Grace and the Guiltless

Chapter 23

The girl’s voice came stronger now. “I promised not to let anyone disturb ’em.”

“Problem, Johnny?” A woman’s voice echoed down the hall.

“Damned girl won’t let me in. Says there’s an important customer in there.”

Lil’s light laugh drifted through the door and squeezed Grace’s gut. She glanced around. No place to hide unless she wedged herself behind the hip bath.

But if Sheriff Behan opened that door, he would discover her in seconds. Her heart in her throat, she pressed her ear to the door.

“Come on back to the room and get cleaned up,” Lil called.

Grace took a breath as their footsteps receded down the hall.

Then the footsteps stopped, and Lil’s voice came again. “But you, girl, what are you doing up here?”

The girl stammered. “They stopped me downstairs and asked me to come up. I was only bringing the laundry, but they said I have to guard the door.”

There was silence while Lil considered. “Make sure you give me half of what they give you.”

“I — I will.” The nervousness in her voice made Grace’s heart ache.

Grace hurried back to the pitcher and scrubbed at the last of the stains. How would she get out of here and downstairs without Sheriff Behan seeing her? She did her best to get the worst of it cleaned up, but all the dampness would be a dead giveaway.

After she had smoothed her hair and washed her face, she peeked out the door. The palpable look of relief on the girl’s face made Grace feel guilty.

“The sheriff,” Grace whispered. “Where did he go?”

The girl pointed to a nearby room.

“I don’t want him to know I was in here.”

“Go quick then.” She stationed herself outside the room Sheriff Behan was in. “I’ll try to distract him if he comes out.”

Grace nodded.

Keeping one eye on the closed door, she hurried through the hall and down the back steps. With relief, she spotted Joe sitting in the back corner of the room, two glasses on the table in front of him.

“Sheriff Behan’s upstairs.”

Joe glanced toward the steps. “He doesn’t know about Slaughter yet. But it won’t be long. Might be best if he didn’t see you looking like that.”

Grace nodded. “We have to get out of here. Now.”

Joe pushed one of the glasses toward her. “At least take a sip. It’ll calm your nerves.”

“What is it?” Grace picked up the glass and sniffed. The fumes almost choked her.

“Whiskey.”

Grace shook her head. “I don’t need calming. I just need to get out of here.”

The mousy girl skulked down the steps. Seeing Grace, she rushed over. “If you want to avoid the sheriff, best go now.”

“Thank you for all you’ve done.”

The girl clasped Grace’s hand in hers. “Thank you.”

Grace suddenly thought of something. “Money. You’ll need some money for Lil up there, to make it convincing, what you said . . .”

Unquestioningly, Joe took out the pouch of silver and handed the wash-girl two nuggets. “One for you and one for Lil.”

The girl’s eyes widened. “Oh, no, that’s way too much.”

“Then change it into cash, and pay her what she’ll think is fair.”

The girl tried to hand one nugget back to Joe. “I can’t take this much.”

Joe gave her a gentle push. “Best get back to work before you get in trouble.”

The girl’s eyes shined. “With this much, I won’t need to go back to work for a long time.”

Grace was stunned. Two nuggets of silver was a lot of money? And that woman at the bordello had taken the whole pouch. For one night’s stay. Grace gritted her teeth. Sometime she would go back and get her change. And how would she ever repay Joe for all the silver — and everything else — he’d given her? She knew she had to find a way to earn some money. But right now they needed to get away.

“Let’s get out of here before Sheriff Behan finds out what happened,” Grace said. She glanced down at her clothes. “But I need to do something about my clothes. They’re still damp.” She looked up, and her eyes stopped on the whiskey glass. Hmm . . .

She made a show of bumping into the table, so the glass of whiskey splashed her clothes. A small puddle ran into her lap and onto the floor. Grace stood and wiped at her clothes, and the barmaid soon spotted her. She strode over with two rags, practically threw one at Grace without saying a word, and then mopped the table and floor with the other.

After the woman left, Joe glared at Grace. “What’d you do that for? Now you smell like whiskey. They’ll think you were too drunk to hold your glass upright.”

“Better that than realizing what the stains really are,” she said matter-of-factly.

Shock registered in Joe’s eyes at her ruthlessness. “You’ve changed, Grace. What has happened to you?”

“I grew up.” She tried for bravado, but her memory of the alley and the sickness she’d felt returned. She pushed the thoughts away. “Let’s go.”

Just as they reached the back exit, the front door burst open. The deputy, badge shining on the lapel of his black cutaway coat, stood spread-eagled in the doorway.

“Someone shot Doc Slaughter in the back alley.”

Gasps sounded around the room.

The deputy’s eyes narrowed as he scanned the room. “I’m here for the one who did it.”