The Big Enchilada

turning you in for Watkins’s murder and he’s going to disappear... with lots of stuff that belongs to you.”
    “How do you know this?”
    “I just know it. If you’re interested you’d better get up to his house.” I hung up.
    “Shit, Hunter, was that smart?” the fat man said.
    “You want him up here, don’t you? How do you expect to get him? ‘Mr. Harvey Millicent requests the company of Detective Thomas Ratchitt because he wants to off him?’ He’ll be up here in no time.”
    “Yeah, but—”
    “Don’t worry. I’ll take care of him.”
    I was a little too confident.
    Domingo went to pack some clothes and things for his immediate departure. Everything was going according to plan, and I had succeeded in pitting Ratchitt and Domingo against one another. When thieves fall out...
    A wave of exhaustion washed over me, and I realized how wiped out I was from the fight with Mountain. My legs started to shake again, and I sank heavily into one of the deep armchairs. It felt pretty good. Too good, in fact, because I must have dozed off. The next thing I knew, Ratchitt was standing next to me, his gun pressed against my temple. Shit. This wasn’t supposed to happen. My first assignment as Domingo’s bodyguard, and I blew it.
    I cautiously looked around. One of the glass doors out to the rear yard was open. At least I knew how he came in.
    “Don’t make any quick moves, Hunter,” Ratchitt said. “Nice and easy, pick up your gun by the barrel and hand it to me.”
    My gun was lying on the arm of the chair. I did as he said. He looked at the weapon.
    “It’s a fucking cannon. What are you after? Elephants?”
    “Mostly rodents and other vermin.”
    “Don’t get funny.” He put his own gun back in his shoulder holster and kept my .357 trained on me. “Stand up slowly and spread. I want to see if you’ve got any surprises hidden on you.”
    He frisked me thoroughly, and, when he was through, he motioned me into the center of the room. This was getting awkward.
    “Hey, Ratchitt, I’m not feeling very good. I’ve got a few busted ribs, courtesy of Mountain Cyclone, and maybe some other broken stuff. Can I sit down, or do you want me to pass out in the middle of the floor?”
    “You can pass out anywhere you fucking well want. But go ahead, sit down.”
    I sank gratefully onto the couch. More gratefully than Ratchitt could realize, because, as I pressed my hand onto a cushion, I felt the hard shape that told me the gun was still there. And a good thing, too, the way events were going.
    Ratchitt glanced at the body of Mountain but said nothing. He was far more interested in the two suitcases Domingo had filled from the vault.
    “So he was leaving, the fat bastard,” he said to himself. “He thinks you sold him out.”
    “Why should he think that? Was that your cute idea?”
    “He heard it from Green, the D.A.”
    “It’s not true. I didn’t know anything about it until this morning.”
    “Then it looks like you’re being squeezed from two sides. The D.A.’s pressing and Domingo’s taking off.”
    “Yeah. He was going to leave me bare, the cocksucker. Half that stuff should be mine, and I need it. I got a lot of heavy payments to make.”
    “Well, you seem to be in a position to get your share,” I said.
    “Yeah. But I don’t understand why you tipped me.” “Simple. I need help. The cops want to talk to me, but I don’t want to talk to them. I figured if I did you a favor, you might do one for me.”
    He considered that and smiled in an unpleasant way. “Hunter, I think I just might do you a big favor,” he said in a way that made me think he had a very permanent favor in mind.
    Just then Domingo walked in. If he was surprised to see Ratchitt pointing a gun at him, he didn’t show it. He nodded his head slightly in greeting.
    “Nice of you to stop by,” Domingo said.
    “It would have been nicer to be invited. It looks like you’re going away.”
    “It seemed like the wise thing to do at this point.”
    “And it must have looked even better to get away with the whole bundle?”
    “You would have gotten your share.”
    “Naturally.” Ratchitt laughed in an ugly way.
    “But since you’re here, you can take your share now.”
    “I will. I think I’ll take your share as well. What do you say to that?”
    “There’s not much I can say except that it would be a serious error on your part.”
    “Well, we all make mistakes. You made your last one. Good-bye,