just as she’d been asked.
The crowd broke up after Henri announced that there’d be a gunfight between Mean Bill Jenkins and Savage Sam Osterly on Main Street in an hour.
Chet walked over to him. “Hey, Sloan.”
“Chet. Everything going well here?”
Chet nodded. “We’ve got a heck of a crowd, though. You hadn’t left orders, but Betty checked in with the chief over at county. They have a few of their people here, just wandering through the crowd. Hope that sits fine with you. Not that we usually have trouble, but with this many people... The boys from the night crew suggested it. The reports are on your desk.” He shrugged. “We had a few bar fights last night.”
“I think Betty was brilliant and I’m ashamed I didn’t take care of it myself.”
“Silverfest is getting bigger every year,” Chet said happily.
“Yes, it is.”
“And what with a murder in town and all...”
“Yep. I’ll go in and check the reports,” Sloan said. “Then I’ll be back here for most of the day, unless something breaks.”
As he spoke, Jane appeared on the sidewalk. He thought she did the town’s diva and his great-great grandmother proud. Her hair was swept up in a loose chignon and she was wearing a blue period dress with gold cord that seemed to bring out the brilliance of her eyes. She smiled and joined him.
She was stunning. But then he remembered that he knew, as of last night, that she was stunning naked, as well.
Something he shouldn’t be thinking about now.
“I was just about to go in and work on the skull,” she told him. “Are you sure you want me to finish?”
“I’d like it if you did. We can get her a coffin and bury her. I think she’d like your artistry—for you to rebuild the lifelike appearance of her face, that is. She was reputed to be a little vain, you know.”
Henri Coque walked up to them, a smile splitting his face. “It’s all going wonderfully. I admit, I was worried. I’m always worried when using nonactors. But the lynching went off perfectly. And have you seen all the vendors? They’re set up behind the saloon and Desert Diamonds. We have more vendors this year than ever before, and with what they pay for their licenses, the town will be flourishing!”
“Congratulations, Henri.”
“Would you get into your Trey Hardy apparel, Sloan? Next year, we should reenact his shooting,” Henri said excitedly. “We’ve never done that, you know, because we can’t fit spectators into the jail. But where there’s a will, there’s a way! I’ll work on it. Come on, Sloan, let’s go get your costume.”
Sloan started to excuse himself to Jane but saw that a little girl was asking to have a picture taken with her beneath the theater sign. Jane seemed puzzled at first and then realized that her costume made her a tourist attraction. She smiled and posed with the child.
He went in with Henri and made his way down to Cy Tyburn’s dressing room, where he could procure a plumed cavalry hat and Civil War butternut-trimmed cavalry jacket.
“You could let your hair grow out,” Henri told him. “Then you’d be the spitting image of Trey Hardy.”
“I think your chances of the ghost cutting his hair are better than your chances of me growing mine out,” Sloan said. “In case you’ve forgotten—it’s hot as hell out here.”
Henri shrugged and they returned to the street.
Jane had become a celebrity. She was now with a group of Boy Scouts.
He was surprised when Henri, still standing near him, said, “Good thing you’re hanging around today, Sloan. I like Chet, he’s a solid deputy. But he’s still a kid. What with the stuff going on, I’m glad you’re here.”
“We’re fine whether I’m here or not, Henri. County sent over some men. They’re all in uniform, as you can see them in the crowd. Their presence will let any would-be rabblerousers know that we’re watching.”
“Yeah, but I’m glad you’re in town, Sloan,” Henri said again. “Hey, the shoot-out is coming up next!”
Sloan studied the activity in the street. People were pouring in and out of Desert Diamonds, the saloon, the stables—and even the spa. He saw Heidi bringing out a tour group of ten; the stables charged a hefty sum for every tour they took out and he could see from the sign in front that they’d sold out for the day.
Everything was going well.
Jane was now posing in front of the theater sign with Alice, Valerie, Cy and Brian. He smiled slightly. Brian Highsmith had always thought of himself as a lothario. “Bad boys get the chicks, you know?” he’d told Sloan once. He seemed to like having his arm around Jane; Sloan wasn’t so sure that she was “feeling the love” in return.
As he watched, his cell phone rang. He reached into his pocket for it.