The fact that there was no love lost between Eve and Abby was no secret, but Lola was surprised by how deep the mutual dislike seemed to run.  Watching the two women snipe at each other would have been concerning at any time, but now...when they needed to present a united front...?  It was damn alarming! But Lola wasn't naive enough to think that their relationship would mend itself just because they had a mutual enemy.  The attempts from both women to throw the other to the town wolf made that abundantly clear.  And knowing both of them as she did, Lola knew without a shadow of a doubt that  if either of them had the chance, that's exactly what they'd do.<em>Lola's</em>be damned.<br/><br/>"That's enough,"  Lola snapped.  "From both of you," she continued, not giving either one a chance to get another word in. The warning in her voice was obvious.  She looked at Eve hard, the older woman's dark eyes boring into the younger blue ones unwaveringly.  "I will accept your explanation of what happened, Evelyn. However, should anything like that ever happen again, I won't be so forgiving. Comprende?"<br/><br/>Lola didn't wait for Eve to acknowledge her words.  She knew the warning would hit home with her protege, and she was confident that the smart, sassy woman wouldn't be so stupid in the future.<br/><br/>"As for Jackson, I have an idea where he may have gone, but I have no way of knowing for sure. What I do know, however, is that he would never abandon us. He will be back. We just have to hang in there until he returns."  Lola's chin lifted defiantly as she spoke; her belief in Jackson unshakable.  He had never not been there when she needed him, just like she had always, and would always, be there for him.  Their bond ran deeper than anyone at<em>Lola's</em>knew, save for Eve, and the only thing that would stop him coming to her rescue was his death.  And Lola knew in her heart that that had yet to happen.<br/><br/>Lola quieted for a moment, chewing over her next decision.  She knew what she was about to ask was more than she had a right to. But at this point, she really didn't have a choice.   Eve was right.  They needed to have someone get close to King.  Not only to try to feed him misinformation, but to try to find out the real motivations behind his hostile take over of the saloon.  But which woman to ask to do that?  Lola was torn. It was like choosing one of her children to sacrifice that the others may live.  Her eyes dropped, resting on her clasped hands, the knuckles white from the tense grip they maintained on each other.  Lola knew what she had to do.  She just hoped she would be forgiven for doing it.<br/><br/>"You're right, Evie.  We do need to have someone ingratiate themselves to King.  It would be a great tactical advantage.  But that person can't be you."  Lola's gaze moved slowly to Abby.  "Abby, sweetie, I know I have no right to ask you to do this. And I'll understand if you say no." Lola's voice almost pleaded for forgiveness.  "King would have to be a blind fool not to know that Evie is closer to me than anyone.  The whole town knows we came to Silver City together.  And he'd never believe she'd be a turncoat."  Lola hated that she seemed to be implying that somehow Abby appeared less trustworthy.  "Which means she can't get as close to him as we need.  And he's obviously already taken a shine to you."  Lola paused, the moment heavy with expectation. She took a deep breath and ploughed on.  "Abby, would you be willing to spy on him?  I'm not asking just for me, but for all of us.  For all of them out there."  She waved her hand towards the main part of the saloon, where the other girls would still be cleaning up the mess that Evie had caused.  "I'm asking for Pearl, and for the children, and for the whole of the city.  We can't let King just walk in and take over everything. We all know he's not planning on stopping with<em>Lola's</em>.  Look at what he's done at the Sheriff's Office. The man is a snake.  And we may be the only ones who can stop him."<br/><br/>Lola paused again, her bosom heaving with the emotion that coursed through her when she thought about what King would do to the town she loved.<br/><br/>"Will you help me stop him, Abby?"