“For your own good, Marshal,” Brown said. “There is a chance that you might recognize me. If you do get a look at me, I’ve got no choice but to kill you.”
Longarm said, “Then you be damn careful that you hide yourself well. Where would I have seen you?”
“Did you want to talk to me about what I look like or do you want to talk to me about your situation?”
“I want to talk to you about my situation. Brown, you’re going about this all bass-akwards. In the first place, they are not going to swap you an embezzler for a deputy marshal. In the second place, how are you going to prove to them that you’ve got me?”
Brown said, “You’re going to write them a letter. That’s the way they’re going to know I’ve got you.”
“Like hell I will! If I do something like that, I’d never live it down. Giving in to the demands of a common crook. Hell.”
“Suit yourself on that score, Marshal,” Brown said. “All the letter will serve to do is to confirm that I have you captured. It’s only a method of speeding matters up. I’m going to tell them I have you and then I’m going to send them your badge along with a letter from me. That and the fact that you can’t be found is going to be proof enough. A letter from you confirming the matter will simply hasten your release. I’m not asking you to beg them to go along with the swap—I know that you’re not the kind of man to do that—but I am suggesting to you that you can cut your prison time down quite a bit by a little cooperation.”
“Well, I tell you, they are not going to believe it and even if they do, they’re not going to do anything about it.”
“Oh, I’m quite sure they’ll believe it, especially with your badge. Your badge is famous for the low number it has on it. Is that a result of your having been a marshal for a long time?”
“No, it’s just the way it worked out. But your sending them the badge ain’t necessarily going to prove to them that I’m alive.”
Longarm could almost hear Brown shrug. Brown said, “If I can’t convince them that you’re alive, then there’s not much point in keeping you alive, is there?”
“What do you mean by that?”
“I think a letter would convince them that you are alive and that you are being well treated. You savvy?”
Longarm thought for a long moment. “Hell, Brown. You’ve got me in a box here. I don’t much care for it.”
Brown said, “Make up your mind about that letter. I’ll get some writing material in to you tonight. I’m leaving in the morning and will be sending off my demands to the federal court and the federal offices in San Antonio. You can send the letter or not, as you choose.” He laughed slightly. “Hell, you might even be able to slip some clue by me as to where you are.”
Longarm said, “Brown, you’re a son of a bitch. You’re going to end up regretting this.”
Brown laughed. “Look, you’re going to get pretty desperate for a woman in there, as long as you’re going to be holding down that room. I know all about you and your women. I wouldn’t give me too hard a time, not unless you want to get mighty uncomfortable as the days go by.”
Longarm said, “Go to hell, Brown.”
Brown asked, “Do you want to write the letter or not?”
Longarm thought for a moment. “I don’t see what good it would do. If I write the letter to prove I’m alive, what’s to keep you from killing me as soon as you get the letter in hand? Where the hell is the advantage to me in putting anything down on paper, other than to express my feelings about what a sorry son of a bitch you are and what a fool I’ve been. What’s the advantage to me?”
Brown said, “You’ve got it wrong, Marshal Long. I have no desire in me to kill a member of the marshal’s service. I know full well how close you people are and how you protect your own. I think I can do this very easily with that famous badge of yours—the one with the dent in it where it stopped a bullet that would have gone into your heart, the badge that is celebrated throughout the marshal’s service. I think I can do that with your absence and the badge. I think a letter from you would serve to cut down on the time that you are going to be enjoying my hospitality. That’s the only reason I suggest the letter.”
Longarm said, “Why is it, Mr. Brown, that I don’t necessarily feel inclined to believe your every word? Is there something about you that I don’t like other than the fact that you have tricked me, trapped me, and thrown me into this jail cell?”
“Look, Marshal, you can make your custody as easy or as hard as you want. I expect you to try and escape but you won’t be able to. This matter could take a week or six months. Personally, I’m prepared to wait it out. I won’t be here. But I can tell you this, when it comes time to do you some favors, I am leaving orders as to how you are to be treated—the matter regarding a woman, for instance.”
Longarm said, “I don’t reckon I’d screw anything of yours with a mule’s dick.”
Brown laughed. “Oh, I think your tune will change as the days go by.”
“One thing you’re forgetting and that’s this Mr. Jenkins. I was seen with him. It is a known fact that I was in Laredo, and the first place they’ll start looking for me is in Laredo, and somebody is going to tell them that I was seen with this Jenkins fellow. When they find him, they’ll find you. When they find you, they’ll find me. Ever think of that? Might be in your best interest right now to ride away and leave this door open.”
Brown smiled, though Longarm couldn’t see it. He said, “Mr. Jenkins never saw me. He’s not part of my organization. He’s nothing but a down-on-his-luck cardsharper, a small-time confidence man. We used him to catch your interest. He was given a very specific set of instructions to follow. The business about the horse—we thought you would suspect some sort of criminal activity and you’d take the bait. Guess what, Marshal? You took the bait and that’s why you’re here. There never was a horse. By now, Mr. Jenkins is in New Orleans or Phoenix or Tombstone or Kansas City or Houston. Trust me, he’s no longer in Laredo.” Longarm said, “He’s probably six feet under.”
“There’s that consideration, too. Marshal, I’ve talked to you as long as is necessary. I’ll have some writing materials slid under the door. Someone will come and collect the letter. If you don’t write it, that’s your business. You do what you want on that score. You won’t be talking to me for a while, but there will be plenty of people around here to take care of you. I say adios to you now and I’m off.”
Longarm said, “Hey! Wait a minute, damn it! Hold up there, Brown. I’ve still got a few things I want to tell you, you son of a bitch.”
But he could tell from the hollow sound on the other side of the door that Brown had already left. He was alone in the big empty room.
He walked over to the table and poured himself a glass of whiskey and went over to the bed and sat down. He stared at the wall as he sipped at the liquor. For one of the few times in his life, he found himself totally baffled about what to do, what his next step should or even could be. There didn’t seem to be a next step. For a moment, Longarm felt the slightest twinge of desperation, but with an effort he fought it down. This was one time when he was going to have to be at his best and do his best thinking. Brown was dangerous because he was so intelligent. He was deadly because of his intelligence and he didn’t seem to have a conscience. He had willfully captured a United States marshal and was holding him for extortion. That took nerve and a lack of either conscience or good sense. Longarm wasn’t sure which.
Chapter 4
For a long time, Longarm stared down into his glass of whiskey. He wasn’t so sure that he wanted to leave the place alive. It might be for the best if Brown just killed him. He thought he would rather be dead than face Billy Vail and admit to how easily he’d been suckered into such a trap. Whatever had possessed him, he still didn’t understand, except it was his damn curiosity. He had been almost certain that Mr. Jenkins had been up to some crime. Yeah, he had been up to a crime, all right. He was stealing, but what he was stealing was a deputy marshal. The only smuggling he had done was to smuggle him, Longarm, into Mexico and right into the hands of Mr. Brown and his ambitious plan to get the government to give him an embezzler and, thereby, $200,000 of government money. That, Longarm thought, was really going after the golden goose.