Longarm noted the mirth in her eyes and grinned. 'No,' he said, 'I just wanted to make sure that you are going to be all right.'
She reached out and took his hand. 'You sound like a man who is about to leave town.'
'I've just decided to remove myself from this case,' Longarm admitted. 'I've done everything wrong.'
'No you haven't!'
'Sure I have. I had two members of the gang identified and I killed them both.'
'In self-defense! Custis, what else could you have done short of getting yourself shot or brained by a water pitcher?'
'I should have been able to anticipate and capture them alive,' Longarm replied. 'If I had I'd now have other suspects, and this case might already have been broken open and resulted in the arrest of Eli Wheat and that gang-'
'You're much too hard on yourself,' Milly said gently.
'Back in Denver, Billy Vail is probably catching hell right now from Clarence Huntington's powerful friends. Billy is not only my boss, but a good friend. This leaves a bad taste in my mouth. I should have handled things better.'
Milly took his hand. 'Listen,' she said gently, 'you saved lives on Laramie Summit. Maybe more lives that one night than you've saved over the entire span of your fine career.'
'I did what needed doing.'
Milly wasn't listening. 'And I might have been killed or beaten senseless by Blake if you hadn't been hiding under his bed. You were brave to be there instead of taking off before we arrived.'
'You both caught me by surprise,' Longarm confessed. 'I didn't think you would be coming up so soon.'
'Blake wanted me before we had lunch. I tried to talk him into waiting but the more I resisted, the angrier and more passionate he became. Finally, there was no choice. I just prayed that you were in and out by the time we arrived. As it turned out, it's a good thing you weren't.'
'I'm sorry he broke his damned neck, and I'm at a dead end in this case again, Milly.'
Longarm shook his head and continued. 'Now I've got to wire Billy and tell him I think it is best that I resign from this case and report back to Denver.'
'Do you have to leave right away? I was hoping you could stay with me for a while. If not here in Laramie, then somewhere else.'
'I'll ask for a week without pay,' Longarm said. 'But I can't make any promises.'
'And I'm not asking for any.' Milly straightened the covers over her and said, 'Go on. Send that telegram and then come back and tell me when you get an answer.'
Longarm nodded and headed for the telegraph office.
Longarm received a reply from Billy Vail in less than three hours. It read:
TO HELL WITH CLARENCE HUNTINGTON STOP DERAILMENT AT DONNER PASS CALIFORNIA STOP SEVENTEEN DEAD THIRTY-EIGHT INJURED STOP PROCEED WEST AT ONCE STOP CAPTURE NOT KILL FUTURE WITNESSES STOP GOOD HUNTING STOP
Longarm looked up at the telegraph operator. 'That's it, huh?'
'That's it, Deputy. Do you think that it's the same gang that derailed our train?'
Longarm studied his telegram. 'I can't say for sure, but from the tone of this message, I think that Marshal Vail believes that there might be a connection.'
'Donner Pass is what? A thousand miles from here?'
'Close to it. Do you know when the next westbound train passes through Laramie?'
The telegraph operator looked up at a big wall clock with a swinging pendulum. 'Next train is coming through in about eight hours.'
'Are you sure?' Longarm's luck had been so rotten lately that he found it difficult to believe.
'Would I risk givin' wrong information to someone who fought and killed two tough men in less than an hour?'
Longarm had to grin. 'I hope not.'
'Damn right I wouldn't.'
The telegraph operator, a skinny man in his forties with wire-rimmed glasses and a scraggly beard, spat tobacco juice on the floor and said, 'You want me to telegraph your boss and ask for some more travel money?'
'Sure,' he said, 'why not? I can't be in any more disfavor than I am already.'
'Then stop on by before you climb aboard that train,' the telegraph operator suggested. 'Mr. Vail might even surprise you.'
'He can do that,' Longarm said on his way out the door.
Longarm returned directly to the Outpost Hotel. The moment he walked into his room and saw Milly, he knew that something was amiss.
'Custis!' she cried in alarm. 'They came here wanting to arrest you!'
'Who?'
