Longarm and the Colorado gundown

_{And Bevvy would find plenty more charges to drop on them at the local level. Train robbery would only be for openers.}

_{There was, though, at least one man missing from the group at the table here. One chair sat empty with a stack of papers in front of it and a fat cigar left lying in an ashtray there to drift smoke into the stuffy air inside the room.}

_{“Where’s Monroe?” Longarm asked.}

_“Who?”

_{“Never mind. Boo, you and your people take care of these prisoners. I’ll go find Monroe.”}

_{“You think he ran out?”}

_{Longarm grinned. “What I’d bet is that he went out back to take a piss. Bad timing is the only reason we didn’t pull him in with the rest of ’em.”}

_{“I can come with you.”}

_{“No, you and your boys get the cuffs on this bunch. I’ll bring Monroe in. And enjoy it, to tell you the truth. Only met the man one time, but even then I felt like I’d disliked him for years.”}

_{“We’ll see you at the jail,” Bevvy said.}

_{Longarm took the hallway toward the back of the saloon building in which the good old boys of Tipson had been meeting, then went downstairs. It was the logical direction anyone looking for an outhouse would take.}

_{A path led from the back door to a one-holer. The saloon management had thoughtfully provided a lantern set on a post halfway between the building and the shitter so patrons wouldn’t have to stumble or feel their way along.}

_{Longarm checked the door of the outhouse. It was latched.}

_{“Keep your britches buttoned, damn it. I’m almost done.” Longarm smiled. He recognized the voice. It was the hotshot railroad boss Edgar Monroe, all right. Hotshot in his own opinion anyhow. Longarm happened to think somewhat less of him than that.}

_{“Take your time.” Longarm stepped back and waited. The wait seemed like a very long time, although it probably was no more than a few minutes. After a bit he heard a deep sigh and the creaking of boards as Monroe’s weight shifted on the seat. “Ah.”}

_{There was another wait, shorter this time, and the sound of the bolt being drawn.}

_“Next.”

_{Monroe stepped out of the outhouse. And found himself facing Longarm.}

_{“Surprise.”}

_“You!”

_{“It’s my pleasure an’ my duty, mister, to place you under arrest.”}

_“No.”

_“Wrong.”

_{“You can’t.”}

_{“Sure I can.”}

_{“I won’t let you.”}

_{“Sure you will. Now turn around like a good fella an’ put your hands behind you.”}

_{“I’m not going to be dragged off like some common criminal.”}

_{“You’ll get used to it.”}

_{“We can talk about this. I’m rich, you know.” “Congratulations. Your wrists, please?”}

_{For a moment Monroe looked like he was going to throw a haymaker. But only for a moment. Perhaps he remembered that the last time he fought this tall deputy he’d lost the contest. Whatever the reason, he held himself stiff and ready for only that moment, and then subsided.}

_{“At least let me have a cigar first. We can ... talk ... while I smoke it.” Monroe reached inside his coat.}

_{Longarm opened his mouth to speak, to tell the idiot to keep his hands out where they could be seen.}

_{Too late.}

_{Monroe’s hand flashed with sudden speed, and a nickel- plated revolver appeared in his fist with a magician’s speed.}

_{The big man looked smug now. Superior. Lording it over the mere mortal who had dared to oppose Edgar Monroe’s wishes. As if he couldn’t believe that anyone would have had the temerity to even think he might oppose anyone as rich and as important as Edgar Monroe.}

_{Hell, Longarm couldn’t much believe it either. That anybody would be dumb enough to stand there and try to take him in a face-to-face draw like that. Stupid.}

_{The big Colt bellowed before Monroe’s little rimfire had time to speak.}

_{The two men were standing at devastatingly close range. At that distance the .44 slug had an impact that must have felt like Monroe stepped in front of one of his own trains.}

_{The bullet riding the tip of a lance of yellow fire slammed into Monroe’s chest with crushing force.}

_{It knocked him backward and spun him halfway around so that he was facing the other direction now. His momentum carried him on toward the outhouse he had just left. One tottering step and then another.}

_{He pitched forward and down. Face first.}

_{“Aw, shit,” Longarm said aloud as Monroe tumbled back inside the outhouse.}

_{The heavy body crashed down onto a much too flimsy seat. Wood splintered and broke with a loud crack, and Monroe fell with his torso hanging over the deep toilet sink.}

_{Hanging there only for an instant. Then sliding forward. And down.}

_{Longarm made a face.}

_{There was a splash, and a truly vile stench flowed from the outhouse in an almost visible wave. Longarm didn’t think he’d ever smelled anything quite that bad before. And if he had, he damn sure didn’t want to remember it now.}

_{The only things he could see of Edgar Monroe’s body now were the man’s shiny, polished shoes and his stocking- clad ankles.}

_{“I sure as hell hope you was dead before you went in there,” Longarm told the corpse in a soft voice. “Because 1 sure as hell ain’t gonna treat you like no drowning victim an' try to revive you.”}

_{He turned and went in search of the local jail. He was to meet Bevvy there. Quick as they could get things wrapped up, Longarm figured they could start back to Snowshoe. He had some things to tell Aggie Able about her clients—who by now should be miles along on their annual journey down to their spring hunting grounds—and there were certain other things he would like to discuss with Leah. But those things would be private and had nothing to do with Indians or robbers or would-be assassins. And the way Longarm saw it, they would be much more interesting than anything he and Aggie might talk about.}

_{Watch for}

_{LONGARM AND THE GRAVE ROBBERS}

_{155th in the bold LONGARM series from Jove}

_{Coming in November!}

_{A special offer for people who enjoy reading the best Westerns published today. If you enjoyed this book, subscribe now and get...}

_{TWO FREE}

_{A $5.90 VALUE—NO OBLIGATION}

_{If you enjoyed this book and would like to read more of the very best Westerns being published today, you’ll want to subscribe to True Value’s Western Home Subscription Service. If you enjoyed the book you just read and want more of the most exciting, adventurous, action packed Westerns, subscribe now.}

_{Each month the editors of True Value will select the 6 very best Westerns from America’s leading publishers for special readers like you. You’ll be able to preview these new titles as soon as they are published, FREE for ten days with no obligation.}

_{TWO FREE BOOKS}

_{When you subscribe, we’ll send you your first month’s shipment of the newest and best 6 Westerns for you to preview. With your first shipment, two of these books will be yours as our introductory gift to you absolutely FREE, regardless of what you decide to do. If you like them, as much as we think you will, keep all six books but pay for just 4 at the low subscriber rate of just $2.45 each. If you decide to return them, keep 2 of the titles as our gift. No obligation.}