by Evans, Tabor
“Hold up there!”
“Move aside, you asshole!” one of the brothers yelled. “Or by gawd I’ll run you over!”
Longarm drew his Colt and pointed it at the nearer man. “I’m a United States federal marshal and you are the Raney brothers wanted for murder. Pull in your teams, set your brakes, and raise your hands!”
The brothers didn’t do anything that Longarm demanded. Instead of pulling in their mule teams, they whipped them forward. Even though each was pulling a heavy load through snow, ice, and mud, both mule teams lurched forward with surprising speed. Longarm fired, pivoted to move out of the way, and slipped in the slush. He fell heavily and looked up to see the mules coming straight at him.
He rolled out of their path and the teams charged past on both sides. The Raney brothers were armed and tried to fire downward into his body.
But their wild shots off a moving wagon were bad misses. Longarm saw the brothers bail out of their wagons, hit the snow, and roll. Both men began firing, but so did Longarm.
The footing was unstable, and Longarm was covered with slush and mud. He had loaded all six cylinders and now used three shots on each man, alternating between them and watching them jerk, stumble, and twist with every bullet’s impact. When his gun was empty, Longarm dropped to one knee and pulled out his two-shot derringer. One of the brothers was still on his feet, still coming forward, and Longarm fired both barrels of his deadly little gun.
The last brother took Longarm’s final bullet squarely in the face and pitched over backward into the snow.
It was over.
Shaking with the cold and wet, Longarm slogged up to the corpses and searched them for more weapons and valuables. He found Bowie knives and pistols, which he tossed on top of the freshly cut stacks of logs.
Slowly, employees began to emerge from the V&T Railroad headquarters. They began to whisper and cautiously approached the humped and shaggy bodies that reminded Longarm of freshly slain buffalo.
“What are you going to do now?” the little man with the red ears finally dared to asked.
Longarm pulled on his gloves and carefully wiped mud and snow from his coat. He considered the question for a moment. “You got any more of that hot coffee?”
“Yes, sir!”
“I’m cold and I’d like another cup,” he said to no one in particular as he turned and walked slowly back to the office.
• • •
The telegram from Denver came within hours of the one that Longarm and Milly Ott sent to the mayor’s office. The next day several more were exchanged, not only between the immediate parties but between Nevada’s territorial governor and Carson City’s town marshal. And finally, ten thousand dollars was wired directly from Mayor Plummer’s personal bank account to Longarm and Milly Ott, along with this surprising news:
THANK YOU FOR GIVING ME AND MY SON RETRIBUTION STOP MY SON HENRY IS FAST RECOVERING FROM HIS GUNSHOTS STOP HIS MARRIAGE PROPOSAL TO MRS. DELIA FLANNERY ACCEPTED STOP YOU ARE BOTH INVITED TO THE JUNE WEDDING STOP ENJOY YOUR WELL-EARNED MONETARY REWARDS
Longarm was smiling broadly when he showed the telegram and handed over a five-thousand-dollar check to Milly Ott. “Can you believe that?” he asked with amazement. “Henry Plummer proposed to Delia Flannery and we’re invited to their June wedding. Won’t that be something?”
Milly looked away for a moment before turning back to him and saying, “I’m afraid I won’t be able to attend the wedding.”
“Why not?”
Now she lifted her chin and met his eyes. “Brian has asked me to become his wife and go back to Seattle. We’re going to invest my five thousand in his business and buy a nice big house.”
Longarm’s jaw dropped. “Are you serious?”
“Never been more serious. I’m sorry, Custis. But after thinking over all you’ve said and done since we’ve been together, I realized that you’re never going to become happily settled into marriage and a family.”
“With ten thousand dollars, I was giving that some serious consideration.”
“Go back to Denver and do good with your share of the reward,” she said, then added, “and Brian and I wouldn’t mind if you used a little of that reward money to give us a nice Seattle wedding present.”
Longarm folded his check and put it in his pocket. “Count on it, Milly. And give my congratulations to Brian. I don’t know him, but my first impression was all good.”
“And now what will you do?”
“I’m going home,” he said. “I’ve got a room, a cat, and a nice, loving woman waiting.”
“Then buy her something grand and put the rest of that reward money in your savings account. You know that you can’t always be a United States deputy marshal.”
“No,” he said, “I don’t know.”
And with that, Longarm headed back to his hotel to get his bags. Carson City was a nice town, but for his money, Denver was where he really belonged, and he was missing Irene.
Watch for
LONGARM AND THE DEADWOOD SHOOT-OUT
the 411th novel in the exciting LONGARM series from Jove
Coming in February!
And Don’t Miss
LONGARM AND THE AMBUSH AT HOLY DEFIANCE
Longarm GIANT Edition 2013
Available from Jove in February!
DON’T MISS THESE ALL-ACTION WESTERN SERIES FROM THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP
THE GUNSMITH by J. R. Roberts
Clint Adams was a legend among lawmen, outlaws, and ladies. They called him . . . the Gunsmith.
LONGARM by Tabor Evans
The popular long-running series about Deputy U.S. Marshal Custis Long—his life, his loves, his fight for justice.
SLOCUM by Jake Logan
Today’s longest-running action Western. John Slocum rides a deadly trail of hot blood and cold steel.
BUSHWHACKERS by B. J. Lanagan
An action-packed series by the creators of Longarm! The rousing adventures of the most brutal gang of cutthroats ever assembled—Quantrill’s Raiders.
DIAMONDBACK by Guy Brewer
Dex Yancey is Diamondback, a Southern gentleman turned con man when his brother cheats him out of the family fortune. Ladies love him. Gamblers hate him. But nobody pulls one over on Dex . . .
WILDGUN by Jack Hanson
The blazing adventures of mountain man Will Barlow—from the creators of Longarm!
TEXAS TRACKER by Tom Calhoun
J.T. Law: the most relentless—and dangerous—manhunter in all Texas. Where sheriffs and posses fail, he’s the best man to bring in the most vicious outlaws—for a price.
