Longarm and the Two-Bit Posse by Tabor Evans

Author:Tabor Evans
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group

Chapter 22

In the morning Longarm took the cuffs off a very unhappy—but very meek and respectful—Frankie Powell, and let the gambler get dressed. Then he tapped on the connecting door and brought the ladies into the room.

“I have some things to do today. I need to see if I can find Jimmy Jay or figure out what he’s up to here. I want you three to stay in the room. We’ll go downstairs to socialize and look for this Leo friend of yours later. I’ll have breakfast sent up and plan on coming back by lunchtime. We can all go down then. In the meantime, Frankie, I’m going to chain you to that bed again.”

“But ...”

“Don’t give me any of your shit, Powell, or I promise I’ll give it back ten times over. D’you understand me?”

Frankie did not look happy, but he managed a nod.

“As for you, Cherie, you will do exactly what Miss Bradbury tells you. And you will do nothing but what she tells you. I want you and your pet idiot here to understand something. It is up to me whether we continue this nonsense, and I am about this close—” he pinched his fingers together, “—to loading everybody on a train and heading back to Denver. If I decide to do that, you two are going behind bars for the next couple years. Probably a good many years, once we tell the judge you engaged in fraud, lying to a peace officer, and attempted escape by way of deception. Believe me, I can make a judge think you are a greater menace to society than five mail bombers. And I will do it, too, if you both don’t settle down and behave. Am I clear on this? Really good and clear?”

He waited until both of them nodded, Cherie immediately and Frankie reluctantly.

“Now go sit on the foot of the bed,” Longarm told Frankie, “and think about which wrist you want cuffed to that footboard. I’ll leave one hand free so you can eat or wipe yourself.” He turned to Ruby. “If Powell gives you any trouble, ignore him. We’ll all take the next train back to Denver if he does.”

Longarm got his hat. “Lock this door behind me. I’ll have them bring something up for you to eat.”

He went downstairs and stopped at the desk to arrange for a large breakfast tray and paid for it, then went outside to find his own morning meal. Not that he expected there would be anything wrong with the Hyde Inn’s food. But he did not really expect to see Jimmy Jay seated there with a bowl of porridge or a stack of hotcakes, and while the odds of encountering the assassin on the street or in a café might be slim, they were better than the chance of finding him inside the hotel this morning.

Jimmy Jay’s presence in Hydes Junction was unsettling so far as this assignment was concerned. And it did nothing for Longarm’s mood to know

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.