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“And Butch says, ‘Ya gotta have rules. Otherwise you can do this’ – and he kicks the asshole in the nuts. And then he says, ‘And then this might happen’ – and he lays the asshole out with one punch. Then he dusts off his hands and says, ‘That’s why you gotta have rules.’”
I laughed, but shook my head. “I prefer a straight fight.”
Lou looked at me for a long time, then smiled. “I know. That’s what’ll get you killed someday, kid.”
Back in the present day, as I made my way to the Roadhouse, I had to wonder: who was Butch Cassidy in this situation?
And what were the rules?
49
Igot to the Roadhouse about half past ten. None of the usual barflies were there. Management – one of Lou’s flunkies – must have pitched them out. It was exclusively Midnight Riders, and most of their faces were grim.
I walked in and got a distinctly familiar feeling going back almost fifteen years to that night with Moose.
Or maybe it was just echoes of an old western, where the gunfighter walks into the saloon.
“Jack,” Lou said from the other end of the Roadhouse. He was leaning against a pool table and smoking a cigar.
“Lou,” I said, tense inside but relaxed on the outside.
I was scanning the room for would-be attackers.
Chuck. Eddie. Eyeball. Peanut. Spider. Two dozen others.
Nobody was acting hostile or suspicious, though.
“Where’s Kade?” Lou asked.
“He’ll be along shortly.”
“We’re going to have to start without him.”
“I’m sure that’ll be fine.”
“I’m sure, too,” Jack smiled, and the sight sent chills up and down my spine.
50
Fiona
Déjà vu: I clung to Kade as we roared out of town.
I couldn’t hear anything but the thrum of the engine and the wind whipping around my helmet.
But I could tell as we started to slow down.
“What’s wrong?” I yelled, unsure if he could hear me – but then I saw.
Flashing blue and red lights across the desert on the sides of the road.
Kade pulled over to the side. I looked around him.
Roadblock.
Two cop cars were staggered so that they cut off about 70% of the road. As Kade came to a stop about twenty feet away, an officer ambled over slowly.
“Don’t say anything,” Kade instructed me quietly. “Let me do the talking.”
