"You'll pay," he said with venom. "You'll pay for everything!"
There was a big crowd in the hallway, and it wasn't easy for Longarm to get Clarence Huntington downstairs, through the lobby, and up the street to the sheriff's office.
"Lock him up, Sheriff!" Longarm ordered, shoving Huntington across the room toward the jail's only cell.
"Mr. Huntington!"
"That's right."
Ike Cotton didn't like this at all. "Mr. Huntington is no criminal!"
"That remains to be seen," Longarm said. "Lock him up on the charge of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit the federal act of railroad destruction."
"You mean-"
"Yes," Longarm said, "I mean I think he is part of the gang that derailed the Union Pacific at Laramie Summit."
The sheriff stared at Clarence Huntington and shook his head. "Sir, I want you to know that I don't believe any of those charges. Will you remember that?"
Huntington just stared at him, then turned his hateful gaze back to Longarm. "You murdered my young nephew. I'm not going to stop until you are broken, Deputy. Broken and imprisoned with the kind of men that you have put behind bars. I'll bet that they will know how to punish you far worse than any death by hanging!"
Longarm felt a shiver of apprehension run down his spine, but it never showed. "We'll see," he said. "We'll just see what happens after I search your room."
"You have no right!"
"I have every right," Longarm said.
"I want an attorney!" Huntington screamed. "Sheriff, I demand the best attorney in this town."
"Yes, sir, Mr. Huntington. That'd be Stephen Miller. I'll get him first thing tomorrow."
"Now!"
Sheriff Cotton threw a confused and frightened look at Longarm, and before he could be stopped, the sheriff was bolting out the door and running up the street.
Longarm locked the wealthy man up himself. "I don't know what kind of power you think you have in Laramie, but justice will be served."
"We'll see who wins and who loses," Clarence vowed. "And before my lawyers are through with you, Deputy Long, you'll rue the day that you ever came to Laramie."
"That's big talk. I have evidence that links your nephew to the train derailment."
"What evidence?"
"You'll see when you go to trial," Longarm said. Then he left the sheriff's office and headed back to see if Milly was on the mend.
CHAPTER 9
Longarm paced back and forth in his room while the doctor examined Milly and a crowd gathered in the street below. It was plain that some of the people were very upset about Longarm being responsible for the deaths of two men in less than an hour, but they were completely ignorant of the facts, so Longarm paid them no mind.
"Well, Doctor?" he asked when the man finally stepped back and appeared to have finished his examination. "Is the prettiest girl in Laramie going to survive?"
"Of course she will," Dr. Wilson said. "Not only survive, but still be pretty."
Longarm's sigh was audible and Milly tried to smile, but winced because her lips were broken. She looked bad now, but Longarm was sure that, in a few weeks, her lips would heal and her facial bruises would disappear.
"Milly," the doctor said, closing his bag, "you're a very lucky woman."
"I don't feel lucky."
"You should." Dr. Wilson was a thin, graying man with penetrating blue eyes and a warm smile. "Any one of the blows that you took could have shattered those beautiful cheekbones. I would also have expected a concussion, but even that didn't happen. All you need is a few weeks of rest and recuperation."
"Custis almost got his eye gouged out," Milly said quietly. "I think you'd do better to attend to him."
"He's already looked at my eye," Longarm said. "Just some tiny broken blood vessels. No problem."
The doctor patted Milly on the arm. "I don't know how a man who appeared to be a gentleman like Blake Huntington could use his fists with such savage intent. You're a very fortunate woman."
"I was fortunate that Custis was hiding under the bed and able to save my lovely ass."
The doctor chuckled. "Either way, what you need to do now is get plenty of rest."
"Dr. Wilson," Longarm said, "I understand that Sheriff Ike Cotton has some important questions about the death of Blake Huntington."
"What sort of questions?"
"Beats me. My guess is that Cotton is up for reelection pretty soon and he might be looking to impress folks."
"Impossible," the doctor said with derision. "But as for the victims, there is no question abOut the cause of death. I examined the bodies of both the man you shot at the livery and Blake Huntington. The shooting victim died of multiple gunshot wounds."
"I'm not concerned about him. There was a witness. It's Blake Huntington's death that mostly seems to be stirring up a hornet's nest."
"It shouldn't, and I'll tell the people outside when I leave. If they could see Milly's face, they'd agree that Huntington got exactly what he deserved."
"His Uncle Clarence is determined to nail my hide to the wall over his nephew's death."
"Clarence Huntington was extremely upset when you had him jailed."
"He was out in four hours."
"No matter. His honor had been besmirched. Huntington has some very high-placed friends in Wyoming, and he'll attempt to use them against you, Deputy."
"Who are these friends?"
"Well, one of them happens to be the district circuit judge. Another is no less than the governor."
Longarm scowled. "I've always had a way of getting on the wrong side of powerful people, but I don't see how I could have acted differently. Milly is evidence that Blake Huntington was not what he appeared."
"It was probably not a wise idea to have Clarence jailed," the doctor said, trying hard to be diplomatic.
"Probably not," Longarm agreed. "But he attempted to shoot me. And his nephew was part of the same gang that derailed that train at Laramie Pass."
The doctor frowned. "You've gone on record as stating that, but where is your evidence?"
Longarm had the newspaper page he'd found in the wastebasket but knew that it was insufficient to use in any court of law. "I'd rather not reveal it right now. But something I found tells me Blake was part of that gang."
The doctor walked over to the window and stared down at the street where the angry crowd was milling. "Deputy, I'm afraid that we've got quite a problem. I'll do whatever I can to calm them down."
"That would be appreciated," Longarm said.
Wilson turned away from the window and it was clear that something was bothering him.
"Speak up," Longarm said. "I can tell that you have something on your mind."
"All right," the doctor said, "You know the law better than I do. So you understand that if it hadn't been for Milly getting so badly beaten, you'd be charged with murder and very likely facing prison, maybe worse."
"Blake Huntington helped to derail that train."
"So you keep saying" the doctor replied, "but he and his rich uncle were also quite popular here. They had plans to invest in Laramie and people looked up to them both. Now you come along, and all of a sudden Blake is dead, and some of the people below see a chance for some big investments flying out the window just like Blake."
"Blake had no money," Longarm said. "I'm sure of that."
"Maybe not, but his uncle did and they were a team." Wilson raised his eyebrows. "I think that our sheriff was very much indebted to them both."
"What are you trying to say?"
"I wouldn't trust Ike Cotton with my back," the doctor said bluntly. "That's what I'm trying to tell you."
"Thanks for the warning." Longarm had already reached the same troubling conclusion.
"Also," the doctor added, "I should warn you that Clarence Huntington has made it public that he is doing everything possible to have you arrested and tried for murder."
"He is?"
"That's right." Doctor Wilson gave Milly some powders for the pain in her head. "You stay in bed, young lady."