in his lap. Their drinks came, white wine for Carol, Boyd, a bottle of Rolling Rock. She didn’t let him drink anything hard while he’s driving her around Lexington. He poured his beer, raised the glass to take a sip and placed it on the table again.
“I know what it was,” Carol said, “Harry calling you boy. ‘Your boy had to shoot Otis Culpepper.’ Harry calls any guy under fifty boy. He calls Jackie ‘this little girl.’ Did you hear him? Jackie’s twenty-three. She knew I’d caught her, so she owned up. It doesn’t matter to me how old she is. She’s a kid, but she’s aware.”
Boyd said, “Cause you owe your life to me you keep me handy? In case you want me to drive you or run an errand? You know what it’s like, hear people talkin about you while you’re sittin there?”
“She jumped on me,” Carol said, “for calling the Glock a revolver. But I don’t think to correct me. She said it to get my attention.”
“It’s your piece,” Boyd said. “I coulda told her that.”
“It’s like playing poker,” Carol said. “Her turn comes, she says, ‘I’ll raise,’ getting everyone’s attention and reveals what it will cost the table to stay in the game. I think understating the bet would be her style. I’d love to know how much she’s won, betting with Harry’s money.”
“I’ll ask her,” Boyd said, “you swear you’ll never mention Otis Culpepper again in my hearing.”
Carol sipped her wine.
“Why does it make you nervous?”
“You mean everybody thinkin I’m the one shot him? I don’t even own a gun no more.”
“We tell them the gun’s licensed,” Carol said, “and I gave it to you just in case, that evening, once we knew Otis was armed.”
Boyd stared at her across the table.
“We tell who the gun ’s licensed?”
“The marshals,” Carol said. “One of them called again this morning.”
“Raylan?”
“No, a Bill Nichols. He’s writing a report. Wants to be sure he has the facts straight.”
“They got the sheriff’s account don’t they? Everything you told ’em?”
“They’re not coming to get us. He’d like us to stop by the office and I forgot,” Carol said. “He called again this morning and I told him we’d come in tomorrow.”
“It’s that goddamn Raylan,” Boyd said.
Chapter Twenty-six
Nichols was telling Raylan back in the Lexington marshals office again, Jackie Nevada was no longer a bank suspect.
Raylan said, “She never was.”
“But could’ve been. Start with her droppin twenty grand in a poker game.”
“That’s her motive? You lose money, you rob a bank?”
“The Indy cops said she was acting desperate.”
“Wait,” Raylan said. “ Who was acting desperate?”
“Why’re we arguing?” Nichols said. “We’re holding a twenty-five-year-old white girl walked out of a bank on West Main-it was this morning-with a little over two grand and a dye pack among the take. It goes off as she pushes open the door and colors her red for guilty.”
Raylan said, “She’s one of the girls in the surveillance tape?”
“The one Indy police swore was Jackie Nevada. She sent word from the cage she’s ready to talk to us. Like she’s changed her mind, gonna put the stuff on this guy has her robbin banks.”
“You know who the guy is?”
“We’re gonna find out, aren’t we?”
“What’s her name?”
“Jane Jones on her driver’s license.”
“You look her up?”
“Couple of falls for prostitution,” Nichols said. “Jane Jones both times. Her occupation’s listed as exotic dancer.”
“A stripper,” Raylan said, “when she’s not robbin banks.”
“Good-lookin young girl,” Nichols said, iv hht. banks. blond. I wouldn’t mind seein her act.”
J ane was brought in and seated facing Nichols at his desk, Raylan in the chair next to her. He said, “Jane…?” She turned to him with not much of an expression, tired out. “You look good for gettin hit with a dye pack. Your face is just a little pink. No color on your jeans or your T-shirt.”
She said, “You should see my raincoat. You may as well throw it in the trash. I wanted to brush out my hair, but you don’t have a brush you loan out.”
Raylan asked where she was from and she said Kentucky.
“But not from around here,” Raylan said. “I think I hear Letcher or maybe Perry County in your voice. Am I right?”
“Born and lived in Hazard till I worked up my nerve to leave.”
Raylan, grinning at her, said, “Get out. You know where I’m from? Harlan County. Worked my way out and I’m back there again with the marshals.”
Now Jane was sort of smiling. “It’s hard to escape. You have to make up your mind, you gonna go? Then get the hell goin.”
“Your daddy,” Raylan said, “dug coal, didn’t he?”
“Till a mine blew up on him.”
“The one in ’96”-Raylan shaking his head-“when you were a little girl. I’m sorry I mentioned it.”
“It’s all right,” Jane said. “I came away from Hazard to better myself, I end up dancin naked and robbin banks.”
Raylan smiled.
Jane said, “It isn’t funny.” But now she was grinning.
“The way you tell it it is,” Raylan said, “like ten years from now you’ll have people laughin out loud.”
She said, “That’s how long I’ll be in prison?”
“This fella made you rob the bank,” Raylan said, “didn’t he get you high and you’d think it was fun? I believe you have a case against this man. What’s his name?”
“The reason I didn’t tell it before,” Jane said, “I’m scared to death of him.”
“He’d beat you up?”
“He’d slap me I argue or don’t answer right away. Then says in his soft tone a voice, ‘Baby, you know I don’t like to hit you.’ Always this, ‘Please, baby, don’t make me do it.’ He told us we had to get five thousand each or don’t come home. So we go in a bank it’s what we ask for. Three times with the girls and once alone, when the fucking dye pack went off.”
“How much you get to keep of the take?”
“Couple hundred.”
“Did you know the other girls before?”
“Stripped with ’em for a while. Couple of Barbie dolls on drugs. Kim and Cassie.”
“He fixed you up?”
“He’d give us a hit, tell us, ‘You get done, ladies, come straight home, hear?’ This young guy would drive us to the bank and pick us up, but I bet anything Delroy was watchin.”
“Delroy,” Raylan said, “got you the jobs?”
“I said his name, didn’t I? It just come out.” Jane was squinting at Raylan now. “You know about Delroy Lewis?”
R aylan remembered having to wait for Delroy to let go of the shotgun and put up his hands. “I arrested him one time. We didn’t say much to each other.”
“In Florida,” Nichols said. “Tall skinny guy? Convicted of assault meaning to do great bodily harm. He took a
