Speeding up!
“Same here,” I finally interjected. “We’re looking for a girl named Irene. You, too?”
That got me a look from both of them; Sofie’s startled, Smith’s was steady. I shrugged. “Why waste time? Your friend’s from Deseret, this guy sounds like he’s from there, that cabron who stuck me was a northerner, too. I don’t need to be hit more than three, four times before I can take a hint.”
“Fair enough,” said Smith. “Yeah, I’m trying to track down Irene. She tell you her last name?” Sofie shook her head. “Good. Then I can maybe get her out of this town in one piece.”
“What makes you think she wants to leave?” asked Sofie.
Smith snorted. “What makes you think she wants to stay? A lot of things had to go bad to make her run this far south. I’ll believe she won’t be coming back when I hear it from her own lips.”
“Fine,” said Sofie. “I’ll hold you to that, Mister Smith.”
“Thank you, ma’am.” Smith gave another of those spare nods; I was starting to wonder if he had noticed doing it they annoyed Sofie, just a little. Hell, I wonder if she had noticed.