"Lefty?" Tucker was incredulous.
"He's the only deputy of yours I see here."
"Now, damn it, Custis, I let it pass by when you begun a ruckus with my men yesterday. I ain't so sure I'm of a mind to be as easy on you, if you're tryin' the same stunt again."
"Maybe you better listen to what this young fellow here's got to say, before you blame me for starting anything," Longarm suggested.
Tucker glared at the young Mexican. "All right, Luis, what you got to say about all this?"
Luis shuffled his feet, head hanging. "He tell you the true, Senor Jefe. El Senor Lefty, he wan' me and Tina, we make alboroto, and he wan' me I have some toscos ready, they should matarle apunalados so soon we start."
"He tellin' the truth, Lefty?" Tucker demanded. "You put him up to startin' a ruckus with the crowd? And havin' his tough friends ready to knife Custis in the fracas?"
"It wasn't my idea, Ed," Lefty pleaded.
"I don't give a hot-pepper shit whose idee it was! I'm askin' you did you do it the way Luis told me?"
"Yeah, but it was Spud's idea!" Lefty confessed. "After Custis cost him that big pot in the poker game last night, and after he'd made fools outa all of us at the whippin', Spud figured we had a right to git even!"
"So you and Spud framed up this scheme to do it," Tucker nodded. "Well, I'm the one who tells you and Spud what you do and what you don't do! You don't get no wild hairs up your ass and go off on your own! And both of you knows that, by God!"
"What the sheriff's trying to tell you, Lefty," Longarm broke in, "is that we settled whatever differences there might've been between us, when we had a private talk a few hours back."
"Is that right, Ed?" Lefty asked.
"Yes, damn you, it is! And you and Spud come close to~" Tucker caught himself before he'd said too much. He changed the direction of his words. "You boys been with me long enough to know that I'm the one that gives orders who you're to take after or let alone."
Longarm had to compress his lips to keep from laughing. When he was sure his voice wouldn't give him away, he said, "Looks to me like your boys are getting outa hand, Sheriff. I'd say they need a good lesson."
"What'd your idea be of a lesson?"
"Is this one here any good with this gun I had the girl take off him?" Longarm held Lefty's pistol out to the sheriff. "If he is, and you'd want to look the other way, I'm just about mad enough to face off with him."
"Well~" Tucker sounded doubtful. "That'd be a quick way to settle things, I guess. You sound pretty sure you can take him."
"If he can't use this any better'n he can hang on to it, I don't guess I'd have much to worry about." Casually, Longarm nudged aside the lapel of his coat and rested a hand on the butt of his Colt. He had an idea that both Lefty and Tucker would recognize the professional's touch shown by his gunbelt and holster. His guess was correct; Lefty took one look and started shaking his head.
"That's a shooter's rig if I ever seen one, Ed. I'd just the same as suiciding myself if I went up against him."
"Now, you can count on me to see it's a fair and square showdown, " Tucker told the deputy. It was obvious to Longarm that the sheriff was enjoying watching a man squirm, especially since it wasn't costing him anything.
"No, Ed. I ain't fool enough to take on a deal like that."
Tucker's voice showed his disgust. "You're a damn sorry turd, Lefty. Now, in case you'd forgot, you got a job I told you to do tonight. Git the hell outa here and git on it! When you git back, you and me and Spud will set down and have a little private talk ourselves. " He took the pistol that Longarm still held and handed it to Lefty. "Maybe you better practice up with this, just in case you make another mistake like the one you just did."
After Lefty had gone, Longarm told Tucker, "You might as well send these other two kiting." He indicated Luis and Tina. "All they done was what your man told 'em."
"What about the other girl?"
"I'll take care of her."
"I'll just bet you will!" the sheriff chuckled. He waved a hand at Luis and Tina. "Git! Vamoose!" As they left, he took Longarm by the arm and led him to one side, where Lita couldn't overhear. In a half-whisper, he said, "Look here, Custis, Lefty and Spud stepped outa line, but I didn't put 'em up to it. Fact is, you was more'n half right earlier, when you said they was gittin' uppity. After we wind up the deal with your railroad, how'd you like to settle down here and throw in with me?"
"I'd have to think on it, just like I'm still thinking about the other deal." Longarm stared into Tucker's little pig eyes. "I guess you'd look for me to help you get rid of Spud? Maybe Lefty, too?"
"Well, it'd even things up if you was around backin' my play, when the time comes for me to make it."
"We'll talk about it more, later on." Longarm turned to Lita. "Come on. I'll see you get back to where you belong."
When he closed the door of the sheriff's office behind them, Lita said, "I think you a very brave hombre, Coos-tees. I like you, mucho muchissimo! You better kiss me now." When he hesitated, she asked, "You think maybe I'm still nina, leetle girl? You don' look at me like that when my tetas jiggle when I show you the dance, no? All right, I show you more!"
Lita pulled Longarm's head down and her mouth found his. Her lips were soft and firm in turn, pulsing and alive. Her tongue darted into his mouth, hot, seeking, probing. He felt the pressure of her breasts on his chest as she clung to him. Then, before he'd expected her to, Lita broke off the kiss.
"So, what you think now, Coos-tees?"
"I think we oughta find a better place than this. Come on." He led her to the corral. There was a new moon, hanging high; it gave little light, and in three hours, four at most, it would be gone. Still, it was bright enough to see Tordo's gray form in the corral.
"You ride a horse?" he asked.
"No. I don' know about a horse. Better I ride with you."
Longarm didn't waste time cinching on his McClellan. His saddle blanket hung over the corral rail beside the McClellan and his bridle; he took the bridle, ducked through the pole fence, and slid the bit into Tordo's mouth. He led the dapple out of the enclosure, tossed the blanket over his back, and lifted Lita on. He leaped on behind her. He'd never ridden the gray without a saddle before, but he trusted Tordo's instincts. Besides, they weren't going very far.
During the short ride to the sandspit north of Los Perros, far enough beyond the last of the houses to ensure privacy, he held Lita close to him. He left the reins slack, guiding the dapple with the pressure of his knees, while his hands explored her breasts under the thin, low-necked blouse. He bent his head now and then to nuzzle her neck and bare shoulders. There was a smell of spice — cinnamon or cloves, he thought, or perhaps something he couldn't name — that clung to her skin. Her hair, long and black and shining in the moonlight, brushed back across his cheeks as Tordo moved over the last stretch of hard earth before the thudding of his hooves was swallowed by soft sand. They rode almost to the end of the sandspit before Longarm reined in and jumped to the ground.
He reached up and lifted Lita from the dapple's back. His hands spanned her waist, and he felt the quick pulsations of her breathing as he held her briefly while lowering her to the ground. Her head came only to his shoulders; she had to stand on tiptoe to bring her mouth up to meet his. He felt her hands travel across his shoulders, slipping off his coat and vest, then she was fumbling at his gunbelt. He let go her soft buttocks to help her, and eased the gun carefully down to his coat, where it would not touch the sand. Then his hands went back to pull her close to him once more, her soft body nestling close, her hips undulating as she felt him grow hard against her.