Longarm saw to his surprise that the label on the bottle proclaimed it to be Maryland rye, Tom Moore to be precise. What were the odds that Callahan would have a bottle of Longarm's favorite here in the middle of the Cascades?
It had been a long time since he had asked too many questions of such good fortune, however. He could arrest Callahan after they'd had a drink just as well as before. With a nod, he said, "Much obliged."
Callahan dug a couple of glasses out of the trunk, blew dust from them, and pulled the cork from the bottle of rye with his teeth. He splashed liquor into each glass, then replaced the bottle in the trunk and held out one of the glasses to Longarm. Longarm was about to toss off the drink when Callahan lifted his own glass and said, "Here's to Aurora Mcentire."
Longarm nodded curtly and said, "To Aurora." Then he downed the rye, licked his lips appreciatively, and went on. "You always drink to somebody you're trying to run out of business, Callahan?"
Callahan frowned, taken aback by the blunt question. "What are you talking about, Marshal? I wouldn't want to hurt Aurora's business."
"No, you just want to make things so bad for her that she'll sell out to you on the cheap, government contract and all."
Callahan's blunt fingers tightened on the empty glass he held. "You're insane," he said. "I'd never hurt Aurora."
Longarm's right hand was close to the butt of his Colt, just in case Callahan decided to try something funny. "That ain't the way I figure it," he said coldly. "You see, I was there a few days ago when you offered to buy her out. You practically admitted you were behind all her troubles. And I saw you meeting on the sly today with her cook, who's been helping you with your scheme."
For a long moment, Callahan stared hard at Longarm. Then he shook his head sadly. "You don't understand, Marshal," he said. "You just don't understand."
"Then why don't you explain it to me?" Longarm snapped.
Callahan looked down at the cabin's puncheon floor and heaved a sigh, then said, "All right. If I have to." His gaze lifted, and his eyes met Longarm's. "I don't really want to buy Aurora out. I'm in love with her, and I want to marry her."
CHAPTER 11
This time it was Longarm's turn to stare in amazement. Of all the things Callahan might have said, that was one of the last ones Longarm would have expected.
"Marry her?" he repeated. "You don't even like her. Aurora told me how you broke up your partnership with Angus Mcentire because he decided to marry her and you couldn't stand her."
A look of pure misery appeared on Callahan's face. "That's what she thinks? I ended my partnership with Angus because I couldn't stand knowing that Aurora was marrying him instead of me. I knew if Angus and I stayed partners, I'd have to see her sometimes, and that was more than I could take."
Longarm was flabbergasted by this agonized confession on Callahan's part and not sure whether to believe the man or not. He said, "Didn't you ever tell Aurora how you really felt about her?"
Callahan shook his head. "She was happy with Angus. I couldn't bring myself to cause trouble for her. I suppose you could say I just... loved her from afar."
"Maybe you could say something like that," muttered Longarm. "I couldn't." He glared at Callahan and went on. "What about that fella Eli, that bald-headed cook? Like I told you, I saw the two of you-"
Callahan held up both hands, palms out. "I know, I know. And I admit that Eli has been working for me. But not because I want to cause trouble for Aurora. I just had Eli there to keep an eye on her, so that I would know what was going on. When I first heard about the problems she was having, I figured it was time to make my move. I offered to buy her company from her."
"So, you don't want to cause trouble for her, but you don't mind taking advantage of trouble she's already got, is that it?" asked Longarm skeptically.
Callahan grimaced. "You make it sound pretty bad, Marshal, but you don't know everything I had in mind. I thought it would be better for Aurora if she didn't have to worry about the company anymore. I thought too that if maybe whoever was behind the problems had a grudge against her, he would stop if the company changed hands. Then I was going to... to ask Aurora to marry me, so that I could give the company back to her as a wedding present."
That was one of the craziest things Longarm had ever heard, but he had to admit that it was just the sort of thing a lovesick fool such as Callahan professed to be might come up with. Still, he wasn't ready to write off his suspicions just yet.
"I heard you tell Eli that you were going to try something new with Aurora, since nothing else had worked, and that old cook said she wouldn't know what hit her. What was that about?"
"I was talking about the way I've been trying to buy her out," said Callahan. "If you were eavesdropping outside the cabin the other day, you know I made my final offer to Aurora, and she turned me down flat."
Longarm nodded.
"So there's nothing else left to do," said Callahan with another shrug. "if I can't buy her out before I propose, I guess I'll just have to go ahead and ask her to marry me anyway. That was what Eli and I were talking about, Marshal. You can ask him if you don't believe me."
Longarm wasn't sure why Callahan thought he was more likely to believe the old cook. Callahan was either one hell of an actor, or he was really telling the truth about his involvement with the situation. Longarm had been counting on the man panicking when confronted with the knowledge of his guilt. That hadn't worked out at all.
And Longarm was once again left with no solid proof of anything.
"All right, Callahan," he said abruptly. "I ain't saying I believe this yarn you've spun for me, but I reckon you know I've got my eye on you now. We'll just see what happens."
"I've told you the truth, Marshal." A trace of fire appeared in Callahan's gaze. Now that he had gotten over the awkwardness of being forced to confess his love for Aurora, his normal spirit was coming back to him. "If you don't want to believe me, that's your problem."
"We'll see," said Longarm. "Thanks for the drink." He turned toward the door of the cabin.
"That's it?" asked Callahan in surprise. "You're leaving?"
"Not much else I can do, is there? Not unless you want to confess that you tried to have me killed and caused all that trouble around the Mcentire camp."
Callahan shook his head vehemently. "I didn't have anything to do with any of that."
Longarm just raised one eyebrow skeptically and stepped out of the cabin.
The roan was tied to a hitching post nearby. Longarm untied the reins and stepped up into the saddle. Callahan came out of the cabin behind him, and although Longarm didn't look back as he rode away from the camp, he could feel the boss logger watching him. Callahan's eyes seemed to bore into his back.
He had put Callahan on notice, and if the man was indeed guilty, it was now just a matter of giving the man enough rope to hang himself.
And of staying alive in the meantime, Longarm added grimly to himself.
He had been heading for the Mcentire camp when he had gotten sidetracked on this Callahan business, so that was where he pointed the roan when he reached the main trail once more. The skin on the back of his neck crawled a little as he rode. Callahan might move fast to eliminate him as a threat. Even now, some of those hired gunmen might be riding through the forest to get in front of him and set up an ambush. Or they might just come straight after him and try to ride him down. Either way, Longarm knew he had to be alert for any sign of trouble.
Nothing happened on the way to Aurora's headquarters, however. When Longarm rode up there, everything was evidently business as usual. The sawmill was operating, and Longarm saw a boom of logs floating down the creek. Some of the timbermen known as river pigs were controlling it with long poles and ropes that had been attached to the iron spikes called dogs that had been driven into the outer logs of the boom. Those outer logs were strung end to end and attached to each other to form a ring that contained the rest of the logs. The river pigs were good at their job and floated the boom gently up to the big open end of the sawmill building that extended out over the water. This boom was not going to get away and cause trouble.