Longarm nodded. “That would make sense, wouldn’t it? No, the army would take a damned dim view of being faced down by a bushwhacker and pulling out of a long-established garrison post just because a few of their soldiers have been killed. Hell, they can print those soldiers just about as fast as they print money. There ain’t never any shortage of people who can’t find no other work ready to join the cavalry and go waste their lives out in the big middle of nowhere. No, I have to agree with you on that. But you do say that the Castles are pushing for the garrison to leave. Do you have any idea why, besides this business of the stolen cattle?”
She shrugged her shoulders again. “No, and I don’t really know why they should be so concerned about the army. Hell, the army’s not interested in who’s bringing in stolen cattle. Supposedly, they are here to defend us from the Indians. The nearest one of which I think is about five hundred miles from here.”
Longarm finished his drink in a quick move. He said, “Well, it’s certainly got me puzzled. But I appreciate your time, Miss Mabelle.”
She held out her hand to him. The fifty dollars was in it. She said, “Here. Take this.”
He was about to get up but he settled back down. “Why would I want to take that back?”
“I didn’t do you any good. One of the rules of this house is that if you don’t satisfy the customer, he doesn’t have to pay. I didn’t give you any answers that could have possibly satisfied you.”
Longarm said, “Ma’am, I said that I would pay fifty dollars for a few minutes of your time. I didn’t say that I had to get satisfaction out of it. No, a deal is a deal. That’s your money.”
She thrust the bills at him. “Do me a favor and take it. I don’t want any money hanging between us.”
He slowly began to understand what she was talking about. He asked, “Am I hearing what I think I am hearing?”
She said, “Tomorrow night is Wednesday night. We close on Wednesdays. Would you come have dinner with me here?”
He said, “Well, I’d be right honored, Miss Mabelle.”
“Then take this money and cut out the Miss Mabelle la-ti-da. You and I are a lot alike, Custis. We may wear the clothes but underneath, we are a couple of rounders. Now take the money.”
He reluctantly accepted the fifty dollars from her and said, “What time shall I come for dinner?”
“About seven. Do you want another drink?”
He stood up slowly. “No, it’s late. I thank you very much, though. I am looking forward to tomorrow night. I’m gonna get up early in the morning and do some scouting around and look over some property. I guess I’d best get on back to my hotel … actually, I am in my hotel, so I guess I’ll get on back to the first floor and get some sleep.”
She came around the table and offered him her hand. He took it and gave it a light kiss. Before he could realize what was happening, she was in his arms and their lips were meeting. It was a brief kiss but it sent tingles all through Longarm. He backed toward the door.
He said, “I’ll be looking forward to tomorrow night.”
She said, “Yes, good night, Custis.”
He left Mabelle Russell and went down to his room a great deal more enlightened and a good deal more mystified than when he’d gone up. Now the finger seemed to point directly at the Castles. What had previously been thought to be a widespread interest in having the army garrison removed now came down to the interest of just one family. Though for the life of him, he couldn’t see how the army would be any threat to the Castles, even if they were bringing in Mexican cattle, stolen or otherwise. For many years it had been a dodge in that barren country to bring in Mexican cattle, especially if you were fairly close to the border, to supplement your herd.
What a big cattleman did was to bring in a buyer from one of the large cattle-buying outfits in St. Louis or Kansas City or Abilene and show them his regular stock. The buyer would pay sixty-five or seventy or maybe even eighty dollars a head for a thousand head or five hundred head, and then he would go on back to the city to await delivery. Then the cattleman would mix in a couple hundred of the Mexican steers, which were worth about twenty or twenty-five dollars apiece, and make an extra profit on the business without ever having done much more than obtaining the cattle and taking them on the short drive to his ranch. Of course, there was the matter of the branding. But since they didn’t brand cattle in Mexico, his brand would be the only one on the cow.
It was enlightening to know that it was the Castles who were putting the pressure on the garrison to move, but as Mabelle Russell had said, she didn’t see where the Castles would be dumb enough to think that murdering a few soldiers was going to get the army to move the fort. He didn’t think so either. In fact, it would have exactly the opposite effect.
What had him mystified was the sudden way she had taken to him. He hadn’t done much more than say hello before she’d started putting out ripples like a stone dropped in a still lake. He had felt her, he had smelled her, he had seen her, and she had given him back his money. Mabelle Russell didn’t seem the type to give back anyone’s money for any reason. And now he was invited to dinner.
He got undressed, put his revolver ready to hand on the nightstand, and got into bed full of questions, but as was his habit, he put them out of his mind. They couldn’t be answered that night and all they could do would be to interfere with his sleep. He had one last drink, then turned down the bedside lamp until it flickered and the room grew dark. His last thought as he went to sleep was the amazing contrast between the delicate, dainty, and exquisite Mrs. Shirley Dunn and the robust, hardy, sexual excitement of Mabelle Russell.
He awoke the next morning to the news that there had been another murder. He heard it from his waitress in the hotel dining room while he was having breakfast. She said it offhandedly as if she expected that he already knew. He had been about to put a biscuit in his mouth when he dropped it to the table and stared at her. He said, “What?”
She said, “Aw, yeah. They killed another one of those soldier boys last night. Somebody found him this morning coming into town. I figured that you already knew. It’s the talk of the town.”
He said, “Where was he found?”
