Longarm went over to Irma. Her dress was torn, her hair was mussed, and now, in addition to that puffy lip, she had the beginnings of a shiner. “Are you all right?”
Irma shook her head and visibly gathered her composure. “Those bastards tried to get fresh with Lady Caroline, can you imagine that!”
“Yes. And I can also well imagine that you stepped in and told them they had no business messing around with royalty. Or something like that. Am I right?”
“I couldn’t believe them. They weren’t drunk or nothin’. They were just awful!”
“They were quick with their guns,” Longarm said. “Quicker than most but a mite too quick on the shoot. They’d have drilled me if they’d been steadier.”
Irma hugged Longarm. “I hate men,” she whispered. “All of ‘em except you, Custis.”
Longarm patted her back, and then he was surprised when Irma broke down and began to cry.
Chapter 6
Marshal Mike Todd finished filling out his report, and as Longarm was escorting the three women out of his office, the old lawman said, “Custis?”
“Yeah?”
“Mind if I have a word with you in private?”
“Sure, as long as it’s quick. Our train is due to pull out in ten minutes and I have to be on it.”
“It’ll be brief,” Todd promised.
Longarm told the three women to go on to the train station. “I’ll catch up with you in a few minutes,” he promised.
When the door closed, Longarm turned and said, “What is it, Mike?”
“It’s me,” the old lawman said. “I’m not able to do the job anymore.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean those two you had to kill weren’t strangers to Elko. They’d been here before and raised hell. Never attacked a woman or anything like that, but I knew they were trouble.”
“Well, Mike, you don’t have to worry about ‘em anymore,” Longarm said.
“Yeah, I know that,” Todd said. “But there will be others just like ‘em and I won’t be man enough to run ‘em off before something like this happens again.”
Longarm expelled a deep breath. He liked this man, and had worked with him on a few occasions. Mike Todd was a mite too set in his ways and not very flexible about learning new techniques of law enforcement, but he was brave, forthright, and honest, which made up for all the other shortcomings.
“What are you trying to tell me, Mike?”
“I need to retire,” the old man said. “I’m worn plumb out. I’m finished as a lawman and ready for a rocking chair.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yep. Custis, if it had of been me out there today instead of you, I’d be dead and those two ornery bastards would be terrorizing that girl and maybe the whole town.”
Longarm knew this was probably the truth. And yet, he couldn’t openly agree. “Maybe you should retire, Mike. It’s a tough job.”
“It’s a younger man’s job. A job for a man like you.”
“I already have a job.”
“Quit it and take my badge,” Todd blurted. “I get paid sixty dollars a month and the town has a little house that it lets me use for-“
“Mike,” Longarm interrupted, “I just can’t do that.”
The marshal of Elko clamped his mouth shut and his brow furrowed. Suddenly, the lawman looked even older than his years. “Why not?”
“Because I like my own federal job better,” Longarm said, telling him in the most straightforward way possible. “I wouldn’t be happy stuck in this cow town. My feet are too itchy, if you know what I mean.”
“I do, but there’s some awfully nice folks here,” Todd countered, “and they support their marshal. Maybe you could even get a raise and-“
“I’m sorry,” Longarm said, coming up and placing a hand on Mike’s thin shoulder. “But what I’ll do is to telegraph my Denver office and let Billy Vail know that you’d like to retire. Maybe someone on our staff would rather be settled than riding stagecoaches and railroads all over the frontier the way I do.”
“Would you do that?” Todd asked, looking quite relieved.
“Sure,” Longarm promised.
“And … and talk to the marshals in Reno, Carson City, and Virginia City. If they seem like good men, tell ‘em to write or telegraph me and we can take it on our own from there. They’ve got to be first-rate, though. I won’t leave this town unprotected or at the mercy of someone who isn’t.”
“I understand. And what about you? Do you have a pension or any savings?”
“I’ve squirreled a few thousand dollars up and it’s gathering interest in the bank. Comes time, I’ll either buy the
