Again the silence and the stare. Chollo looked amused. Against the wall Bobby Horse showed nothing. His strong-featured Indian face was entirely blank.
Finally del Rio said, 'That is respectful.'
'I'm a respectful guy,' I said.
'In this instance,' del Rio said.
A small bird with a black back made small syncopated noise in the olive tree.
Del Rio looked at Chollo and then at Bobby Horse.
'Do you wish to listen to his proposal?' he said.
'Si,' Chollo said.
Bobby Horse shrugged and nodded.
'I need some help with this guy Tannenbaum,' I said. 'And I need a few hard cases to go out to the desert with me and clean up a town.'
'Clean up the criminal element?' Chollo said.
'Yeah.'
'We are the criminal element,' Chollo said.
'Yeah, but you're not their criminal element.'
'What do you want with Tannenbaum?' Chollo said.
'I don't know. But it must have something to do with the thing in the desert.'
'So you clean up one, you clean up the other?'
'Si.'
'I didn't realize you spoke our language,' Chollo said.
'Si.'
'If you were to succeed in this,' del Rio said. 'It might provide me an opportunity to expand eastward.'
'If Tannenbaum went down,' I said.
'Si.'
I looked at Chollo.
'He's fluent too,' I said.
'Tannenbaum don't bother me none,' Chollo said. 'What about the desert business? You figure your criminal element can beat their criminal element?'
'That's my plan,' I said.
166 sobert's. parker
'How big is their criminal element?'
'Thirty, forty guys:'
'And ours?'
'With you and Bobby Horse,' I said. 'There would be seven:'
'Including you?'
'Including me:' l said. 'Which really makes it seventeen. As you know, my strength is as the strength of ten.'
'Ten what?' Chollo said.
'You paying?' Bobby Horse said. 'Big time:' I said.
'How much?'
I told him. He looked at Chollo.
'I saved his ass once before,' Chollo said. 'He's sort of fun for an Anglo.'
Bobby Horse looked at del Rio. 'Mr. del Rio?'
'I don't have a problem with it,' del Rio said. 'Chollo?'
'No problem: '
'Okay,' Bobby Horse said.
'Can you make the phone call?' I said to del Rio. 'To Tannenbaum. I want to visit him without being fired upon as I come up the driveway.'
'I'll have it made,' he said.
'Gracias.', Del Rio grinned.
'Si,' he said.
