“I see.”
“Good,” Kane said, “because it’s important that you do see.”
“How much is your salary?” Megan blurted out.
Kane had been about to continue their walk down the boardwalk, but now he suddenly stopped, planted his feet, and said, “I’m not sure that is any of your business, young lady.”
“My father was the marshal of Reno for sixteen years and never made more than a hundred dollars a month.”
“Well, pity him,” Kane snapped. “Maybe he should have come to a town like Bodie where everyone was trying to kill him so that they could return to their lawless and wicked ways.”
“My father,” Megan said defiantly, “had plenty of troubles in Reno, and he was shot three times in the line of duty, but he always came back and made sure that the law was upheld. And by that, I mean the laws of the State of Nevada.”
“Well,” Kane said, voice taking on a hard edge, “this is California, and it’s a boom town with all that trash and riffraff that big money attracts. We have no civic committees. There are no church socials along the Truckee riverside, and you’d be damned hard pressed to find anyone who owns a bible.”
Kane started walking, leaving Longarm and Megan to either hurry after the man or to give up the excursion. They hurried after Kane, who shouted over his shoulder, “Miss Riley, your father had a bunch of Sunday-school kids compared to what I have to deal with every day here in Bodie. He has no idea what tough really is, Miss Riley. I know he thinks that he’s had some close shaves and been in some tight fixes, but he hasn’t. Not really.”
“You’re an arrogant ass!” Megan shouted. “You dare to say that my father had it easy!”
“Compared to what I’ve had to fight in my town, yes.”
“That ties it,” Megan said, eyes blazing. “I’m going back to the hotel.”
“I’d better escort you,” Longarm said.
“We’d both better escort her,” Kane stated flatly. “The few respectable women in Bodie are known to most everyone. All the others are just assumed to be whores. And you, miss, dressed in those man’s clothes but showing all the curves of a young woman, would prove to be a riddle that the more unsavory element in Bodie would find irresistible.”
“I can take care of myself,” she said.
Kane looked at Longarm. “I think you had better get her attention, Marshal Long. This is no time for a female temper tantrum. This young lady needs to be educated about life in a mining camp.”
“He’s right,” Longarm said. “You can’t just stomp off and expect that, because you pack a six-gun or a derringer, you’re going to be all right. It doesn’t work that way in a town like this.”
“Why not!” Megan swung around and looked up and down the street. “This place strikes me as being evil!”
“That’s because it is,” Kane said, offering her his arm, which Megan ignored.
“If it’s so evil, why haven’t you done something to change it?”
Kane shrugged, his craggy face hardening. “The only thing that can shackle the greed and evil in evil men is fear. If they fear punishment, they will desist from acts of wrongdoing.”
He turned to Longarm. “You’ve been in more than a few towns like this, Custis. Why don’t you tell this young lady the truth? Am I right, or am I wrong?”
“You’re right,” Longarm said. Then he added, “But there are a lot of men who are neither good nor evil, but something in the middle. In fact, I think that most men fall into that category. And those people can often be appealed to in a decent, understanding manner. They respond to reason, not the constant threat of fear.”
“That’s bullshit!” Kane removed his pocket watch and said, “I need to continue on my rounds, and Custis, you need to take this innocent young lady back to her room. Therefore, I think this is the end of our little tour of Bodie. It probably wasn’t a very good idea anyway.”
Longarm saw Megan’s cheeks flame with anger, but he took her arm and, while leading her away, called back, “I’ll be talking to you soon, Marshal.”
“Do yourselves a big favor and buy a stage ticket back to Reno!”
“We came here on horses!” Megan screeched.
“Then saddle them up and ride,” Kane yelled as he marched on down Main Street, hand shading the butt of his gun, eyes constantly shifting.
“What are we going to do!” Megan whispered, her voice filled with fury and anguish. “That man is terrible.”
“He didn’t used to be that way.”
“But he is now!”
“I think I’m going to have to get some evidence against him and then see that he is removed.”
“By whom! You’re a federal officer and he’s a local constable.”
“There is a federally chartered bank here in Bodie. A federal post office too. And Wells Fargo and Company operates out of here and they have federal contracts,” Longarm said. “Billy Vail knows that and he’ll expect me to use it all to put my foot down hard and straighten this mess out.”
“I don’t think you can,” Megan said.
“I’m not afraid of Ivan Kane.”
“You should be,” Megan said. “And if you think that he is operating this … this fiefdom on his own, you are wearing blinders.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means that, as sure as the sun will come up tomorrow morning, Ivan Kane has people that hold even him accountable. Men who use him to retain their power and influence.”
“You sound pretty sure of that.”
“I am sure! Kane has the gun, but even if they’re paying him two hundred dollars a month, that’s nothing compared to the money that is supposed to be coming out of these mines. And I can tell you something else.”
“I’m not sure that it’s something I want to hear.”
“You’re going to have to hear it anyway,” Megan said. “This town is not only evil, it’s rotten to the core. I will bet you anything that there are things going on here that will put Ivan Kane behind bars for the rest of his natural life.”
“I hope you’re wrong, Megan. He’s a legend.”
“He’s a tyrant! A killer with a badge.”
Longarm took Megan’s arm and escorted her back toward the hotel. As they were about to pass a man, he stepped in front of Longarm and, after looking up and down the street, said, “My name is Henry Olliver. Stuart Kirkwood said you’re a federal marshal.”
“I am.”
“A friend of Marshal Kane?”
“An acquaintance,” Longarm said cautiously. “Why do you ask?”
“We desperately need help.”
“You want to talk about it in private?”
“Yes!” The man was practically quaking in his shoes.
“All right,” Longarm said. “We’ll meet tonight. Where is best for you?”
“North end of town outside of Harkin Livery. Ten o’clock. And don’t let Marshal Kane follow you!”
“I won’t,” Longarm said tightly.
The man hurried away.
“See,” Megan said as they went back to their hotel. “I told you things were rotten in Bodie.”
Chapter 8
Longarm climbed out of bed and looked down at Megan. “I think we’d better rest for a while.”
She stretched and ran her hands down across her flat belly and then her muscular thighs. Just looking at her made Longarm begin to ache again with passion, but he knew that he had to start getting ready for his meeting with Henry Olliver.
“I’ll be waiting up for you,” Megan said with a slow smile. “Don’t be too long, Custis.”
“Get some sleep.”
“Sleep, my darling, is not what I hunger for right now.”
“I’m beginning to think you’re insatiable.”
“I certainly hope so.”
Longarm chuckled and pulled on his pants, then his socks, and finally his boots. He grew serious thinking about the meeting that was about to take place. “Megan, I have a terrible feeling that I’m going to get some evidence against Ivan Kane that could send the man to prison.”