pulse speeding up. It was difficult, if not impossible, to keep the enthusiasm of the situation from sweeping him along.
The noise of the crowd grew louder and louder as the horses came toward the finish line, until it was as deafening as the thunder of a thousand storms. The chestnut stallion made a move at the last minute, just enough to break him out of the pack and bring him up into third place as the horses bolted across the line. Senator Padgett’s blood bay finished sixth, as far as Longarm could tell. The chestnut’s showing was good enough to make the twin blondes jump up and down even harder as they clutched each other in excitement. Padgett just looked mildly disappointed.
“I’m sure Caesar will do better next time, Senator,” Mercer said.
“Thank you, Leon. I certainly hope so.” Padgett turned to Longarm. “And I hope you didn’t have any money down on my horse, Marshal.”
Longarm shook his head. “As far as I’m concerned, Senator, this was just an exhibition, not a competition. I didn’t do any wagering.”
“Well, I did,” muttered Padgett. “I didn’t lose my shirt, though.” He started out of the box. “Come on. I suppose I should go congratulate the winning owner, and then I want to buy you a drink, Marshal.”
That sounded all right to Longarm, so he followed Padgett out of the box. Mercer came along too, of course. The three men made their way through the crowd to a gate that led down to the concourse. They reached the opening at the same time as the two young women who looked so much alike.
That was a stroke of luck, Longarm thought. Padgett tipped his hat and stepped back so that the women could precede him. “After you, ladies,” he said gallantly.
The one in the sky-blue dress smiled at him, dimpling prettily. “Why, thank you, Senator,” she said, her voice lightly touched with a honey-sweet Southern drawl.
“Come on, Janice,” the other twin said, her tones crisper and more businesslike. “I want to see how Matador is doing.”
Longarm had doffed his hat too. The young woman called Janice looked over at him and smiled as she followed her sister down the steps to the concourse. Longarm returned the smile, then put his hat on again and stepped up next to Padgett. “Those are mighty nice-looking young ladies,” he said to the politician. “You know ‘em?”
“You mean the Cassidy sisters?” asked Padgett. “Indeed I do. Not well, of course, since we only met recently. They own that chestnut horse that finished third, the one Miss Julie called Matador.”
That came as something of a surprise to Longarm. He had figured the chestnut was owned by the father of the young women, or perhaps by the husband or gentleman friend of one of them.
“Miss Julie trained the horse herself,” Padgett went on. “They have a horse breeding farm in Missouri, I believe. Very exceptional young ladies.”
“I reckon so,” Longarm said.
Padgett grinned. “And as you noticed, quite striking as well, and both unmarried. I’ll introduce you to them.”
That was exactly what Longarm wanted. He nodded to the senator and said, “Thanks. I’d like that.”
Padgett led the way down onto the concourse and over to the spot where the blood bay was blowing heavily. The horse’s rider, who wore a green shirt and white pants, had already slipped down from the saddle and was stroking the bay’s flanks. The young man looked back over his shoulder nervously as he saw Padgett coming.
“I’m sorry, Senator,” he said quickly before Padgett could say anything. “I did the best I could. We were just packed in there too tight.”
“I understand, Cy,” Padgett said. “Don’t worry about it. You did fine.”
The rider looked surprised. “Are you sure? I mean, I know how much you wanted to win, Senator.”
Padgett answered with a casual wave of a hand. “Don’t give it another thought. Just ride a good race next time.”
Cy bobbed his head. “Yes, sir. I sure will, you can count on that.”
Longarm wondered if the boy was in for a bawling out later in private. Cy had certainly looked like he expected Padgett to be angry with him for not winning. Longarm recalled that Padgett had been elected to the Senate on his first run at public office, and he had successfully staved off every challenger since then. Padgett was a man accustomed to winning, and winning big. Losing even something like a horse race probably galled him.
Padgett turned to Longarm and said, “Come along, Marshal. I want you to meet the Cassidy sisters now.”
Longarm wanted that too, so he followed Padgett without complaint. They strode over to the spot where the two blondes were still fussing over their horse.
“Congratulations, ladies,” Padgett said to them. “Matador ran a gallant race.”
“He should have won,” Julie Cassidy said.
“Perhaps next time he will,” Janice added. Again she smiled at Longarm. “Who’s your handsome friend, Senator?”
Padgett chuckled. “I brought him over here to introduce him to you, but perhaps I shouldn’t, Miss Janice. You never flirt with me like that.”
Janice Cassidy turned her dazzling smile on him. “Why, I do so!” she said as she lifted a gloved hand to the senator’s cheek. “I flirt shamelessly with you every time I see you, you old dear.”
Padgett basked in the glow of her attention for a second, then somewhat grudgingly said, “This is Custis Long. He’s a United States deputy marshal from the Denver office.”
“A deputy marshal!” Janice exclaimed. “How exciting.”
“It’s just another job, ma’am,” Longarm told her as he took the hand she extended to him. He wasn’t sure if he
