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was shot three times and is barely clinging to life at the hospital.”
    â€œSomeone shot Marshal Pierce and his wife, Agnes? Why?”
    Billy threw up his hands. “No one knows. But the story gets even worse. Marshal Pierce and his wife have a sixteen-year-old daughter that was forcibly taken during the shooting.”
    â€œWhere . . .”
    â€œThey were traveling in a buggy and on their way to Carson City when they were attacked by highwaymen. Apparently, the outlaws knew that Marshal Pierce had come into some money from an inheritance and was going to the Carson City Mint to buy some gold coins.”
    â€œWhy didn’t Pierce just put his money in a Reno bank?”
    â€œI have no idea. I have a telegram and it doesn’t give much in the way of details. But it seems that they shot our federal marshal and his wife from ambush and then took the money and the daughter. Got away clean and were clever enough to hide their tracks.”
    â€œI assume a posse was formed and gave chase,” Longarm said.
    â€œSure. But the posse lost the trail.”
    Longarm shook his head. “I knew John Pierce very well and he was an outstanding lawman. His wife, Agnes, was a fine woman and I remember the daughter, Emily, as being a very bright and pretty girl.”
    â€œIt was a terrible thing,” Billy said. “Our office in Sacramento, California, is sending a marshal but my higher-ups want you to go as well.”
    â€œWhy, is the man from Sacramento untested?”
    â€œI have no idea.” Billy leaned back in his chair. “It could be that by the time you arrive in Reno they will have caught the highwaymen and rescued the daughter and your trip will have been a waste of time and money. But we can’t take the chance that the girl is still missing and that a federal officer and his wife were gunned down.”
    Longarm nodded. “I’ll go back to my quarters and gather some things for the trip. If you will meet me at the station with a round-trip ticket and travel money, I still have time to catch this afternoon’s train.”
    â€œThen do it. We all know that when a federal marshal is murdered, those responsible have to be swiftly brought to justice. And as for why they would take the Pierce girl . . . well, I have no idea. You say she was pretty?”
    â€œVery.”
    â€œThen they may just have wanted to rape her before they killed her and buried the body where it would never be found.”
    â€œOr,” Longarm added, “maybe they wanted to send her south into Mexico. There are rich people down there who favor blond hair and blue eyes and will pay a fortune for a pretty, virginal girl.”
    Billy sighed. “I had thought of that, of course, but the idea is so troubling that I just hope that isn’t true.”
    â€œBetter she is sold in Mexico than raped and murdered in Nevada.”
    â€œI suppose,” Billy said. “But we owe Marshal Pierce and his wife everything in our power to save their daughter and bring the killers to justice.”
    â€œJohn Pierce was a fine man and outstanding marshal,” Longarm said. “I’ve eaten at his table with his wife and daughter several times and I consider them to be friends.”
    â€œThat’s why I’m sending you instead of Pete Schilling,” Billy admitted. “This is something we can’t let pass. And if the killers have already been captured or killed, then we’ve wasted some time and money but we’ve at least given it our best effort.”
    â€œI’m on my way,” Longarm said, coming out of his chair. “Just be at the station with the ticket and money and I’ll make sure that justice has been swiftly and properly served.”
    â€œMaybe you should take Miss Delia Wilson along,” Billy suggested. “She’d have to pay her own way, of course, but it would get her out of my hair.”
    â€œBad