Sarah - Crazy White Lady

From last time ...

The last man was down. The last, that is, but one. Giamatti. As they packed their gear, all Sarah could think of was Giamatti. Just one more. One more guy. Giamatti. I saved you for last. Giamatti. I'm coming to get you, Fatboy.

And now ...

They drove back to the Adobe in silence. Sarah was lost in thought, Mackey knew there was something on her mind and knew better than to interrupt her train of thought, and Two Feathers sat in the back, sleeping.

"Will it bother you if I tun on the radio?"

"No, Mackey. Go ahead. Not too loud though. He's asleep, back there."

"Yeah. Sure. What's eatin' you?"

"Well ... I think I have a problem. Two, actually."

Mackey waited for her to continue.

"First of all, I'm pretty sure I can't use my weapon to take out Giamatti. At least, not if I do it the way I want to. I mean .. that glass in his office window has to be pretty thick stuff and I'm afraid the .222 round won't have enough punch to take the glass AND Giamatti."

"Yeah. I thought about that, too."

"Second, I could use your weapon, but again, I'm not sure about the glass, and your piece doesn't have a silencer, which means I can't take the shot from the office like I want to. It would make way too much noise. I'd never get out of the building without being caught. So what do I do?"

"You use my weapon, but you take the shot from the roof instead of the office. We can build a blind up there so you won't be observed, and the sound will ricochet off all those tall buildings so no one will be able to tell where it came from."

"Okay .. but what about the glass?"

"Sarah, I'm sure ball ammo would do just fine, but to be double sure, I'll get us some armor piercing stuff. AP will go through the glass AND Giamatti like butter."

"I like it. I'm going to have to get used to your weapon. Can you spend some time with me on the range? I still have a couple of days before I'm flying back to San Francisco - maybe I could start working with it now, before I go back."

"I don't know, Sarah. The Indians are supposed to meet with me and Ma tomorrow and I don't know how long all that's gonna take."

"The Indians? Which Indians? And what's that all about?"

"Two Feathers' people. The tribe wants to go partners with Ma in a casino. Nuthin' fancy. Just slot machines and Bingo. But Ma figures it'd bring in people and get the place back on its feet."

"What is it? Money? Does she need money? Why didn't she ask me?"

"Ma ... we ... don't need no money. It's just that she sees this as a way to help out the Indians and bring people back to the place at the same time. She never woulda opened up a casino on her own, but when the tribe suggested it, I could see her light up. She really loves that place and she don't want the desert to take it back."

"But why does she need to help out the Indians? Why don't they just build a place of their own?"

"They say it would be easier if a white person did it. They figure they'll be 'silent partners'. But hell, Billy's gonna be the General Manager and his uncle is gonna build the place and they plan to hire people off the reservation into all the jobs the place will create, so yes, it will help the Indians. Jobs fer everybody."

"What about the gun shop?"

Billy's chin came to rest on the back of the seat.

"I'm gonna hire White Bear, my cousin, to run the shop. He's a good kid - and besides, I told him ... if he screws up, I'll have the crazy white lady shoot him."

Sarah turned around and gave Billy a look.

"Don't look at me like that. White Bear was your Number One mantracker. HE'S the one who's kept tabs on these people we've been pickin' off all these years. Without him, we never woulda got all this done. So yeah, he knows. He's not stupid."

"How many others 'know'?"

"No one else. There was one other, but he's dead now."

"How did he ... oh nevermind. Maybe I don't want to know. How about the day AFTER tomorrow, Mackey? I've get to get one day in."

"Okay. Day after tomorrow. Early."

"Yes, Mackey. Early. Before it gets too hot. Now go back to sleep, Billy. We've got another half an hour before we get you home."