Longarm and the Deadly Restitution (9781101618776) (9 page)

Chapter 15

The Frontier House in downtown Denver specialized in steak and shrimp dinners and was known for its excellent wine cellar. Now, with the remnants of ravaged steak and shrimp on their plates, Longarm killed their se
cond bottle of French Pinot Noir and signaled the waiter for a check. He knew that the price was going to be hefty, but on the other hand he was pretty sure that a night with Milly Ott would be exceptional.

“It was a
lovely
meal,” Milly said, her eyes a little glazed and her voice a bit slurred from the wine. “And now I think we should go for a walk and clear our heads.”

“As long as our walk ends up in your bed,” Longarm said with a lecherous smile. “And remember, it's freezing cold out there and the ice makes walking pretty treacherous.”

“Ah, yes,” she agreed. “You're right. Will you signal the waiter to call for a horse and carriage?”

Longarm nodded, although he would have preferred saving that extra three dollars. But what the hell, in for a penny . . . in for a pound.

“Waiter!”

When the man appeared, Longarm paid the check and asked for the waiter to step outside and signal a horse carriage and driver.

“Was everything to your satisfaction, Marshal Long?” the man asked with an ingratiating smile.

“It was perfect,” Longarm said, “and . . .”

Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mrs. Delia Flannery enter the restaurant with none other than Mayor Tom Plummer. Longarm clucked his tongue. “My oh my,” he said with wonder. “Milly, would you just look at that!”

The mayor must have been a regular at the Frontier House, because as he escorted the young and beautiful widow through the room, he was greeted by everyone and shook hands with most of them.

“That's our
mayor
, isn't it?” Milly asked.

“Sure is.”

“Is that his daughter? She's really beautiful.”

“She is the wife of our late deputy marshal, Mike Flannery,” Longarm told her. “He was killed in that bank holdup along with several others. He was a fine man.”

“Well,” Milly said, “his young widow sure doesn't look like she's deep into mourning.”

Longarm would have had to say that Milly was right. Delia Flannery wasn't dressed in black but instead wore a nice white evening dress with a yellow bow in her pretty hair. She was smiling and looked ravishing as the mayor introduced her to his friends.

Suddenly the mayor spotted Longarm and came directly over to his table. “Well, Custis Long, this is about the last place I thought we'd next meet. And your lovely companion is . . .”

“This is Miss Milly . . .” Longarm blushed with embarrassment. “What is your last name?”

“Ott,” Milly said. “I'm Miss Milly Ott.”

The mayor bowed slightly. “My pleasure. And Custis, good to see that you're hard at work.”

“I'm enjoying myself tonight . . . just as you appear to be, Mayor Plummer.”

“Miss Flannery and I have just returned from the hospital, where we were visiting my son.”

“And how is Henry?”

“He's making a remarkable recovery but very concerned about his leg,” the mayor said. “He wonders if it will force him to retire from his short-lived law enforcement career with your office.”‘

Longarm shrugged and tried to offer some encouragement. “I'm sure that after a few months your son will make the right decision.”

“I hope so,” the mayor replied. “I have some very nice opportunities that Henry could undertake. Things that would be . . . good for my son's future aspirations in this town.”

“As opposed to Henry carrying a badge and getting shot.”

“Exactly. And I might as well tell you that I've decided to hire Mrs. Flannery as my special assistant.”

Longarm looked at the widow with a slightly upraised eyebrow. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you,” Delia Flannery said. “It's a little overwhelming to go back to work and especially for the mayor. But when Henry suggested to his father that I would be a wonderful addition to his father's staff . . .”

“So it was Deputy Plummer's idea,” Longarm said. “Well, if he can think that clearly, he must not be in too much pain.”

“Henry is very brave . . . just like my late husband. I told him that even though he might limp for the rest of his life, that should prove no handicap to doing whatever he decides to do.”

Longarm nodded with understanding. He could see far enough into the future to realize that Henry Plummer would never return to becoming a federal or local law officer. Instead, with the badge of a limp to show the world and voters that he was brave and battle-tested, he would probably have a great advantage among voters. It was intriguing that Henry Plummer had suggested to his father that he hire the beautiful and recently widowed Mrs. Delia Flannery. Having accepted the offer, Delia would now be in close contact with young Henry, and it didn't take a crystal ball to predict that that would lead to romance and possibly even marriage.

“Delia, I'm happy for you,” Longarm said, meaning it.

