He crossed over to her and sat down on the bed. Her dress was unbuttoned enough that he could see the full outline of her right breast. It was a sight that he never could resist. Lily Gail always seemed to wear dresses that unbuttoned down the front. He supposed that she did that for the same reason he didn’t wear underwear, but then again, very often she didn’t wear underwear either, so she was ready on ready. He reached his hand for the bottle of whiskey and poured himself a small drink. Before he put it to his lips, he said, “I take it that the Gallaghers sent you here to check up on me and see if all was going to go according to their plans?”
She tossed her head and said, “Why, there was no such thing that happened.”
“Then how did you manage to be able to return my telegram agreeing that four o’clock was the meeting time? We had talked about it, but it had never been actually confirmed.”
“Why, I just naturally telegraphed them in Quitman and they telegraphed right back, and then there was this train coming right back here. It was just a little over a two-hour ride, and so I just hopped on board. Just like that.”
He nodded with his head. “I see you have changed your dress. This one is blue. Looks very good on you, although with your coloring, I believe yellow is your best color.”
“I’ve got the prettiest little print frock with yellow and blue. I think you’d just love it.”
He looked at his watch. It was just past four o’clock. He had, at the most, thirty to forty-five minutes, but of course he definitely didn’t want Lily Gail knowing where he was going.
He put his watch away. He reached out his right hand and slid it inside her unbuttoned bodice so he could cup her breasts in his palm. He said, “I don’t know about that blue and yellow frock being the prettiest thing I’ve ever seen. I think this little tittie of yours will do for the time being.”
Her breathing was coming quicker now. She said, “Why, you certainly have your nerve, Custis Long.”
With his left hand, he unbuttoned the other buttons down her front. As he passed her waist she stood up and shrugged her shoulders, and the frock slid down her body. He reached out his hands and pulled her down next to him, and began very slowly kissing her. He rolled to his left, lying slightly on her.
Lily Gail said, “Honey, your belt buckle is gouging me in the side.”
He heaved himself up. “I’ll get quit of it.” He unbuckled the big silver concave buckle, and then turned his back to her so that she couldn’t see that a derringer was hidden inside the buckle, held in place with a wire clip. He dropped his gunbelt to the floor, and then sat down on the bed and took off his boots. With a few swift moves, he shucked off his jeans and turned to her, kissing her again, their mouths open, their tongues thrusting and exploring. After a moment, he slid down and began to take each of her nipples in his mouth.
After a moment, she was quivering and making low moaning noises. She said, “Oh, my. Oh, my. Hurry up, Custis Long, hurry up.” With her hands, she was pulling on his shirt trying to bring him on top of her. Just as he got between her legs, with her hands holding and guiding him, there suddenly came a loud rapping at the hotel room door.
A voice yelled, “Longarm, Longarm. Are you in there?”
He swore softly under his breath. Lily Gail moaned and put both of her hands down over the golden patch.
The voice came again. This time, now that the blood had stopped beating so loudly in his ears, he recognized it as belonging to Fisher Lee. Fisher said, “Longarm, dammit, are you there?”
In a strangled voice, Longarm called back, “Yeah, I’m here. I’ll be out in just a minute. Hang on. Go down to the bar and I’ll be there in ten minutes.”
“What are you doing in there?”
“Nothing, just go on down to the bar.”
“How come I can’t come in?”
“Dammit, Fish, go to the bar, will you?”
“Well, all right, but I need to ask you some things.”
“Go to the bar, Fish. You can ask me there.”
“You got somebody in there with you?”
“Fish, if you don’t get away from that door, I’m going to shoot through it. Do you understand me?”
“All right, dammit. There’s no sense of getting all lathered up about it. I’ll see you in the bar.” Longarm was still on his hands and knees over Lily Gail. With a sigh, he slowly backed off the bed and stood up. He looked down at her and shook his head slowly. He said, “My, what a waste. Someday I’m going to remember the sight of you lying there like that and I’m going to regret that knock on the door worse than any sound that I’ve ever heard.” He reached out his hand and felt between her legs. It was moist and warm. With a gentle gesture, he ran his finger into her and then pulled it slowly out. “Boy, howdee,” he said. “Would I ever like some of that.”
She had her eyes closed. Her breathing was beginning to return to normal. She said, “Oh, that bastard. I don’t know who that sonofabitch was, but you just go kill him right now.”
Longarm said, “I wish I could, Lily Gail, and don’t think I don’t agree with you that he deserves it.” He sat on the edge of the bed and slowly began to pull on his jeans. He buttoned them up, buckled his belt, and then carefully put his gunbelt on, making sure that the .38-caliber two-shot derringer had not been jarred loose from its clip when he dropped his pants to the floor. After that, he pulled on his boots and then stood up. He turned to the woman on the bed. “Lily Gail, I’m going to have to leave for about an hour, maybe an hour and a half. We couldn’t finish right now because when a man gets cut off like that, it takes awhile for him to recover. You stay here and keep yourself ready. I’ll leave you some whiskey. I have to go off with this man for maybe an hour or so, but I’ll be back.”
She sighed, “Oh, make it fast, will you, honey? I can’t lie here like this, just waiting here for you.”
“Maybe you should get dressed and go down into the lobby and give the customers a treat.”
Lily Gail asked, “Do you think that would be all right?”
“Yeah, that would be fine.” Longarm started moving around the room collecting what he was going to need. He put two bottles of whiskey in his saddlebags and added a clean shirt and a few pair of socks. The saddlebags already contained several boxes of .44-caliber ammunition that fit both his carbine and his revolvers. His extra revolver, the one with the nine-inch barrel, was already in one side of his saddlebags, wrapped in a towel to keep it from banging against things. Lastly, he put on a leather jacket. He knew it would be cold that night where they were going, even as warm as the days were.
Lily Gail opened her eyes and saw him with his carbine in one hand and his saddlebags over his shoulder. She said, “You don’t look like you’re going off for an hour or two. Where are you going?”
Longarm said, “I’ve got to help this man pick up a prisoner. That’s why I’m taking the rifle. It’s a short ride out there, and I’m taking my saddlebags because I’ve got some manacles and we may have to chain him up.”
Lily Gail said, “Oh, so it won’t take you long?”
Longarm said, “No, Lily Gail, it won’t. I’ll be right on back to finish our business and I want you to wait for me as long as it takes.”
“All right.”
“You promise?”
She said in a small voice, “I promise.”
He dug in his pocket, took out a roll of bills, and laid two twenty-dollar bills on the bed. “There’s some money in case you feel like buying something or if you get hungry.”
“Why, that’s ever so nice of you.”
“Don’t mention it.” He gave her a little wave and then carefully let himself out, locking the door behind him and putting the key in his pocket.
Longarm went straight down to the saloon off the lobby, and saw Fisher Lee standing at the bar nursing a beer. He walked up without a greeting and said, “Let’s go. We’ve got a lot of matters to get tended to.”