“I know Senor Long quite well,” said Sonia, “and I am certain that his words were prompted only by concern for me. Misplaced, perhaps, but still concern.”
“What the hell?” exclaimed Coffin.
Longarm wasn’t as puzzled as the big Ranger was. The realization of what was really going on hit him like a fist in the gut, making a sour taste rise in his mouth. “El Aguila didn’t kidnap you at all, did he, Sonia?” he said tautly. “It was all just an act. You came willingly.”
She smiled at him. “You are a shrewd man, Custis.”
“No, I’m a damned fool. Here I thought you were in danger from El Aguila, when all along you were working with him.”
“Not exactly.” Sonia took a sip of her wine. “You see, Custis, there is no El Aguila.”
Chapter 13
“Or rather, there is,” she went on, “but he has nothing to do with us.”
Coffin shook his head. “I ain’t understandin’ this at all.”
Longarm was. He said slowly, “You just used the name so that everybody would be more afraid of the gang. El Aguila’s reputation carries some weight in the border country, doesn’t it?”
“He is well known to be a fierce outlaw,” Sonia said with a shrug that made her breasts bob slightly, intriguingly. Even under these circumstances, Longarm couldn’t completely ignore the lush appeal of her body. “As you say, my men simply used his name.”
“I thought it was sort of funny that a fella who’d always been known as a lone wolf would suddenly throw in with a bunch of owlhoots,” said Coffin, scowling darkly. “I should’a knowed El Aguila wouldn’t be runnin’ with a gang of no-accounts like this.”
Deke started to step forward again, his lips pulling back from his teeth in a grimace of hate, but Sonia stopped him with a look. “Say what you will, Senor Coffin,” she told the big Ranger, “but you and Senor Long are still our prisoners.”
She was right about that, thought Longarm. It didn’t matter whether El Aguila was here or not. He and Coffin were still in deadly danger.
“Nobody’s answered my question,” Walt Scott put in. “Do I get to join up or not?”
“Senor ... Scott, was it?” Sonia took another sip of her wine and sidled closer. Her gaze raked blatantly over Scott’s tall, rangy figure. He wasn’t a handsome man; his features were too rugged and powerful for that. But what Sonia saw seemed to meet with her approval. She reached out with the hand holding the wine glass and brushed a finger across the sleeve of Scott’s shirt. He met her bold stare impassively.
“I think there may be a place for you in our organization, Senor Scott,” Sonia went on after a moment. “You seem to me to be a resourceful man. Such a man could rise to a position of power.”
Longarm glanced toward Deke. As he suspected, the second in command didn’t look at all happy about the way Sonia was practically drooling over Scott. Deke’s face was flushed with jealousy and anger. Longarm wondered just how many men Sonia thought she could keep under control with her sexual powers.
Sonia said to Scott, “Our leader will be here soon, and he will make the final decision regarding your presence in our stronghold. But for now ... welcome, Senor Scott. I hope your stay is a pleasant one. I will do everything in my power to make it so.”
“We’d better get these two locked up,” Deke said sharply, gesturing with his gun toward Longarm and Coffin.
Reluctantly, Sonia took her attention away from Scott and turned toward the captive lawmen. “Yes, you are right, Deke. Make certain they are secure. Senor Long, I fear, could cause us a great deal of trouble, given the opportunity.”
“What about me?” protested Coffin, sounding offended. “I’m dangerous too, damn it.”
“Shut your mouth,” Deke growled. He jabbed the air with the gun.
“Get moving, both of you.”
He indicated that they should leave the room by the same door through which he and Sonia had entered. Coffin went first, followed by Longarm, and as he walked out of the room, Longarm cast a final glance at Sonia. Her eyes met his for an instant, and he thought he saw something like regret there.
Then Deke moved between the two of them, cutting off Longarm’s view of Sonia and shutting the door behind him.
They were in a hallway that led toward the rear of the big house. Several doors opened off the corridor, and as they passed one that was open, Deke spoke in Spanish to some men who were the side room. They came out, drawing their guns as they did so, and Longarm figured they were extra guards to keep an eye on him and Coffin while Deke was taking them wherever they were going. One of them carried a lantern.
While the other men covered Longarm and Coffin, Deke searched them, removing Longarm’s matches and cheroots and the pocket watch with the derringer attached to the other end of the chain. Longarm just shrugged when Deke gave him a hard-eyed look.
He wasn’t surprised when they left the house through a rear door and proceeded toward a smaller building set just inside the high adobe wall that ran around the entire place. The small, square, flat-roofed structure was made of sturdy logs and had only one door and no windows. Longarm knew a smokehouse when he saw one.
“We’ll lock up the two of you inside there,” said Deke, indicating the smokehouse with a jerk of his gun. “There’s no way out. When the boss gets here, he’ll know what to do with you.” Deke gave an ugly laugh. “I’m betting you’ll die, both of you.”
“We’ll see,” said Longarm. “I’ve always believed in eating the apple one bite at a time.”
“You’re going to choke on this one,” Deke predicted smugly. He holstered his gun, and while the other men
