“I think ten thousand dollars is acceptable.”
“All right, then that means it is worth twenty.”
“No,” Longarm said, “it is not.”
“Twenty thousand,” she said, her eyes turning as hard and bright as emeralds. “Ten thousand up front before I tell you where he’s gone, and another ten thousand when he is arrested.”
“I don’t think you can help us that much,” Longarm said, pushing to his feet. “You’re too greedy.”
“Sit down!”
Longarm sat. “Fifteen thousand. Half now, half when he’s apprehended. What do you say?”
“I can ask,” Longarm said. “That’s all I can do. I haven’t the authority to make that kind of a deal.”
“Who will you ask?”
“Governor Ganzel and Commissioner Hall.”
“Then ask them and bring me seventy-five hundred if they want to find Nathan Cox in their lifetimes,” Diana told him. “If I don’t hear from you by this evening, I’ll just figure that we’re each on our own and may the best person find the thieving sonofabitch first.”
“You’re a tough woman, aren’t you?”
Diana Frank blew smoke in his face. “Tell the bartender on your way out the door to send a bottle of his finest whiskey over to this table, on the federal government.”
Longarm pushed to his feet. “One thing we need to understand right now, Miss Frank. If you don’t have the answers we need to grab Cox before he does any more damage, you wouldn’t be allowed to keep the seventy-five hundred.”
“Fair enough.”
“All right, we’re going back to your friend Beverley’s place. She’s worrying about you and you’ve already had enough to drink. You’re no good to yourself and you’re no good to us if you’re drunk.”
The woman started to say something, then seemed to change her mind. “All right,” she said, pushing to her feet. “Take me out of here, Marshal. But you know what?”
“What?”
“You’re pretty tough yourself.”
“I have to be.”
“So what is my excuse?” she asked.
“Too many bad men?”
“Yeah,” Diana said. “That’s for damn sure. “Are you any good, Marshal?”
“Nope.
Diana stared at him for a moment, and then she started to laugh as he led her out of Hannigan’s.
“What’s so funny?” Longarm asked as they stepped outside.
“At last, a man who is both handsome and honest!”
Longarm had to chuckle. “I’m not above telling a lie or two,” he admitted. “For example, I told your friend and Rose down the hall that I was married.”
“But you’re not?” Diana looked up at him, her expression serious.
“No,” he said. “I am not.”
“Good,” she said, slipping her arm around his waist and pressing her hip against his for support as they walked down the street.
“‘Cause you know what?”
“What?”
“I think we could be friends.”
“There’s just no time for that right now,” Longarm said. “After I get your money, I’m going to be hitting the trail and driving hard until I apprehend Cox. Hell, Diana, the governor has even promised me a special train. It’s the one that he uses when he campaigns for political office.”
“Dammit!”
“What?” he asked.
“I should have asked for a hundred thousand dollars instead of settling for just fifteen.”
“Maybe,” he said as lightning cracked across a dark and ominous sky and the rain began to pour down on Denver.
It was midnight when Longarm returned to the apartment building where Diana Frank was staying with her friend Beverley. The two women were drinking coffee. A big, half-eaten pumpkin pie rested on the table between them.
“You’re soaking wet,” Beverley said. “It’s a real drencher out there.”
“Have you got my money?” Diana called from across the room.
