“Who was in charge?”
“Superintendent Frank Ingalls. I understand the bastard is still there cracking his whip.”
“What kind of guns do the guards use?”
“They carry Winchesters in the towers, but it’s the Lowell Battery Gun in Guard Tower Number Two that we mostly worried about. It could spray the whole damn compound and cut down anything that moved.”
“And what was your worst punishment at Yuma?”
“I spent a month in the dark cell. It was hard.”
“How big was it?”
Longarm sighed. “Mr. Killion, it was fifteen feet square and they kept me in a strap-iron cage that was placed in its center. You rarely saw the light of day, and you sat in your own slime. They gave you nothing but stale bread and cold river water.”
“Where was it located?”
“In a cave bored out of solid rock along the south wall, right near the main cell block.”
“All right,” Killion said, apparently satisfied. “I guess that you know the Yuma prison better than any man ought. And as for Dean Holt, he had his bad whipping coming.”
“Thanks.”
“Why don’t you stay,” Killion suggested.
“Why? Are you going to buy anymore of our mustangs?”
“No, but you might find what I have in mind a lot more rewarding than mustanging.”
“I’m listening.”
“Are you good with that six-gun?”
“More than tolerable.”
“Yeah,” Killion said, “I’ll just bet you are. How does a hundred dollars sound?”
“Like tall dollars.”
Killion reached into his pocket and peeled off a hundred dollars. “You’re hired.”
“For what?” Longarm asked.
“Guarding Helldorado, and me.”
Longarm clenched the money in his fist, knowing it was probably from some train, bank, or stagecoach robbery. “No offense, Mr. Killion, but you already appear to have an awful lot of guards. Why do you want another?”
“Because Dean was my toughest man and you proved yourself even tougher. I think you are probably as good with that six-gun as you are with your fists, and I’d like to have you on my side.”
“Against who?”
“Anyone who opposes me or becomes my enemy.”
Longarm took a deep breath and pretended to give the response all the serious consideration it warranted. This was exactly what he’d hoped would happen, but he did not want to appear too eager to accept. “When will more money be coming?”
Killion chuckled. “Sooner than it would if you kept mustanging.”
“Yeah,” Longarm said with a half smile. “I guess you have a good point.”
“The girls are here for your pleasure. I’ll pay you enough to have a daily taste of ‘em, if that’s what you like.”
“I like.” Longarm’s eyes darted to Desiree’s face.
“This one, however,” Killion growled, reaching out to place his hand over the bulging fabric that covered her breast, “is mine.”
“Understood, Boss.”
“Good! I’m glad you’re joining us. Now, send that Indian away.”
“Why? He could use some-“
“Get rid of him and those mustangs,” Killion ordered, “before I have the boys do it.”
Longarm heard the threat and knew that this subject was not negotiable. “Yes, sir. Can’t he at least eat first?”
Killion laughed. “Sure! He can eat all he wants, but then he’s on his way. It’s for his own good.”
“I’ll tell him that,” Longarm said.
Killion started to escort Desiree back to his hotel, but he paused, then turned and said, “Randy wants you to teach him a few punches.”
“He told me that.”
“Then do it,” Killion said with a cold smile as he left Longarm with a hundred dollars worth of stolen cash in his hand.
Chapter 13
Longarm walked George Two Ponies out to the corral, and then waited while the Paiute saddled his horse and got ready to depart Helldorado. Neither of them had said much while they’d shoveled a huge breakfast of steak and potatoes down their gullets. Longarm wasn’t sure, but he thought that George was upset about leaving him without a friend in this outlaw town. “I’ll be fine, George. Stop worrying.”
“If they kill you, I’ll never get paid.”
Longarm snorted. “Is that what you’re upset about? Hell, I thought you were worried about my health!”
“Worried about hundred dollars too.”
“All right,” Longarm said, digging into his pockets. “Here’s the ten dollars I got from Randy for that buckskin, plus half the money that I got from Killion. There’s sixty dollars altogether, and if I survive this, you’ve got another forty coming.”
George brightened considerably as he counted the money. Grinning, he said, “Longarm watch his back. Many bad peoples here. Bad spirits too.”
“I know,” Longarm said. “Here, I’ll open the corral gate for you.”
George mounted his horse and rode into the corral. He quickly drove the ponies out and had no difficulty in lining them north. Longarm suspected that the mustangs would head for their home range around Pyramid Lake with little urging. In fact, the real risk was in their running on ahead of George.
“He was a pretty good friend, huh?”
Longarm turned to see the kid. “Yeah. He was a good friend.”
“How’d you meet him?”
“Mustanging.”
“That’s what you did after prison?”
“Among other things.”
Longarm watched George and his mustangs disappear into the empty and barren Nevada hills. They would, he knew, go straight to the Carson River, where there was still some grass and lots of water. After a day, they would push on to Pyramid Lake, and he was pretty sure that George would buy his wife and children many nice things with that sixty dollars. It was probably more money than the Indian had made in the last six months.
“Dean says he’s going to shoot you on sight,” Randy said matter-of-factly.
“Thanks for the warning. Some men just have to learn the hard way. I expect that Dean is just one of those men.”
“You need someone to watch your back.”
“Who’d be willing to do that?”
“I might,” Randy said.
Longarm looked at the kid. “And why would you want to help me?”
“I don’t like Dean. He’s a bully and he likes to hurt and even kill people.”
“Have you killed yet, kid?”
“No,” Randy said quietly, “not yet.”
“But your father and brother have.”
It wasn’t a statement, and Longarm wanted to see what kind of reaction it would generate from the kid.
“My father has a lot of enemies. So does Clyde. I expect I have a few as well.”
“But not like them,” Longarm said pointedly. “Not the kind that want to kill you for murdering their friends and family.”
Randy toed the earth and looked uncomfortable. “I’m a Killion.”
“Yeah,” Longarm said, “but you’re also your own person.”
Randy’s brows knitted. “What are you trying to say?”
“I’m saying that you don’t have to be like someone else just because you have their last name.”
“Are you talking down my father and brother?” the kid asked, heat creeping into his voice.
“No,” Longarm said quickly. “I’m not talking anyone down. I’m just saying we’re all individuals with different ways of handling things. What might work for your father or brother might not set as well with YOU.”
The kid tried to look angry. “What are you going to do now?” he finally said.
“I dunno. Your father told me to give you a few tips about fighting.”
Randy looked embarrassed. “I was sort of curious about how you were able to whip Dean without seeming to make much of a fuss over it. Up to then, I’d never seen or even heard of anyone whipping him.”