DOUBLE DUTY: CHAPTER ELEVEN

"Don't light a lantern!" Matt admonished Lily in a tone just above a whisper. "No light in here! You do what you have to do to get ready for bed. I'll stand in the corner and just listen. You said you could hear footsteps if anyone came up. Now let's just be quiet."

Matt threw more wood on the stove, then pulled his boots off and sat on the floor by the window. Lily hurried through a change out of her work clothes and into some outfit that Matt couldn't make out in the near darkness. She crawled into bed and laid still. Satisfied that she was done moving around, Matt walked over to the bed and sat next to her, taking her hand in his. She reached up to pull his face down to hers, but he stopped her.

"Lily, no." He whispered. He brushed her face gently with two fingers.

"You got all manly on me downstairs," she returned the whisper. "Don't you want me now?"

"I haven't caught the guy yet. I'm on duty till I get him. And you, young lady, are the definition of distraction."

"Business again, huh Matt?"

"Yeah."

"I'm really attracted to you. Where do you want this to go?"

"I'm going to answer that question and every other question you've asked, tomorrow. After I have Bill Ewing locked up in the Laramie jail."

"Bill Ewing! No! How do you know?" She was struggling to keep her voice to a loud whisper.

"Pay attention!" He tapped her on the nose. As soon as he did it, he realized he shouldn't have. "Questions will all be answered tomorrow, remember?"

"He stays at the Laramie House. Why don't you just go arrest him right now?"

"I promised to stay with you tonight."

"Will you lay here with me if I promise to leave you alone?"

"No. I'll be on the floor."

"Why do you want to sleep on the cold floor?"

"Because I'm attracted to you, too."

XOXOXO

Truth be told, Matt didn't sleep a wink. His mind and his gut churned while he waited out the few hours in Lily's room. Seemed a lot like all the nights he'd spent in a dry camp riding posse, just waiting, the only one awake, planning his next move. The blessing in disguise on this deal was the Wyoming weather. It had allowed him to match up the cloverleaf heel prints from the drummer leaving the Bird Cage, with the same prints outside of Lily's door. Best of all, it meant Bill Ewing had no way out if not for the train. He solidified his plan in his head. He and Johnny would be at the Laramie House at dawn. It'd be a simple arrest. If Ewing wasn't there, he'd head over to the depot and instruct the stationmaster to hold the outbound to Cheyenne until either he or Johnny released it. If that happened, he and Johnny would be busy all day hunting down the drummer in town. Then there was Lily. He needed to keep her safe. The answer seemed just as simple: He'd take her to his room at the boarding house and trade guard all day with Johnny. He knew he owed Johnny something. This had been a one-man stakeout. Johnny adored Dan. With any luck at all, he could see to it that Johnny made the arrest. When it was all said and done, he'd still have Lily to deal with. And that part scared him more than all the rest of it.

He woke Lily at 4:30.

"Hey, beautiful," he whispered, touching her on the arm. "I have to leave. Do we have any coffee up here?"

"Uh, yeah, sure," she replied groggily. "I'll make it right away. You need some, huh?"

"More than you can imagine," he smiled, trying his best to look away when she got up with nothing more than a slinky chemise on. Damn!

"Here's the deal," he said while he bolted the hot liquid. "I want you to put a warm robe on and come downstairs. You're going to lock yourself in the office. If I don't get this guy in an hour, I'll be back to move you somewhere else. You got that?"

She was scared again, but she complied without trying to cling. Not new to lawmen, she knew he had a lot on his mind. Matt saw her to the door of the office and pulled her to him for a hug.

"This is going to be a long hour. Lock yourself in and sit quietly. You know what I promised. Okay?"

She nodded and smiled up at him. "I won't give you any trouble, Marshal."

Matt was at the jail just at dawn. Johnny was ready and met him at the door.

"First stop is the Laramie House, John. It's a guy named 'Bill Ewing' we're after. Lily says he stays there. Let's see how easy we can make this."

