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Soldier took the shovel from Howard's throat and flung it aside. It went by me, missing my head by about a foot.
'Goddammit, Paco,' Soldier said. 'You said this would be an easy score. Just wear our leotards, dance in and take the money. This hasn't been easy. This is boring. This is bullshit!'
'Trudy,' Paco said. 'Give us the money. We'll let you go if you do. There's no other way.'
'You lying double-crossing shit,' Trudy said.
'That's me,' Paco said. 'Now give us the money. It'll only go hard for you if you don't.'
'It damn sure will,' Soldier said.
'I'm talking here,' Paco said. 'You're not the only one's killed somebody, you know.'
'Oh,' Soldier said, 'listen to you. The goddamn creature from hell, and now you're talking some orders. Don't you forget, freak. I'm the one gives the orders.'
They stared at one another for a hard moment. Paco had his automatic in his fist and Soldier's was still in his pants. He had his hand resting on it.
'This is some shit, Paco,' Soldier said. 'You and me trying to showdown on one another. We're partners. Right, huh? Right?'
'Close enough,' Paco said. His voice was firm but I could see his legs were vibrating slightly.
'Let's don't say some things we'll regret,' Soldier said. 'Let's go on to the house, talk a little. Trudy here, she'll see to reason. Won't you, Trudy?'
'I'm not telling you where the money is,' Trudy said.
'All right,' Soldier said. 'You're not telling. Not now. Things can change, though. You, Happy Man. You and the nigger. Get what's his name here, Howie, Howard, whatever the fuck. Carry him to the house.'
We put Howard on the couch and Trudy and Paco took chairs and me and Leonard sat on the brick hearth before the fire. Angel stood in front of us with her gun. She seemed as natural as part of the furniture.
Soldier sat at the kitchen table and called out to us. 'Maybe Paco's right. We all get a little something to eat, we'll feel better. More cooperative, you know. He awake?'
Angel went over to the couch and turned Howard's head with her hand. I could see a knot the size of an orange at the front of his ear and the middle of the knot was cut and oozing blood.
'No?' Soldier said. 'Well, we can save him a little something for later. Paco, what say you make the sandwiches? Am I bossing again, huh?'
'I'll do it,' Paco said.
He did. We had sandwiches made of leftover meatloaf. I don't really remember eating it, which, considering Leonard's meatloaf, is no loss, but I certainly needed it. I felt a small measure of strength return.
'Everybody eaten now?' Soldier said. 'All right. We got that out of the way. We're all feeling less grumpy, am I right? Doody, come over here and see me.'
'Trudy,' Angel said.
'Trudy, then, whatever. Just get over here.'
'I'm not telling you where the money is.'
'Come here anyway. Angel, give her some help.'
Angel pulled Trudy to her feet, pushed her toward the kitchen table. Trudy went over and sat in the chair across from Soldier.
Soldier smiled at her. 'Not still hungry, are you? Need a glass of water? No. Good. Now listen here. What we got is a simple problem, but you're making it into one of those whatya call its ... Angel, help me out here.'
'Dilemmas.'
'Yeah. One of them. It's really a lot more simple than that. You give me the money, and we go away. You don't give me the money, I shoot you. And all your friends too. The nigger and Happy. All of you end up like the fat boy back at the Apache. Brains on the wall. It's not a good way, Trudy.'
'You're going to kill us anyway,' Trudy said.
'No. No. I'm. going to let you go. I'll take the money, get long gone, and hey, next day you're back to whatever you were doing before we came together here.'
'I tell you where the money is, you'll kill us,' Trudy said. 'And if you're going to kill us anyway, I'm not going to tell you where it is. If I'm going to die, it's knowing you haven't got the money.'
'That's tough, Trudy. You're a hard little cunt, I give you that. You seen a man's brains blown out and one get it with a shovel, and you're still talking to me like we got some negotiations here. Last time you and, what's his name, Howie, Henry ...'
'Howard,' Angel said.
'Yeah, him. Two of you didn't do so good, you know? I mean, you got no guns. You got nothing.'
'And you don't have the money,' Trudy said. 'That money was for an idea, an important one—'
Soldier made a fiddling motion with his left arm and right hand. His lips drooped at the corners and
