Longarm and the Colorado gundown

_{“What do the Indians call you, Marshal?”}

_{“They call me Long Arm, Miz Able. Longarm is my regular nickname.”}

_{“Wait there a moment. I’ll open up.”}

_{“Yes, ma’am. Thank you.”}

_{He could hear movement inside, then the sounds of bolts being drawn. At least two steel bolts on the inside of the door here, he thought, plus a wooden bar. And wasn’t that almighty strange. Generally speaking, a lady was safe from harm in these mining camps. Man-made kinds of harm anyway. She might work herself to death or come down with disease. Even starve. But it was a rare—and stupid— son of a bitch of a man who’d ever lay an unwelcome finger on a woman in any Western town Longarm’d ever known. Any man who’d do a thing like that wouldn’t live long enough to be strung up by a mob. He’d be tom to}

_{pieces before he could be dragged to a tree for the hanging. Decent men simply didn’t put up with that kind of shit in this country. So why in hell was Mrs. Able so frightened?}

_{Just a timid sort maybe, Longarm thought. Some folks were like that whether they needed to be or not.}

_{He heard the bolts being pulled and the bar lifted aside. Then the door came open a fraction of an inch and he could see the shine of moonlight striking an eye that was applied to the miniscule opening. The woman was inspecting him before she allowed the door to open any farther.}

_{“You really are Longarm?” One positive sign was that her voice seemed calm and rational now. That was good.}

_{“Yes, ma’am.” He pulled out his wallet and opened it so she could see the badge that was pinned there. There wasn’t light enough for her to examine it thoroughly, but there wasn’t much he could do about that.}

_{“Give me a moment, Marshal. I’ll find my robe and light a lamp. Then you can come in.”}

_{“If you’d just tell me where I can find Mr. Able, ma’am.”}

_{“Please wait where you are, Marshal,” she said crisply. Before Longarm could say any more the door was pushed fully closed—but not bolted again while he was standing there at it, he noticed. Nice to know that he wasn’t the one she was scared of. He could hear the faint sounds of someone moving inside.}

_{He shrugged and resigned himself to doing this however Mrs. Able wanted. Not that he had much choice about it. He didn’t know where else to look for A. B. Able.}