Martha pressed close. 'Do you think he could have been mistaken?'
Longarm's head was throbbing and he was so cold and drained that he had begun to shiver despite the fact that the interior of the coach was packed with humanity and the temperature was slightly above freezing.
'Your coat is too light,' Martha said. 'You must use mine.'
'I couldn't fit into it even if I wanted to, which I don't,' Longarm said, teeth chattering like dice in a cup.
Martha touched Longarm's face; then her hand dropped to unbutton his light coat. She pushed him down and unbuttoned her own coat, then pulled it close around them. Longarm felt the instant warmth of her body. He wrapped his arms around her and held the woman tight.
'You were magnificent today,' Martha breathed into his ear. 'If you hadn't demanded that the able-bodied in this coach join us, we couldn't possibly have saved so many lives.'
'You were pretty great yourself,' he replied. 'I owe you an apology for the mean-spirited things I was thinking about you before.'
'Because of that prisoner?'
'Yes. Eli Wheat really is a vicious murderer.'
'I know that now. I guess I even knew it then. I should never have interfered. I don't even know what possessed me to-'
'Dear repentant woman,' Longarm said interrupting, 'has anyone ever said that you talk a lot?'
'It's been mentioned,' Martha said with a smile. 'I get that from my father. He was an attorney, and I plan to also practice law when we reach Cheyenne. It's a new challenge for me, but I know the law far better than most men who hang out their shingle.'
'I've never seen a woman lawyer before, but I'm sure that you'll do fine,' Longarm said. 'There's probably plenty of women that would rather deal with another woman.'
'There's even more men that would rather deal with a woman,' she told him.
Longarm was sure that was true. Martha Noble was very attractive, and he'd rather deal with her anytime than another man.
'Custis? That is your name, isn't it?'
'Yes.'
'Well, Custis, I still say that you were acting beyond your authority when you almost throttled that prisoner.'
'I wish now that I had. But if I manage to recapture Eli Wheat, you can defend him in court if you choose.'
When the woman offered no comment, Longarm chuckled. 'So, I'm holding a pretty attorney in a very compromising position. Martha, are you going to sue me for damages if I try to steal a kiss?'
'You can kiss me all you want,' she whispered. 'I've never been kissed by a hero before. So kiss me.'
Longarm did kiss Miss Noble. He kissed her until his teeth no longer chattered and his passion momentarily swept away the nightmare of the train wreck. And then, he kissed her a little more.
'I wish we were somewhere else,' he confessed, squeezing her. 'Somewhere nice and warm in Cheyenne.'
'What do you think happened?'
'You mean to the train, or to my prisoner?'
'Both.'
Longarm closed his eyes. 'I thought, just for an instant before we went over the mountainside, that I heard an explosion.'
'You mean like dynamite?'
'Exactly. It could have been an avalanche or a boulder that broke loose up above and came crashing down to derail the entire train, but I doubt it. We won't know for sure until help arrives and this blizzard passes.'
'Do you believe that it might have had something to do with your prisoner?'
'Maybe.'
'But wouldn't the risk of killing him have been too great?'
'Eli had everything to gain and nothing to lose,' Longarm said. 'If you'll remember, I told you that he belonged to a gang of cutthroats that robbed stagecoaches and trains. They've derailed the Union Pacific before with dynamite. Sometimes pitching it under the moving train, sometimes just blowing up track in front of the locomotive.'
Martha Noble choked with rage. 'So, in order to give one ruthless and convicted murderer a slim chance to escape, this gang was willing to sacrifice dozens of innocent passengers and train employees.'
'That's the size of it. If it was the same gang that Eli belonged to, they will have broken into the mail car and dynamited the safe in order to steal whatever cash and valuables it might have contained.'
'And executed any guards that might have survived,' Martha said bitterly.
'Of course.'
'What a fool I was to upbraid you earlier today!'
