Longarm and the Colorado gundown

_{Longarm whirled and stomped away through the alley toward the public street beyond. The City Hall building, he’d found, was closed for the night and locked up. There was, however, a separate entrance in this alley. A staircase dug near the back of the alley led down to the basement- level police station and jail. That was the door that was being guarded by the dimwit with the chaw in his mouth.}

_{Longarm hadn’t been in Snowshoe more than a few hours, and already he was feeling frustrated to the point of wanting to beat the crap out of somebody. Almost anybody}

_{would’ve done. Just to relieve the tension.}

_{He walked back to the front of the City Hall building, and for the lack of anything better to do set his things down on the board sidewalk there and helped himself to a seat on one of the pair of benches that flanked the doorway. It felt pretty damned good to be able to sit down, he admitted to himself. He had been on his feet practically since dawn, most of that time lugging all his traveling gear with him.}

_{He crossed his legs and pulled out a cheroot and lighted it. The dry, tasty smoke helped to calm him down, and he was able to think clearly once he wasn’t blustering and fuming in reaction to some asshole with a little authority.}

_{Things really weren’t all that bad, Longarm realized.}

_{The townspeople might not like this, but the chief of police and any other city fathers would back off quick enough once Longarm buttonholed them and showed the actual writ to them.}

_{Until the writ was formally served they might put on a show for the home folks. But once the service was duly and legally accomplished, they wouldn’t have any choice about it but to roll over and give up.}

_{Either that or have the full weight of the federal government come down on them.}

_{If push came to shove, Longarm himself could summon all the assistance he required there. Up to and including the use of U.S. Army troops. Fort Union likely would be the closest, Longarm thought. Or anyway it would have the units able to get there the quickest, even if they might not be closest by a few miles. From Fort Union soldiers could cut across the passes in the south end of the Sangre de Cristos— it was easy going through there, and the Moro route started practically in the post’s backyard—and that would get them clear of the worst of the mountain travel. They could cross the Rio Grande, move west to clear the southern thrust of the San Juans, and from there have an unimpeded march up the valley of the Dolores.}