Longarm's voice turned rough. 'You talk too damn much, know that?'
The liveryman's eyes widened and he tried to bluster. 'Well, I didn't know what you was doin' was a secret!'
Longarm saddled his gelding and tied his bedroll down tight behind the cantle. Without a word, he mounted his horse and rode out of Wickenburg. It was midday and the next forty miles were all uphill to Prescott.
He arrived back at Prescott around midnight and found a corral for his horse at the livery, then went to a cheap hotel and fell asleep the minute his head hit the mattress.
Early the next morning Longarm made it a point to avoid being seen by Marshal Haggerty. All he wanted to do was to ride out to the Brodie Ranch, arrest Hal for murder, and get them both back down to Wickenburg. At that point, they could board the stagecoach that would carry them safely to Yuma. After that, he could think about returning to Colorado, which to Longarm's way of thinking couldn't possibly happen fast enough.
Half starved, Longarm found a little cafe that served a mighty fine breakfast of biscuits and gravy, eggs, a tough but sizable steak, and all the coffee your gut could stand for only six bits. Longarm hadn't realized how famished he'd been, and Betsy had been right, he was a little hollow in the gut and starved-looking.
'Aren't you that Marshal Long?' a cute little waitress asked with a smile that warmed him as much as the coffee.
'I am,' Longarm said, 'but I'd just as soon not spread the news.'
'Oh,' she said, leaning forward to straighten the tablecloth and show him some cleavage. 'Well, I can understand that a big man like you probably has a few enemies along with admirers. And you may count me among the latter. I saw what you did to Marshal Haggerty.'
'Thanks,' Longarm said, thinking that, under completely different circumstances, he would be inclined to develop more than a passing acquaintance with this bold girl.
'You just holler, Marshal, if you need any little thing,' she said, moving off and swinging her shapely hips.
Longarm shook his head and dug into his breakfast. He made short work of the biscuits and the gravy, and even enjoyed the steak, although he figured it must have been chiseled off the south end of a Mexican mule. After about three cups of coffee, he knew that it was time to get to moving. Prescott was starting to come alive and Longarm was in a hurry to make his arrest.
He rode out of town while the sun was still climbing on the horizon, and was trotting across Hal Brodie's ranch yard before ten o'clock in the morning.
'Hello the house!' Longarm called.
No one answered, but a cowboy emerged from the barn. He stared at Longarm a moment before recognizing him, and said, 'Marshal Long. How are you?'
'I'm fine. Lookin' for your boss. Is he around?'
'Nope.'
'Where can I find him?'
'Mr. Brodie is over to the Ortega ranch. Went two days ago and hasn't come back yet.'
'I see.' Longarm forced a smile. 'Thanks. I'll just ride over there.'
'I'm sure he'll be glad to see you,' the cowboy said, acting friendly. 'By the way, whatever happened to Mrs. Ortega? Did she go to prison?'
'No,' Longarm said, reining his horse around and setting it to a gallop.
Since the Ortega and the Brodie ranches were neighbors, it did not take more than forty minutes for Longarm to arrive at Don Luis's old rancho. There were horses in the corral and, when Longarm appeared, a fair amount of activity.
'Good morning,' a ranch hand said as he looked up from working on a broken corral fence.
'Morning,' Longarm said. 'Is Mr. Brodie staying here?'
'He sure is. Ought to be inside. Probably still having breakfast with Senor Ortega.'
That would be Don Luis's brother. 'Thanks,' Longarm said, riding over to a hitching rail and dismounting.
He went up to the door of the ranch house and knocked loudly. A man answered the door.
'Senor?'
'I'd like to see Mr. Brodie.'
'This way, por favor.'
Longarm followed the man into the house and down a tiled corridor to a big dining room where Hal Brodie was, indeed, having breakfast with Don Luis's brother.
'Marshal!' Brodie exclaimed, his fork falling from his hand to clatter on his plate. 'What a... a surprise!'
'I'm sure that it is.'
Brodie glanced at the man who had brought Longarm in. 'Marshal, this is Miguel Rivera,' he said with emphasis.
Longarm nodded and said nothing.
'How... how is Lucy?' Brodie stammered, recovering from his surprise. 'I've been so worried about her!'
'And that's probably why you've been staying here instead of at your own ranch, huh?'
