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CHAPTER 14

      BRENNAN SAT on his front porch watching for Petrie through his field glasses.

      When he saw the Hudson coming up the road to the house, he went down to meet it. He looked over the car to see if Petrie had damaged it, but it looked okay. "I was getting worried, it took you so long," he said. "Did you find him?"

      "Yeah, I found him," Petrie said.

      "Well, did you do your job?"

      "Not exactly."

      Brennan looked at Petrie's eye which was swollen and already turning black. "I think I could have figured that out."

      Petrie began limping toward the bunkhouse. "I picked him up in front of the Deluxe, and I got him in the car, but he jumped me. He made me drive way the hell out on the desert and I thought he was gonna kill me."

      "Jumped you? How'd he do that?"

      "Had a gun in his boot. I'll tell you, Bill, he ain't no drifter. Last night he was wearing lizard boots, slick clothes, and a good hat. Today he had a new hat he bought with the money you gave him. And he asked me questions like a cop."

      "What kind of questions?"

      "He wanted to know what happened with Hood. Asked me if we shot him."

      "What did you say?"

      "I told him we got to Hood's car while a masked man was trying to take the box. The guy ran away when he saw us. When we looked, we saw that Hood was shot dead. An' we took the box."

      Brennan snorted.

      "Well, what would you do if you were on your knees and a crazy man was holding a gun against your head?," Petrie asked defensively. "He knew I was gonna get him, so it seemed pretty sure to me that he was gonna get me first."

      "But you're here, not layin' dead."

      "I had to walk five miles in the blazing sun, and when I got to the highway nobody would pick me up for an hour. Then I had to walk all along Main Street to find your car where he left it. And he stole my .45 - and that was my favorite gun. And my eye hurts."

      Brennan stared at him wonderingly. "Tom, you amaze me. Go wash up and come in and have supper with us."

      Petrie nodded and went into the bunkhouse.

      Brennan followed him in. "Just to set things straight, Tom, I've got to tell you. You are a honest-to-God genuine idiot. A goddamned idiot, Tom! You're missed the most important thing of all. Rand isn't just a drifter who knows what we did to the Mexican and the hay truck driver. He's been working for Mrs. Hood. And because he signed on with me the same day Hood was shot, that means she figured we had the gold! He was supposed to steal the gold back!"

      "So?"

      Brennan grabbed Petrie by the shirt collar and pulled his face down to his. "So you goddamned well better kill him before he puts us in prison! Get it?"

      "Sure, Uncle Bill, I was going to anyway!" Petrie said.

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