report.
Darling had rented a car and driven to Saiita Fe. As instructed, he'd taken a casita at the posh Rancho Encantato. As soon as he'd checked in, Kim had called him on the house phone, told him to present himself at the front gate at 5:45. She'd pick him up no later than 6:00. If anyone was with him, or if he wasn't carrying the money, or any attempt was made to follow her car; the deal was off. He had only one shot at buying our photographs. Blow it, she told him, and he'd be out of luck.
Now she wanted to rest until it was time to pick Darling up.
'Got to come down from the high,' she said.
'See you on the battlefield.' She kissed me at the door.
Once we were back in Frank's car, he turned to me.
'Play kissy-pussy games with Grace-that's what she means by 'rest.'
' I asked him what he thought of her.
'Attractive and seductive. Can't blame you for falling for her, Geof.
'But you wouldn't have-is that what you're saying?'
'No, I'm not saying that. I might have fallen for her too. '
'So, I haven't been a total fool.'
'The only fools in this game,' he said, 'will be the guys who end up dead.'
Out at the site we went over everything, walking through the exchange three times. I played Darling's part, Kim's, and then my own. I understood my most important task was to give Kim and Darling the impression that Frank was hidden behind the storefront watching my back.
When Frank thought I was sufficiently rehearsed, he presented me with a chocolate bar and a thermos of water. He suggested I take some pictures. He thought using my camera would help me pass the hours until Kim and Darling arrived.
He wished me luck with Kim, and I wished him luck with Grace, then he got into his car.
'So, now it's just the two of us,' I said. 'Yep. Just like a buddy picture, Geof.'
I didn't use my camera to pass the time. At that point photography seemed irrelevant. There were two cameras around my neck, one of which wasn't a camera but a gun. But, on that particular afternoon, it was the phony camera that seemed most real.
I strolled about, the afternoon wore on, the shadows lengthened and the light started turning sweet. When I sat down on the saloon porch to eat my chocolate bar, I heard a sound that made me jump. A rattlesnake slithered out from beneath the steps. After that I kept clear of the set.
At 6:15 I started watching the valley, alternately looking at my watch.
By 6:30, when our rental car had not appeared, I began to worry. Had something gone wrong? Maybe Darling had changed his mind, or maybe he'd pulled a fast one in the car. What if he'd decided to take Kim hostage, only agreeing to release her when we handed over the photographs?
Finally, on the verge of despair, I spied a trail of dust. It was the car. The sun was behind me; its rays caught and glittered off the chrome. If it was Kim, she was driving extremely fast. I watched awhile to be certain it was really she, then retreated to my position behind the saloon doors.
She drove straight to the place where I'd been standing, then stopped hard, creating a little storm of dust. I saw Darling sitting beside her wearing his blindfold. He didn't look animated. Then, when I saw her leave the car clutching his brass-cornered attache case, I realized something was wrong.
She set the case down in the dust, then continued around to the passenger side. I remember thinking how curious it was that she was wearing an evening dress. Then, when she opened the door and Darling fell out, I knew right away that he was dead. I rushed out of the saloon. By that time she was backing the car away. I stared down at Darling, then pulled his blindfold off. Even in death his tight thin lips were pursed and his chin tilted up with arrogance.
Kim had parked a hundred feet away. Now she rushed toward me, looking radiant.
'Geoffrey! I did it! It's over!' She plunged into my arms.
''What happened?' , I shot him as soon as he put on the blindfold. It wis spooky driving out here sitting beside him, but I couldn't just dump him on the road.
Open the briefcase, Geoffrey.' I stooped and opened it. It was stuffed with ne'atIV arranged bundles of fresh currency bound by rubber band 'See! I got it! Frank's idea. I mean, why go through that whole dumb payoff routine? Just see that he had the cash, then let him have it. He said you wouldn't do it, you'd hesitate. 'Do your wetwork as soon as you can,' Frank said. So that's just what I did.'
I believed Frank had told her that, that there'd been more than one part of the plan he'd kept compartmentalized. I was angry with him for that, but not half so angry as I was afraid. For now I was truly afraid of Kim. If she was capable of assassinating Darling as he sat right beside her in a car, she was perfectly capable of killing me.
'What did Grace tell you to do?' I whispered.
'Grace? What are you talking about?'
I exploded: 'Don't try and fake with me, Kim! Frank spotted you. He took pictures of the two of you kissing in her patio.'
'Pictures! Why, that prying little sneak!'
'You're the sneak. Whose idea was it anyway, hers or yours?'
She shook her head and glared at me.
'Fuck you, Geoffrey! Whose do you think?'
'Tell me!'
'Hers, of course. She thought up the whole thing.'
'Yeah. So now that you've got the money, what does she expect you to do about me?'
She lowered her voice.
'Kill you, of course.'
'Of course. Then make it look like Darling and I killed each other, right?'
'Oh, Geof!' she moaned.
'What about Frank? He'd fol ow you to the ends of the earth if you pulled a stunt like that.'
'I know, I know… 11 'So? Are you going to kill me?'
Tears formed in her eyes.
'Do you really think I could?'
'I can't be sure. Can I, Kim?'
She nodded, as if to acknowledge that was true. Then d me.
'I'm a bad person, Geoffrey. I make My ON Sometimes I think -..' She lowered her voice'Sometimes I think I'm really evil.' She pulled back, placed her hands on my shoulders, then linked them behind my neck.
'We'll have to kill Grace. We won't be safe until we do. She'll want the money. She'll come after us. We'll never breathe free with her alive.'
'What about Frank?'
'Kill him too. Then there'll be more for us.'
'He's my friend!'
She squinted at me as if I were some kind of fool.
'Fine, Geoffrey, if you feel that way, you can split your share with him.'
'So long as you get half?'
'That's my deal with Grace.'
'And I'd better match it. How can I ever trust you now?'
'I don't know, Geoffrey. I don't suppose you really can:' She pressed herself against me, forced her mouth against mine.
'I want you, Geoffrey. I want to make love with you-right here. Now.
In the dust. With Darling's body on the ground. And the money… the money very close. The light playing on us, spotlighting us. How do you call it, Geoffrey? The 'splendorous failing light.' That would be great. The look of it, I mean. The splendor of it. The baroque effect. With the shadows long and ominous. Like the end of an opera.
Or those weir(ifilm noir movies you like. Wouldn't that be something?
Wouldn't it?'