“She'll be a great asset to my office,” the mayor predicted. “Now, if you'll excuse us, we will have something to eat. Delia and I have been at the hospital all day with Henry, and we're famished.”

“Of course,” Longarm said. “Good to see you again so soon, Mayor.”

“And may I still expect satisfactory results regarding your promise to find the Raney brothers, who murdered my wife and a policeman in Baltimore?”

“Count on it,” Longarm said, holding up his empty bottle of white wine. “And actually, this beautiful lady that is with me tonight just happens to know a thing or two about the Raney brothers.”

The mayor spun around and his jaw almost dropped. His eyes darted back and forth between Longarm and Milly, and it was clear that he was dying to know more. “Is that so?”

“Yes. You see, Mayor, this lovely woman with me tonight was betrothed to a former United States deputy marshal named Horatio Manatee. I'm sure that you remember him very well.”

The mayor paled slightly. “Yes, Horatio came to me with a proposition. He vowed that he would find and either arrest or kill the Raney brothers in return for a reward of five thousand dollars. Unfortunately, I understand that he was murdered somewhere in Wyoming.”

“In Rawlins, to be exact. But not before he wrote Milly a few letters that held very important information.”

“Did he actually find the brothers!” The mayor could not contain his excitement, and his voice rose so loudly that other diners turned and stared.

“Yes, and there is little doubt that they murdered him, but not before Horatio Manatee wrote some very interesting letters to Milly.”

“Saying where they were going next?” the mayor asked, bending close to Longarm.

“I'm not certain, but I have a good idea,” Longarm told the man.

Mayor Plummer straightened, and aware that he was creating a lot of interest from other diners, he cleared his throat, regained his composure, and said, “Despite what was agreed upon earlier between us and your superior at the Federal Building, I'll sweeten the pot and offer you the same deal I offered this lady's late fiancé: Find and either arrest those two murderers and bring them back for a trial with their written confessions . . . or kill them. Either way, you'll earn five thousand dollars.”

Longarm felt the wine firing his blood. He liked Mayor Plummer and had great respect for young Henry, but his lawman's code was now being put to the test. “I'm not a judge, jury, and hangman all rolled up into one package, Mayor Plummer. I can't kill those men for money.”

“Sure you can.”

The mayor laid a hand on Longarm's shoulder and whispered, “
I have your badge
. You're no longer an officer of the law, and you can do what you damn well please when you find those murdering sons of bitches. So bring me back their ears and make yourself more reward money from me than you'd be paid in years of salary risking your life every day as a federal marshal.”

Longarm locked eyes with the mayor. “I'll find them and get you some restitution, Mayor. Of that you can be very sure.”

“And what about the reward? Will you be too high and mighty to accept that?”

Overhearing them, Milly hiccupped and said, “Mayor Plummer, if Custis won't take it . . . I damn sure will!”

The mayor looked at her for a moment, and then he chuckled. “And that would be just fine with me. Perfectly justifiable since they also murdered your man.” He took her arm and led her to a corner of the room where they could talk in private. “Milly, can you keep a secret?”

“Of course.”

“I don't ever want to see the men that murdered my lovely wife. So if you were considering going along with Custis Long, I would very much appreciate it if you would make sure that my deep desire to see them dead is . . . well, fulfilled.”

Milly stared at him. “You're asking me to make sure they die?”

“If it is within your capability . . . yes.”

“And what would my . . . ‘capability' we worth to you, Mayor?”

“Another five thousand dollars.” He smiled. “But please keep this our little secret. I'm afraid that even though I have Custis's badge, he will try to do what he has sworn to do, and that is to bring them in for a trial. I absolutely don't want that. It would cause me a lot of pain and also be very damaging to my son, who has more than enough sadness and personal challenges to deal with right now.”

“I understand.”

“I wouldn't even suggest such a thing, but I sense in you someone who would do what is right for me and my son.”

“I'll think about it,” Milly said. “Very hard.”

“Please do,” the mayor said as he squeezed her arm and left to rejoin Delia, who was waiting at another table.

“So,” Milly said, kissing Longarm's cheek. “Do you need some help in Gold Hill?”

“I almost always work alone.”

“And what about the five thousand dollars the mayor will pay in a reward? Did you mean what you said about giving it all to me?”

“I'm a bit tipsy, but that's
not
what I just said.”

