Haggerty folded, hooking one arm over the railing in an attempt to stay on his feet. Longarm grabbed the man by the ears and drove a knee into his battered face. Haggerty was finished.
'Hold it right there!' the deputy shouted, gun in his fist. 'One move and I'll kill you!'
Longarm looked at the man and knew that he was not bluffing. He was trying to gather his wits and catch his breath when a second voice, accompanied by the sound of a gun cocking, said, 'Deputy Wilson, drop your weapon and raise your hands.'
Longarm saw a tall, handsome man of about thirty step forward and disarm Haggerty's deputy. 'Now, turn around and drag your boss back into the office and don't come out again until these people are gone.'
'You'll pay for this, Brodie! Gawddamnit, you're making a big mistake!'
'Probably,' Brodie said. 'But you're not going to spill the blood of a United States deputy marshal.'
'But what about the woman!'
Brodie looked up and smiled at Lucy, who smiled back, her face suddenly relaxing. She said, 'Hal, I can't thank you enough.'
'Sure you can,' he said. 'Clear your name and marry me.'
Lucy's jaw dropped, and even Longarm looked astonished before he said, 'I guess we need to talk.'
Brodie nodded. 'I guess so.'
The crowd parted as Wilson dragged Marshal Haggerty off the street, over the boardwalk, and into the office. Longarm noticed that not one person even offered to help, which said a lot for Haggerty's popularity.
'It's all over,' Longarm told the crowd. 'Everyone go back to whatever it is you are supposed to be doing.'
The crowd, however, showed no signs of dispersing. With Haggerty gone, they displayed something of a holiday mood, with lots of laughing and grinning.
Longarm felt woozy from the pounding he'd just taken. He went over to the horse trough, dipped his head in the cold water, and felt instantly clear-headed.
Brodie addressed Longarm. 'I own a little cattle ranch just outside town. Don Luis and my father were close friends. My father worked for Don Luis for many years before the man sold him a little land on credit. I owe much to his memory.'
'And,' Longarm said, 'you want to marry his widow.'
Brodie blushed. 'I didn't mean to say that. Really I did not. It just ... well, it just came out.' He looked up at Lucy. 'I'm sorry if I embarrassed you in front of all these people.'
'That's all right,' she said. 'Can we just get out of here?'
'Sure,' Longarm said as he picked up his Stetson and used it to bat the dust off his clothes. He struggled back onto his horse and looked down at Brodie. 'Lead the way.'
Brodie nodded and went for his own horse. A moment later they were trotting out of town, and Longarm was left with a thousand questions about this man and his motives.
'You never said anything about him,' Longarm said under his breath when he thought that Brodie was far ahead enough not to overhear his words.
'You never asked,' she said. 'Besides, I always knew that Hal liked me, but I didn't realize he would ever want to actually marry me.'
'Well, surprise, surprise,' Longarm said drily. 'Maybe he'll want to accompany us to the Yuma prison.'
Longarm immediately regretted that caustic comment because he saw the pain it caused. 'I'm sorry,' he told her. 'I didn't need to say that.'
'No, she agreed, 'you didn't.' After that, the three of them rode together in silence.
CHAPTER 9
Hal Brodie's ranch wasn't especially big by Arizona standards. Just a shade over ten thousand acres, but much of it was valley land and well suited for raising cattle. The house he lived in was a small well-built adobe and the barns were maintained, giving Longarm the impression that the operation, like the man himself, was very functional.
Little was said until they were inside the adobe. Hal motioned them to a seat as a maid appeared. 'How about something to drink?' he asked his guests.
'A whiskey for me,' Longarm said.
'Tea or lemonade would be nice,' Lucy answered.
'I think I'll have a whiskey myself,' Brodie said, easing down in a big horsehide chair and crossing his legs. After the maid left the room he looked from Longarm to Lucy and smiled. 'Lucy, for a woman on the run, you look remarkably good.'
'Thank you,' she replied. 'But given the circumstances, I don't see that we have a lot of reason for cheer.'
'Maybe,' Brodie said, 'and maybe not.'
'What,' Longarm asked, 'is that supposed to mean?'
Brodie's smile faded. 'I was in Tucson buying some Mexican cattle on the night that Don Luis was shot and killed. By the time I returned, Lucy had been arrested and then escaped. I felt... helpless. Lucy, I knew that you could not have killed your husband, and yet I read the newspapers and saw the overwhelming evidence stacked up against you.'
