Read Online The Great West Detective Agency by Jackson Lowry - Free Book Online Page B

up enough and he disappointed her, that opened opportunities to woo Carmela after she shooed the shaved-headed giant away. “In town, few are held in such esteem.”
    â€œI am so worn out, dear Lucas, but as a favor to you, I will speak with this man. Is he here?” She perked up and looked past him toward the closed door.
    Lucas had no idea but doubted Little Otto would allow anything short of Gabriel blowing the trump of doom—and maybe not even then—to keep him away from Carmela’s opening performance. He had seen the man’s expression, his determination, his willingness to make a deal.
    â€œLet me see. If not, we can go somewhere for a bite to eat and wait for him.” Lucas saw this as a way to spend time with her while waiting for Otto to never arrive. His face fell when he opened the door and stared directly into the center of the man’s chest.
    Little Otto wore a tuxedo that barely fit him. That was to be expected, but Lucas had not believed diamond studs of such size could be used to hold a frilled dress shirt closed. The stones marched from the top of the vest all the way up to where a perfectly tied black silk bow tie circled Otto’s thick neck.
    â€œShe wants to meet you,” Lucas said in a choked voice. “She thinks you’re a force in Denver.”
    Little Otto laughed.
    â€œI
am
a force, not only in Denver but of nature.”
    â€œMy, aren’t you a tall one?” Carmela came to Otto, who took one hand and bent deeply to kiss it. “You are one of the true gentlemen, sir.”
    â€œI wish to perform a great service for you, miss,” Otto said.
    â€œWhat is that?”
    â€œTo order breakfast in bed for us.”
    Lucas was startled to see the calculating look on the woman’s face.
    â€œYou are a bold one, sir.”
    â€œNot half as bold as you are beautiful.”
    Lucas backed to the door and slipped through it rather than listen to the banter between the two. That should have been him back there, not Little Otto. He had followed Carmela across the country, and they belonged together. They were of a kind, soul mates.
    He left through the back door, followed by Carmela’s delighted laughter. As the door closed behind him, a dog barked at him and jumped up, dirty paws on his pants.
    â€œGet away,” he said, pushing away the mutt that had been offered to him as Tovarich. Nothing had gone right tonight. “Oh, the hell with it.” He bent and scratched the dog’s ears. Somehow this wasn’t quite the same as running his fingers through long, blond locks, but it had to do. For the time being.

6

    â€œD unbar.”
    Lucas Stanton stared at Little Otto, then shook his head. He ran his fingers around the brim of the glass until it made a squealing noise. In New Orleans he had listened to a glass harp symphony once. The maestro had dozens of water glasses filled to various levels. Dipping his finger in water and running it around the rims had produced strange and lovely music. Lucas never quite got the knack of producing any uniform sound, but right now he wanted to generate a screech that would pierce Otto’s eardrums.
    He kept his best poker face.
    â€œI know that already. His boys tried to rough me up. They even warned me away from hunting for the dog. It was as if someone had told them my interest in the hound. Otherwise, they might have thought I was up to any number of other nefarious schemes.”
    â€œJubal Dunbar is a dangerous man with many irons in the political fire. He wanted to be Colorado’s first governor but ended up at the bottom of a very long list. A man with his self-importance does not take such an affront lightly. He has worked himself into a political appointment, doing who knows what, but he is always on the lookout to move up.”
    â€œWhat did Dunbar want with Miss Baldridge’s dog? More to the point, what did he do with the puppy?”
    â€œHe wants the dog