Johnny nodded, locked the door behind him, and they walked off to the hotel.

"You stay on watch out here. Stop any man out here at this hour. I'll go find the clerk."

Again, Johnny nodded. Life was getting exciting again!

"No, Marshal, I know him, but he ain't here," the clerk shrugged. Checked out last night around suppertime."

Matt replayed his plan in his head and went back out on the boardwalk to talk to his deputy.

"Well, that would have been too easy. Checked out last night but AFTER the train left, so he's still in Laramie. We're gonna find him. It's like gigging frogs in a horse trough. He's in Laramie. You bet he is. This guy has a boot heel with a cloverleaf impression in it. We should be able to see that easy in the new snow. Now listen a minute: This is kind of like a double duty manhunt. You spend too much time with your eyes on the ground you can get shot. You spend too much time looking around you'll miss the track. You got that?"

Johnny smiled up at him and nodded. "Startin' to learn a few things, Marshal!"

"Let's go get Lily. I promised I'd move her to a safe place."

"Wow, you got back fast!" She was surprised when they knocked on the office door.

"Yeah. He wasn't at the Laramie House. We're going to take you to my room at the boarding house, Lily. You'll be safe there."

"Uh, yeah, sure, but I'm not dressed. Can I go upstairs and at least get some clothes on?"

"Yep," Matt grinned sheepishly. "I'll go up with you. John, you walk out back and check out that boot print I told you about so you know what we're looking for. Can't miss it in the snow. Lily and I'll meet you back there in ten minutes."

"You'll be safe and warm at the boarding house. The food's real good, too." Matt was making small talk, looking away while Lily changed. "Grab anything you need. You might be there all day."

As soon as they dropped Lily off and she was safely locked in, Matt and Johnny started the search. It was already easy to see the distinctive boot print a few yards away from the hotel. The clerk had been right, Ewing had checked out well after everyone else was checked in. His were among very few tracks leading away from the hotel. They led straight to the Bird Cage, where, as expected, they mingled with lots of others. There were a lot fewer behind the building, but the story in the snow was clear so far. When they left the back of the building, the tracks stayed behind all the other buildings on Wyoming Street and headed directly past the last of the businesses, out into an open expanse. Wonder of wonders, they tracked directly to the church at the end of town. The church! The last place a lawman would have looked if it wasn't for snow.

"Johnny, does a preacher live here?"

"Yeah. He's got a room in the back. Name's Reverend Samples. Can't say I know his first name. I, uh, well I don't go to the services."

"You know what he looks like?"

"Sure. He's a big guy. I mean, well not big like you, Marshal. He's a big guy like . . ."

"Spit it out, Johnny. Is he big around?"

"Oh yeah. Real big around. He sure is!"

"Let's ease up to the back door. You knock on the door. If anybody but that preacher answers, you arrest him cause it's gonna be our guy. I'll cover you from the corner."

Johnny McKay nodded yes. His heart was beating faster than it had since the night his boss died. Matt took a real good spot behind a pillar near the corner of the building, gun drawn, and watched. He wanted this for the young deputy. Really wanted it. He saw the door open in response to Johnny's knock, and a man in flowing black garb step out. The guy was of normal build. A few words were exchanged. When the man pulled the bible out from under his arm and transferred it to his right hand, Matt blew it away with one shot. The antique Colt hidden inside flew through the air and plopped harmlessly into the snow. Johnny twisted the man's injured hand behind him, held his gun on him, and boldly announced "Bill Ewing, you're under arrest for the murder of Marshal Dan Troop!"

XOXOXO

Thankfully, Matt and Johnny found Reverend Samples bound and gagged in the rectory. The poor man was shaken, but none the worse for wear. He explained Ewing's clever plan to get on the train for Cheyenne dressed as a preacher, wearing one of his old clergy robes than no longer fit. He told how it took the better part of an hour for Ewing to hollow out his bible so it would hide the old gun. And he gladly agreed to testify against Ewing, grateful as he was that he'd only been assaulted. Once they got Samples calmed down and properly cared for, it was time to escort their captive to jail. Back outside, Matt picked up the badly damaged Colt and stuffed it in his belt. It would make one heck of a souvenir.

