Brimstone

65

FRISCO’S ROOM AND PLACE of employment was on the second floor at Pike’s. But I went boldly in. I had till morning to leave town.

“Come for a good-bye poke,” Frisco said when she let me in.

“Good-bye?” I said.

Frisco closed the door and locked it. We sat on her bed together.

“Heard you was leaving town tomorrow,” she said.

“Word gets around,” I said.

“Pike’s telling everybody he run you and Virgil Cole out of town,” she said.

“Proud of himself,” I said.

“Yes,” Frisco said.

She was wearing a short, thin nightgown and not much else.

“Before we get into farewells,” I said, “I need a favor.”

“You know me, Everett,” Frisco said. “I only do the regular things. I don’t do no specialties.”

“None needed,” I said. “I need to hide two women here, in this room, for a few hours tomorrow.”

“Two women?”

“Yep.”

“The ones with you and Virgil?” she said. “Allie and the kid, the one the Indian took?”

“Yes,” I said.

I had no problem lying to her, but who else would it be?

“Her mother, what was her name?”

“Mary Beth,” I said. “Mary Beth Ostermueller.”

“Yeah, her,” Frisco said. “Killed herself two rooms down from here. Drunk, put a forty-five in her mouth and blew the top of her head off.”

“I know,” I said.

“Awful mess,” Frisco said. “Pike was furious, but she was already dead, you know, so he couldn’t kill her. Took a couple days to get that room cleaned up.”

“Forty-five can make a big exit hole,” I said.

“I guess,” Frisco said. “Why’d she do that, anyway?”

“Life was too hard, I guess.”

“That hard?”

“She and her daughter had a bad time of it, ’fore we got them back.”

“Daughter didn’t kill herself.”

“No,” I said. “I think having her daughter watch what happened to her, and her having to watch while it happened to her daughter, right in front of her…”

Frisco nodded.

“Woman needed to be tougher,” Frisco said.

“She did,” I said. “And she wasn’t.”

“I take these two women in here,” Frisco said, “and Pike finds out, what happens?”

“He’ll kill them,” I said. “And you.”

“So why should I take the chance?” Frisco said.

“ ’Cause we plan to kill him,” I said. “ ’Fore he finds out.”

Frisco nodded.

“They can stay here; I’ll move down with Big Red,” she said. “You don’t kill him, I’ll claim I don’t know how they got in here, but I come back and found the door locked and figured one of the other girls was using the room for business.”

“Might work,” I said.

“When they coming?”

“Tomorrow morning,” I said. “You know Pony Flores?”

“No.”

“Breed,” I said. “Dark, kind of tall, works some for Pike.”

“Tall as you?”

“Nope,” I said. “More like Virgil.”

“High moccasins, knife in the top?” Frisco said.

“That’s him,” I said. “He’ll bring them in the morning.”

“Ain’t normally very busy in the morning. They come in; I go out.”

“Thank you,” I said.

Frisco leaned her head against my shoulder.

“I’ll miss you,” she said. “You’re a good guy.”

“You too,” I said.

“Want to do it ’fore you go?” she said.

“I would,” I said.

Frisco grinned and patted my crotch.

“I could tell,” she said.