Marshal Gus Bell hadn’t said a word since Longarm and the kid from Helldorado had started to tell their story. But now, with the story finished, he leaned back in his office chair and said, “Friday morning, the Bank of Reno, huh?”
“That’s the plan,” Longarm said. “It might change, but that’s how it stood when we left early yesterday morning.”
Bell nodded, and then his gaze settled on Randy. “No double crosses?”
“No,” Randy vowed. “But Custis has promised me that there will be no slaughter. He said that my father, brother, and the gang will be given every opportunity to surrender.”
“You said that?” the marshal of Reno asked, head swiveling to regard Longarm.
“I did and meant it,” Longarm said. “My view is that we let them get into the bank and then we slam the door on them.”
“Why wait?” Bell demanded. “If we do that, innocent bank personnel could get hurt.”
“Replace them with local and federal lawmen,” Longarm suggested. “We need to actually catch the gang in the act of committing the robbery.”
“Why?” Gus asked. “You just said that Randy is willing to testify that the Killion gang was responsible for that train robbery on Donner Pass.”
“And what if Randy were to be eliminated?” Longarm asked. “If that happened, our star witness and probably our prosecution’s case would vanish like smoke in the wind. We can’t win on the basis of one witness anyway. They’ll produce other witnesses to say that Matthew Killion and his bunch were seen somewhere else on the day of that train robbery.”
“I guess you’re right,” Bell admitted. “But I sure don’t like the idea of using our bank as a shooting gallery.”
“We’ll do everything possible to avoid that,” Longarm said with more assurance than he really felt.
“Okay,” Bell said, “I’ll start getting help right away and I’ll put them in the bank, replacing the regular people.”
“Good,” Longarm said. “Killion will probably keep a few men outside to watch for trouble and to hold the horses. We need to take care of them and make sure that there is no escape.”
“Any ideas?”
“A few,” Longarm said. “I’ll try and be one of the gang’s inside men, and Randy, maybe you can persuade your father to let you stay outside and help hold the horses. As soon as it begins to happen, you can get the drop on the others outside and we can rush them off the street without a shot being fired.”
“You make it sound very easy,” Randy said.
“It won’t be. Whatever can go wrong almost certainly will go wrong. But if we eliminate their means of escape, I’m hoping that they’ll just surrender.”
“I think you’re being wildly optimistic,” Gus Bell said. “But I’m going to play it according to your rules. After all, you’re the one who’s bringing them in to us on a platter.”
“Well,” Longarm said, extending a hand to Gus, “we’ll see you tomorrow morning. Right now, though, we’d better make tracks for Helldorado.”
“It’s a pretty long ride,” Bell said. “You’ll almost have to change horses and turn around to be back here by tomorrow morning when the Bank of Reno opens.”
“I know that.”
Bell frowned. “And it’s easy to see that your side wound is paining you, Custis.”
“It’ll hold up,” Longarm said, heading for the door.
He was stopped by Bell’s voice. “Oh, by the way, I thought you’d like to know that your Wyoming girl got herself monied.”
Longarm turned, and a smile touched the corners of his mouth. “Irma got married already?”
“That’s right. She’s got a husband along with Sam Allen’s money and respectability.”
“Just keep an eye out in case Irma’s past comes riding in to cause her grief,” Longarm asked.
“I’ll do that,” Bell promised. “And about our beautiful Lady Caroline?”
“What about her?”
Gus winked. “I’m taking her out in a surrey to watch the mustangs next week and maybe have a little picnic and whatever else she might want to enjoy-“
“Dammit, Gus, I was supposed to do that!”
“Sorry, but Caroline got tired of waiting. We’ve been out to dinner twice now and she trusts me.”
“You sly sonofabitch,” Longarm said with annoyance. “You’ve moved in on my territory.”
“You’re right,” Gus admitted, looking delighted with himself. “Lady Caroline is a remarkable woman, and she is very attracted to a man who carries a badge. We’re just getting along swimmingly.”
Longarm swore under his breath as he tramped out the door. After they climbed into their saddles, Randy asked, “What was that all about?”
“Lady Caroline.”
“What is she, royalty of some kind?”
