“Whatever you say,” Longarm replied. “To me, they’re Americans first and Indians second. Just like an Irishman or an Italian, say, might think of himself as Irish or Italian, but American first. Savy?”
“Sure,” Billy said, unable to hide his sarcasm. “And I’m glad to see that you are so attuned to the cultural sensitivities in this matter.”
“Billy,” Longarm said at the door, “you and I have been friends for a good many years, but I have to tell you that you are starting to talk like a gawdamn bureaucrat. And if I were you, I’d be worried.”
“Get out of here and get some sleep,” Billy ordered. “You’re as touchy as a teased polecat and twice as ugly.
Longarm left his boss then. Most days he and Billy could joke around and work well together, but even Billy had his bad days. And he was a pushy bastard at times too. But then, when you went into management and administration, that was what happened to an otherwise fine fella.
Longarm wasted no time clearing out of the Federal Building located near the U.S. Mint on West Colfax Avenue. He was going to head for his rooming house near Cherry Creek and take a long afternoon nap. Then he would go see Miranda and try to smooth things over about the fact that they wouldn’t be having much time together until after this job was finished.
Miranda was going to be mad as hell, but what could he do? She’d waited for him before, and he was pretty sure that she’d wait for him now. She’d just have to, dammit. And anyway, he’d have that letter promising him vacation time, and then, with a month off, maybe he’d take her down to New Orleans. He had a few scores to settle there, and then he’d show her the French Quarter and they could have a real, real good time.
Chapter 2
When Longarm arrived at Miranda’s place, he was freshly shaven and wearing a clean shirt and pants. And he had a bouquet of red roses clenched in his big fist.
“Hi, honey,” he said when she opened her door. “These are for you.”
Miranda was a tall, statuesque gal with red hair and green eyes. Longarm thought her beautiful, as did everyone else who had the pleasure of seeing her strolling down the streets of Denver. She had a great, hearty laugh and shared his own slightly bizarre sense of humor.
“My, my!” she exclaimed, giving him a big hug and then dragging him inside. “What an unexpected surprise! Roses! They’re beautiful, Custis!”
“They’re nothing compared to you,” Longarm said, laying the praise on as thick as he could without overdoing it. Miranda had a fiery temper. She was going to go through the ceiling when he finally told her that he was leaving for Cortez tomorrow instead of taking her off on that nice, romantic vacation he’d been promising for the past six months.
“You sure are in a great vacation mood this evening,” Miranda said. “I’ve been thinking about what you were saying, whether we should go to California, Mexico, or New Orleans. I’ve decided that I’d prefer California. Maybe go to San Francisco on the train and see the sights. It’d be nice to see the ocean as well.”
“Yeah,” Longarm agreed, “it would, but …”
“The thing of it is,” Miranda said, cutting him off as she found a vase and filled it with water to keep the roses from wilting, “just being together is the important thing. It doesn’t matter where we are really.”
“That’s right.”
“I’ve got my boss to give me three weeks off,” Miranda was saying, “Two of ‘em will be without pay, but I’ve been saving money for this vacation for a good long while and-“
“Miranda,” he said, coming over and placing his hands on her shoulders. “I have some bad news. I have to go out in the field again and I’ll be leaving tomorrow.”
She spun around and swatted him in the face with the roses.
“Ouch!” Several thorns had stabbed him in the chin.
“How can you do this to me!” Miranda wailed. “This must be the third or fourth time you’ve left me like this.”
Actually, it was the fifth, but Longarm wasn’t about to tell Miranda that. “Listen,” he said, “I’m getting a signed paper from Billy Vail promising me a month’s paid vacation when I return from this job.”
“But what if you don’t return!”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You could be killed. You’ve told me about all the close calls you’ve had over the years. What good is that piece of damned paper going to do if you’re shot to death!
“Settle down, Miranda. I’m not going to get killed. The job they’re sending me on this time really doesn’t sound at all dangerous. All I have to do is infiltrate a gang of Indian grave robbers and halt the flow of Anasazi artifacts out of this country.”
“You’re going to Mesa Verde!”
“Among other places. Why?”
“I’ve been wanting to visit that place for years!”
“Now, Miranda,” he hedged, realizing where her mind was going, “if you think that I’m going to take you along, then you have another think coming.”
“Why?”
“Because the job might have some small element of danger and I don’t want you to get hurt.”
“Then it is dangerous! You lied to me!”
Longarm could see that he wasn’t getting anywhere and that his hopes for a romantic last evening in Denver were beginning to fade. “Look,” he said, “why don’t we go out to dinner someplace nice and have fun? We can come back here later and talk about this and-“
“Oh, no! You’ll just try to get me to drink too much wine over dinner and then soften me up for a good time in bed.” Miranda glared at him. “I know you, Custis!”
And she did, for that was exactly his plan. It was not original, but then again, it was straightforward and uncomplicated, just as he was. “Tell you what,” Custis said, “I’ll buy you a steak dinner and you can drink water with it if you like.”
“Thank you very much!”
“All right, if that doesn’t suit you, then drink wine or whiskey!” he exclaimed, getting exasperated. “But this is our last night out for a couple of weeks, and I sure hate the idea of squandering it in a fight. That doesn’t do either one of us any good.”
“I want to go with you to Mesa Verde. I’ll make it fun for you and I’ll-“
“No.”
“Then I’ll stay at Cortez, where I can’t possibly be a bother,” she told him. “I’ve done some reading on Mesa Verde, and I know that there are a number of guides that are routinely taking sightseers up there for two-day, three-day, and even week-long trips.”
“Miranda, it just won’t work.”
Her eyes flashed and her chin jutted out stubbornly. “Custis, I’m taking my vacation and it’s going to be in Mesa Verde. Maybe you can ignore me, but you can’t stop me. It’s still a free country. You’re the law and you ought to know that, for cripes sakes!”
Longarm ground his teeth with frustration. Miranda was a real bulldog when she got an idea in her head. She was as stubborn as a mule, and Longarm knew that the more he tried to talk her out of Mesa Verde, the more determined she’d become.
“All right. We’ll leave tomorrow on the afternoon train going south to Pueblo, then take the stage over to Durango and on to Cortez.”
“Really!” Her entire demeanor changed from anger to elation. “Custis, do you really mean it!”
“I do. After all, it is a free country and you’re right saying that I can’t stop you.”
She fairly danced around the room, light and happy as an elf. “Maybe we could hire a guide together and pose as newlyweds. That way, we’d look like regular tourists and you’d have a perfect cover.”
Longarm blinked with surprise because this was actually a very fine idea. With a woman at his side, he could go on the tour and look like anyone else. And after he’d had the opportunity to poke around in the cliff dwellings and study the layout, then he could leave Miranda with her tour group and strike off on his own after the grave robbers.