The Big Enchilada

me over. I tried to appear uneasy.
    “You’re a fucking, cheap, stupid bum,” he said.
    “I’m pleased to meet you as well,” I said.
    “You were expecting an embrace and a kiss on both cheeks, punk? I leave that to Mountain. Shall I call Mountain?”
    I hastily waved off the suggestion with what I hoped was suitable anxiety.
    “Good choice,” he sneered. “Mountain’s embraces tend to flatten things, and his kisses might very well tear off both your ears.”
    “I’ve seen samples of his work.”
    “Yeah, I guess you have.” He laughed. “Must have been real pretty. Sorry I missed it.”
    “I can understand the others, but why was my secretary killed?”
    “It was a lesson. I guess you learned it. Besides, I have to let Mountain have some fun every once in a while. He’s hard to handle if I don’t. He just loves to tear apart pretty girls. I find it a wasteful habit, but what is one to do?” He shrugged.
    My hand slipped under the seat and touched the gun. It was all I could do to keep from opening up on him.
    “Did Mountain also do the others?” I tried to keep my voice even.
    “Why do you want to know?”
    “It’s not important,” I shrugged. “Some of them were my friends.”
    “It figures you’d have friends like that.” He stared at me for a while. “No, Mountain didn’t do them all. Only your girl and that old guy.”
    “Stubby Argyll.”
    “Yeah, him. I don’t know what a guy that old was doing still working. He shoulda been in some retirement home.” The fat man laughed briefly. “I guess you can- say he is now.... Mountain spotted him coming out of Medco late at night and figured he must have seen the late shift at work. There was no choice but to take care of him. Mountain wanted to do it his own way, but I made him fix it like an accident. Mountain wasn’t happy about that. He likes the personal touch.”
    “An old-fashioned craftsman,” I said.
    “He likes his work.”
    “What about Watkins?”
    “Christ, that dummy! Tried to bust Medco singlehanded, like he was in the movies. But Ratchitt was onto him and took him out. He gets enough of the profits, he has to do some of the work. Besides, I don’t much care about offing cops.”
    “So you let a cop do it.”
    “He didn’t mind.”
    “What’d he do, drug Watkins so he’d write the note?”
    “Oh, so you found it?”
    “Yeah.”
    “I wondered what happened to it. I thought Ratchitt had screwed up. He’s been nervous lately.”
    “He’s got a lot of financial responsibilities.”
    “He is fond of spending money,” Domingo chuckled. “I give him plenty, but he earns it.”
    “Then who did Faro? You or Lascar?”
    “Lascar?That turkey. He’s a big disappointment to me. Thinks he’s Mr. Sophisticated. He doesn’t know it, but he’s through... No, when my people doublecross me, I like to take them out myself. Of course, Mountain helped a little. It was something to see, Hunter. Faro was still alive when I soaked him with gasoline and tossed the match. I usually don’t care that much for bonfires, but this one was nice. There’s a lesson in that for you, punk. You try to burn me, and that’s exactly what’ll happen to you.”
    I shifted uneasily in my seat and tried to sound nervous. “Thanks for the advice. Now, if you’ll just give me my money, I’ll go.”
    “In a minute, punk. Mountain likes breaking things; I like seeing punks like you squirm. Come here. I want to show you something.”
    He walked across to the closed drapes and I followed. He pulled something and the drapes opened, revealing a wall of glass behind which was a terrarium. At first I saw only a lush tangle of tropical plants, but then I started to pick out the black and green and speckled shapes that were coiled around the branches and hidden under leaves.
    “Snakes,” Domingo said.
    “I noticed.”
    “But not just any snakes. Poisonous snakes. Some of the most deadly in the world. See those large gray ones there? They’re black mambas, some of the largest poisonous snakes in the world, and the quickest. Their bite is nearly always fatal unless treated immediately. One of the specimens I have is probably the largest one in captivity, and it has enough venom in it to kill several men. And that little brown one under the leaf. That’s a saw-scaled viper. It causes massive hemorrhaging. Death can follow quickly. I’ve got snakes from all over the world, and I’ve gotten them to live together without destroying each