"Evans, Tabor - Longarm 222 - Longarm and the Backwoods Baroness" - читать интересную книгу автора (Evans Tabor)

"Billy, you wound me deeply!" Longarm exclaimed, placing a hand over
his heart. "The fact that she just picked up a tidy little dividend from
some of her investments has got nothing to do with my decision."

With a snort, Vail shook his head. "To think that I'd lose my best
deputy to something so venal as greed." He picked up a folder from his
desk and shook it at Longarm. "And just when I was about to give you a new
assignment too!"

Almost against his will, Longarm found his eyes drawn to the folder in
Vail's hand. "New assignment?" he heard himself repeating.

"That's right. Figured you could handle it better than any of my
other men."

"Is that so?" Longarm sat down in the leather chair in front of
Vail's desk and cocked his right foot on his left knee. "I reckon it
wouldn't hurt anything to listen to the details."

"Oh, no," Vail said, looking aghast. "You're not a federal officer
anymore, remember? You resigned, turned in your badge." He sank into his
chair and gestured to the wallet Longarm had tossed so casually onto the
desk a few minutes earlier. "I'll just have Henry send word for one of the
other deputies to come in. Mike Davis, maybe. He hasn't had an assignment
in a while."

"Davis!" repeated Longarm. "The reason Davis ain't had an assignment
lately is 'cause he couldn't find his ass with both hands!"

"I imagine he can handle this," Vail said confidently. "Of course,
people are getting killed, and the government's got quite a bit of money
riding on things, so I hope he can get this mess untangled kind of
quick-like."

"Damn it, Billy," Longarm said as he leaned forward and reached for
the folder on Vail's desk. "At least let me take a look at the paperwork.
Maybe I could suggest somebody-"

"Get your hands off that folder, Long." Billy Vail's voice was as
cold as the snow and ice that still capped the peaks of the Front Range,
despite the fact that it was summer. "That's the property of the United
States Justice Department, and like I said, it's none of your business
anymore."

"But Billy ..."

Vail leaned back in his chair and folded his hands across his ample
middle. "Why, if you were to pick up that folder and read the report
inside, I'd have to assume that you were rescinding your resignation and