Birds of a Feather

Javier

The secret to Javier's success in charming women was to find their weakness.

Every woman had one, a soft spot that left them susceptible to persuasion once it was discovered. Javier had cracked the secrets to most of the women in the gang a long time ago.

For some of them, their weakness had been easy to figure out. Susan and Molly only needed a compliment on their looks to get them preening. Karen liked when he was playful and witty. Mary-Beth blushed anytime he whispered his responses in Spanish, no matter what he said. Before she committed to John, Javier found Abigail preferred light touches on her skin, a finger brushed along her arm could glaze her eyes over. Even Jenny, who had claimed to have no interest in him except as a close friend, could be persuaded for favors with a little sweet-talking.

But, of all of them, Javier hadn't been able to crack Tilly.

When he first met her, she wouldn't reciprocate even one of the flirty smiles he sent her way. She was wary of men, even the trustworthy ones in the gang. She laughed plenty with the girls and eventually reserved her smiles for the men who didn't bullshit her. It took Javier a lot of bullshitting to figure that out.

Javier thought he'd uncovered the one thing to make her weak in the knees when he'd been strumming at his guitar one night. She'd taken a seat nearby and begun humming along. When he caught her eye as he sang, it was the first time she'd smiled at him. It'd been a start, even if all it accomplished was pleasing him more than her.

Until he found out she enjoyed his guitar as much as Uncle's banjo maldito.

After that, Javier had attempted different tactics to lure her in his favor, but whenever Tilly sensed him trying a little too hard, she rolled her eyes and left his company. Eventually, he gave up on the occupation, believing Tilly too cautious at his approach to ever be won over.

Javier missed the days when all his time spent at camp was idle and playful instead of tense and uncertain. Now, they were on their way to another camp once again. He hadn't even spent a night in Lakay before Dutch was ordering it packed up.

If this trip to Beaver Hollow took any longer, Javier was going to go loco. Lenny had just informed them they were halfway when their progress was hampered by patrols riding unsettlingly close on the eastern trails. Sadie spotted them first and Dutch led the group across the Kamassa River to avoid the agents.

At the rate of their travel, they were going to discover Bill had bled out while he waited at Beaver Hollow for them. The going was slow with the wagons when all Javier wanted to do was push Boaz onward with haste.

Their speed only served to slow down once they crossed the river. Another set of patrols had been spotted on the western side. The caravan was forced to halt their progress entirely if they didn't want to wind up intersecting the agents up the trail a little further.

Lenny volunteered to join Sadie and find a safe path while the remaining gang used the time to rest by Lake Elysian. Since getting back, Lenny had been doing everything he could to get on Dutch's good side. For some reason that Javier didn't quite understand, Dutch hadn't been happy that they'd gotten John out of jail.

Sure, the two had had a disagreement in Saint Denis, but Javier didn't think that should stop them from saving their brother. Dutch was hurt by John's doubt and anger he knew, but the two of them needed to talk through it or their friendship would fall apart.

However, Javier had a more pressing problem than hurt feelings between friends to wade through. In his pocket, a letter burned a warning, reminding him he needed to speak with Dutch. Its content may contain information of value.