He hired Farlan Moss. He sent him to TJ. Moss greased the spic cops. Moss shanghaied the kids. Moss sent them home _pronto mas_.
Pete stole Peavy's records. Pete logged smut transactions. Pete logged DIRT.
Peavy left town. Pete lost his cab protection. Pete called Sam G. Sam Tigerized and bought points. Sam bought in for 20%.
Sam bought protection-new and improved-Sheriff's _and_ LVPD. Coop deals meant insurance. Insurance meant safety. Safety meant anesthesia.
He shut Betty out. It worked intermittent. He notched minutes and hours and sleep. He did make-work. He did real work. He stretched the time. He cultivated distraction.
He'd get frazzled. He'd get fucked up. Betty jumped him then. It scared him. It relieved him. It said THIS IS REAL.
Betty stuck with him. Dallas faded away.
The Warren thing hits. Lee O. takes the rap. Jack Ruby goes down guilty as charged. Jack stays mute. Jack gets death. Ratfuck Bobby resigns as AG.
Barb dropped the p.m. news. Wayne dropped his Dallas questions. Carlos dropped all the hit talk. Betty took a slug. Arden-Jane dodged one for now.
Jimmy took another slug-pension-fund fraud-two five-year terms concurrent. Jimmy's fucked. Jimmy knows it. Jimmy seeks solace.
His good lawyers helped. His good Teamsters helped. Likewise Ward's fund-book plan.
Tiger was solace plus. Tiger subsumed Betty-intermittent.
Tiger roared. Tiger roamed. Tiger roved West LV. That trailer was still there. That whore decomped within.
Wayne wanted work. Wayne pressed Pete. Pete always said no. Tiger Kab hired spooks. Tiger Kab drove spooks. Wayne was spook-afflicted.
Wayne worked for Wayne _pиre_. _Pиre_ tied his apron strings. _Pиre_ had big pull. _Pиre_ foresaw that Gulf of Tonkin thing.
Wayne was wowed-dig my dad-he's a _chingуn_.
Wayne Senior pressed Wayne-let's start a snitch-Klan-the Neutered Knights of Natchez or some such fucking shit.
Wayne played along. Pete said: Don't do it-Klans just ain't you.
Wayne Senior bragged to acess. Ward Littell listened. Ward knew Wayne. Ward had pull with him. Ward could cut those strings.
Wayne Senior greased the hit fund. Wayne Senior told Ward. Wayne Senior sent Wayne to Dallas.
Wayne was naive. Wayne didn't know.
Stay naive-you'll live longer. Tiger rules. Ditch the hate and I'll find you a spot. It's elite. It's effete. It helps you shut dead women out.
51
(Las Vegas, 9/10/64)
Canned food and booze. Sauerkraut and Cointreau-all Air Force stock.
Wayne tossed crates. A swamper stacked them. They worked. They broiled. They hogged the DI dock.
Creamed corn and Smirnoff. Stuffed olives and Pernod. Cheez-Its and Old Crow.
Wayne worked fast. The swamper worked slow. The swamper yakyakked.
"You know we lost some guys, including our steward. I heard your dad got them work with Howard Hughes. Some lawyer set it up."
Wayne tossed the last crate. The swamper caught it. The swamper peeled his roll and paid up.
He shuffled. He scratched. He played coy. He dragged out the transaction.
Wayne said, "What _is_ it?"
"Well, it's sort of personal."
"I'm listening."
"Well… you think that Durfee guy's stupid enough to come back here?"
"I don't think he's stupid at all."
o o o
Wayne drove to Nellis.
He'd scheduled two loops. A late shot for Twinkles and Jim Beam-all Flamingo stock.
Wayne yawned. Traffic was slow. The job was soporific. The job was a soggy cream puff.
He figured it out. It took him weeks. Wayne Senior _wants_ you bored. Wayne Senior has _plans_.
Said plans implied:
Go to Alabama. Stress your reputation. Drop how you avenged Lynette. Start a snitch-Klan. Recruit snitches. Work for the Feds.
