Chapter 12

I liked the way that private investigation job went, though I didn't like the way it turned out. It really rankles when your client turns out ta be the guilty bastard. But that wasn't our fault. At least we found the guilty party. Shit, I hope that situation never happens, again. I only want ta work fer the good guy.

Well, that job payed fer my new office. Hester had gone whole hog—the office wuz paneled an' stained like a successful banker or lawyer's office. She had found some real nice furniture soz that I had a fancy desk an' a plush swivel chair. There were four very comfortable chairs an' a small conference table. There wuz even a polished brass spittoon. I wuz really in first class territory!

I knew that we needed some way ta reach potential customers, so I decided ta place a small advertisement in the local weekly newspaper. I wrote up an ad an' asked Pa what he thought of it. He said that it wasn't in bad taste, but he never had any experience with writing ads, so his advice wuz no better than that of anybody else. I figured that wuz good enough an' went by the newspaper office ta place the ad.

Ta my surprise, I picked up a client as soon as I showed the ad. First, we talked 'bout how I wanted the ad presented an' settled on a price. I paid fer it an' wuz asked ifen I worked with small businesses what wuz havin' trouble. I had ta admit that we hadn't yet, but I wuz shore willin' ta give it a try.

The owner of the paper, he wuz also the editor, printer, an' reporter, wuz the victim of a protection racket of the crudest kind. The crooks didn't fool around; they jus' showed up one day an' said that ifen he didn't pay them not ta, they wuz gonna bust up his place. He couldn't afford ta replace his press an' type ifen it wuz busted, so he agreed ta pay.

He started off payin' $1 a week, but the demands grew 'til now he wuz payin' $5 a week, an' he wuz shore that the price would go up in the near future. He wuz barely scrapin' by with the $5, but ifen they even went up ta $6, he would be driven out of business.

That really pissed me off, cuz I thought Eagle Pass really needed its own newspaper. I asked why the marshal didn't he'p him out, an' he said that the marshal wuz scared of the people what wuz threatenin' him. The marshal flatly refused ta git involved, so he wuz left on his own. I had always thought that the Eagle Pass marshal wuz kinda pissy, but I'd had no direct dealings with him, so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. NO MORE! I would he'p the newspaper out, then I wuz goin' after the marshal. Man, wuz I burned over this.

I told the newspaper man that I had ta git sumpthin' fer my effort, but fer a flat $20, I'd see that these crooks left him alone. He wuz all fer that, so that's the way we left it. He said that he expected a collector an' a strong arm he'per ta come around that evenin' 'bout 6:00 PM. I told him that one of my agents an' I would be back at 5:30 ta back him up when he told the collector ta go fuck hisself. Ya should of seen the way his face lit up when I said that; I could tell that I had made a friend for life if I could make my plan stick.

I went by the bank ta ask Pa ta tell Ann an' Ma that I would be runnin' late tonight, so not ta wait supper fer me. I'd appreciate it, though, ifen they would put a plate in the oven fer me fer when I finally got home. I promised ta explain everythin' when I got home.

From the bank, I went back ta the office an' asked who wuz free tonight. Bill volunteered, so I had my partner fer the festivities at the newspaper. We showed up on time, an' Jack Ferguson wuz shore glad ta see us. Me an' Bill hung around, tryin' ta stay out of the way an' bein' generally he'pful when we could, while we waited fer the collector an' his henchman.

They wuzn't five minutes late. They came bustlin' in like they owned the world. The walked up ta Jack an' the short, fat one said, "The price just went up ta $6 a week, an' I want the money right now."

Jack said, "I ain't payin' y'all one more penny. I got my own backup, now, an' I ain't afeared of y'all no more. So git out an' stay out."

The big, burly muscle man sidled up ta Jack an' grabbed him by his arm. "Boss, ya want I should teach this galoot some manners?"

"Yeah, Hank, I think that would be a good idee. Don't break no bones, but make him sorry he smart-mouthed me."

Me an' Bill had been standin' in the shadows, soz the two crooks didn't know we wuz anywhere around. Now, I'm pretty big, but Bill is built like a breedin' bull, so he wuz the biggest man I ever seen. The surprisin' thin' is that Bill is fast, too. We stepped up ta the three men, an' I stuck a gun muzzle in the back of the short man right over his right kidney. "Don't move or ya'll need a new kidney!"

Meanwhile, Hank had raised his hand as if he wuz gonna slap Jack across the face. Bill grabbed his wrist an' squeezed. I could hear the bones crack from several feet away. Hank dropped Jack an' turned ta defend hisself. Bill let him get turned far enough around soz he could reach Hank's solar plexus, which he hit with his balled up fist hard enough ta smash through a door. Hank went down without further ado, tryin' ta git his breath back.

Meanwhile, I asked Jack, "How much money has this asshole stolen from ya? I forgot ta ask, earlier."

"He's taken me fer $48, so far."

"Ya hear that? Ya got one minute ta come up with $50 or I'll pull the trigger."

"W ... W ... Wait a minute, mister. I ain't got $50 on me."

"OK, let me see what ya do have. Turn out yer pockets an' show me yer money belt. I know ya got one, yer kind always do."

The short guy pulled about $25 in silver coins from his pockets an' I took that from him. He opened his shirt an' unlaced the ties on his money belt. Ha! He had $220 in eagles and double-eagles in there. I extracted $50 from his money belt an' gave him back his silver.