[CW: reference to prostitution; reference someone being shot dead]

Ben had never thought he could set foot in a place like this and he mentally cursed the young lass responsible for bringing him here. The Diamond Pony. That place had had a reputation even before some Carrington getting shot in the face had exposed the full degree of the depravity behind its doors. And a smart lass like Lory thought it a good idea to work there!? The thought of going there abhorred him, but he owed it to Paul to get his daughter out. He would have hoped his brother would do the same for his children if their places had been reversed.

He hadn't wanted to believe it at all when old Dan Willis had asked him whether his niece had really gone to work in a town because he had seen her coming out of the Diamond Pony. And yet there was that instant and very insistent realization in the back of his mind: it made sense. Mary sometimes complained that Lory seemed to lie a lot and was secretive. And he knew that the girl was headstrong and had her own ideas about life and what she wanted in a way that eerily reminded him of Simon.  

So he hadn't wasted another moment. He hadn't gone to discuss it with Mary first. He had gone straight to the Diamond Pony and marched in, still wearing his fisherman's hat. He'd spit on the floor to show his contempt for this robber's den, if he hadn't been too preoccupied looking around for any trace of Lory.