Milly cocked her head a little to one side and giggled. “Tell you what, handsome, let's get out of here and back to my house and I'll help you refresh your memory.”

“I'm not sure that it will work that way.”

“I am,” she told him, as under the table her hand slipped along his thigh to his crotch. “I'm very sure of it.”

• • •

An hour later, Longarm was ready to agree to almost anything as Milly bounced up and down on his rod, a bottle of brandy in one hand and one of her big breasts cupped in the other.

Longarm looked up at the beautiful woman and laced his hands around the small of her back. “Come down here and roll over, Milly. It's my turn to be on top for a while.”

Milly hooted and did as he asked, while taking a big swig of brandy. She was laughing and having a wonderful time, and so was he.

Longarm entered her to the hilt and whispered, “Think you can do it tomorrow?”

“Do this?”

“No, sew a straight seam on a dress or a drapery.”

For some reason, Milly thought that was about the funniest question she'd ever heard in her life, and she began to laugh hysterically. Longarm thought it was funny as well, but he would have bet most anything that Milly wouldn't be steady enough in the morning to even thread a cup handle, much less the eye of a needle.

Chapter 16

Longarm awoke the next morning to find Milly Ott cooking a good breakfast of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. She was dressed, her hair was combed, and she looked surprisingly chipper considering the long night of lovemaking they'd enjoyed.

“Well,” Milly said with a smile, “I was wondering when you were going to wake up and have some breakfast.”

“Any coffee made?”

“Sure,” Milly said. “But you're going to have to get out of bed to enjoy it.”

Longarm ran his fingers through his hair and yawned.

“Got to keep up your strength, Big Boy.”

Longarm grinned and found his pants. “How come you se
em to be in such good spirits after so little sleep last night?”

“Because I had me some good lovin' and because I've come to a very important decision early this morning.”

“One I need to know about?”

“I think so,” she said. “But it's not one that I'm sure you want to hear.”

Longarm took an offered cup of coffee and moved over to Milly's small kitchen table. “I don't like surprises.”

“Well, I'm sorry about that,” she said, handing him a full breakfast plate. “But maybe you won't mind this surprise too much. What I've decided to do is to join you when you go to Gold Hill, Nevada.”

“What!” He had been about to sip coffee, but now Longarm lowered the cup to the table. “Did I hear you right?”

“You sure did. I'm going with you.”

Longarm shook his head. “That isn't going to work out for us, Milly. I told you before that I work and travel alone. And besides, you've got a thriving business here in your house.”

“I barely get by on what I make sewing and mending. I'm going to tell all my customers this morning that I'm taking a break and that they'll have to take their mending needs elsewhere.”

“Milly, I . . .”

“I'm going to Gold Hill, Custis, and before this is all said and done, you'll be damn glad that I came along with you.”

“I can't imagine that.”

Milly came over and kissed his cheek. “And there's one more thing.”

“I'm not sure that I can stand any more of your surprises.”

“You might like this one.”

“Shoot.”

Milly grinned. “I'm almost certain that I've seen the Raney brothers, and won't that be a one helluva big help when we get to the Comstock Lode?”

Longarm stopped chewing. “Yeah, it would mean a lot, but how could that be?”

“Horatio pointed them out to me one afternoon when we were downtown shopping for something. I remember him saying that he'd been doing a lot of hunting and he'd narrowed things down to where he was sure that he was looking at the Raney brothers. He was shaking with excitement and already talking about how to take them or kill them and then go collect his reward from our mayor.”

“But the brothers lit out for Rawlins.”

“Sure they did . . . they left the day after we saw them parading around with a couple of whores on First Street. They are big men, Custis. Not as big as yourself, but big and ugly. Black beards, closely spaced black eyes. When they saw Horatio looking at them, they stared right back and I felt a chill go up and down my spine. I kind of think they knew that he had recognized them and that's why they left town so suddenly.”

Longarm finally drank some coffee. “Would you remember them if you saw them today?”

“Of course.” Milly took a chair across from him. “They had the look of Satan on them. I would pick them out in a crowd without hesitation.”

“Why don't you tell me exactly what they look like and let that help me when I go to Nevada.”

“Nope. I'm going, too.”

Longarm pushed a forkful of pancake into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully. “Milly, I'm beginning to believe that this has
everything
to do with what the mayor said privately to you last night in the Frontier Hotel's dining room.”

“It might.”

“How much money did he offer you?”

