Robert Randisi - Bullets & Lies

“I mean there are other ways to kill a man like that,” Carl said.

“How?” Landau asked.

“Yes, how?” Cummings echoed.

“Just give me a little time,” Carl said, “and I’ll come up with an answer.”

4

Roper found Harwick in his compartment.

“What the hell did you think you were doing?” he demanded.

“Proving a point,” Harwick said. He had dumped his money on his bed and was smoothing the bills out.

“Well, fine, you’ve proven it,” Roper said. “You’re a better poker player than they are, even working together. And now they want to kill us both.”

“But…you made them back down.”

“So they probably want to kill me even more than they want to kill you,” Roper said. “You took their money, but I took their pride.”

“I—I’m sorry,” Harwick said. “I didn’t think—”

“I know you didn’t,” Roper said. “I advised you not to play with them.”

“Yes, you did,” Harwick said. “I should have listened to you.” He looked down at the money, dropped the bills he had in his hand. “What do we do now?”

“Now,” Roper said, “we try to live through the remainder of this trip.”

They agreed that Harwick would not leave his compartment unless Roper came to get him. They spent a quiet night, and then Roper knocked on Harwick’s door.

“Breakfast?” he asked.

“I thought we were going to stay in our compartments.”

“No,” Roper said, “we’re not going to hide. Besides, we’ve got to eat.”

“Well, if you’re sure.”

“I’m more than sure,” Roper said. “I’m hungry.”

Harwick pulled the door to his compartment closed and followed Roper to the dining car.

As they entered, Roper saw that the three poker players were not there.

“Perhaps you scared them away,” Harwick said as they sat.

“I doubt it,” Roper said. “More than likely they’re off making plans.”

“To kill us?”

Roper nodded, waved at the waiter, the same black man who had come to his door.

“Yes, sir?”

“Flapjacks for me,” Roper said. “Coffee.”

“Ham and eggs,” Harwick said, “and also coffee. Thank you.”

“You have even more to thank him for,” Roper said. “He’s the one who came and got me when he saw you were in trouble.”

Harwick didn’t respond. He didn’t seem to like having been aided by a black man—although he didn’t mind having a black man wait on him.

The car was busy, but the table the three poker players had occupied was still open.

When the waiter came with their breakfast, Roper asked, “What’s your name, sir?”

“Oh, you ain’t gotta call me suh, suh,” the man said. “My name is Roscoe.”

“Well, Roscoe, is that table reserved for those three gents?”

“Yes, suh,” Roscoe said. “They done reserved it as soon as they got on board.”

“Which was when?” Roper asked.

“Just before you did, suh.”

“Do they have compartments in the same car as we do?” Roper asked.

“They do not have compartments, suh,” Roscoe said. “They are seated together in the next forward car.”

“I see.”

“If they’re not playin’ cards, suh, they’re up to no good,” Roscoe said.

“Thanks for the warning, Roscoe,” Roper said.

“I’ll bring more coffee, suh.”

“Thank you, Roscoe.”

“What do you think they’ll do?” Harwick asked.

“Whatever it is, they’ll do it soon,” Roper said.

“So what do we do?”

“Finish our breakfast,” Roper said. “By the time we’re done, I’ll have an idea.”

“Will you?”

“Yes,” Roper said, “I will.”

As promised, when they had finished eating, Roper told Harwick what they were going to do.

“That puts you at risk,” the lawyer said.

“And keeps you safe,” Roper said.

“And that’s okay with you?” Harwick asked.

“I have the feeling that keeping you alive ensures that I’ll get paid,” Roper said.

“But there’s no guarantee you’ll even take the job,” Harwick said.

“Well,” Roper said, “we’ll both have to arrive in one piece to see what happens.”

5

Cummings came back and sat across from Landau and Carl.

“Well?” Carl said. “Did you get the compartment numbers?”

“I got them.”

“When do we move?” Landau asked.

“Soon,” Carl said. “Very soon. We have to get this done before we arrive in West Virginia.”

“And soon means…” Cummings asked.

Carl grinned and said, “Now.”

“And how do we do it?” Landau asked.

“The lawyer first.”

“Why him first?” Cummings asked.

“Because he’ll be easy,” Carl answered. He drew his gun. “Then we take Roper.”

The other two men touched the guns in their shoulder rigs and nodded.

Roper was reading when the knock came at the door. He set the book aside.

“Yes?”

“It’s the conductor, sir,” a man’s voice said.

Roper had spoken to the conductor on several occasions. He recognized the voice.

“Yes, what is it?”

There was a moment’s hesitation and then he said, “There is a problem. I need to…to see you.”

“All right.”

Roper drew his gun, stepped back, and said, “Come on in.”

The door slid open. Just for a moment the conductor stood in the doorway, and then he was pushed or yanked aside.

The three gamblers hadn’t planned this assault very well. They all tried to come through the door at the same time, but only two were able to squeeze through. Of course, they were only expecting a lawyer, so they were shocked to see Roper standing there.

Roper felt he had no choice. These men all had guns in their hands. In a moment they’d recover from their surprise and start shooting.

So Roper shot first.

He shot Cummings in the belly and then, as Landau began to lift his gun, shot him in the chest.

In the hall, Arthur Carl panicked, turned, and started running. At that moment the door to Roper’s compartment opened and Harwick stepped out.

“What’s going—”

He stopped short when Carl ran into him.

“You!”

Roper stepped out, saw Carl and Harwick tangled in the hall.

“Hold it!” he shouted.

Carl grabbed Harwick around the neck from behind and used him as a shield. Behind him the conductor cowered, afraid he’d be hit by flying lead.

“Let him go,” Roper said.

Carl was in a panic, his eyes darting about in his head wildly.

“I—I only wanted my money back!” he shouted.

“And you were ready to kill for it?” Roper said. “I think it’s time to drop your gun. Or we can stand just like this until we arrive at our next stop, when the law will be sent for.”

“I’ll kill him!” Carl pressed the barrel of his gun against Harwick’s temple.

Roper had only one chance. He’d learned from a very famous doctor that you could shoot a man in a place that would instantly kill him. He wouldn’t even have a chance to twitch a finger enough to pull a trigger.

“I’ll give you one more chance,” Roper said. “Drop it. You’ve got no place to go.”

Carl was beyond logical thought. He’d seen his two friends shot down and was in danger himself. His panicked eyes were growing wider still, and Roper felt he had no time to wait.

He pulled the trigger. The bullet entered just beneath Carl’s chin and severed his spinal cord. His body went limp and he slumped to the floor, the gun falling away from Harwick’s head.

“Jesus!” Harwick said. He jumped away and looked down at Carl’s body. Then he looked at Roper. “He could have shot me!”

“He could have,” Roper agreed. “But now he’s dead.”