“The important thing is to overcome them.”
To Burke, Hasty’s voice seemed disembodied, coming as. it did out Of an unseeable place in the hard middle of the sun glare.
“Well, we better overcome this one pretty quick,” Burke said. “Or he’s going to
overcome us.”
“What do you recommend?”
“We have to kill him.”
“The death of a second police chief from this town in less than a year?”
“Better than having him take us all down,”
Burke said.
“We can find a way to cover it, an accident or something.”
“All of us?” Hasty said.
“Well, you know what I mean, he gets me, sooner or later he’ll get you, and… everybody.”
“You are required in these circumstances to give only your name, rank, and serial number.”
“For crissake, Hasty, I’m not a fucking prisoner of war.”
“Of course you are. If our movement is about anything, it is about war with the forces of international mongrelization.‘’
“I know,” Burke said. “I
understand that. But they’re going to arrest me for murder, Hasty.”
“What they do has no effect on what we know to be true,” Hasty said.
“Hasty, I can’t afford theory right now.
My ass is on the stove, you know? We need to get Stone out of the way.”
In black silhouette Hasty nodded slowly.
“To save us all,” Hasty said.
“Absolutely,” Burke said.
“What have ‘us all’ to do with
your trip to Denver, Lou?”
“Christ, Hasty. You sent me.”
“To do what?”
“To blow Torn Carson up.”
“Because?”
“Because he knew too much and you didn’t trust him to he quiet about it.”
“Un huh.”
There was silence in the car. Across the parking lot, people in bright fall clothing surged in and out of the vast mail.
Shop early for Christmas. Take advantage of pre-holiday saies.
No payments until January. Many of the people in the late-afternoon surge were teenaged mall rats. For them the mall had replaced playground, Boys Club, street corner, home. The new marketplace.
“I wouldn’t tell them, of
course,” Burke said. “But once they start they’re bound to find out.”
“How?”
“Well, I mean they investigate.”
‘What?“
“Well, you know, they backtrack my
story…”
“And?”
“And who the hell knows what physicai evidence they have. Who knows what the Wyoming militia might tell them. They.. get somebody in jail they can squeeze them, make a deai, go easy on you if you give us the others, you know… I would never do that, but we don’t really know the Wyoming people.”
“Yes,” Hasty said. “Of course.
Who’s to do the killing?‘’
“I figured you could get Jo Jo to do it.
He’s got a mad on about Stone anyway.”
“Well,” Hasty said. “I
