fistful of coins. So you can bet that he won’t leave us alone.”
Dan was wide-awake now. “He’s got more blood-suckin’ friends than a dog has fleas. What are we going to do?”
“I’m not sure yet,” Longarm admitted. “I think that the first thing I need to do is to get you out of danger.”
“Hell, I’m not afraid to die! I’m old and shot up already. It’s you that needs a hiding place.”
“I’m not in the habit of hiding,” Longarm said stiffly. “Never have been.”
“Then this should be a first,” Dan argued. “Can’t you wire your federal friends for some help?”
“I could,” Longarm said, “but no one would get here before the shooting was over. That being the case, whatever will happen will happen. It’s up to me.”
“I’ll help.”
Longarm smiled. “What about your … aversion to taking another human being’s life?”
Dan closed his eyes for a moment, then said, “I was being self-righteous and trying to make up for some past mistakes. I don’t think that the Lord will condemn any man for trying to save his own hide.”
“Neither do I,” Longarm agreed. “And as for finding a room or-“
Longarm’s words were interrupted by a faint knock on his door. He turned and shouted, “Go away!”
“It’s me, Victoria Hathaway. Please let me come inside.”
Longarm hurried over to open the door, and the woman immediately threw her arms around his neck and hugged him very tightly. “I heard about last night, Custis! I was so upset and worried for you.”
“What about me?” Dan asked from his bed.
Longarm disengaged from the lovely woman. “Victoria, this is my friend, Preacher Dan. He and I have been through quite a lot in the last few weeks.”
“I can see that you have,” Victoria said, pretty eyes shifting back and forth between them. “Custis, you’ve lost ten or fifteen pounds.”
“I suppose so.”
“And you’re both wounded.”
“Just scratches,” Longarm assured her. “But we’ve also been evicted, and I was just about to tell Dan to keep his eye on things while I went looking around for another place for us to stay while we sort things out and try to lick our wounds.”
“I have just the place in mind,” Victoria said. “That’s part of the reason I came here.”
“You do?”
“Yes. I’m staying with a friend and …”
“That won’t work,” Longarm said quickly. “If Hank Bass gathers more men and comes hunting for me, that would be one of the very first places he’d come. You and your friend could be shot by accident. I can’t take that chance.”
“Would you please allow me to finish?”
“All right.”
“As I told you on the train, I have investments in this part of the country and one of them is a mining shack about ten miles northwest of town. There’s water and a mine that has run out of gold, but not before I recouped my investment five-fold. It would be a perfect hideout for us.”
“What do you mean, ‘us?’”
“I mean that I won’t just sit back and allow you to face Hank Bass alone. I would insist on being with YOU.”
“Not a chance!” Longarm exclaimed. “Forget that idea. I’ll find a hiding place in Wickenburg.”
“No you won’t,” Victoria told him. “Everyone in town is scared to death of Hank Bass. No matter that you have killed most of his gang. They’re still afraid and know that, given his reputation and the smell of Spanish gold, outlaws will flock to his side.”
Longarm frowned. “You paint a very grim picture.”
“Hank Bass and his gang shot my fiance to death. Never mind that I wasn’t very much in love with him—he still didn’t deserve to die.”
“No, he did not.”
“And then …” Victoria said, her voice catching with emotion and tears filling her pretty eyes, “they raped me as if I were some …”
“Stop it,” Longarm said, pulling the woman to his chest and squeezing her tight. “What happened can’t be changed, but what matters is that you know that you have nothing to be ashamed about. Nothing at all.”
“I know,” Victoria choked, “but it would help if Bass were dead.”
“Maybe it would also help you to know that Dan and I managed to gun down his gang. The ones that violated you, Victoria.”
“You did?”
“Yes.” Longarm tipped her head back and used his thumb to wipe away her tears. “There’s only Bass left to pay for what happened. And I swear that I’ll kill him. There will be no arrest.”
