then paid all his bills with a handful of Spanish coins.
The golden coins created another kind of fever around Wickenburg. But by the time the news of them got around, Cox had vanished into the desert.
“Well, I’ll be damned!” Longarm exclaimed. “I guess maybe old Jim did finally locate that lost Spanish treasure he’d been searching for over the last twenty years.”
“He musta!” Excitement was high in Ruben’s dark eyes. “Else, how else would he have had the coins?”
“I don’t know. But what I can’t understand is …”
Longarm’s eye fell to a penciled note on the bottom of the page, so faintly written that he had almost overlooked it. Squinting, he read these words:
AM ALMOST RICH BUT HUNTID LIKE AN ANAMAL. YOU OWE ME. HELP. COME SOON!
JIMMY.
“Damn!” Longarm swore. “He’s being hunted.”
“Why, sure he is,” Ruben said. “He’s almost found a fortune in Spanish gold. Probably has found it by now. Probably been killed and robbed by now too.”
Longarm reread the article, then folded it back up and stuffed it into his coat pocket. He lapsed into a troubled silence.
“What are you going to do now?” Ruben asked.
“I don’t know.”
“He saved your life, Custis, you got to at least try and return the favor.”
“Yeah, but I’m going to New Orleans.”
“No you’re not,” Ruben said. “Unless I’ve badly misjudged you, Marshal, you’re headed for Wickenburg. New Orleans is still gonna be there for you someday.”
Longarm swore under his breath. “Dammit, Ruben, I was just in Arizona last month!”
“Then you probably still got a couple of women waiting for you down there.”
“Not very damn likely.”
Ruben cackled. “Wish I could go along and see some of that Spanish treasure! Be a lot more fun than shinin’ shoes and waiting for the President to show up someday.”
“And about as likely,” Longarm drawled. “Dammit, I don’t want to go back to Arizona.”
“You could get rich.”
“Or dead.”
“If this Jim Cox is still alive, you tell him to come live in Denver. We’ll swap stories and have some good times on his money.”
“I’ll do that,” Longarm promised, climbing to his feet and paying Ruben. “And, if Jimmy does come back, I’ll make sure that he brings enough Spanish gold to keep us all going for the rest of our lives.”
Ruben gave Longarm a big, toothless smile and then turned to a waiting customer, saying, “Best shine in Denver or the world. Just ten cents!”
“I sure admire the job you did on that big man’s boots,” a pudgy office worker said, taking Longarm’s seat with a weary sigh. “If you do as good a job on mine, there’s an extra nickel coming, Ruben.”
Longarm dashed back into the federal building, hoping to catch Billy Vail and explain his change of plans for the coming weeks. Sure, he’d miss New Orleans and the big paddle wheel boats plying the Mississippi River, but the thought of a relaxing vacation had already vanished like smoke in a dry desert wind.
Chapter 2
United States Marshal Billy Vail kicked his feet up on his desk and tipped back his office chair as he stared at Longarm. When the big lawman had finished explaining why his plans to take a New Orleans vacation had suddenly been changed, Billy frowned.
“The thing of it is, Custis, you need a vacation. I was willing to let you go for a month because I knew that for years you’ve been taking the lion’s share of the bad cases being assigned out of this office.”
“I’m not complaining.”
“Of course you’re not. But the fact remains, this Wickenburg business isn’t going to be a vacation. In fact, it sounds like another assignment. You know that Sonora Desert country is already heating up. It’ll be hot and dangerous going down to Wickenburg and trying to save your friend’s ass.”
“I haven’t any choice. I do owe the man my life.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Billy said, waving off the comment with his hand. “But you’re also working on raw edges.”
“I’m not anywhere at the end of my rope,” Longarm said defensively. “And I can always take a few days off to rest after I get this Arizona business cleared up.”
“You mean a sort of abbreviated vacation?”
“Sure. It just so happens that I have a good friend in Prescott, and it’s pretty cool up there even in the summertime. New Orleans can wait until next year.”
Billy frowned. “It’s just that I hate the idea of you using up your vacation time trying to save this Jimmy Cox fella from being killed. It’s plenty likely that it will require an entire month and then you’ll have no time to relax in Prescott with that woman.”
