seen it. Instead, he opened the door of the office and stepped into the hall. For a moment, he walked in place as if he were moving on off. Instead, he stood right by the end of the door with his revolver at the ready, listening.
Asher Nelson said, “Quick, son. Give me that gun of yours.”
“No, sir. I can’t do that.”
“Look, you’re not going to shoot me. You can’t shoot people, son. It’s not in you.”
Longarm could hear feet moving. He guessed Ross Henderson was backing away. Nelson said, “Hurry up. Give me that gun. He’ll be back in just a few minutes.”
Ross Henderson said with a plea in his voice, “Mr. Nelson, don’t come no nearer. I swear I’ll shoot you. I will.”
Asher Nelson said, “You know you won’t, boy. There’s them that will shoot and there’s them that won’t. You’re one of them that won’t. Now, I’m going to reach out my hand and you hand me that gun.”
Longarm could hear furniture being shoved aside. He imagined young Henderson was now at the far end of the office. Henderson said, “Mr. Nelson, don’t push me anymore. I’ll hit you if I have to.”
Nelson’s voice came soothingly. “Just give me the revolver, boy, and you’ll be home free. I’ll take care of Longarm and nobody but you and me will ever know about this.”
A cry came from Henderson. He said, “No! No! No! Back up.”
“I’m going to have the gun, son.”
In that instant, Longarm judged that it had gone on too far. He jerked the door back and pointed his revolver at Nelson. He said, “I thought you were supposed to be counting money, Mr. Nelson. You’d better get busy at it. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”
As if he hadn’t heard what had been said, Longarm jerked his head toward Henderson. He said, “Son, go on out there and get our horses ready. One of them hired hands in the stable will know which one is mine and get yours ready. Mr. Nelson ain’t going to need one. And tell Manuel to get us some grub and some water ready for a trip. Can you handle that?”
Henderson holstered his gun with relief. He said, “Yes, sir. I can tend to that.”
He shouldered past Longarm and went out the door. Longarm said to Nelson, “Why don’t you come on me, Nelson? Why don’t you sit there and ask me to hand you the gun?”
Asher Nelson gave him a bemused smile. He said, “It’s amazing, the difference in men. I’m sure you can see now why we didn’t choose to select Deputy Henderson for a worthy stalk. It would have been a great deal, as you say, like hunting a milk cow.”
Longarm stared at him with flat eyes. “You know, Nelson, I had planned to make it plenty rough on you for this stunt. In fact, short of killing you, I didn’t reckon there was anything I wasn’t going to do to you. But now after I’ve seen what you’ve done to that young man, I’m going to make it even rougher.”
Asher Nelson laughed and shook his head. “Oh, no you’re not, Marshal. You’re bound by a sense of duty. You’ll take me in and put me in a jail—perhaps you will. In the end, I will win. I’ll have the expensive lawyers. You will have taken ten thousand dollars. There’s a lot more where that came from. You might as well save us both the trouble of fooling with this thing and go on about your business. You’ll be a much richer man for it, both spiritually and financially.”
Through gritted teeth, Longarm said, “You just get over there and finish counting money. That, right now, is your only job, mister.”
As he headed for the safe, Asher Nelson said, “Oh, by the way, why won’t I be needing a horse? Are we not going into town?”
Longarm said, “Some of us are going into town.”
Asher Nelson was amused again. “I take it that you’re going to leave the heroic Deputy Henderson here to protect the scene of the crime until you can return with other law officers. Very clever, Marshal Long.”
Longarm just clenched his teeth until his jaw muscles bulged out.
Chapter 10
They were in front of the Nelson ranch house. Deputy Ross Henderson was already mounted and Longarm’s horse was already waiting. Longarm had Asher Nelson standing in the sand below the front porch. He tied one end of a lariat rope to the saddlehorn of Henderson’s saddle, and then walked back and threw a noose over Nelson’s head and pulled it tight around Nelson’s neck.
Nelson looked stunned. He said, “Surely you don’t intend that I should walk in this afternoon heat all the way to town?”
Longarm said, “No, you can run some if you want, or just kind of lay down on the ground and be dragged.”
Nelson said sarcastically, “You’re not going to tie my hands behind my back?”
“I don’t really see no need. Besides, I think you’re going to need them to keep your balance. We plan to set a pretty good pace. If you go to try and take off that noose, Deputy Henderson there will give it a right smart yank.”
Longarm mounted his own horse, the one he had borrowed from Lee Gray. He nodded at Ross Henderson and said, “Let’s go. Take it easy at first until our guest gets used to the pace.” They started off with Asher Nelson protesting at every step.
Longarm looked back at him. He said, “You better save your breath, Nelson. Most likely, you’re going to need it.”
Asher Nelson said, “You never gave me any lunch. You never gave me any breakfast. I haven’t had any water.”
Longarm said, “My, my. You don’t look after yourself very well, do you?
