She nodded. “I’m going with Crowley.”
“Understanding that you give me full credit,” her associate told her, his lips close to her ear.
“I ain’t sure but what I’d better hide you till night,” the landlord informed Lida. “As I said, they’re naturally genteel, but——” He hesitated when he heard the growing grumble of voices.
“I’ve got trouble enough in getting away without taking you on for an extra load,” was Crowley’s rough repudiation of Lida. “You have double-crossed——”
“I’ll accept your opinion as an expert in that line,” she said, lashing her courage back to meet the situation. “I am not asking any favors from Vose-Mern or their operatives. Nor from you,” she informed the landlord.
She settled Ward’s cap and jacket more securely in the clutch of her arms. “Unbar and open the door, if you please, Mr. Brophy.”
He demurred.
“It’s the door of a public inn. You must open it.”
He obeyed, standing ready to repel intruders.
She walked straight out and through the crowd of hostile natives, who parted to allow her to pass; her chin was up and her eyes were level in meeting the gaze of any man who stared at her.