"No, you don't!" said the deputy. "You got too many friends out there," and he gestured toward the patio with his gun.
"Not my friends," said Pete.
Boca's song ended abruptly as she turned from her audience to glance in Pete's direction. She saw him standing with upraised hands—and in front of him three men—strangers to Showdown.
Came the shuffling of feet as the men in the patio turned to see what she was staring at.
"Sit still!" called The Spider. "This ain't your deal, boys. They got the man they want."
But Boca, wide-eyed and trembling, stepped through the doorway.
"That's close enough!" called a deputy.
She paused, summoning all of her courage and wit to force a laugh. "Si, señor. But you are mistaken. It is not that I care what you do with him. I do but come for the wine for which I have asked, but there was no one to bring it to me,"—and she stepped past the end of the bar into The Spider's room. She reappeared almost instantly with a bottle of wine.
"I will open that for you," said The Spider.
"Never mind!" said one of the deputies; "the lady seems to know how."