understand that?”
He said, “I could understand it a whole lot better if you would tell me who we’re talking about. I know that’s going to require a wagon load of trust on your part, but honey, you’re going to have to trust somebody pretty soon. You’re as good as dead right now, the life you’re living. I may be your ticket out of here. We’re both prisoners. I don’t see where you can hurt yourself at all. As near as I can figure, you’ve got nothing to lose. By the way, that makes me have to ask you something. You’ve told me all this, how miserable your life is. Why haven’t you run for it? Why haven’t you gotten the hell out of here? Are you being watched night and day?”
She gave a short, bitter laugh. She said, “No, of course not, but what chance would I, a genteel white woman, have in this country? It’s twenty-five miles to the border and he practically controls that part of the land. I have no money, no real clothes. I have no shoes to amount to anything, nothing but slippers. How can I get out of here? I don’t really know how to ride a horse, so how would I leave? His men would catch me before I had gone ten miles and then they would do what they did once before. They would tie me to a post out in the hot sun and leave me out there for several days until I was almost dead from thirst and hunger.”
Longarm said, “I see. Well, whoever Mr. Brown is, he’s one no-good low-down son of a bitch, but it’s up to you if you want to tell me your story—I’d like to hear it. I can only tell you that you can trust me. I can’t prove it. By the time I’ve proven it you’ll be out of here.”
When Longarm finished speaking, she was quiet for a moment. She touched her navel with her forefinger, looking down at it. She said, “I never really thought of it that way.”
“What way?”
“I really have nothing to lose. What I have now is living death. I think I might almost prefer to be dead rather than to go on living like this. The only thing I have to look forward to in the future is more hate, more mistreatment, more humiliation.” She paused. After a moment, she said, “His name is Richard Harding.”
The name bounced around in Longarm’s head like a rubber ball. It was familiar, yet he couldn’t place it. He said, “Richard Harding. Richard Harding. I know it from someplace.”
“You should. You both work for the federal government.”
It clicked. He said, “You’re not talking about Judge Richard Harding, are you?”
“Yes,” she said. “I’m his ex-wife!”
Longarm’s mouth literally fell open. He said, “Do you mean the Richard Harding who is a federal circuit court judge?”
“Yes, and also one of the biggest crooks along the border and perhaps the most vicious man.”
Longarm said, “You’re telling me that a federal court judge kidnapped me and is holding me prisoner?”
“Yes. He’s also holding me prisoner, too.”
It suddenly made sense in a strange sort of way. A federal judge would know, probably better than anyone, the ins and outs of swapping a federal prisoner for a federal deputy marshal. Longarm had no idea how he was going about it, but now the plan didn’t seem so crazy.
Chapter 6
Sarah said, “About three years ago, he caught me with another man. It was innocent enough in appearance, but it wasn’t so innocent in my heart. I was so starved for love, for affection, for kindness, that I was ready to throw myself at the first man I could interest, but they were all afraid of Judge Harding and with good reason. I was not quite twenty-seven. He was a young lawyer, newly moved to Laredo. We carried on an innocent enough flirtation for a while and then we arranged to meet. Suffice it to say, Richard caught us.” Sarah stopped and turned her face away.
Longarm asked, “What did he do?”
“More the question is: What didn’t he do? He put me in the cellar of our house and kept me there for two weeks. I later found out he had the young lawyer killed. Then he gave me a choice: He would either kill me or he would send me to this ranch to live out the rest of my days as a scullery maid. You can see the choice I took.”
Longarm stared at her. He said, “Sent his own wife here? To live as a scullery maid?”
“Yes, and made certain that everyone in the place treated me like one. Humiliation heaped upon humiliation. I am the lowest form of life on this ranch. I come below the goats. I eat the scraps. I do the dirtiest work. I get the back of anyone’s hand who cares to hit me.”
“Did Richard ever beat you?”
Sarah laughed without humor. “Beat me? He burned me with his cigar. He soaked me in a bathtub full of ice. He plucked out my eyebrows, he tore my toenails off. Did he ever beat me? I would have begged for a good honest blow.”
Longarm said, “Damn. I would never have thought a man could be that mean.”
“Oh, he’s well beyond mean.”
“How does he explain your absence? Surely, a lot of people knew he was married.”
She laughed. “Oh, shortly after the incident I was killed on a trip to Monterrey. I forget the exact details but Richard had me declared dead. So for all practical purposes, Sarah Jane Harding, Thompson, which was my maiden name, no longer exists. My parents were told and a memorial service was held in my hometown in Kentucky. I am dead except I insist on going on living.”
Longarm said grimly, “That makes two of us, honey. I promise you this, Sarah Jane, we’re both going to come out of this mess alive and well. Mr. Richard Harding will think he’s penned up with a dozen rattlesnakes before I am through with him.”
She suddenly reached out and clasped his hand. She said eagerly, “Oh, do you really think so? Mr. Long, do you really think there’s a chance?”
He looked around at her. “I know there’s a chance. I’m going to need your help, though.”
She looked distressed. She asked, “How can I help you? I’m just a woman, a watched woman at that.”
