Longarm reached for the man’s left arm and the judge suddenly discovered the key in his waistcoat pocket. Longarm helped Combs to his feet. The man was still moaning and looked half dazed. Longarm unlocked one of the wrist irons and clamped it onto Harding’s left wrist.
He said to Combs, “The judge has a collarbone broke on that side. If you jerk on him, it’ll hurt him worse than ice water on an aching tooth.”
He forced the two out of the cabin ahead of him. They walked through the front door awkwardly, neither one willing to give way to the other. Finally, Longarm shoved Harding on ahead, then he shoved them both past the two dead men and around the corner of the cabin. He made them wait at the edge of the river by the corner of the corral while he put the harness on the two buckboard horses. After that, he led the two horses out and hitched them to the wagon tongue. He climbed up on the seat and bade Harding and Combs get in the back. They did so with many a groan and a cry and a moan. Longarm was enjoying it, especially Harding’s plight. He actually almost felt sorry for Combs; not quite, but almost. He did enjoy seeing Harding in pain. Occasionally, Combs would lose his balance as they struggled to get themselves arranged in the buckboard and would jerk on Harding’s left arm, which would cause the judge to scream in pain. Before they were quite settled, Longarm slapped the team with the reins and took off in such a way that the two men tumbled over on their sides. That brought more screams. They had broken three of Combs’s fingers and had made a bloody mess out of several of his toes. Longarm had thrown the man’s boots into the back of the buckboard, but he figured it would be a while before the man was going to be able to walk very far. He had left everything else in the cabin as it was. The judge had wanted his valise but Longarm had denied him the baggage.
They went along up the path to where Longarm had left his horse tied. He got down, fetched the horse and tied him to the back of the wagon, and then got back in and started for town. It was late. He guessed it to be going on midnight, at least, and it would be another two hours before they were back in town.
As they rumbled along under the almost full moon, Longarm turned his head around and said to Earl Combs, “Earl, you can tell me where that key is or not. I can get that box open with a court order, but I can also make things harder on you than they have to be. You’re not going anywhere for a long time, and I already know where the money is, so if you want me to make things easier on you, then tell me where the key is.”
Combs looked down to the floor of the buckboard. “It’s in my heel.”
“What?” Longarm said.
“It’s in the heel of my right boot. It’s in a little hole. All you have to do is pry it off.”
Longarm nodded. “That’s pretty damned smart, though I don’t see why you took that punishment.”
Combs said, “I didn’t want this son of a bitch to have it.”
“Yes, but if I hadn’t have come along, he might have gotten a court order to have the box opened himself.”
Harding said, “You’re damned right. I’m a federal circuit judge, and listen, you little pissant deputy marshal, you better remember that. When this mess gets straightened out, you are in big trouble.”
Longarm laughed. “How do you plan to get away with that?”
“I made a deal to fetch you back safely and to get the money from Combs. That’s what I’ve done.”
Longarm looked around at him, amused. He said, “Didn’t you find it a little funny how they suddenly gave in to your proposal?”
Harding stared back at him, puzzled. He said, “What are you talking about?”
“I reckon you’ll find out.”
It was almost three o’clock before they finally rolled into Laredo. Longarm had taken it easy on the livery stable buckboard horses. They’d had a forty-mile round trip and he took it as lightly on them as he could. He pulled the buggy up in front of the sheriff’s office and then pulled Combs and Harding out of the back and onto the street. He unlocked the cuff on Combs’s wrist and quickly jerked both of Harding’s arms behind him and handcuffed the loose cuff to his other wrist. Then he shoved both of them toward the sheriff’s office. Two deputies were on night duty when he came through the door with his prisoners. He shoved Earl Combs forward.
He said to the young sheriff’s deputy standing behind a desk, “I’m Custis Long, U.S. Deputy Marshal.” He got out his badge and showed it to the deputy. “And this is Earl Combs. He’s a federal prisoner. I want him held until he’s picked up by federal authorities. Do you understand?”
The young deputy looked nervous and surprised. He said, “Yes, sir, Marshal Long. I’ll lock him up.”
Longarm said, “Don’t lose him.”
“No, sir, I won’t.” The deputy was staring at Richard Harding. He asked, “Is that Judge Harding you got there?”
Longarm said, “Yes, but I’m not going to put him up in your hotel tonight.” Harding suddenly said, “Deputy, I’m a federal court judge. I demand you arrest this marshal. He is illegally detaining me.”
Longarm took Harding by the left arm so that it would pull on his collarbone and jerked him to the front door. Harding let out a scream. Longarm looked back at the deputy. He said, “He was a federal circuit court judge but he’s not one anymore. He’s just a common criminal. I’ll be bringing him back in a little while. Until then, watch good over that other one.”
Harding was nervous once they got back into the buckboard. He said to Longarm, “Listen, what are you going to do with me? If I’m your prisoner, by rights you should have left me in that jail. What are you planning? To take me out in the country and murder me someplace where there’re no witnesses?”
Longarm said, “I’ve got a better idea than that.”
He pulled the buckboard into the hotel’s livery and tossed the reins to the night man. He explained that the outfit belonged to the town livery down the street and wondered if he could get someone to return it. He gave the night man a dollar.
After that, Longarm walked Harding up the steps of the hotel, but at the door, Harding balked. “I’m not going into the hotel like this. Handcuffed and disgraced? No!”
Longarm opened the door and shoved him forward, so hard that Harding fell to his knees ten feet into the lobby. It was deserted except for the night desk clerk. He looked at Harding and then at Longarm with surprise. He
