“I wonder whose it is at this point. You did say the U.S. attorney may still be alive, right?”
“That’s right, I … oh, shit.”
“What’s wrong, Longarm?”
Longarm rolled his eyes and shook his head. “That nurse friend of mine who was gonna find out if there is another hideout patient being kept under wraps.”
“Yes?”
“I was s’posed to take her out to dinner tonight. Right about now, as a matter of fact. She is gonna be pissed, I think.” He shrugged. “Oh, well. Too late to worry about it now, so let’s get busy an’ see what Mr. Terrell’s files can tell us.”
Chapter 37
“Are you sure this is the place, Longarm?”
“Pretty sure.”
Henry glanced over his shoulder, then quickly in both directions down the street. “It doesn’t look …”
“Safe?” Longarm suggested.
“That too.”
“You don’t find the sort of people we’re looking for livin’ real high on the hog.”
“I suppose you are right. The only thing I hope is that we find them. Period,” Henry said.
“We will if those reports are correct. Now … oops … act drunk,” Longarm hissed in a low whisper.
Henry did not wait for an explanation. He hiccuped. Loudly. And swayed a little on his feet. Longarm put an arm around him as if helping to support Henry’s weight, then started into the alley where they expected to find the cell of anarchists.
“You. Shtope,” a thick, heavily accented voice said from the darkness.
“Shtope?” Longarm asked.
“Shto … shta … stope.”
“Oh. Stop. You mean you want us to stop? What the hell for? Where’s Bucktooth Annie? Ain’t she working tonight?” Longarm complained loudly. “Why ain’t Annie here? Can’t a fella even get laid around here without a bunch of strangers peeking over his shoulder?” Longarm lurched closer to the man who, he could see now, was seated on a wooden crate smack in the middle of the narrow alley. There was no way to get deeper into the darkness without pushing past him.
“No hoor here, mister. Go ‘way.”
“But my friend an’ me, we’re awful horny. We got money. You wanta see? We got lots o’ money,” Longarm said in a very slightly slurred voice as if he too had been tippling more than a man ought to, at least more than was sensible if he intended to stumble into dark alleys in the middle of the night.
The man leaned forward to see, whether with the intention of grabbing the money or simply from a natural impulse to look when one is told to, Longarm couldn’t know.
What he did know was that the dumb sap had set himself up just right. A solid shot with Longarm’s elbow— harder and less likely to suffer damage than the much more vulnerable knuckles—delivered to the point of the man’s jaw sent his eyes rolling up in their sockets and knocked him cold.
“What was that for?” Henry gasped.
“He’s their lookout,” Longarm explained.
“How did you know he was here? I couldn’t see anything back here.”
“Hell, I couldn’t either,” Longarm admitted. “That’s what ears are for. Mighty useful in the dark, I heard him moving around.”
Henry stepped over the guard and paused. “Now where?”
“There’s light showing behind that cellar door down there. That must be the place.”
“And if it isn’t?”
“Then don’t shoot nobody. We can always apologize later.”
Henry frowned and dragged a revolver from his pocket. Henry did not normally carry a weapon. It was not that he couldn’t use one. He could, and could use it well when he had to, but it was not his habit. They’d had to stop in Billy Vail’s office after they left the U.S. attorney’s offices so Henry could open the marshal’s safe and arm himself. Longarm drew his own ever-present Colt and edged forward. He wanted to get inside the cellar hideaway before that guard woke up and shouted an alarm.
“Ready?” he asked over his shoulder.
“I hope you are right about this,” Henry said.
“That’s two of us. All right now. Stay with me.” Longarm inched down the stone steps and listened outside the closed door for a moment. He could hear voices inside, but could not make out what was being said.
Longarm raised his leg high, boot heel first, and kicked the door just above the lock.
Wood splintered and gave way, and the door slammed open, flooding the steps and alley with yellow lamplight.
Longarm bounded inside, Colt held at the ready.
