work, the American policeman ain't got a chance, because he ain't well enough trained. So what I mean to do is put together a professional, well-trained raid team. Lots of teamwork, total backup, rehearsal, preparation, train, train, train. I include the FBI, especially now, when all the old gunfighters have been booted out. When the Baby Face went down, he took two fine young FBI agents with him, because they weren't well enough trained to deal with someone as violent and crazy-goddamn-bull-goose-brave as him. Lord, I wish I'd been there that day. They put seventeen bullets into him and he kept coming and killed them both. He was a piece of work. So I want this unit trained, goddamn it, trained to the eyebrows. But I need someone who can ramrod 'em. I get to be the Old Man. I get to be wise and calm. But I need a 100 percent kick-ass piece of gristle and guts to whip their asses into shape, to beat the lessons into them. I need someone who ain't afraid of being hated, because being hated is part of the job. I need someone who's faced armed men and shot 'em dead. I need a goddamned 100 percent hero. Now, do you see what this has to do with Earl Swagger?'
Earl nodded slightly.
'Earl,' said D. A., 'you was born for this job like no man on earth.'
'So it seems,' said Earl, looking around at all the bright young gay things sipping champagne, dancing the jitterbug, laughing brightly, squeezing flesh, and thinking, Goddamn, I am home again.
Chapter 5
West Virginia flowed by; or maybe it was Ohio. It was hard to tell at night, and the train rattled along forcefully. Earl sat in the private compartment watching America pass in the darkness, feeling the throb of the rails on the track. His head ached, but for the first time, after a day of heroic drinking, he felt as if he were more or less sober.
The private compartment was a last kindness from his country for one of its heroes. No lumpy seats for the Medal of Honor winner, no sitting upright, unable to sleep because the metal in the ribs still hurt and his back ached. But he wasn't drinking.
Junie slept in the lower berth. He could hear her breathing steadily. But he just sat in the leather seat before the little round table, feeling the rhythms and flowing onward toward what would be his new destiny. Then she stirred.
'Earl?'
'I thought you were asleep, honey. You should sleep some.'
'I can't sleep when you can't sleep, Earl. Are you all right?'
'Yes ma'am. I'm fine.'
'Earl, you were drinking, weren't you? I could smell it on you.'
'I stopped for drinks while I was walking, yes. I was celebrating. I was happy. I met the president. I was at the White House. I got the big medal. I got my picture taken. Won't have many days like that.'
'Earl, the medal. It was in the pocket of your uniform slacks. The ribbon got all wrinkled. I put it back in the jewelry case. You should take care of it. Someday you will give it to a son.'
'Well, honey, if I ever have a son, I don't think I'll say to him, 'See what a big man your father was.' So I think if I ever have a son, I'll just let him grow up without me telling him how great I was, since I never felt great one damn day in my life.'
'Earl, you are so angry these days.'
'I will put it aside, I swear to you, Junie. I know this ain't been easy for you. I know I have become different than the man you married.'
'That Earl was handsome and proud and he looked so beautiful in his uniform. He looked like a movie star. All the girls loved him. I fell so hard in love with him, Lord, I didn't think I'd live till sunrise. Then he asked me to dance with him. But this Earl is more human than that one. This Earl is more man, more real man. He does his work, even though he hates it, and he never yells at anyone. He's a real man, and he's there every night, and some letter won't come telling me he got killed.'
'Sweetie, you are some peach. You are the best.'
He leaned over in the dark and gave her a kiss.
She touched him, in a way that let him know that tonight would be a very good night for some intimacy. But he sat back.
'I have to tell you something first.'
'Earl, I don't like that tone. What is it? Is it those two men who came to see you?'
'Yes, it is.'
'That showboaty fellow in the nice clothes? And that sad old man. I didn't like the showboaty fellow.'
'I didn't really like him either, but there you have it. Becker is his name, and he'll be important someday. He's actually an elected official, a politician. Them two fellows offered me a job.'
'Did you take it?'
'It means some more money. And it means I won't get my fingers chopped off by the band saw. They'll be paying me a hundred a week. That's more than $5,000 a year before taxes. There's a life insurance plan too, plus medical benefits from the state of Arkansas, so there won't be no worrying about having enough money for a doc. They even gave me a clothing allowance. I'm supposed to buy some suits.'
'But it's dangerous.'
'Why would you say that?'
'I can tell it from your voice.'
'Well, it could be dangerous. It probably won't be. Mainly it's training.'
'Training?'
'Some boys. I'll be working with young police officers, training them in firearms usage, fire and movement, generalized tactics, maybe some judo, that sort of thing.'
'Earl!'
'Yes ma'am?'
'Earl, you'll be training them for war.'
'Well, not exactly, honey. It's nothing like a war. It's for raiding gambling places. This fellow is the new prosecuting attorney down in Garland.'
'Hot Springs!'
'Hot Springs. Yes. He's going to try and clean up the town.'
'We're moving to Hot Springs?'
Well, damn him if he didn't just let it sit there for a while. He let her enjoy it: the idea of moving out of the vets village at Camp Chaffee, maybe getting a place with a real floor instead of wood slats that were always dirty, and that had walls that went straight up to a ceiling, and didn't arch inward or rattle and leak when it rained. The refrigerator would be big, so she wouldn't have to shop every day. The shower would be indoors; there'd even be a tub. The stove would be gas.
'Maybe so,' he finally said. 'Maybe in a bit. We'd get a nice house, out of town, away from the commotion. It can get plenty hectic in that place.'
'I'm not coming, am I, Earl?'
'No ma'am. Not at first. I have it worked out, though-You'll be fine. The paycheck will come straight to you. You can put a certain part of it in a state bank account, and I'll write checks from that for my spending money. You'll get a list of the benefits, and it won't be no time before we can move.'
Junie didn't say anything. She stirred, seemed to roll over and face the bunk atop her, and when she finally settled she seemed further away.
'See, it won't work out, having you down there,' he said. 'Not at first. I'm going to be in Texas for a while, where we're going to train these kids, then we move up to Garland. But I ain't even going on the raids. I'm more the trainer and the sergeant. I have to ride herd on the younger fellows, just like in the Corps, that's all. And there's a security issue, or so they say, but, you know, it's just being careful.'
'I can tell in your voice. You'll go on the raids. It's your nature.'
'That's not the plan. They don't want a big fancy hero type like me getting shot.'
