givin’ you a little lesson about who you could trust down here.” As he said it, he cut his eyes over Longarm’s shoulder.
Longarm smiled. “And I was just giving you a little lesson in who to try and steal from. What you looking at so hard there? That little Mexican runs this place coming up behind me? He better not be. This here revolver is pointing right at your belly. You better go to nodding and smiling and quit worrying about your damn hand or I’m going to ease the hammer back on this big pistol of mine. You savvy?”
White looked at Longarm and then at the muzzle of the revolver that had crept up to aim at his midsection. He said, calling toward the bar, “It’s all right, Raymond. Everything is fine.”
“That was sensible. Now pick that forty dollars up and put it in your pocket. You are going to earn it before we get done talking.”
White swallowed, his Adam’s apple jerking up and down. His eyes were all for the gun in Longarm’s big hand. “I-I don’t want it.”
“Put it in your pocket.” Longarm said the words quietly, but there was menace in his tone. “And then get up and start for the front door. I’ll be right behind you.”
“I ain’t going nowhere with you.”
Longarm started the hammer back with his thumb. It made the first clitch sound, and White was instantly on his feet, exclaiming, “I’m going!”
He came around the table as Longarm rose. When he was on his feet Longarm turned toward the bar, the revolver still in his hand. He half expected to find the little Mexican standing there with a shotgun leveled at him. The owner was behind the bar, but he was simply standing next to the girl, staring at Longarm through narrowed eyes. Longarm took two steps in his direction, holstering his pistol at the same time. “What would your name be, senor? You seem to take a big interest in my affairs.”
The man’s eyes got even narrower. “This is my place of business, senor. I take an interest in all that happens here.” He spoke excellent English with only a trace of Spanish accent.
Longarm said, “You still didn’t tell me your name. You ashamed of it?”
There was a hard expression on the owner’s face. “My name is San Diego,” he said, “Raymond San Diego. Be careful how you use it should you have occasion to speak it.”
Longarm smiled and nodded. “My name is Long. You can use it any way you want to. I ain’t all that proud. Just stay out of my business. I may not be proud, but I’m touchy about money. You savvy?”
“I think we meet again.”
“Don’t see why not. You serve good grub at good prices. I reckon I’ll make this my eating headquarters while I’m in town.”
Longarm could feel the man’s eyes on his back as he followed Jasper White through the door and down the steps of the cafe. The proprietor wasn’t very big, but then you didn’t have to be very big to handle a big revolver. Longarm was confused as to what the connection between his “telegrapher” and the owner of the cafe was, but he had no doubt that Raymond San Diego would make a dangerous enemy.
Once outside, Jasper White stopped and turned around. He was holding the two twenty-dollar bills in his hand. On his feet he was an even less impressive physical specimen than he was sitting down. Holding the money out toward Longarm, he said, “Look here, mister, I don’t want yore money. I played a little joke and it blew up in my damn face. Now I’d jest like to forget the whole matter.”
Longarm was slightly confused. His original intention in seeking out Jasper White had been to establish a contact with Jay Caster independent of Austin Davis. He’d thought that it would make any connection between himself and Davis even more remote, nothing more than a buyer and seller of cattle. Rather than having Davis introduce him to Caster, he’d hoped to be able to go to the customs man and say he’d been recommended to him by another party, Jasper White. But now he was running into this strange alliance of a Mexican cafe owner and the town information bank. It was an unlikely combination.
He pushed the money back to Jasper White. “Put it in your pocket, I said. I’m nearly sorry I pulled a gun on you. And I’m nearly sorry you caused me to do it. But that’s all over and done with. I still got business with you, and that is what we are doing standing out here on the street.”
Pushing the money forward again, White said doggedly, “I don’t want no part of you, mister. You look like trouble to me.”
Longarm looked at him intently. “Did that Mex tip you a wink on the way out? He give you some kind of sign not to fool with me or not to do no business with me?” He paused, waiting for some reply, but Jasper White just looked steadily away, staring out toward the river. Longarm tried again. “There’s something between You and that Mex. You two are in cahoots about something. Yesterday I was in the cafe and asked after you and he the same as said your business was his. What are y’all up to—a little smuggling? Or are you part of passing cattle over the river?”
White swiveled his eyes around to Longarm. “Mister,” he said, “you better get on back to Oklahoma. You ain’t going to last long on this border.”
“What’s that fancy gent’s name? San Diego? Raymond San Diego? That’s a hell of a lot of name for a man runs a Mexican greasy spoon. And dresses like he owns the county. Where does a man like that get money for them kind of clothes?”
Jasper White made an attempt at a fierce look. It did not come off as much more than a sneer. “I’ll tell you this much, an’ I’ll tell it to you for nuthin’. Was I you, I’d leave Raymond San Diego the hell alone. He ain’t a man to be foxed around with. And he’s got a brother that is triple trouble. You do any business with Jay Caster and you’ll have his brother looking over your shoulder. His name is Raoul San Diego, and the last thing in this world you want is trouble with him!”
Longarm smiled slowly. “So the customs man I want is Jay Caster.” He gave a little laugh. “You earned your money after all, Mister White.”
Jasper White looked sullen. “Don’t think you be so smart. You could have gone in any saloon and found that out in five minutes. He don’t make no secret out of it.”
“Pushing cattle through quarantine? He better start making a secret out of it. The way I understand the matter, it’s against the law.”
