"You are truly a cow," McMasters growled, echoing the sentiment of the man he'd paired her with. Kate knew she had to tamp down on her own temper, or all would be lost.
"Perhaps, but what more could I be when I was sired by such cloddish bull like you?"
His fists curled, a vein in his neck throbbed. "You are nothing like me, a worthless girl. When I thought you were merely a horse thief I would have dragged you back to civilization and hanged you. When you eluded me, I would have hung you out in the prairie, just as I did on my ranch. But when I discovered you were my own blood, I knew there was only one use for you.
"You will keep your mouth shut, comport yourself as a lady, marry this man, and give me access to monies you have only dreamed of."
"'Comport' myself as a lady? Does that mean act? For as I see it, ladies around here do nothing but share blankets with other men, spend money on dresses, and act as silly as a very slow child. Is that what mother did?" Kate eyed his growing rage and knew to push on. "She took men to her bed, didn't she? So how do you even know you're my pappy?"
Anyone looking at the two could see, but a flicker of doubt crept into his eyes and she knew she'd hit the nail on the head.
He moved to slap her but on of the men stepped forward and grabbed his hand. "Sir, not here, not now."
McMasters trembled with rage. "Unhand me, or die."
His hand was dropped.
"You would do well to hold your tongue, or I will hand you over to my men to do with as they please."
"By all means, go right ahead. Can't get hitched to your fancy man if I ain't no virgin. And if I ain't hitched, can't be shackled to a man like you, driven into the arms of any other, until he kills me."
He swept down, arms caging her on the couch, his face inches from hers. "That slut mother of yours deserved to die. I watched her sputter, begging for her life and yours, laughing. I promised her you would be nothing like her, you be what I made you."
Her blood chilled to hear it confirmed. Rage gripped her, and wanted nothing more than to beat his face with her fists until they were both bloody. But Kate was a seasoned gunfighter, and she knew to keep a level head.
The Pinkerton couldn't have heard, no one but Kate had. With a deep breath, she raised her voice. "You killed her. You killed my mother."
"And as soon as you produce an heir, I will do the same to you."
Her eyes widened, but before she could respond, a snarling ball of rage knocked McMasters to the ground.
The guards drew their guns and suddenly Dan and Finnegan were there, guns trained on the guards.
Screams rang out from the crowd and they began to flee. Kate realized it was Rafe on the ground, pummeling McMaster's face. Before satisfaction crept into her soul, McMasters reached into hiss pocket and drew a gun.
"Rafe, look out!"
A man she'd never seen before rushed in and kicked at McMasters' arm. One of the guards shot, and all hell truly broke loose.
Bodies twisted and tangled, and Jerome grabbed Kate, dragging her back towards Izzy. "Are you okay?" her best friend asked with a tight hug.
"Fine, but McMasters has a gun and that man, guess he must be the Pinkerton, got shot.
"Hell," Jerome cursed, stripped off his jacket, and waded into the melee.
Finnegan was unconscious and bleeding, slumped against a wall, and now a guard was punching at Rafe's head as he struggled to keep a bear hug around McMasters.
Dan Forth was dragging the Pinkerton, bleeding from an arm, back towards safety, and the other guard was dead. It was a mess.
"Izzy, you need to get out of here, it's gonna get real bad, real fast."
"I am not going anywhere."
Kate slipped her hand in the slit a maid had made for her and grabbed the Derringer. Not much of a gun, but it'd work in a pinch.
"Go with the crowd into the lobby, Izzy. Don't argue with me." Her friend's eyes widened, and Izzy turned back to see Jerome stumble back with a bloody lip and a broken nose. "God damn it, git!"
Izzy turned and fled, and Kate saw Rafe was bleeding, weak, on top of the guard. McMasters was scooting away, his pistol naked, the hammer back, the nose aimed squarely at Rafe's head.
Kate raised her own gun, and with the same calm that flowed over her she steadied, aimed, and squeezed the trigger.
McMaster's fell, and it made the handful of remaining people stop and stare.
He wasn't moving.
***
"We got him," the Pinkerton, named Charles Montgomery, said with a thick voice. He sat on the couch alongside Finnegan as the doctor bandaged his arm. The shot had grazed him something bloody, but he'd be fine.
