While Longarm was struggling with the last guard, Scott pivoted smoothly away from the unconscious outlaw on the floor and turned to face Sonia and Barton. The hammers of both guns were eared back. “If either of you let out a peep,” he told them grimly, “I won’t have any reason not to kill you both.” His gray eyes were like chips of ice in the light of the chandelier hanging from the ceiling over the big table. “Take that gun out of the holster under your coat, Barton, put it on the table, and slide it down here.”
Barton’s face was set in lines of fury, but he complied with Scott’s orders while Sonia looked stunned by the unexpected developments. Some thudding and bumping came from underneath the table, where Coffin and Deke had rolled in their struggle. Coffin suddenly appeared, raising himself up and lifting his right fist while he used his left hand to pin Deke down. The big fist fell, rose, fell again. A gurgling sound came from under the table. Coffin pushed himself to his feet. “Reckon that’ll hold that fella for a while,” he said in satisfaction.
Longarm, meanwhile, had yanked the pistol away from the last guard. He slammed the gun against the man’s temple and heard the brittle crack of bone. The outlaw’s knees folded up, and he collapsed on the floor with rivulets of blood leaking from his nose and ears. He was either dead or soon would be. Longarm turned back toward the table and lifted the gun he had taken from the guard.
Coffin was on the far side of the table, still breathing a little hard from his fight with Deke. Scott stood at the far end, guns trained on Barton and Sonia. Between them were the platters of food, forgotten now in this twist of fate. The young servant was gone, having slipped out in the confusion. Longarm hoped he wouldn’t raise the alarm. Considering the way the boy had looked at Scott with an almost worshipful gaze, Longarm thought that was a distinct possibility.
“You’re El Aguila?” Barton asked in a choked voice. “The real El Aguila?”
“That’s right,” said Scott. “That’s what folks along the border got in the habit of calling me anyway, and I never disabused ‘em of the notion.” Without taking his eyes off Barton and Sonia, he went on. “I owe an apology to you, Marshal Long, and to you too, Ranger Coffin. I know it was pretty low-down of me to use you like that to get into this stronghold, but I wanted to find out who was muddying up my name.”
“So you damn near got us killed,” Coffin said harshly.
“I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you,” Scott said. “I’ve just been biding my time, waiting for the right moment to free the two of you so that we can get out of here.” His broad shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. “The way things worked out, I didn’t have much of a choice about when to start the ball.”
Longarm wasn’t completely sure if he should be pointing his gun toward Barton and Sonia or Scott. “What do you intend to do now?” he asked.
“You may not believe this, Marshal, but just because I’ve got a reputation as an outlaw, that doesn’t mean I’ll stand by and watch my country being betrayed by a man who’s supposed to be representing its best interests. I think we should get out of here and take these two with us, back to Texas where they can face justice.”
Scott’s deep, resonant voice certainly sounded sincere enough, but Longarm had trusted Scott before, with nearly disastrous results. “What about you? Are you going to turn yourself in too?”
“You probably won’t believe this either, but I haven’t broken any laws, Marshal. At least not in Texas. There’s been plenty of talk, but you won’t find any reward dodgers out on me.”
“The hell you say!” exclaimed Coffin. “I’ve heard about you, mister, heard how you like to horn in on every crooked scheme you come across.”
“But did you ever see a wanted poster on me?” Scott persisted. “I don’t think so.”
They didn’t have time for this argument, Longarm thought. He said, “It looks like we’re going to have to trust you again for the time being, Scott, at least until we get out of here. But I’ll be keeping a close eye on you.”
“Wouldn’t expect anything else from the fella they call Longarm,” Scott said easily.“You know who I am?”
“I make it my business to keep up with all the lawmen I can. Never know when I’ll run across one.”
“Well, you won’t be running across any more unless we get out of here before those revolutionaries show up,” said Longarm. “It’ll be hard enough just slipping out with all of El Aguila’s gang around.”
Scott winced a little. “Please, Marshal. You’re besmirching my reputation.”
“When we get back to Texas, I’ll smirch you, you lowdown-“ Coffin began.
“Let it wait,” Longarm interrupted. “Coffin, you reckon you can slip out through that patio, get to the stable, and bring back horses for the five of us?”
“Damn right I can,” the Ranger replied. He bent over and jerked a pistol from the holster strapped around the waist of the still-unconscious Deke. “Feels good not to be naked no more.”
“Don’t use that gun unless you have to,” Scott warned. “Shots will bring everybody in the valley down on top of us.”
“I know that, blast it,” Coffin muttered. Moving with surprising stealth for a man of his size, he cat-footed out the door and vanished into the shadows of the patio.
“Now what?” Barton asked, his face impassive.
“Now we wait,” Longarm said as he pointed his gun at the diplomat, “and hope nobody comes along and makes us shoot you. I’d a whole lot rather see you hang back in the States.”
Barton gave a contemptuous sniff, as if he thought that was unlikely to ever happen. Longarm had to admit that the odds against it were steep. To get Barton back to Texas, they would first have to escape from this outlaw stronghold, then make a long, perilous ride across the wasteland between the mountains and the border, probably being chased the whole way by the rest of the gang.
But if there was any way to bring Barton to justice, he was going to do it, Longarm vowed.
“There’s only one way out of this valley that I know of, Scott said to Longarm, “and if any of those outlaws get between us and the gap, they can block us off. We need some sort of distraction to draw them away.”“I was thinking the same thing,” Longarm agreed. “Any ideas?”
“I happened to see a box of dynamite in the storehouse, like the raiders used to blow up Sheriff Sanderson’s office in Del Rio. If we got hold of a few sticks of that stuff, and if one of us rode to the other end of the valley and set them off, that would draw the attention of all the outlaws. It might even be enough of a disturbance to draw the guards away from the gap.”
“But that man wouldn’t have a chance to get away,” Longarm pointed out. “He’d be sacrificing his life.”
“Not if there’s actually another way out of the valley.” Scott looked intently at Barton, who was standing at the other end of the table with one hand on Sonia’s shoulder. “What about it, Barton? I’ve never seen an outlaw hideout without a back door. Where’s the one in this valley?”
Barton laughed harshly. “There isn’t one, you fool. And if there was, do you think I’d tell you?”
“I don’t have a whole lot to lose by killing you right here and now,” Scott said grimly.
Barton just shook his head. “You’ll have to, because I’m not telling you anything.” The soft clop of hoofbeats sounded outside the patio door. Longarm swung in that direction while Scott kept Sonia and Barton covered. A moment later, Coffin’s bulky figure appeared in the doorway. “I’ve got horses outside for the five of us,” he announced. “Scott, that black devil of yours nipped a hunk out of my hide.”