I wiped the tears from my eyes and sat down. It was twelve thirty, and by now Bert Debbles would be working himself into a fit. He’d be sitting in Charlie’s Silver Dollar Bar, probably facing the door, and thinking every evil thought imaginable about me. He’d be wanting to get up and leave, but too afraid he’d miss me.
I imagined what his face looked like-all chalky white with rage and his eyes dumb with indecision. His jowls were probably quivering-half from indignation and the other half from the shakes that were sure to be running through him. I started laughing again. Well Bert, I thought, just be a little patient and you’ll be finding me. Thinking about what he’d find made me laugh even harder.
The doorknob turned. I wasn’t expecting him to give up on me for another few hours, and wondered how badly I’d misjudged him.
Still, I reached for the bottle of gin. Holding it by the neck, I slapped it against my open palm. It would do for what I had planned. I stood up and forced a smile, all ready to greet Bert Debbles. Except it wasn’t Bert Debbles. No, that would’ve been too damn easy. Fate wasn’t about to be that kind. Standing in the open doorway was Marge.
My head was reeling. “What are you doing-”
“Where is she, you crumb?”
I walked past her and closed the door. “What are you talking about?”
She looked surprised that I was alone. “I thought you had a girl in here.” Standing in the middle of the room, she looked unsure of herself and it made her seem so small. “That was a rotten thing you did to me. Why did you do it, Johnny?”
I had turned away from her and had my forehead resting against the door, trying somehow to keep my head from spinning off my neck. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She laughed. I guess she had to laugh or cry, and she was probably sick of crying. “I waited at the restaurant for three hours. I had to wire my mom for money to pay the hotel bill and get a ticket home.”
I didn’t say anything.
“I don’t know if I can ever forgive you,” she said. “Look at me!”
I faced her. “The hotel didn’t give you my message?”
She shook her head, confused. “What message?”
“I don’t believe this!” I said. “There was an emergency with a case I’m working on and I had to fly home. I left your plane ticket at the front desk. I also paid for the room for the rest of the week and left you spending money. The hotel clerk assured me you’d get my message.”
“No one told me anything. I-I thought-”
“I should’ve known better,” I said, compressing my lips into a tight frown. “I guess I should’ve went back to the restaurant but I had only twenty minutes to catch my plane, and a man’s life was at stake.”
It was a pretty sappy story and you would’ve needed rocks in your head to buy it. Marge certainly wasn’t lacking anything between her ears, but I guess if you want to believe something bad enough you’ll find a way.
“I-I didn’t realize, Johnny. I guess it’s all pretty funny if you think about it, huh?”
She tried smiling, and it was the saddest effort I’d ever seen. “We’ll look back and laugh someday,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
“I was going to your office to see you, and I saw you leaving. I guess I followed you.”
“You just happened to be there when I was leaving?”
“Maybe not,” she smiled, guiltily. “I guess I was waiting across the street. I thought you dumped me in Mexico for another woman and I wanted to see who she was. Don’t be mad at me. I had a right to think like that after what I’d been through.”
“No, honey. I’m not mad and there’s no other woman.” I laughed, and kept it up until my stomach ached. She joined me.
“I stood outside this door for over ten minutes trying to decide what to do,” she said, her laughter giving way to tears. “I was about to walk away, but when I heard you start laughing I was sure you were in here with another woman. I had to open the door.”
“I’m glad you did, honey. It gave us the chance to clear the air.” I don’t know why I was kidding her. I had no choice about what I had to do. I had to take care of Bert Debbles today while he was still in Colorado. Once he was back in Nevada he’d be off-limits. I couldn’t risk going back home to Carson City to deal with him.
I wished Marge had never followed me. I’d have given just about anything to have her still stranded in Mexico. At least she’d be safe. But I guess if she had to have followed me here, I should be thankful she’d opened the door instead of walking away. Otherwise she’d be able to make the connection between me and Bert Debbles when she read about him in the papers tomorrow. Now though, she was not going to have that chance.
Marge took an awkward step towards me. “I’ve been feeling so bad, Johnny. Please hold me.” She buried her head into my chest and started bawling like a baby.
I lifted her head and gave her a long hard kiss. A kiss goodbye. During it she sobbed and laughed and held me as tight as she could.
“I love you, Johnny.”
“I know you do, baby.”
“It probably sounds crazy after all the grief you gave me in Mexico, but I’m miserable without you.”
“It doesn’t sound crazy at all.”
“I don’t want to live without you, Johnny. Let me spend the rest of my life with you. Promise me that, please.”
“You’ve got a promise, baby.”
She buried her head hard into my chest again, and I stood silently holding her, feeling the warmth of her small body. She pulled away from me weakly, and gave me a sad smile. “Let’s get out of here and go someplace nice. Okay, Johnny?”
“Soon. Not right now, baby. Let’s just hold each other a little bit longer.”
She pushed herself back into me. “Johnny, this might sound funny, but when I first came into this room you had such a strange look on your face. Like you were going to kill someone. It scared me.”
“You’re right, baby. It does sound funny.
She chewed on that for a minute. “Johnny?”
“Yes, darling?”
“Is anything wrong?”
“Now why should anything be wrong?”
“I don’t know. It’s just that when I was following you here, you seemed kind of odd. Are you sure you’re not in any trouble?”
“No trouble at all.”
“Why are you wearing those gloves?”
“Well you see, darling,” I said, “I put them on before entering the building so I wouldn’t leave any fingerprints.”
“Come on,” she sort of laughed. “What are you doing here?”
“I have to kill someone. I’m going to bash his brains out with that gin bottle.”
“Quit kidding me. Really, why are you here?”
“Okay, baby,” I said, stepping back. “It’s kind of like this.” I cocked my arm and threw my weight forward, catching her smack in the middle of her face. Her head snapped back and she hit the floor hard. She sat there blinking her eyes stupidly. Somehow she got to her feet and stood wobbling in front of me.
“Sorry, baby,” I said. “But I got to do what I got to do.”
“Joddy,” she said-and I’m not trying to make fun of her. Anyone with a flattened nose and a mouthful of blood would sound like that, and well, that’s the way she sounded and that’s the way I’m telling it. “Please Joddy, I g-gluv you. Dod J-Joddy.”
She took a step towards me. “Oh baby,” I said. “I love you too, honey.” I reached back and gave her an uppercut to the chin, lifting her feet off the ground. Before they came down, I followed up with a one-two combination, catching one eye with a left jab and the other with a haymaker. The haymaker drove her to the floor.
She was lying on her stomach. Somehow she lifted her head. Both her eyes, almost swollen shut, were open to cracks and pleading with me. Her mouth was moving, as if she were trying to say something. I knew what it
