Blackjack

25

Nobody else dared to move.

“Where is he?” Virgil said.

“Hotel,” Truitt said, nodded in that direction. “Just across the square here.”

“Had to hear the shots,” I said.

We quickly disarmed Truitt, hustled him with us across the plaza to the hotel.

The hotel was a small two-story place with a narrow room on the first floor with a desk, a few dining tables, and a door to a back room.

A heavyset Mexican man was standing at the front window watching us, then looked over to us when we entered. He stared at us with a startled expression, then raised his arms a bit at the sight of my eight-gauge. He knew right away what we were doing there, even before Virgil showed his badge. He pointed out the rear door.

“He’s gone,” he said. “I come out when I heard the gunshots, and in a second he was down the steps here and gone.”

We moved quickly out the back side of the hotel and found nothing but a small empty corral with a feed shed and an open gate.

“Where to, Truitt?”

“How would I know?”

I grabbed a handful of Truitt’s collar and shoved him five full steps back until his head hit the adobe wall of the hotel.

“You remember Skinny Jack Newton don’t you?”

“What?”

I slapped him.

“You know him?”

“Newton? Fuck. Yeah, I know Skinny Jack. Not seen him, though, in years. Shit, why?”

I slammed his head again against the wall.

“He was shot and killed by Ricky Ravenfield is why.”

“What?”

I slammed him again.

“That’s right, Truitt, Ricky shot and killed him, and for that you are equally responsible.”

“Me?”

I slapped him hard a few times before Virgil got his hand on my shoulder and eased me back from Truitt.

Normally when push came to shove it was me that was the one who took the temper out of Virgil. The memory of Skinny Jack looking up at me as he took his last breath, however, was a memory that was not welcome, one I could not forget, and one that had left me boiling mad.

“Truitt,” Virgil said. “We been after you and Bill Black for a good while, you know that. And so far, besides the lawman you shot, you’ve got five men killed, so you better cooperate before we are forced to see you become the sixth.”

“I really don’t know where he went, or where he’s planning on going.”

“Bullshit,” I said.

He shook his head hard from side to side.

“I got no idea,” he said.

“You came here with intention,” Virgil said.

“Nothing other than I didn’t know where else to go.”

“And he just came with you?” Virgil said.

“He did.”

“Truitt,” Virgil said, “I’m gonna ask you a few simple questions and I want you to give me a few simple answers.”

He looked back and forth between us.

“How is it you was with Bill in the first place?”

“We been friends for a while and he hired me to work with him.”

“Friends from where?” Virgil said.

“New Mex,” he said. “Las Vegas.”

“What’s in Vegas?”

“What ain’t in Vegas?” he said. “I mean, I been there for a while, was living there, and I met him there at the Double Nickel next to the Harvey House. We played cards when he come through and, hell, I got to know him and, well, we was friends, that’s all.”

“But why Appaloosa?”

“I hadn’t seen him in a while and he came in and offered me a job, well, me and Ricky. He met Ricky and he said he could use a few hands.”

“When was this?”

“Three weeks back.”

“Why?”

“Well, shit, Bill was always normally in the money and I’m always normally in need of money, so I come along to Appaloosa.”

“With Ricky?” Virgil said.

“Yeah, Ricky was the reason he wanted to hire me in the first place.”

“Why’s that?”

“’Cause Ricky is... was... was a gun hand and Bill needed a gun hand.”

“What do you know about Black being a wanted man?”

“All he told me was there was a good chance someone would be looking for him and he was not about being caught.”

“So the two of you were Black’s bodyguards?” I said.

He nodded.

“From what?” I said.

“Black... got wind a bounty was on his head and that there would be bounty hunters coming.”

“How did he get wind there was a bounty on his head?”

“Don’t know.”