Quicksilver Passion (137 page)

How the hell should I know?” The bartender shrugged.
Here he comes, ask him yourself.”

Jake turned as the bartender moved on down the bar.

A handsome, gray-haired man in a silk vest and string tie looked him over.
Did I hear you asking about Bart?”

Might have been.” Jake looked him over shrewdly.
I used to do a little business with him in Chicago. How is he, the old rascal!”

The other hesitated, took a deep breath, and frowned.
Don’t you ever take a bath? Let’s talk a little.”

He led Jake to a secluded table in the almost empty saloon.
My brother is dead, killed by his most trusted man, who emptied his safe and ran off with one of the girls.”

Al? Aw, mister, you must be mistaken. If ever there was a man loyal to Bart Brett, Al Trovato—”

From what I heard later of the woman, she would have turned any man’s head. They say she was a real looker with almost white-blond hair.”

Jake laughed and lit a stogie.
That can’t be anyone but Silver. Yep, she was special, all right. If there was a woman who could cause a man to commit murder and robbery, Silver would be the one.”

You could recognize this girl?” Brett hunched toward him.
I never saw her myself.”

Jake nodded, beginning to sense a chance to make a little money. He could understand a need for revenge; wasn’t that his own driving force? He thought about it a minute, decided there was no point in telling Lon Brett that Jake had been the one to bring the girl to the Velvet Kitten.
I wonder if she’s still with Al. The two of them together would be easy to spot, and he might be working as a bartender somewhere.”