A quick glance at the grandfather clock on the landing above the bar, one of the few family heirlooms that Lola possessed, told her it was nearly midnight.  Surely Jackson had finished up his 'business' with Layla by now. He certainly hadn't seemed in the mood to take his time when he stormed away from her after their argument earlier.  But then Lola hadn't seen Layla return to the saloon floor either.  A quick scan of the room made it was obvious that she wasn't there.  The young women was by far the tallest girl on Lola's staff, and easily spotted in a crowd.  Chewing her bottom lip indecisively, Lola knew she had to talk to Jackson tonight.  What King had said to her, coupled with her short conversation with Bill, made waiting any longer a foolish act of pride.<br/><br/>Lola caught Evie's eye as she approached the bar, letting her most trusted employee know with nothing more than a look that she needed to talk to her.  Evelyn was Lola's greatest success story.  They had arrived in Silver City together, with no man accompanying them, nor one waiting to meet them.  It wasn't exactly a scandal, but had created quite a stir at the time.  Lola remembered the shy slip of a girl that she'd found abandoned at the train station, all her hopes and dreams already crushed at the tender age of sixteen.  Despite having no children of her own, Lola's maternal instincts had kicked in, and although it had taken Evie some time to relax and trust the older woman, here they were seven or so years later, as close as sisters.<br/><br/>Leaning in close to avoid being overheard, Lola tried to keep the strain out of her voice.<br/><br/>"I need to talk to Jackson.  Can you keep an eye on things down here for a while?"  She knew she didn't need to ask, but didn't ever want Evie to feel like she was being taken for granted.  "It's important, so I'm not sure how long I'll be."  Lola tried to smile reassuringly, knowing full well that her young prodigy would be reading between the lines, and would suspect that something was wrong.  "Everything's fine, truly."  Giving Evie's back a reassuring rub as she left, Lola headed upstairs, the sense of dread that had seeped into her via Bill growing with every step.<br/><br/>Pausing outside Jackson's room, Lola took a deep, steadying breath.  She didn't want him to see just how much this King business had shaken her up.  Jackson could be a hot head at times, and the last thing she needed was him being a hero and trying to take care of the problem immediately, in his own special way. King wasn't one of his bounties, and had to be handled correctly.  Lola sensed that a full on assult of the man would do nothing but make the situation worse, if that were possible.  She asked herself again if involving Jackson was the smart thing to do, but she really had no choice.  He was the only man she could truly trust.<br/><br/>Sure that she could hear no sounds of activity on the other side of the door, Lola knocked softly.  It was unlikely Layla was still there.  If she were, there'd definitely be tell tale noises emanating from the room.  She wasn't exactly shy when it came to being loud in the bedroom.  Getting no response to her knock, and confident that he was alone, Lola gently turned the doorknob and walked quietly through the door.  If Jackson was asleep...and she hoped he wasn't...she'd wait and talk to him in the morning.<br/><br/>The sight of her newest girl curled up and asleep in Jackson's arms drove all rational thought from Lola's mind.  She slammed the door violently behind her, the noise loud enough to startle the sleeping couple awake.  Anger burned like fire in Lola's eyes, and if looks could kill, Layla would have been dead on the spot.  The young woman knew, before Lola even opened her mouth, that she was in big trouble.  She'd been caught breaking Lola's most golden of rules.  Scrambling out of the bed, Layla stammered an apology while trying to get back into her dress.<br/><br/>"Don't bother," Lola spat, her voice low and menacing.  "Get your things and get out of here."  It was on the tip of her tongue to banish the young woman completely, but she couldn't bring herself to condemn Layla to a life working in a place like Trixie's, where whoring wasn't just expected, but required.  "Until you learn to respect my rules, your services on the floor will no longer be required.  From now on, you'll be working in the kitchen.  And heaven help you if you step one foot out of line in there, Missy! You'll be out on your ass quicker than you can drop your drawers!"  Never once did Lola raise her voice, but in no way did that lessen the impact of her anger.  Layla quivered under the force of her gaze, and hurried out of the room, not even bothering to button her dress.  Once the door had closed behind her, Lola turned her attention to Jackson, who, in her estimation, was just as much at fault as the girl who'd just left.<br/><br/>"What the hell are you doing, Jackson?  You know my rules!  You know the girls are not allowed to stay the night!  Hell, if I thought I could properly enforce it, there'd be no whorin' at all!  I tolerate it, barely, but I will NOT tolerate..." she gestured wildly around the room..."THIS!"  Although not yet shouting, her voice had risen noticeably.  The small woman was uncharacteristically angry, and it seemed that she was just getting started.  "If you want whores in your bed all night, then perhaps Trixie's would be the best place for you!!"<br/><br/>Realising that she may have gone too far, and that Jackson wasn't likely to take kindly to her berating him so, she covered her face with her hands, unable to stop the tears that had been threatening to fall ever since he'd stormed out on her earlier.  Giving in to the stress and strain of the evening, Lola crumpled to the floor, her skirts mushrooming around her.<br/><br/>"Oh, Jackson," she sobbed from behind her hands.  "What on earth am I going to do?"