Warn Angel! (A Frank Angel Western--Book 9) (19 page)

In his report he complained bitterly at the
demands that were made by ‘certain departments in government’ upon
their men. A copy of his report had been forwarded to the attorney
general, and he had made his usual notation upon it: F&F. File
and Forget. Amabel Rowe had filed quite a few such reports in her
day.

‘
How was Charleston?’ the attorney
general asked. Angel had spent his convalescence there. It was a
pretty little place and Angel said so. Then there was a silence.
Neither man really wanted to bring up the subject; both knew it was
unavoidable. Finally, Angel took the plunge.

‘
About Willowfield,’ he said. The
attorney general didn’t say anything, just looked up
expectantly.

‘
I tried to take him alive,’ Angel
said.

‘
I know it,’ the attorney general
said. ‘I also know that you let friend Willowfield pull a concealed
weapon on you.’

‘
That’s right.’

‘
With which he then proceeded to blow
a large hole in you.’

‘
Right.’

‘
Goddammit, Angel!’ the attorney
general exploded. ‘You could be damned well dead!’

Angel grinned. He knew that the Old Man’s
exasperation rose out of concern for his people; he also knew
exactly how well Bob Little’s wife’s future had been taken care of,
even though the attorney general had done his best to keep it a
secret.

‘
If it’ll make you any happier, I’ll
go out and get run over by a dray,’ he offered.

‘
Bah!’ the attorney general snapped.
‘You’re so damned lucky you’d have to pay to catch bubonic
plague!’

There wasn’t any good answer to that, so
Angel remained silent, while the attorney general reached for a
cigar from the humidor on his desk.

Remembering his manners, the Old Man offered
one to Angel, who shook his head hastily. The last time he had
smoked one of those things, he had lost his sense of taste for
three days.

‘
When’s your leave up?’ the attorney
general asked, puffing at the stogie with a relish that appalled
Angel.

‘
Already,’ Angel said. ‘I report back
next Monday.’

‘
Mmm,’ said the attorney general,
noncommittally. ‘And meanwhile? Got any plans?’

‘
One or two things I want to do,’
Angel said. He did not elaborate. In fact, he’d already arranged to
take Amabel Rowe out to dinner at a new French restaurant that had
opened up in Georgetown, but telling the attorney general that
would have been like touching a match to a stick of dynamite: the
Old Man was notoriously protective of the beautiful Amabel. Angel
changed the subject with a question.

‘
Falco and Kuden?’ the attorney
general said. ‘They were hanged at Leavenworth on the first of the
month.’ He gave Angel an up-from-under look. ‘Two out of the whole
gang. Not much use my giving you orders to capture, not kill, is
it?’

‘
Not when they can shoot back, sir,’
Angel said.

‘
Your humor’s getting worse than your
reflexes,’ the attorney general said gruffly. ‘Go on, go on, get
yourself out of here. I’ve got a lot of problems besides
you!’

Angel grinned, getting up to leave. The Old
Man never changed: his bite was worse than his bark. He felt better
already.

‘
Those plans of yours,’ the attorney
general said, as Angel opened the door to the anteroom.

‘
Sir?’

‘
They don’t by any chance include a,
ah, young lady, do they?’

‘
Well, as a matter of fact they do,
sir,’ Angel said, tentatively.

‘
Oh, wonderful, wonderful,’ said the
attorney general, rising from his chair and coming across the room.
He thrust two pieces of pasteboard into Frank Angel’s hand, a broad
smile spreading across his face.

‘
Wife and I can’t use these,’ he said.
‘So you take them. Take your young lady. She’ll enjoy it. You’ll
both enjoy it.’

‘
Well, thank you, sir,’ Angel said,
taking the tickets. ‘What are they for?’ Amabel Rowe was watching
expectantly from her desk, a suppressed smile pressing a dimple
into her right cheek.

‘
What for?’ the attorney general said.
‘Why—to see the Freedom Train! What else?’

He looked at Angel and Angel looked at him
and then they started to grin and then the laughter came and then
they were howling with laughter, roaring with it. After a little
while, Amabel Rowe joined in.

It looked like it might be a halfway decent
Christmas.

The Angel Series:

Find Angel!

Send Angel!

Trap Angel!

Hang Angel!

Hunt Angel!

Kill Angel!

Frame Angel!

Stop Angel!

Warn Angel!

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