Raylan.
"Last night this marshal's telling me how one time yo u gave this fella twenty-four hours to get out of town or you' d shoot him on sight. Is that true?"
"Was a gangster I saw shoot an unarmed man," Rayla n said. "I didn't feel he deserved any special favors. I gave hi m the option and he turned it down."
"Well, all the trouble you're causing me," Boyd said, "I t hought I'd make you the same offer. Get out of Harla n County by tomorrow noon or I'll come looking for you. Tha t sound fair?"
Raylan said to him, "Now you're talking."
When he told Art Mullen Boyd had set thi s deadline, Art said, "It's become something personal?" frowning, at first not liking the sound of it.
"That's what it looks like," Raylan said, "since Boyd and I g o back, but it isn't. You're the one gave him the idea whil e you're busting up his house last night."
"Our house," Art said.
They were having their noon dinner of steak and eggs a t the Western Sizzlin Steak place out on the 421 bypass.
"I see you and him both cut from the same stock, born a hundred years past your time."
Art had said it once before and it reminded Raylan of a woman named Joyce saying pretty much the same thing bu t in different words. He was seeing her at the time he shot th e gangster in Miami Beach, and Joyce had trouble accepting th e fact he had deliberately shot and killed a man. She told hi m he had an image of himself as a lawman, meaning an Ol d West lawman but without the big mustache, and he believe d it might be true in some deep part of his mind. Another tim e Joyce said, "The way you put it, you said you called him out.
What did you think, you were in a movie?" Her saying i t caught him by surprise, because at times he did see it tha t way, as something he had borrowed from a western movie. H e liked westerns a lot.
By the time they were into their flame-kist steak and eggs, both dipping toast into the yolks, Art had come to appreciat e Raylan's situation.
"We're like big-game hunters, you know it? Only you'r e the bait, like a goat tethered to a post. All we have to do i s keep you in sight." Art took time to chew up a bite of steak.
"What'd he say exactly, he's coming for you or we're coming?"
"He said he was."
"But we don't know if he wants to shoot you or blow yo u up, do we?"
Raylan, mopping up his plate, didn't comment, lettin g Art have his fun.
"Or, Boyd might jump the gun," Art said, "do it ahead o f time, when you aren't looking. I was you I'd check under th e car before you turn the key."
He said later on when they were having their pie, "I kne w bringing you here was a good idea."
IX.
Boyd didn't hate Raylan any more'n he'd hate d those dead gooks without ears. Taking Raylan out was like a military objective, better to look at with a clear head than ge t emotional about it. Up at Sukey Ridge he told the skinhead s gathered for the raid into Virginia he was putting it on hold , there was a matter he had to settle first. The skins gave hi m their shrugs and popped open beers.
He had already put the two locals, the Pork brothers, up o n that hill that was behind the Mount-Aire Motel, where Raylan and the rest of the feds were staying. The brothers had Russian binoculars, deer rifles, an AK-47 and a cell phone an d were told to stay in the trees and watch for Raylan Givens.
Call and report whenever his Town Car came or went, a bi g shiny Lincoln losing its shine. One of the Pork brothers said , "What if we get a clear shot at him?"
Boyd wasn't sure they could hit the motel from beyon d two hundred yards, but it gave him an idea. How to set Raylan up and get him off by himself. He told the Pork brothers to sit tight, he'd let them know.
He told Devil Ellis and the skin who wore the alligato r teeth, Dewey, he was thinking of taking his shot that night. I t was Devil said, "I thought you were giving him twenty-fou r hours."
Boyd said what that actually meant was the next time yo u saw the person, not the next day to the hour.
"Last night this marshal's telling me how one time yo u gave this fella twenty-four hours to get out of town or you' d shoot him on sight. Is that true?"
"Was a gangster I saw shoot an unarmed man," Rayla n said. "I didn't feel he deserved any special favors. I gave hi m the option and he turned it down."
"Well, all the trouble you're causing me," Boyd said, "I t hought I'd make you the same offer. Get out of Harla n County by tomorrow noon or I'll come looking for you. Tha t sound fair?"
Raylan said to him, "Now you're talking."
When he told Art Mullen Boyd had set thi s deadline, Art said, "It's become something personal?" frowning, at first not liking the sound of it.
"That's what it looks like," Raylan said, "since Boyd and I g o back, but it isn't. You're the one gave him the idea whil e you're busting up his house last night."
"Our house," Art said.
They were having their noon dinner of steak and eggs a t the Western Sizzlin Steak place out on the 421 bypass.
"I see you and him both cut from the same stock, born a hundred years past your time."
Art had said it once before and it reminded Raylan of a woman named Joyce saying pretty much the same thing bu t in different words. He was seeing her at the time he shot th e gangster in Miami Beach, and Joyce had trouble accepting th e fact he had deliberately shot and killed a man. She told hi m he had an image of himself as a lawman, meaning an Ol d West lawman but without the big mustache, and he believe d it might be true in some deep part of his mind. Another tim e Joyce said, "The way you put it, you said you called him out.
What did you think, you were in a movie?" Her saying i t caught him by surprise, because at times he did see it tha t way, as something he had borrowed from a western movie. H e liked westerns a lot.
By the time they were into their flame-kist steak and eggs, both dipping toast into the yolks, Art had come to appreciat e Raylan's situation.
"We're like big-game hunters, you know it? Only you'r e the bait, like a goat tethered to a post. All we have to do i s keep you in sight." Art took time to chew up a bite of steak.
"What'd he say exactly, he's coming for you or we're coming?"
"He said he was."
"But we don't know if he wants to shoot you or blow yo u up, do we?"
Raylan, mopping up his plate, didn't comment, lettin g Art have his fun.
"Or, Boyd might jump the gun," Art said, "do it ahead o f time, when you aren't looking. I was you I'd check under th e car before you turn the key."
He said later on when they were having their pie, "I kne w bringing you here was a good idea."
IX.
Boyd didn't hate Raylan any more'n he'd hate d those dead gooks without ears. Taking Raylan out was like a military objective, better to look at with a clear head than ge t emotional about it. Up at Sukey Ridge he told the skinhead s gathered for the raid into Virginia he was putting it on hold , there was a matter he had to settle first. The skins gave hi m their shrugs and popped open beers.
He had already put the two locals, the Pork brothers, up o n that hill that was behind the Mount-Aire Motel, where Raylan and the rest of the feds were staying. The brothers had Russian binoculars, deer rifles, an AK-47 and a cell phone an d were told to stay in the trees and watch for Raylan Givens.
Call and report whenever his Town Car came or went, a bi g shiny Lincoln losing its shine. One of the Pork brothers said , "What if we get a clear shot at him?"
Boyd wasn't sure they could hit the motel from beyon d two hundred yards, but it gave him an idea. How to set Raylan up and get him off by himself. He told the Pork brothers to sit tight, he'd let them know.
He told Devil Ellis and the skin who wore the alligato r teeth, Dewey, he was thinking of taking his shot that night. I t was Devil said, "I thought you were giving him twenty-fou r hours."
Boyd said what that actually meant was the next time yo u saw the person, not the next day to the hour.
Similar Books
