They circled around Colorado Springs. It occurred to Clint that rather than follow them, or wait for them in Segundo, or even Trinidad, men after the ransom money might wait in Colorado Springs, expecting them to ride through.
“You don’t really think anyone expect you to ride all this way carrying a hundred thousand dollars, do you?”
“Why not?” Clint asked. “It’d fit in saddlebags.”
“That would mean they’d think we’re both carrying them,” Roper said. “We’ve got targets on our backs.”
“It wasn’t my intention to paint a target on you, Tal,” Clint said. “If you want to head back to Denver I wouldn’t blame you.”
“Hell, no,” Roper said. “This little job has piqued my interest, now. Besides, if we get the body back and save the ransom, maybe the government would see fit to give me a finder’s fee.”
“Well,” Clint said, “that’s certainly a suggestion I’ll make to them.”
After they rode a ways in silence Roper spoke again.
“If we had stopped in Colorado Springs, you could have sent a telegram to Washington, let them know where you are.”
“That’s true.”
“So how will they know that you’re still on the job, and not dead?”
“If you hired me for a job, what would you think?”
“That you’d get it done,” Roper said, “but I know you.”
“Well, they know my reputation.”
“Aren’t you the one who always says reputations are overblown?”
“I do, and I believe it,” Clint said. “But that doesn’t keep people from believing them. But they didn’t hire me blind. They know Jeremy Pike, and Pike knows me. He can vouch for me.”
“I don’t know if there’s a telegraph office between here and Trinidad—or if there’s one in Trinidad, for that matter.”
“There better be one there,” Clint said, “or the money won’t be.”
“Well,” Roper said, “we could try to get the body back without paying.”
“Yeah, we could try that.”
“You and me,” Roper said, “against how many Greybacks?”
“Who knows?”
“Well, we’ve got something they don’t.”
“Oh? What’s that?”
Roper looked at him.
“I was hoping you’d agree, and tell me.”
They camped again that night, this time Roper made the coffee, cooked some beans and bacon.
“We’ll make Trinidad tomorrow, most likely,” he said, “as long as nothing holds us up. We’ve been pushing pretty hard.”
“Can your horse take it?” Clint asked.
“He’ll take it.” He washed down a mouthful of bacon-and-beans with coffee.
“When we picked up that money we will have targets on our backs, for sure,” Clint said.
“It’s fourteen, maybe fifteen miles to Segundo,” Roper said. “We should be able to make it.”
“Yeah, but we’re not just going to ride in. Not with them waiting for us.”
“What’s the plan, then?”
“Well, I’m thinking I’ll ride in while you stay hidden with the money.”
“You’re going to trust me with a hundred thousand dollars of the government’s money?”
“If I can’t trust you, who can I trust?”
“I don’t know if I want to be thought of as that trustworthy,” Roper said. “I mean, a hundred thousand, that’s enough to tempt any man.”
“You want to split it fifty-fifty and go our separate way?” Clint asked.
“Fifty grand each?” Roper shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s not my price.”
“Well then,” Clint said, “we’ll find out if a hundred grand is your price, won’t we, when I leave you alone with it?”
“And what if you don’t come back?”
“Why would they kill me before they have the money?”
“They’re Greybacks,” Roper said, “clinging to a dead way of life. That mean they’re not too smart to begin with.”
“If Wentworth is there, he won’t let them kill me,” Clint said. “I’ll want to see Lincoln’s body before I pay up. They’d have to expect that.”
“They’ll show you a casket.”
“Uh-uh,” Clint said. “They’ve got to open it.”
“Could be anybody in there, by now.”
“He might be recognizable.”
“What if he’s not?”
Clint thought a moment, then said, “I don’t know. Don’t know what I’d do if I couldn’t tell if it was him or not.”
“Of course,” Roper said, “you could take back any body in a box and say it’s him.”
“And keep the money, you mean?”
“No,” Roper said, “just bring back a body and the money, say it’s him, and be done with it. Not have to deal with a bunch of crazy Rebs.”
“That’s an idea,” Clint said, “I think I’ll sleep on.”