documents. Now, my deal is real simple. You sign this confession and you keep the peace. and I give you my word that that’ll be the end of it. You sign it and break the peace, and I’ll give you my word that I’ll cover you up with marshals and United States calvary and anything else it takes to hang you from the nearest tree. You break even one part of this settlement agreement, and you’ll rue the day. Sign it, keep the peace, and walk free. Don’t sign it, and there’s a damned good chance of getting killed while I take you to prison. You’ve got two places you’re going if you don’t sign these papers, and that’s to the funeral parlor or to a federal prison. You can make up your mind, either way.”
Barrett still wanted to bluster. “Yeah, but you’ll never get out of here alive. None of you.”
Longarm smiled. He said, “You want to bet your life on that?”
Suddenly, Jake Myers caved in. He heaved a big sigh. He said, “Is this all you want? We sign these and we’re free?”
“If you keep your word.”
Barrett said, “Yeah, but will you keep yours with that confession?”
Longarm said, “Mr. Barrett, you haven’t known me long enough for me to take offense to that statement. Otherwise, I’d knock you out of that chair. If I tell you I’ll keep my word, you can believe it. If I tell you a jackrabbit can pull a freight train, you might as well go ahead and hook it up because the jackrabbit can. I’ve made it all clear to you. Are y’all a little thick-headed or what? So, here’s the papers. Sign them or not. You’ve got one minute.”
Jake Myers looked at Barrett and shrugged. He said, “I don’t see where we got a choice. If we don’t sign the confession, he’s going to make up evidence, anyway. We can’t go on doing business with him making a mess of things here. What good’s the confession, anyway? We’ve got lawyers. If he tries to use it, we can give him a hell of a fight. But I can’t take much more of this kind of living. I’m too old for it.” He reached for the pen, dipped it in the ink, and signed it Jake L. Myers.
Barrett thought for a moment and then he took the pen from Myers’s hand and signed the confession just under the signature of the other man. Longarm took the pen from him and dipped it back into the ink and then held it out for Tom Hunter. He said, “Each of you sign as witnesses.”
One by one, they wrote their signatures. Longarm finished the confession by writing:
Given into my hand this 16th day of May, willingly, by Archie Barrett and Jake Myers and witnessed by the above.
Then he took the confession, folded it carefully once he was sure the ink was dry, and buttoned it into his shirt pocket. After that, he put the agreement for the Settlement Association in front of the two men. He said, “Now this.”
Mr. Myers looked annoyed. He said, “Hell, that’s a lot of money. Fifty thousand dollars.”
Longarm looked over at Tom Hunter. He said, “Tom, how much money do you reckon these settlers have been robbed of by these two scoundrels?”
Tom Hunter shrugged. He said, “I couldn’t count it, but it’s a hell of a lot more than fifty thousand dollars apiece. Besides, how do you put a price on a cabin that a man built with his own hand and how do you put a price on a man’s life? How do you put a price on how a wife feels when she loses a husband? Or the children?”
Longarm held the pen out to Jake Myers. He said, “Sign it.”
Myers sighed, dipped the pen, and wrote his name and handed the pen to Archie Barrett. Barrett didn’t even hesitate. In a tired hand, he scrawled his name.
Once again, Longarm had each of the men present, including Hawkins, witness the document, and as before, he wrote at the bottom that he, as an official of the United States government, had received the document into his hand at such a time and on such a date.
Archie Barrett looked up at him. He said, “Now, is that it?”
“Not quite.” Longarm shook his head.
Barrett said, “I ain’t doing another damned thing until I get some food and some whiskey.”
“Your job ain’t done yet, Barrett,” Longarm said. “Remember, you’ve got to get fifty thousand dollars over to a bank in Junction. Did you bring your checkbook with you?”
Barrett looked furious. “Whether I’ve got my checkbook with me is none of your affair.”
Hawkins said, “Oh, he’s got his checkbook, all right, Marshal. I saw him special put it in his pocket, thinking he could buy that saddle of that assassinated president of Mexico. Yeah, he’s got it. I bet if you go in there and look in his jacket, you’d find it.”
Barrett looked livid. “You better not touch my personal belongings! As it happens, I do have a checkbook, but it’s not on an account that I’ve got that kind of money in.”
“Then you both better send to your headquarters, and you both better get a check, because you ain’t getting out of here until an account gets open in Junction with one hundred thousand dollars in it. Now, is that clear? And you ain’t going to get a bite to eat or a drop to drink until I see those checks on the way. You comprende, hombres?”
Jake Myers was looking more and more tired. He said, “How are we supposed to get our drafts-“
Longarm interrupted. He said, “I suggest you send one of your men back to each of your places and have him locate wherever you keep your checkbook and have him get on back here. That’s the fastest way, as far as I’m concerned.”
They both shrugged. Jake Myers said, “Why not?” He turned around in his chair and looked out the door. “I think my son James is out there. If he is, one of you call for him.”
Longarm looked at Barrett. He said, “What about you?”
“Any of my men will do. I know that neither one of my brothers are out there, but they can give him the checkbook. Just call for one of my men.”
“I think you had better do that,” Longarm said. “Stand there in the door in case anybody’s got an itchy trigger finger. Call for James Myers and for whoever you want.”
Barrett stood up. He said to the marshal, “You think you’ve won, but you might yet regret this.”
