Frowning, Cooper stepped out of the cellar and drew her away from the boys at the door. “Why do you say that?”
She took the note out of her handbag. “I went to the police first. They wouldn’t help me.”
“Worthless bastards.” He read the note. “Damn it! I knew they shouldn’t have gone alone.”
“Wait, so Jack willingly went to go see this O’Shaughnessy person? Will he get hurt?”
Cooper made a noise. “O’Shaughnessy would kill his own mother if he thought he could profit from it. Jack thought you were in danger, so he went to talk to O’Shaughnessy.”
Justine could only imagine that conversation. Jack would threaten and intimidate the other man to get what he wanted. The encounter would have gone to rot after that. “We have to help him.”
“He won’t like it. He said that’s what O’Shaughnessy wants, a big street fight to upset the balance of power downtown. It used to happen all the time in the old days.”
Before Jack. And wasn’t that exactly what Chief Harrison told her?
“I don’t care what Jack wants. I cannot get my hands on ten thousand dollars, so unless he has that kind of money lying around in the club, we have to think of something else.”
“I could maybe get together a thousand or so. Ten thousand? I wouldn’t know where Jack keeps that much cash.”
She could go to Mamie and Frank. Perhaps Florence and Clay, as well. Between them all, they could likely come up with the money. But there was no time. Light was fading quickly, the sun already low in the sky. If only her father were in town. Daddy would have the money—but whether he’d actually hand it over for Jack was another story.
Furthermore, she wasn’t certain any of her family would help. Florence and Mamie were not keen on Jack, especially after Justine had filled them in on her conversation with him the other night. They both thought she was better off without him.
Whether that was true or not, she couldn’t allow him to be killed. She could barely stand their separation now . . . and he was in perfect health. If he died, she’d never be able to live with herself—especially if she could’ve done something to prevent it.
Tilting her head at Cooper, she said, “We have to save him.”
“Miss, I’m thinking you should return home and let us handle it. Whatever happens might be dangerous.”
“Mr. Cooper, we don’t know each other well, but I won’t be returning home until Jack is safe and sound. Are we clear?”
Cooper grimaced. “He’ll kill me if you’re harmed.”
“Then blame me, because I’m not leaving. We need to go down there and get Jack out.”
“Short of taking every man in the club down there with brickbats, I don’t know what we could possibly do.”
Her gaze cut to the windows of the club, through which she could see the men shouting and clapping for the fighters. “Would that work?”
“It might. O’Shaughnessy doesn’t have as many men under him as we do, but Jack wouldn’t want us to do that.”
“Then it’s too bad Jack isn’t here. Come on.”
She returned to the front entrance and planted her feet. “Mulligan has been kidnapped. I must speak with everyone inside.”
The guards blinked, their jaws falling open. Instead of arguing, they stepped aside and let her through. Cooper was right behind her as she walked into the main room. Putting two fingers in her mouth, she whistled loudly, a piercing screech that cut through the noise. Everything stopped as heads swung her way.
In any other circumstance, the attention would have rattled her. Not today. Jack’s life was in danger. She had no time for nerves or second guesses. Every minute counted.
So she hurried to the ring, which stood on a small platform, and stepped up onto the edge. There were at least seventy-five men here, with a lot more in the saloon if the noise coming from the back was anything to judge by.
“Hey now,” one man called. “I’ve got ten dollars riding on this fight. Get down, miss!”
“Mulligan has been kidnapped by Trevor O’Shaughnessy.”
The words dropped like a stone thrown into a calm lake, causing disbelief and anger to ripple across the room. “How do you know?” someone shouted.
“I received a note demanding payment in return for Mulligan’s safety. It’s more money than I can produce in the time allotted, which I suspect Mr. O’Shaughnessy realized when he set such parameters. Regardless, we cannot leave Mulligan to O’Shaughnessy’s whims. We have