He had been totally unaware of what was happening, because she chose the very moment he had climaxed to pull the trigger. She felt that this was probably a fine way for a man to die.
“What do we do first?” Raquel asked. “Teach the town a lesson?”
“To hell with this town,” Gilberto said, strapping on his gun. “I want that bastard gringo! I want to hang him up by his balls.”
“I would like to see that,” Raquel said.
“I am sure, little sister, that you would—and you will get your chance.”
They left the jailhouse by the back door, went to the livery, killed the boy who worked there and took their horses.
Decker was trailing Red Moran.
And Gilberto and Raquel Diaz were trailing Decker.
After Decker had left the home of his friend, Tomas de la Vega, the Mexican had continued to drink. He drank until he ran out of whiskey, and when he sobered up he thought of some of the things Decker had said to him.
He didn’t like them.
He packed a few of his things into his saddlebags, went outside and saddled his horse, then left the horse a safe distance fron the house. That done, he very methodically set fire to the house where he had lived with his beautiful wife, walking around it with a torch, making sure that it would burn evenly and completely.
That done he put out the torch and stood back to examine his handiwork. He watched it burn for a while, then turned and mounted his horse. He rode away and did not look back once. As he was riding away he wondered just how far ahead of him Decker was.
In his past, most men would have died on the spot for the things Decker had said to him, but Decker was his friend, and had said those things out of friendship. Of this Tomas was very sure.
When he found him, however, he still owed him at least a punch in the nose.
Tomas de la Vega was moving back among the living.
Chapter Nineteen
“You want to do what?” Red Moran asked Crystal.
“I want to open a real high-class cathouse, right here in San Louisa.”
“That’s crazy,” he said, laughing.
They were together in his bed at the hotel, she lying on her back and he sitting up.
“Why?”
“This is a little, sleepy town. I wouldn’t want to see it change.”
“Maybe the people who live here all the time would feel different. Maybe they’d want it not only to change, but to grow. Did you ever think about that?”
“No,” he admitted. “I don’t usually think beyond what I want.”
“Look, Red,” she said, sitting up and putting her hand on his left arm, “we’ve only known each other less than a week, now, but I think we’re two of a kind.”
“Both from Texas?”
“More that that. I think that maybe whatever money you’ve got you didn’t get…playing fair.”
“That’s a good way of putting it.”
“But look at the position we’re in? You’re the law here, and you’re probably also the richest man in the town.”
“That ain’t sayin’ much,” he said, “not in this town, anyway.”
“Hear me out. I would already have two pretty good girls working for me—Carmen and Rosa.”
“If you could keep them from fighting.”
“They only fight over you, and they don’t even do that anymore.”
“Not since you came along.”
“We could get us a few more girls and build us a nice little business. Whaddya say, Red? Your money and my…talent?”
Red rubbed his jaw and while he did Crystal’s hand slid down and began to rub something else of his.
“Cut that out,” he said, slapping her hand away. “I can’t think if you do that.”
“Sorry.”
“Don’t think you’re gonna sweet talk me into this, Crystal. If I go for this it will be because it’s a good deal— and because we meet my conditions.”
“What conditions?”
“Well,” he said, thoughtfully, “for one thing, I don’t think the town has to necessarily benefit from this operation of yours.”
“What do you mean? We’d benefit and the town wouldn’t?”
“I’d like to keep the town just the way it is, and to tell you the truth, I don’t think they’d much mind.”
“So we’d take in all the profits, and the town would stay
“We wouldn’t have to let everybody know about the place,” Red Moran said, “just certain people.”
“People with money to spend.”
“Right.”
“On women.”
“Right.”
“Then…we’re partners?”
“That depends,” Moran said.
“On what?”
“On how much you need to set this thing up.”
“Well, I could buy that old rooming house I’m staying in real cheap, get some of the locals to come in and fix it up for me real cheap…I guess I don’t really need all that much.”
“How much is not all that much?”
She told him.
“By golly,” he said, breathing a sigh of relief,
“Now wait a minute, wait a minute,” Moran said, pushing her away.
“What?”
“Before we get all tangled up here there’s just one more thing we need to talk about.”
“Crystal’s.”
“What?”
“You were gonna say that we need to talk about the name of the place.”
“That’s right.”
“I’ve already got a name,” she said. “Crystal’s.”
“Why Crystal’s?”
“Because even though we’ll be using your money honey we’re gonna have to use my name.”
“Why?”
“Would you want to go to a whorehouse called ‘Red’s’ or ‘Moran’s’?”
“I guess not.”
“Besides, if you didn’t get that money by fair means, you don’t really want to advertise the fact that you’re down here in Mexico, do you?”
“Why not? The law can’t touch me.”
“But a bounty hunter might.”
He frowned. A bounty hunter! He hadn’t really considered that possibility.
“They wouldn’t put a big enough price on me for a bounty hunter to want to come all the way down here.”
