Longarm supposed the diplomat had a point, though he was reluctant to admit it. He took hold of Coffin’s arm and said, “Come on.”
The Ranger jerked free. “Wait just a dang-blasted minute! He’s sayin’ we ain’t good enough to hear what they got to say!”
“And I’m saying that as long as nobody bothers them, the rest of it ain’t any of our business,” Longarm pointed out. He lowered his voice and leaned closer to the Ranger as he went on. “Forget it, Coffin. You know it’d just be a bunch of political bullshit anyway.”
“Yeah, I reckon you’re right.” Coffin allowed Longarm to steer him toward the door.
Longarm looked back at Barton and Don Alfredo. Their assistants were already opening leather portfolios and hauling out sheaves of paper. “One of us will be out in the lobby if you need us.”
Both of the chief diplomats nodded. Barton said, “Thank you, Mr. Long,” and Guiterrez added, “Muchas gracias.” Barton told Quine to shut the doors, and a moment later the entrance was closed, leaving Longarm and Coffin on the outside.
Longarm considered the situation. The single large window in the dining room was boarded up, having been shattered by outlaw bullets that morning. That left two ways into the room, the lobby entrance and the door into the kitchen, which could also be reached from a rear hallway. “You want to go sit in the kitchen or wait out here?” he asked Coffin.
The Ranger’s brow furrowed in thought, then abruptly smoothed as an idea came to him. “You reckon that blond waitress from this mornin’ might be back yonder in the kitchen?”
“She might be,” replied Longarm, although he figured it was sort of doubtful.
“And the cook will be for sure, so I might could get me a little snack whilst I was standin’ guard.” Coffin nodded, as much to himself as to Longarm. “I’ll take the kitchen.”
“Fine by me,” said Longarm. He headed back to the chair where he had been sitting before as Coffin shambled off to ward the rear of the hotel.
Longarm paused long enough to get a cheroot burning, then settled down in the chair to wait some more. He kept his eyes fastened on the closed doors that led into the dining room and hoped he wouldn’t doze off from sheer boredom.
There wasn’t much chance of that, because a few minutes later Sonia Guiterrez came downstairs.
Longarm saw movement from the corner of his eye and glanced toward the staircase. Sonia was walking down the stairs, her hand trailing lightly on the polished banister. She had taken down her hair so that it fell in rich bronze waves around her head and shoulders, and had traded the traveling outfit she had worn earlier for a cinch-waisted gown with a neckline that swooped low enough to reveal the deep valley between her honey-colored breasts, which moved enticingly with each step she took down the stairs.
She left little doubt that she had come in search of Longarm. Her dark-eyed gaze fastened on him, and she came straight across the lobby toward him as he stood up. “Senor Long,” she greeted him.He nodded to her. “Senorita. What can I do for you?”
“Well ... you could take me and make mad, passionate love to me so that my cries of ecstasy rise to the heavens and my fingernails leave the tracery of desire on your back.” Longarm swallowed and said, “Beg pardon, ma’am?” He was glad she had pitched her voice so low that only he could hear it. The lobby was deserted except for the desk clerk, but Longarm didn’t want that fella hearing what Sonia was saying.
She smiled wickedly and said, “Or perhaps you can just take me to dinner.” She gave a dainty shrug that made her breasts do interesting things again. “Whatever you like.”
Longarm shook his head. “It ain’t a matter of what I’d like, Senorita Guiterrez. I’m afraid I have a job to do, and I can’t abandon it.”
“You mean guarding my father and the others while they conduct their tiresome meetings?” She sighed. “Surely your friend can do that? The big ugly man who calls himself Coffin?”
“Ranger Coffin has his own chores to attend to,” Longarm told her.
“I’m sorry, but I just can’t leave right now.”
“Are you certain?” Sonia leaned closer to him, and in a voice as
sweet and thick with desire as molasses, she whispered, “After we have
eaten, I would love to take your manhood and lick it slowly from one end to
the other before I take it into my mouth and-“
“The Red Top Cafe across the street is a good place for supper,” Longarm broke in harshly, knowing that he couldn’t listen to much more of what Sonia was saying without beginning to show some evidence of his arousal. Under the circumstances, having the front of his trousers poking out didn’t much appeal to him. He moved back a little so that the delicious, intoxicating scent of her wouldn’t fill his nostrils quite so much, and then he went on. “I’m afraid the hotel dining room is closed for the time being.”
He saw a flash of anger in her eyes, but it lasted only a moment. Clearly, she wasn’t accustomed to having her offers turned down. However, the fact that Longarm was able to do so must have amused her, because she chuckled. “As you wish, Senor Long,” she said. “But sooner or later ... you will do as I wish. It is as inevitable as the rising of the sun.” She glanced down at his groin. “Among other things.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Longarm.
She turned and started to walk away, her hips swaying provocatively, then paused and looked back at him over her shoulder. “Will you watch me to make certain I reach the cafe safely?”
“I reckon I can do that,” replied Longarm with a nod. He figured he wouldn’t be the only man watching her as she crossed the street. Every male eye in Del Rio within seeing distance would be fastened on her.
And he was afraid she was right. He was only human, and sooner or later he would succumb to her charms if she kept offering them that freely. Doing his job well was the most important thing in life to him.
But damn it, that didn’t mean he was made of stone.
He watched her until she had crossed the street and entered the Red Top, then took his hat off and sleeved sweat from his forehead. Turning, he saw that the desk clerk was watching him. The fella had a sheen of sweat on his forehead too, and Longarm figured it wasn’t from the border heat.
Longarm hoped Franklin Barton and Don Alfredo could settle things soon. He was afraid that if he had to stay in Del Rio for very long, Sonia Guiterrez would wind up killing him.
One way or another.
Chapter 7
The meeting in the hotel dining room went on until after dark. Longarm’s belly began to growl, and he was glad when Coffin wandered out of the kitchen and offered to trade places with him for a while. Since Sonia Guiterrez had already come back to the hotel—giving Longarm a teasing, maddening smile as she walked up the stairs—Longarm figured it would be safe enough to leave Coffin on duty in the lobby. He wouldn’t have if there had been any chance that Coffin might wind up alone with Sonia.
Of course, he was being a little hypocritical, he thought as he went back to the kitchen. He couldn’t blame Coffin for wanting to take Sonia to bed when that was exactly what he intended to do himself as soon as he got the chance. Provided he could be discreet about it, naturally.
The cook was an elderly Italian man who jabbered incessantly at Longarm as the lawman ate. The man’s words were a mixture of drawled English and rapid-fire Italian, and after a while the chatter made Longarm’s head hurt a little. He finished up the steak and potatoes and beans and drank the last of the coffee in his cup. “Much obliged,” he said as he got to his feet. The cook said something in Italian, so Longarm just smiled and nodded and went out.