“The same amount as he offered you, Custis.”

“Another five thousand dollars?”

“That's right.” Milly got up and folded her arms across her chest. “And if I help you kill them, I'll earn every penny.”

Longarm sighed. “Tell you what. If I kill them or bring them back for trial, I'll only keep my expenses and you can have the rest of the mayor's reward.”

“Nope. The mayor will pay us
both
five thousand dollars. Custis, do you know what we could do for ourselves with
ten thousand dollars
?”

“A lot, I suppose. But I'm pretty satisfied doing what I'm doing right now.”

“Have you thought about how you run a big risk every time you go after someone? And how as you get older, you won't be as quick or strong? Do you want to end up behind a desk like the man you work for?”

“I have to admit that I'd hate being a paper pusher.”

“Then you really need to consider us having a partnership and the opportunities we could have with a ten-thousand-dollar stake.”

Longarm needed some time to consider everything that this woman had laid upon him in a big heap, and so he focused on his breakfast and discovered he was famished.

“Well,” Milly said, “are we working together . . . or will we travel separately to Nevada and do what the mayor wants done?
Deserves
to have done?”

“You aren't going to let go of this, are you?”

“No. I've worked hard all my life. Supported some rotten and worthless men. After staring at a needle and thread all day for years, my eyes are starting to weaken and I'm getting older.”

“Not that I could tell last night in your bed.”

“Don't try and flatter me out of what I've decided, Custis. I'm going, and I promise you that I'll prove to be worth my salt.”

He studied her face and judged that she was about as determined as anyone he'd come across in many a day. “All right, Milly. But we need to leave on the train tomorrow morning.”

She beamed. “I'll wrap up things with all my customers. I've a friend who is trying to get her mending business off the ground and really needs the money. She'll be very grateful to take all the mending work that I pass over to her.”

“Well, good for your friend.”

“Don't be upset with me, Custis. I'm a good person and this is my chance. It's
our
chance if you want it to be. With ten thousand dollars and what this house would bring me and what we have saved . . .”

“Whoa up there! The sad truth of the matter is that I don't have much in the way of savings.”

“Well, I don't either. I have eight hundred and ten dollars, last time I checked at the bank. What about you?”

“A little more,” he admitted.

“This house is worth almost a thousand. So all together we'd have close to thirteen thousand!”

“Thirteen is an unlucky number,” he said around a mouthful. “And we hardly know each other.”

“I'd say that after last night we know each other very well. And you
really
like me, don't you?”

He saw the hope in her eyes, and it was easy to tell her the truth. “Yeah, Milly, I like you
a lot
.”

“And I like you a lot, too!”

“Well hellfire, then I guess we're going to go to Nevada together and try to find those Raney brothers.”

“We'll find them. We just have to find them!”

“They might have kept moving. Men like that get in trouble and wear out their welcome real fast no matter where they go or what they do.”

Milly's excitement died. “If they've moved on from Gold Hill, what do we do then?”

“We find out where they lived in Gold Hill and who they worked for and drank with. We talk to the whores they favored, and we gather as much information about them as we possibly can. If it's enough . . . we'll pick up their trail, and it'll be a whole lot fresher than it is right now.”

“Good!” Milly pulled on a heavy coat and mittens. “I'm going to go see my friend and tell her she's going to get more additional business than she probably wants or even can handle all at once. Then I'll bring her back, and we'll load up the mending and take it to her house and contact the customers. I'll be all finished with my business today, and we can leave tomorrow.”

“Train pulls out at nine-forty-five in the morning,” Longarm told her. “Do you have the money for a ticket?”

Milly smiled. “I was kind of hoping that you . . .”

“All right, I'll buy us both tickets, but you'll have to work off that cost on the way out to Reno.”

“On my
back
you mean?”

“Or any other way we want it.”

She laughed and spun around like a ballerina. “I've never done it on a train.”

“It's different with the rocking and bumping across the tracks.”

“Is it . . . better?”

It was Longarm's turn to chuckle. “I can't see how it could be better than it was for us last night, but I'll let you be the judge.”

Milly came over and hugged his head and then raced for the door. “Dinner tonight at the Frontier Hotel again?”

“Hell yes, let's do a full repeat!”

Longarm was grinning to himself as Milly slammed the door and hurried off to do her business. He just hoped she didn't go too fast down the sidewalk, slip on some ice, and bust her pretty little butt.