Elmore Leonard - Raylan

Jackie watched him duck under the rail, go up on the porch and through the door. She took the keys from the ignition and got out to follow her new boyfriend.

D elroy sat at a table, his back to a wall, his two dopehead homeboys watching the place for him while he sat there drinking soda, raising the glass left-handed, his right one on the shoulder bag with the Smith. 357 in it.

He’d told them already, “All you two mopes have to do is get his attention when I touch my platinum head. You boys like it? I’m growin to. I get him he don’t know where to look as I take the stage. What time is it? Kennet squeeze my titties so tight I said no, I be flat-chested. I’m still like nothin nobody ever seen.” His homeboys, mopes on weed, were the same age as most of the people in here, but street in their ways, what they were wearing, easy to pick out of the crowd.

Delroy walked in, people took one look at him and began to cheer-man, look at this dude? A with-it crowd of his people. They made Delroy feel fine, like he belonged.

He watched them shooting goldfish with their water pistols. He read the signs on the walls, how much it would cost ’em to get drunk. He might be early, but would sit here an hour before giving it up.

The mope sittin with him slid out and was gone through tables toward the bar. He couldn’t see the mope now, he was too short. What he saw was the hat, over there in a crowd, the cowboy kind of hat he was waiting for.

Now the mope was on his way back, eyes open for a change, wide open. Stood long enough at the table to nod his head, face telling nothin. Now was moving toward the other mope, out of the way.

There was Raylan among the tables looking around. Delroy watched the man’s gaze move over the room, coming around to right here, Delroy wearing his platinum wig, drag queen makeup shining on h shiningim, and stopped.

C oming in, Raylan went up to the bar for a shot of bourbon, since he was here. He saw the homeboy, out of place, staring at him. The homeboy turned, moving through the tables, and Raylan followed him up the aisle now till he saw the drag queen sitting at a table against the wall. Raylan kept walking toward the queen, the homeboy moving off to one side now but still in Raylan’s vision.

He said, “Excuse me, but if you’re not Delroy Lewis you gotta be his ugly twin sister.”

Delroy, surprised, started to scowl at Raylan.

“How you know it was me?”

“You’re waitin for me, aren’t you?” Raylan said. “I saw your movie, I know what your intentions are. I could pull right now and shoot you. Before you get your purse open.”

He watched Delroy touch his wig.

And the homeboys started yelling at each other.

Raylan held his gaze on Delroy. He said, “Even if I looked to see what they’re doing, you wouldn’t get your purse open in time.” Raylan said, “You want to do it right here, all these people watchin?”

“They don’t bother me none,” Delroy said.

“They bother me,” Raylan said, pulled his Glock pointing it straight up and fired a round into the ceiling.

There was no sound in the bar. Now that’s all there was: people screaming, chairs scraping, glass breaking as the crowd in the Two Keys dropped to the floor, some of them running out the entrance.

Raylan held his Glock at his leg.

“Same as last time,” Delroy said, his fingers inside the shoulder bag on the table now in front of him.

“You’re dressed different,” Raylan said.

“You held your piece at your side like that,” Delroy said.

“The same one,” Raylan said.

“I had a shotgun,” Delroy said, “thinking could I raise it before you got one off.”

“I run into this kind of situation on the job,” Raylan said. “You made up your made up mind to give up and you’re still alive. But for how long?”

He saw Delroy raise the purse in his left hand, aiming it at Raylan, and Raylan shot from the hip and saw Delroy sag back in his chair still aiming the purse and Raylan shot him again.

Raylan took time to approach the table, Delroy facedown on the surface, still holding the purse out in front of him. Raylan looked at the two homeboys staring at him and told them to go on out of here before police arrived, and they ran. Now he was aware of a hum of voices in the bar, Raylan touching Delroy’s throat for a pulse but didn’t feel one. He turned now, pressing the marshals number on his cell and saw Jackie Nevada standing there watching him. She appeared different now, looking right at him without knowing who he was. He walked over to her to stand close, saying, “Remember me?” Her eyes raised and she was smiling, trying to, but she did wrap her arms around him, holding on tight, and everything seemed okay.

R aylan told Jackie, “You know when I fired the shot at the ceiling? I mighta hit my room upstairs. It wouldn’t of hurt it any, unless it put a hole in my extra pants hangin from a pipe.”

They were in the Hilton suite now that Harry had got for Jackie. Perfect. Nobody knew they were here.

The phone rang.

Art Mullen said, “Were you gonna tell me what happened or keep it to yourself?”

Raylan heard the shower turn on.

“I didn’t want to wake you up.” Raylan had his shoes off and his pants. “How’d you find me?”

“Bill Nichols. He told me you shot Delroy and are now staying at the Hilton with the girl you went after. Is that correct?”

“I’m keeping an eye on her till I get her back to Indy.”

“She sittin there with you?”

“Wait,” Raylan said. “No, I hear the shower runnin. Art, I’m not payin for the room. Mr. Burgoyne got it for Jackie. I’m gonna sleep on the couch.”

“Be the first time in your life, won’t it?”

“Art, I’m not gonna take her to that room I was using. This girl just won a million dollars. I’m not gonna sit in a chair out in the hall.”

“You saw her win a million bucks?” gn="just“ One hand of hold ’em. She’s twenty-three, about to graduate and poker is her life. She isn’t the least interested in an old fart like me.”

“ ‘He said humbly,’ ” Art said. “I’m not telling you how to bring her back. Long as you don’t run off to some island. She in love with you yet?”

He could hear the shower, the bathroom door left open.

He said, “Ms. Nevada is all the way into poker. She has the… stuff to make it work.”

“You were gonna say ‘balls,’ weren’t you.”

“Art, I’m gonna take a week off after I get her back to school. She carries a three seven five and she’s a nice girl. Art, tell me you’re done.”

H e put down the phone, tore the rest of his clothes off and ran to the bathroom and paused, got ready. He opened the shower door saying, “Hi, are you decent?” Saying, “You’re way more than decent.”

She said, holding up her hands, “I’ve been in here so long I’m starting to shrivel.”

“I’m sure not,” Raylan said, giving her a poke.

“Talking to your boss turned you on?”

“Something around here does. I wonder if it’s this bare-naked girl in here with me?”

“Watching me so I won’t run away. You do backs?”

“Fronts and sides… Let me lather you up.”

She said, “No, let me work on you.”

He was at the place where he was thinking of ways to keep this going while Jackie was soaping every part of him.

Run out and bring in some champagne.

Say, That’s my cell, and run out.

Take a couple of deep breaths and think of cleaning your weapon. Your gun. Then step back in. This was for fun.

She said, “If I joined the marshals, could I be your partner?”

“I’d make it happen,” Raylan said, givlan saiding his new partner another poke.

S he said, “Remember Young Frankenstein? The monster gets it on with what’s her name and she starts singing about finding the sweet mystery of life?”