Longarm and the Colorado gundown

_{“Obviously a federal case then,” Longarm agreed dryly. “You still want to ask Billy to assign you to it?” “Mmm, reckon I’d normally want t’ snap this one up. I mean, hell, think of all the glory. It ain’t everybody gets to arrest a whole gang of demons. But now that I think on it, I’m pretty busy. Give this’un to Smiley. You know he’s always game for a good laugh.” Smiley was perhaps the most taciturn and gloomy human being Custis Long had ever met. Smiley would shit little green apples if he was ever handed a “case” like this one.}

_{Henry chuckled again, wadded the official report into a crumpled ball, and deposited it into the file it was best suited for—the one beside his desk whose contents were hauled away and burned each night.}

_{“Seriously, Longarm, if you are quite ready to get back to work now, the marshal wants to see you.”}

_{“I dunno, Henry. I may be missin’ out on the case of my life by not goin’ after Miss May weather. But I expect I’ll risk it.” He laughed and went to tap on Billy Vail’s office door.}

_{Chapter 2}

_{Billy Vail looked up when Longarm came in, grunted once, and gave the paperwork on his desk a frown of concentration as he bent back to it. “Be with you in a second,” he said.}

_{Longarm helped himself to a seat in front of his boss’s desk and pulled out a slim, evil-looking cheroot. He took his time about trimming the twist off the tip, moistening the wrapper leaf on his tongue, and lighting the smoke. Wasn’t no way, he reflected, that he would ever want to swap jobs with Billy. A United States marshal had to be an administrator, a paper-pusher, much more than he was allowed to be a lawman. Custis Long knew he made a fair hand as a lawman, but lacked the patience to be any kind of administrator. In particular he lacked the thick skin that was required when a man had to deal with politicians. Billy Vail didn’t like that part of the job a lick more than his top deputy would have. The difference was that Billy was able to put up with it. Longarm was convinced he never could.}

_{Billy finished the form he was scratching on, put it atop a pile of other papers, dipped his pen nib into the inkwell, and scrawled something onto another sheet and then another. Finally he let out a sigh before bellowing for Henry, who came in and took that stack of papers away. There were plenty more remaining on the desk still to be attended to.}

_{“Deputy Long,” Billy said by way of greeting.}

_{Longarm crossed his legs and grinned at him. “Marshal Vail.”}