Besides causing a whole lot of noise, Nick’s shots also filled the narrow space between the buildings with gritty black smoke. A lot more of it rolled straight back into the faces of the two men still standing at the front of the opening.
Nick’s eyes narrowed reflexively as the burned powder drifted into his face. Since he couldn’t see much more than a bit of movement within the alley, he knew that Kinman must have been similarly impaired.
“Dammit,” Nick snarled as the echoes of his gunshots died away. “I’ll crawl in there after them.”
Kinman clapped a hand on Nick’s shoulder and pulled him back a bit. “Don’t bother,” he said. “These Chinese are like rats. They got hidey-holes all over the goddamn place. Going after them now is just asking to walk into a shotgun blast or some other ambush.”
“Sorry about that.”
“Don’t worry about it. There’s plenty more where they came from. You want in on that railroad job?” Kinman asked.
“Sure. I could use the money.”
“Let’s do some more hunting and then we can go back to Hale’s place for dynamite. Where you headed from here, Nicolai?”
“Up into the Dakotas.”
Kinman smirked and said, “What a coincidence. So am I.”
THIRTEEN
Kinman was right. There were plenty more Chinese to be found inside of Rock Springs. As he and Nick made their way up and down the streets, it got harder and harder for Nick to pretend that he didn’t see someone hiding in a doorway or rushing into a building. More than once, Nick thought he would be called out on his attempts to draw Kinman’s attention away from those desperate faces.
Fortunately for those frightened souls, Kinman seemed more intent on talking up Hale’s plan to blow up the railroad tracks. As he spelled out the plan to Nick, he acted as if he was sharing the details of a surprise birthday party. Nick listened, nodded and kept looking for another way to keep from having to put another local in harm’s way.
“I need a drink,” Nick said as they walked down another street.
Kinman shook his head and replied, “You’re out of luck there. The saloons are closed.”
“What? Why would they be closed?”
“The barkeeps are trying to keep from adding fuel to the fire by getting these arsonists liquored up. Don’t try talking your way in either, because I gave it my best shot. Some of these saloon owners say they’re trying to settle things down, but my guess is that most of them just don’t want to be blamed for making things worse.”
Nick nodded and looked at the darkened windows of the nearest saloon with newfound respect. “They may be onto something,” he said.
“They’re just covering their asses.” Kinman grunted. “I’m inclined to toss a brick through one of these goddamn windows just so I can get my hands on a bottle. In fact…”
Recognizing the glint in the man’s eye from all the other times he’d been around dangerous men with too much time on their hands, Nick reached into his inner jacket pocket and took out a dented flask. “Here,” he said, handing the flask to Kinman. “Maybe this’ll help.”
Kinman looked at the flask and then back up at Nick. “I thought you wanted to head into a saloon to get a drink.”
“I just didn’t want to take a dent out of my personal supply.”
Kinman seemed more than a little skeptical. But once he screwed open the flask and sniffed the contents, he grinned and nodded. “Ah. Now I see. This ain’t your typical gutter-brewed whiskey.”
“I can’t even find it in most saloons,” Nick said. “Sometimes, there ain’t anyone in town who’s ever heard of vodka.”
Kinman tipped the flask back just enough for a healthy taste of the clear liquor. His eyes closed as the liquid heat worked its way through him and warmed his stomach. “That’s a hell of a treat,” he said, handing back the flask. “Thanks.”
Nick took a drink as well, savoring the taste and the feel of the liquor the way some folks savor a cigar or a finely cooked meal. When he let out the breath he’d been holding, Nick felt as if he were exhaling steam from the potent liquor burning its path down his throat.
“Seems like the fires are being put out,” Nick said as he put the flask back into his pocket.
Kinman nodded and spared a quick glance toward the section of town that had been ablaze. “Maybe we do got the saloon keepers to thank for that. The men who set them fires only burned down Chinese houses.”
“Houses?” Nick asked. “Not businesses?”
Shaking his head, Kinman replied, “Chinese businesses may have a few white investors. Chinese laundries may have some white folks’ clothes hanging in the back. Nope, they just stuck to the houses because that’s where they could burn down the most Chinese with the least bit of fuss.”
Nick felt his stomach shift within him in a way that had nothing to do with the vodka. He was taken slightly aback when he found the same disgusted look upon Kinman’s face. “Why would you take money from someone like Hale?” Nick asked.
“Why wouldn’t I? You think someone else wouldn’t just step up and do what I done? It’s easy work and it was gettin’ done with or without me. Sheriff Young’s got his hands full with the fires and the assholes setting them for now, but he’ll crack down on Hale so hard that prick won’t know what hit him.”
“What about the Federals?” Nick asked.
Kinman looked over at him. “Those Federals will roll into town sooner or later,” he said. “All we need to do is make it later rather than sooner and we can ride outta here as rich men.”
“It could be messy if any Federals get hurt.”
“Not if nobody knows who did the hurtin’.” As Kinman broke into laughter, he slapped Nick on the back and added, “We’ll just skin that rabbit when we get to it, as my grandpappy used to say. Speakin’ of rabbits, it looks like the Chinese rabbits are all back in their holes. Let’s get to work on our other business.”
The town had fallen into an eerie sort of calm. More folks were poking their heads out of their doorways and walking the streets, and there were more lawmen making their rounds. Nick figured that many of the men wearing badges were newly deputized or even part of a posse meant to regain order. The look in their eyes said they were both anxious to use their guns and afraid at the same time.
Kinman must have picked up on the same thing, because he became more and more silent as the folks around him got the courage to walk outside again. Even though the night air was filled with more cautious voices and less with gunfire, Kinman glanced around as if he was suspicious of every face he saw.
“Don’t let these folks get too good a look at you,” he said. “Once the law gets here, they’ll be apt to tell them about every stranger they’ve seen.”
“They’ve got to know about Hale,” Nick said. “A man like that surely hasn’t been silent while this mess was brewing.”
“Oh sure. And I’m positive none of these folks pointed out a Chinese or two to Hale out of spite. I’m also sure none of these folks happen to be miners as well and are looking to get anyone but Hale into trouble for this bloodbath.”
Nick nodded and choked down his disgust for his fellow man. “Point taken. Where are we headed?”
“There’s a hardware store just up the street. Hale said he’d meet us there with the supplies we need.”
True to his word, the hardware store was up the street and marked by a single lantern glowing in the window. As he approached the store, Nick felt like he’d been swept up by a passing twister and tossed a hundred feet into the air. Where he’d been before didn’t matter, and he was too busy to think about where he was headed. Looking back on it, Nick might have thought a week or two had passed since he’d been sitting on that train aching for a way to get off of it. Now that the twister had come, all he could do was try to position himself for the best landing he could manage.