Longarm and the Whiskey Woman by Tabor Evans

his pocket. But he still hoped to do his job. Longarm said, "Where the hell can I run to?"
    "Let me worry about that. Let's go. Have you got a horse?"
    Longarm shook his head. "Hell, no, and I don't know where to get one, either. That livery stable ain't got nothing except a bunch of broken-down nags."
    Carson said, "Don't worry about it, I'll get you a horse. Let's go. We're just lucky that there were as few people on the street as there were or else we might already have a crowd. Let's get out of here before somebody discovers this mess."
    As they hurried across the street, Longarm said, "I hope, when this is all over, you're going to explain all this to me in a way so that I can understand it."
    Carson said, "I may explain it, but you still may not understand it. Just understand this right now. You're in big trouble and you need to make some tracks."
    "But where can I go?"
    They were almost to the livery stable. Carson said, "Don't worry. I've got a place I can take you."
    As the two men got to the entrance of the livery, Longarm said, "What the hell are we going in here for? They ain't got nothing in there but nags. I don't want a horse between my legs that's going to crater halfway out of town."
    Carson said, "Not to worry, Mr. Long. I know they've got a couple of good horses here because they belong to me. All we need to do is get a saddle for you and I reckon that can be arranged."
    In a matter of moments, two good-looking horses were led out from the corral in the back and the stable boys had them saddled and bridled and ready to go, almost before Longarm could spread a little money around. His horse was a dun, a mare, but she was long-legged and long-necked and built high in the hindquarters. He could tell she was a traveling horse.
    As Longarm stepped into the saddle, he said to Carson, "For a man who's just passing through town, you keep some mighty good livestock on hand. Must run up the bill shipping them back and forth from wherever you call home."
    Carson swung up on a bay gelding. "Well, I dabble in a little horse trading on the side. Just happen to have these two left over."
    Longarm said, "Yeah, I bet." They went out of the door to the livery stable at a fast walk and then turned right on Main Street, heading north. As they turned, Longarm glanced to his left and he could see a few people gathered around the mouth of the alley.
    Frank Carson said, "I would calculate we didn't have a minute to waste. Let's kick these horses on up and get on out of town."
    Together, they loped through the darkening town, heading north toward the mountains that hung high and craggy against the night sky.
    In less than five minutes, going at a lope, they had cleared the town and were on a wagon road that was bending to the east.
    Longarm said, "You care if I ask where we're going?"
    "I'm going to get you to safety, but it's going to be a kind of relay operation."
    "I hope to hell that you ain't getting me into more trouble than I would have been in back at that town. You know, I could have made a pretty good case with that sheriff about what was done to me."
    Frank Carson laughed without humor. "Oh, yes. He's going to believe you, especially over the word of Morton Colton. You killed one of his deputies, Long. I think you ought to know that."
    "Are you telling me that the law here is that corrupt?"
    "I'm telling you that the law here belongs to the Coltons and a couple of other families. And I'm telling you that Morton Colton's job has been and will be to grease up the law both local and them other kinds."
    "What other kinds?"
    Carson looked over at him from his horse. "We get the occasional Treasury agent around here from time to time. Colton takes care of them."
    The words took Longarm by such surprise that he almost halted the mare. The news that he had just heard meant that he was working for people that were already part of a swindle, people that could very easily betray him to the very whiskey runners he had been sent down