They went along up the path to where Longarm had left his horse tied. He got down, fetched the horse and tied him to the back of the wagon, and then got back in and started for town. It was late. He guessed it to be going on midnight, at least, and it would be another two hours before they were back in town.
As they rumbled along under the almost full moon, Longarm turned his head around and said to Earl Combs, “Earl, you can tell me where that key is or not. I can get that box open with a court order, but I can also make things harder on you than they have to be. You’re not going anywhere for a long time, and I already know where the money is, so if you want me to make things easier on you, then tell me where the key is.”
Combs looked down to the floor of the buckboard. “It’s in my heel.”
“What?” Longarm said.
“It’s in the heel of my right boot. It’s in a little hole. All you have to do is pry it off.”
Longarm nodded. “That’s pretty damned smart, though I don’t see why you took that punishment.”
Combs said, “I didn’t want this son of a bitch to have it.”
“Yes, but if I hadn’t have come along, he might have gotten a court order to have the box opened himself.”
Harding said, “You’re damned right. I’m a federal circuit judge, and listen, you little pissant deputy marshal, you better remember that. When this mess gets straightened out, you are in big trouble.”
Longarm laughed. “How do you plan to get away with that?”
“I made a deal to fetch you back safely and to get the money from Combs. That’s what I’ve done.”
Longarm looked around at him, amused. He said, “Didn’t you find it a little funny how they suddenly gave in to your proposal?”
Harding stared back at him, puzzled. He said, “What are you talking about?”
“I reckon you’ll find out.”
It was almost three o’clock before they finally rolled into Laredo. Longarm had taken it easy on the livery stable buckboard horses. They’d had a forty-mile round trip and he took it as lightly on them as he could. He pulled the buggy up in front of the sheriff’s office and then pulled Combs and Harding out of the back and onto the street. He unlocked the cuff on Combs’s wrist and quickly jerked both of Harding’s arms behind him and handcuffed the loose cuff to his other wrist. Then he shoved both of them toward the sheriff’s office. Two deputies were on night duty when he came through the door with his prisoners. He shoved Earl Combs forward.
He said to the young sheriff’s deputy standing behind a desk, “I’m Custis Long, U.S. Deputy Marshal.” He got out his badge and showed it to the deputy. “And this is Earl Combs. He’s a federal prisoner. I want him held until he’s picked up by federal authorities. Do you understand?”
The young deputy looked nervous and surprised. He said, “Yes, sir, Marshal Long. I’ll lock him up.”
Longarm said, “Don’t lose him.”
“No, sir, I won’t.” The deputy was staring at Richard Harding. He asked, “Is that Judge Harding you got there?”
Longarm said, “Yes, but I’m not going to put him up in your hotel tonight.” Harding suddenly said, “Deputy, I’m a federal court judge. I demand you arrest this marshal. He is illegally detaining me.”
Longarm took Harding by the left arm so that it would pull on his collarbone and jerked him to the front door. Harding let out a scream. Longarm looked back at the deputy. He said, “He was a federal circuit court judge but he’s not one anymore. He’s just a common criminal. I’ll be bringing him back in a little while. Until then, watch good over that other one.”
Harding was nervous once they got back into the buckboard. He said to Longarm, “Listen, what are you going to do with me? If I’m your prisoner, by rights you should have left me in that jail. What are you planning? To take me out in the country and murder me someplace where there’re no witnesses?”
Longarm said, “I’ve got a better idea than that.”
He pulled the buckboard into the hotel’s livery and tossed the reins to the night man. He explained that the outfit belonged to the town livery down the street and wondered if he could get someone to return it. He gave the night man a dollar.
After that, Longarm walked Harding up the steps of the hotel, but at the door, Harding balked. “I’m not going into the hotel like this. Handcuffed and disgraced? No!”
Longarm opened the door and shoved him forward, so hard that Harding fell to his knees ten feet into the lobby. It was deserted except for the night desk clerk. He looked at Harding and then at Longarm with surprise. He said, “Marshal, is everything all right?”
“Yeah, it’s finally getting all right, but it took its own good time about it.” Longarm took a few steps toward the desk. “As well as I recollect, you have always kept a cane or two around here for some of your older guests in case they mislaid theirs, is that right?”
The desk clerk was still looking at Richard Harding. He said, “Yes, sir. We have several. Did you need one?”
Longarm walked over. “Yeah, do you have a good india rubber style there?”
The young man said, “Yes, sir, I do.” He handed Longarm a thin handsome cane that was just about the size and the heft and the stiffness that he desired. As he was about to turn away, the desk clerk whispered to Longarm, “Isn’t that Judge Harding over there?”
Longarm said in a loud voice, “That’s ex-judge Harding. Right now, he’s a federal prisoner.” He walked over to the man and tapped him lightly with the cane. He said, “Get up to your feet, Harding, or I’ll jerk you up by your hair.”
With his hands handcuffed behind his back, the judge had a hard time struggling up. Finally, Longarm grabbed him by the left arm and pulled him to his feet. The judge gave a small scream of agony. He swore.
Longarm slapped him across the back with the cane, hard enough to feel. “What’s the matter with you, Judge? Ain’t you got no better manners than to cuss in the lobby of a public place? Now, get on over there to those stairs.” He gave the judge another shove, not quite so hard this time.
They went up the stairs, the judge stumbling and complaining about his hands being handcuffed. Longarm said, “You know, that reminds me of my own particular situation about a week ago. Some son of a bitch did me the same way you’re rigged up and then set me on a horse and rode me about four or five hours. I’ll tell you, my shoulders were sore for days afterward. Is that what you’re talking about?”
Harding didn’t say anything.
They went down the hall to Longarm’s room. He stopped Harding with his arm. As he got his key out, he said to his prisoner, “Now, Harding, we’re going in here, into my room. If you make any noise or any sound to wake anybody up, I’m going to split your skull for you. Do you understand me?”
Harding turned and looked at Longarm coldly. “You’re a bully.”
It was all Longarm could do to keep from speaking of Sarah. He said, “Bully, huh? Well, you ought to know about that.” He unlocked the door and pushed Harding into the room. As they passed the open door that connected his room to Sarah’s, he could see that her room was half lit. He listened quietly for half a moment, making sure she was asleep. He wasn’t ready for her just yet and the light from her room gave him enough visibility so that he didn’t have to bother with the lamp in his own room.
He got out the key so that he could unlock the cuff from one of Harding’s wrist. As the man’s arm swung forward, Longarm said, “You better not get any big ideas, Harding, or I’ll break that other collarbone of yours.”