"You do the honors, John," Matt said. "You made the arrest. I'll just back you up."

"Marshal Dillon, I'm sure grateful for that backup with the bible. Guy could've blown my head off. I never gave it a thought. Thank you, Sir!"

"Nah, he wouldn't have gotten you. He'd have had to fumble with that thing too long. I just didn't want to take a chance. Sort of thought the bible meant something. Call it instinct. No big deal." Matt gave the young deputy a solid pat on the back. "Can we get the Doc to come to the jail to look at his hand?"

"Sure enough. I'll go get him as soon as we have our patient here behind bars." Johnny McKay wore an ear-to-ear grin for the first time since he'd met Matt Dillon.

They walked in complete silence to the jail and locked Ewing up securely. As cold as it still was at such an early morning hour, Matt motioned to Johnny to step outside. They sat in the two chairs out front, the breeze biting at their ears.

"Till we get this guy out of here, there'll be two of us guarding him round the clock. We're not going to say a word in front of him, either. We're not even going to leave long enough to eat. I'll have Lily order our meals delivered here. The sooner we get rid of him, the sooner we get our lives back. How long does it take to get a judge in here?"

Two days is typical. There's two of 'em in Cheyenne. Under the circumstances we could try for next day, might get lucky."

Matt was astounded. In Dodge he usually had to wait a couple weeks for Brooker. What a difference to be near a big town.

"John, you go get the Doc over here. When you get back, I'll go let Lily know what happened. From that point on, we're roommates, Bud."

Matt sprinted up the stairs two at a time to his room. He'd given Lily the key, so he pounded ferociously on the door.

"Lily! It's Matt! Open up!"

The second she opened the door, he grabbed her for a bear hug and spun her around in his arms. He knew he shouldn't have done it. But it was the spur of the moment, and he was so happy he was about to explode.

"Lily girl, we GOT HIM!" He grinned, looking straight into her eyes. "We GOT HIM!"

"Oh, Matt!" She returned the hug eagerly. "Really? You really did?"

"Yep! He's safely locked in jail." Suddenly he realized that he was stroking her back, not what he'd intended to do at all. He pulled back and put his arms on hers, holding her at bay.

"Now look, you're going to have to understand something. I need to break a promise to you. I said I'd answer all your questions today, but I can't leave the jail that long. Johnny and I have to guard this creep two on one. It's just gonna have to wait until we get him moved out. There's no way we're gonna lose this guy, Lily. And I need you to bring food to us from the restaurant morning and night, too. Will you do that for me?"

During the long pause Lily gave, Matt had a brief moment to reflect on what he'd just done. He'd treated Lily like Kitty. The hug, the spin in his arms, the back stroking, even asking her for help at the jail. If he could have kicked himself, he would have. But there wasn't time.

"I can leave the room then?"

"Sure you can! The danger is all gone, remember? He's locked up."

"Sorry. This is all happening so fast. Well, sure . . . I'll do that."

"You can go home to the Bird Cage," Matt added. "It's all over, Lily."

"You mean stay there now?"

"Sure!" Matt thought he was the bearer of good news. Lily thought otherwise.

"I, uh, well, I'd rather just stay here if you don't mind. Rather not talk with anybody right now if you know what I mean. Can I just get some things and come back? You said you wouldn't be here."

Matt pulled her in for another quick hug. He just hadn't learned a thing. Euphoria still had control of him.

"You bet. You stay here till this is all over. I'll tell the landlady you're to eat here. She's saved a fortune in food renting this room to me. I'll see you at the jail tonight. Now I've got to get back."

And he was out the door as quickly as he'd showed up.

TBC