At Dewitt's End by Doc Henderson

Author:Doc Henderson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby
Published: 2018-06-11T14:12:15+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

The pink neon sign above Honest Injun’s casino flashes on and off as tourists and locals enter for some nighttime fun. In the back, behind a closed door guarded by a couple of Gofers, there is the voice of Mister Nickels.

“Okay. If that’s the way he wants it, hit him again!”

There is the slap of a hand and a few “Oohs” and “Aahs.” The Gofers outside the door look at each other in wonder, while inside the room, Mister Nickels makes another pronouncement, this time louder and more belligerent.

“One more time, eh? Are you sure you haven’t had enough? Okay, Running Fever, hit him again!”

Inside the back room, Running Fever’s hand comes down hard – and slaps a sixth playing card on the table in a game of Blackjack. The card is a “five” and one of the Gofers now has drawn to ‘21’ against Nickels ‘20,’ making him a winner. A few more “Oohs” and “Aahs” go up as Mister Nickels shakes his head in dejection. He has lost a pile of quarters. He turns his attention toward the outside door.

“Where are those two?” he wonders. “They should be here with the Colonel by now.”

Outside, the sound of a Harley engine is heard and grows louder, then dies out. An Underling looks through a small “speakeasy” door before opening the back door. There stands Willie, disheveled and somewhat distraught.

Nickels speaks to Willie roughly.

“Well, it’s about time you got here! Where’s Houston? Where’s T. P.?”

Willie replies, head down.

“Uh, uh. T. P.’s asleep in the sidecar. And Houston, uh. – Well, uh, well, uh.”

“Come on!” snorts Nickels. “Spit it out!”

Willie sheepishly replies.

“He’s on the bike. Sort of on the bike. There’s a Houston on the bike.”

Nickels is incensed.

“What the heck do you mean by ‘sort-of-a-Houston-on-the-bike?”

Nickels motions for one of the Gofers to go out back and check.

“Well,” says Willie, “uh, his last name’s the same. He looked like the Colonel. And...”

Willie throws up his hands, mea culpa style.

“... anybody can make a mistake!”

Nickels, Running Fever and the Gofers look at Willie and at each other, letting this comment sink in.

“They screwed up again, Boss,” says Running Fever to Nickels.

Willie hangs his head.

“Stick a fork in me, Mister Nickels,” he says. “I’m done.”

The Gofer who has gone outside returns.

“Boss,” he says, “he says he’s not Colonel Houston. He says he’s Dewitt Houston. He says he’s actually a doctor and nothin’ to do with all that C.I.A. secrets and stuff. It’s his brother who’s a big cheese in the Air Force and works with the C.I.A. That’s what he says, Mister Nickels.”

Nickels ponders this.

“C.I.A.? I didn’t kn-. C.I.A.? Oh, boy.”

He looks at Willie.

“Now I don’t know whether to be thankful you and that idiot partner of yours are so inept or to keep my intention of kicking your butts all the way to the Canada border!”

Willie remains crestfallen. Nickels just shakes his head. The Gofers, too, shake their heads, mimicking the Boss.

Nickels speaks to Running Fever.

“Go out and see how he’s doing. Apologize.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.