Salome. If they ask, and they will, what it is all about, you just tell them that you don’t know. Tell them you are doing what their daddy told you to do. Say you think it has something to do with their half-brother. But don’t explain any more than that.” He gave the sheriff a sardonic look. “Remember, they will still think you are a crooked lawman running an errand for their daddy.”
Bodenheimer nodded slowly as he took it in. “Just tell them their daddy wants them in town.”
“At the jail.”
“At the jail.” He nodded slowly once more. He looked at Longarm. “What do I do then? They’ll see that their daddy ain’t there.”
“You put them in a jail cell. You tell them they are under federal arrest. You tell them I have ordered their arrest.”
Bodenheimer leaned backward so far he almost fell out of his saddle. He said, “Put them in a jail cell! Dalton Diver’s daughters!”
“Yes.”
Bodenheimer was visibly trembling. He said, “I ain’t sure I can do that. How we supposed to get them in there?”
Longarm said, irritation in his voice, “Bodenheimer, if four strong men can’t put two women in a cell, then you’d better get in it yourself and throw away the key. You got this one chance. Screw it up and you’ll be doing twenty- five years in Leavenworth Prison. Do you understand me?”
The sheriff’s face worked for a moment, but then he finally nodded. “Yessir. Tell ‘em they daddy wants them at the jail and then put them in a cell. Yessir. I don’t know how my deputies is going to feel about this.”
“They better feel the way you tell them. Now let’s get into town.”
As they rode toward the jail Austin Davis said, “Well, I’m glad to hear I’m supposed to get Miss Rebeccah in here by sleight of hand. I thought you meant for me to manhandle her.”
Longarm gave him a look. “Why, Marshal Smith, I’d never give you a job I knew you couldn’t handle. And in your case the word is boyhandle.”
Austin Davis nodded placidly. “Go on with them kind of remarks. I think it is pretty clear who has done the most to get information about the way this gang works. Had been you, you’d still be back there torturing and threatening Otis.”
They pulled up in front of the jail. Bodenheimer dismounted and looked questioningly at Longarm. The marshal said, “Go on in and let your deputies loose. Send Melvin Purliss out right now. Next time I see you, you’d better have them two women in jail cells.”
Bodenheimer ducked his head and said, “Yessir.” After that he stepped up on the boardwalk and disappeared into the jailhouse.
Davis said, “If Bodenheimer wasn’t so pitful he’d be funny. You want me to take on off and get Rebeccah?”
Longarm nodded. “You might as well. And once you get back, stay here at the jail until I get in. After that we’ll wait for Bodenheimer and his party, and then me and you are going to go see Dalton Diver.”
Austin Davis was wheeling his horse away from the hitching post. He said, “That ought to be right interesting.” He left, riding northeast out of town.
Melvin Purliss came out the door and walked hesitantly over to Longarm. “Sheriff said you wanted to see me, Marshal. Is Otis sheriff again?”
Longarm nodded. “Yes. For the time being. Listen, Purliss, you and him and the other two deputies are going out to get two of Dalton Diver’s daughters and bring them back to town.”
Purliss looked slightly startled. “We are?”
“Yes. At my orders. Now, there can be no slipups on this matter. I want you to keep a close eye on the sheriff. He knows what to do and I want you to see that he does it. If anything goes wrong, I will hang the four of you from the tallest tree I can find. And if there ain’t a tree tall enough, I’ll drag you behind an ox. You understand me?”
Purliss looked uncertain still. But he said, “I reckon so, Marshal. How we supposed to do this?”
“Dalton Diver is coming in and he wants to see his daughters in a bunch. I’m going for one myself and so is the other marshal. Listen, how many men does Dalton Diver have working for him at his place?”
Purliss shrugged. “Not many. A couple or three. They are just general hands.”
“How come you never told me you had law experience before you came here?”
It took Purliss by surprise. He said, “Why, why, why, I never knowed it mattered.”
“Where were you? What town?”
Purliss blinked. “Uh, here and there.”
“Here and there where?”
Purliss looked everywhere but at Longarm. He finally said, “Well, Denton. That’s up in North Texas.”
“I know where Denton is. Who was the sheriff there?”
“Uhhhhh-” Purliss blinked. “Uh, George Wright.”
Longarm looked at him, frowning slightly. There was something wrong with the answer, but he didn’t quite know what it was. Neither did he have time to study on the matter. He said, “You see to the sheriff and those other deputies. You understand me?”
“Yessir. Yessir, Marshal.”