He told Pete about it. Pete said, "It's cowardly shit."
He hit Owens. He hit the Nellis gates. He drove straight in. Nellis was beige-beige buildings/beige barracks/beige lawns.
_Big_ barracks. Named for Strip hotels. No goof or satire implied.
His QM contact lived off base. His QM parked on. Wayne had dupe car keys. Wayne left his coin in the car.
He passed the "Sands." He passed the "Dunes." He passed the Officers' Club. He parked. He got out. He saw the QM's Ford.
Two rows up: A '62 Vette.
Red with white side coves. Whitewalls and chrome pipes. Janice's cherried-out car.
Janice left the ranch. Janice left at noon. Janice said she was off to play golf. Boulder/thirty-six holes/Twin Palms Country Club.
Blithe Janice. Golf-shit.
Wayne unlocked the Ford. Wayne rolled down the windows. Wayne scrunched low and tucked himself in.
Cars came. Cars went. He chewed gum. He popped sweat. He stared at the Vette.
Time chugged. Time rescinded. Some instinct said _stick_.
The sun arced. The sun hit the Ford. Wayne broiled. His gum starched and dried out.
There's Janice.
She leaves the O Club. She gets in her Vette. She kicks the key and idles it.
There's Clark Kinman.
He leaves the O Club. He gets in a Dodge. He kicks the key and idles it.
Janice pulls out. Kinman pulls out behind.
Wayne pulled out. Wayne hung back. Cut the leash/cut them some slack.
Wayne hung back. Wayne read his watch dial. Wayne ticked one full minute off.
Now-
He hauled. He closed in. He caught up. Three-car caravan-eastbound-Lake Mead Boulevard.
Janice drove point. Kinman tapped his horn. Kinman goosed her pipes. They _played_. They flirted out their windows. They _goofed_.
Wayne hung back. Wayne held two car-lengths down. Wayne sidled one lane over.
They drove east. They logged eight miles. They hit a desert patch. Motel strips and beer bars. Sand and last-chance fill-ups.
Janice signaled. Janice turned right. Kinman signaled. Kinman turned right.
There-The Golden Gorge Motel.
Gold stucco. One-story/one-room row. Twelve connected rooms.
Wayne pulled right. Wayne braked. Wayne stopped. Wayne checked his rearview.
Janice parked in the motel lot. Kinman parked in close.
They got out. They embraced and kissed. They entered room #4. They bypassed the office. They had their own key.
Wayne got butterflies. Wayne locked the car and walked over.
He stood near room #4. He loitered and listened. Janice laughed. Kinman said, "Get that rascal hard."
Wayne scoped the lot. Wayne saw scrub balls and junk cars. Wayne saw Mexican brats.
Thin room walls. Voices _en espaсol_. Bracero cribs. Crop-picker tenants.
Kinman laughed. Janice went "Oooh."
Wayne loitered. Wayne listened. Wayne lurked. Shades went up. Blinds furled. Brown faces bipped out.
He saw something:
Room #5 had no windows. The door had _two_ locks.
o o o
He held it back. He bypassed Wayne Senior. He ran paper. He checked Clark County deeds. He traced the motel.
Shitfire-Wayne Senior owns it.
It's 6/3/56. Wayne Senior bids and forecloses. The motel's a bargain. The motel's a tax dodge.
Wayne stewed. Pete called the ranch and left messages. Wayne ignored them. Wayne surveilled the motel.
Early p.m. stakeouts. Room #4. Janice and one-star Clark Kinman. Two matinees/three hours per.
He parked down the road. He trained binoculars. He walked by. He listened. He heard Janice sigh.
The Golden Gorge ran twelve units. Beaners camped out in ten. Janice kept her key. It unlocked room #4.
Room #5 had two locks. Room #5 had no windows. Room #5 stayed empty.
The lot buzzed by day. Braceros mingled. Bracero kids yahooed and yelped. Braceros worked hard. Braceros crashed hard. Braceros crashed early.