Raylan_ A Novel - Elmore Leonard [53]
He said, “Pervis, why don’t you and Rita step in the house while we finish up here.”
He said to Carol, “Pervis is thinking how you did business with Otis Culpepper and what Otis got out of the deal.”
“They musta got Otis drunk,” Pervis said, “and shot him he’s got his eyes closed. That’s what I think of this company girl’s story.” He said to her, “Honey, you want to talk bout a mountain I’m leavin to my kin? He swears he’ll honor my wishes and never sell it.”
He looked out at Dewey standing across the yard, not close to anybody, and waved to him.
“Come on up here, boy. Show this girl we standin together on this.”
Raylan said, “Go on up there,” getting Dewey out of the way. Watched him edge around the gun thugs heading for the porch. Watched Dewey step up there as Pervis put his arm around his shoulders.
“Tell this little girl,” Pervis said, “a time comes I ever pass, you ain’t sellin. Remember what I said about my gravestone?”
Dewey standing small under Pervis’s arm, people in the yard watching him, said, “You want it up on top of Big Black.”
“Laid to rest in the trees,” Pervis said.
“Yes sir, you don’t want no trees cut down.”
“You don’t either,” Pervis said, “or any coal taken out of your mountain.”
Raylan watched Dewey hesitate, a look of pain on his face. He said, “No matter how much they offer me.”
“Mr. Crowe,” Carol said, “if I thought for a moment Dewey was your heir, I wouldn’t be here to make you an offer, would I?”
“Since I’m never gonna sell it,” Pervis said, “I believe you’re thinkin of puttin a gun to my head and have me sign a deed over to you. Then have the Kid shoot me and make up a story how it happened.”
Raylan saw the Kid adjust his hat again as if he was taking a bow, the Kid acting like he was in a movie.
They were getting to it now.
Raylan said to Boyd, “You have a gun stuck in your pants? I like to know who’s in this and who’s watchin.”
It was the Kid, not Boyd said to Raylan, “You got one way to find out,” sliding his hand down to his belt.
What Raylan did, he pulled his Glock, raised it and shot the hat off the Kid’s head, saw him look stunned, dropping a chromed-up revolver in the dirt, his hand going to the top of his head, then looking at his palm to see if there was blood, Raylan doubting he saw no more than a speck, his hair parted clean. Wayne, at this time, was working to get a gun cleared of his coat, finally drawing another chromed-up piece as Rita stepped off the porch pulling the old man’s .38 from under her shirttails and swiped the barrel across Wayne’s skull. Wayne stumbled, dropped his piece and stood in the yard looking bewildered. What Rita did next was put the .38 on Carol saying to Raylan, “You want, I can shoot her.”
“Hey, come on,” Carol said. “I came here to talk business and Raylan pulls a gun.”
“On your two thugs,” Rita said. “I could shoot you and put a gun in your cold hand.”
“We’re done,” Raylan said, looking at Boyd again. He hadn’t moved. “You thinking about the time I shot you and you rose from the dead? It only happens once in your life.” He turned to Carol again and she said:
“Were you actually aiming at his hat?”
“I hit it, didn’t I?”
Raylan looked at the two gun thugs, both sitting on the ground now, wobbly.
“You gonna take these two with you?”
“They’re fired,” Carol said, and took a moment before saying, “you know I grew up in coal camps—”
“You keep reminding us.”
“To make the point,” Carol said, “I know hill people are a different breed, strange to outsiders. But you’ve been something of a new experience for me.”
“Anything happens to Pervis,” Raylan said, “I’ll come lookin for you.”
Carol said, “You promise?”
She walked off—not looking at Boyd—walked to the limo and got in and made a U-turn in the yard, skinned past the pickup and the Audi and got out of there.
Raylan turned to Boyd.
“I guess you’re fired too.”
“You asked me a question,” Boyd said, “what side I’m on. What did I say? Nothin. Was this scudder answered you, I didn’t. You don’t know what I was gonna say, do you?”
“Doesn’t matter,” Raylan said. “You pulled, I’d of