"And you won't give me any arguments," Devlin added firmly.
She remembered then what they had been fighting about. His blackmail.
"No, I won't give you any arguments," she answered in a subdued voice.
His burning look surveyed her flushed face, her kiss-swollen mouth, and he smiled, his eyes filled with latent tenderness and triumph.
Jessica allowed him his moment of glory. She clamped her teeth together and forced back the heated accusation that was on the tip of her tongue, consoling herself by reflecting that Devlin's victory was only temporary. She was merely being wise, appearing to surrender while she was still at his mercy.
Yet she wasn't beaten, by any means. What Devlin saw as capitulation, she saw merely as tactical retreat.
Chapter 17
He cradled her in his arms on their ride back. Despite the urgency of going after Purcell, Devlin tenderly put Jess to bed—which included making her drink a shot of whiskey to help her sleep. Then, after repeating his order for her to stay put, locking the doors, and posting her Chinese servant in the hall as an armed bodyguard, he went to fetch her father.
The Diamond Dust Saloon was filled with cigar smoke and crowded to overflowing by a more prosperous class of clientele than most mining town saloons could boast, but there was no immediate sign of Riley. Entering the private parlor, Devlin spied the elegant figure of Ashton Burke seated at Lena's faro table, basking in the raven-haired beauty's proprietary smile. A moment later Devlin found Riley playing poker at a rear table and pulled him away.
Riley's face turned a chalky shade of white when he learned that his daughter had been abducted by a vengeful killer and given to the notorious madam of an illicit opium den. Devlin managed to allay some of his alarm, only by swearing that Jess had come to no harm, and that she was at this moment tucked safely in her own bed, asleep. Even so, Devlin had to forcibly restrain Riley from pelting out the door at a run.
"She's all right," Devlin reassured him. "And I left Kwan to watch over her. Right now I could use your help getting my gear together. I intend to ride after Purcell as soon as possible. I promised Jess I would deal with him, and I'd better do it if I want to keep her from going after Purcell herself."
"Kwan's with her. you say?"
"Yes . . . and she should be asleep by now. You won't want to wake her."
"Okay. What do you need me to do?"
They went up to Devlin's hotel room next door, where he changed clothes while Riley gathered up weapons and ammunition. As they worked, Devlin filled Riley in on everything else Jess had learned from Purcell, including her suspicions that Purcell was part of the armed gang that had robbed the Colorado Central.
"Makes sense," Riley commented with a thoughtful frown. "As Burke's mine foreman, he could find out when bullion shipments were going out. 'Course, most of the trains down to Denver from here would have some amount of silver."
"Sixty thousand dollars' worth?"
"Mmmm. Maybe not that much." Stuffing several boxes of .44 cartridges into Devlin's saddlebags, Riley changed the subject. "Are you sure it's all that smart to be going after Purcell on your own? If he really is working with that gang, he could be a passel of trouble—more than you could handle on your own."
"I'm hoping to persuade the marshal to ride with me."
"That lily-livered coward?"
"That's what Jess said."
"I better go with you when you talk to him. Maybe he'll listen to me, but I doubt it. Virgil Lockwood has been in Burke's pocket since the last two elections. You might do better to get the Clear Creek County sheriff—darn. You can't. I heard Matt Nash rode over to Blackhawk yesterday."
"I'll go alone if I have to. Purcell isn't going to get away."
Riley nodded and started checking the contents of the bedroll. "I'm right grateful that you talked Jess out of going. It scared the tarnation out of me the last time you two took off."
"It wasn't easy getting her to stay here, I can assure you." Devlin grimaced as he remembered what he'd had to do to extract Jess's promise. "I've never met a woman as stubborn as she is. She's worse than one of Haverty's mules." A wry half smile curved his lips as he pulled on a fresh chambray shirt. "How did you raise a daughter like her anyway?"
There was a pregnant pause. "You telling me you don't care for my Jessie?" Riley asked in a tone that held a hard edge.
At the question, Devlin looked up to find the man studying him intently. Deciding a diplomatic reply was in order, he gave Riley a grin that had been known to charm even irate fathers. "That isn't the case, and you know it. It's just that sometimes she annoys the living daylights out of me."
Riley's expression didn't lighten up. "I'd say the feeling is mutual. What's going on between you two, anyway? You've been at each other's throats like a pair of cats ever since the mine cave."
"I suggest you ask your daughter."
"I did. She wouldn't tell me." He held Devlin's gaze deliberately. "Jess's been acting mighty strange lately. I guess maybe it's because she's in love with you."