Jerry pawed the air. “He doesn’t want back-up out of me-just surveillance. Background stuff. Mark’s pattern and all. I write it all up. It was waiting for him in a manila folder in his mailbox at the motel when he checked in. That’s how we work it.”

I told you I got lucky.

“So that’s why you’re letting your hair down a little,” I said.

“Yeah. Damn straight. I thought I’d gamble some, maybe have a nice meal, maybe take in Jerry Vale and laugh my ass off at that square shit.”

That wouldn’t attract any attention.

“But now, Quarry…” He put a hand on his plump stomach and rubbed it, like he was trying to summon a genie. “…I don’t know…”

“Change of plans, Jerry?”

“Yeah-I think I better crash. I maybe put away a few too many of these…” He tapped his empty Scotch glass. “Tell you what-why don’t you drive me to my motel, and I’ll have a little nap, and we can get together later? Maybe around…ten-ish? There’s a blues club where the local girls go-they’re not USDA prime, maybe, but they know how to make a guy’s dick go boy howdy.”

“Sounds like a blast. Give me your keys and lead me to your car. What motel are you staying at again?”

Dusk had doused the little casino town purple, a nice shade for neon to glow against. Something cool was blowing in off the desert, but for a guy used to the Midwest, this lack of humidity was flat-out strange. Heat that didn’t feel hot. Nevada was another planet.

His car was a late-model red Mustang-what a brilliant surveillance guy this Jerry was. Who would ever spot a red Mustang? He and Nick had done forty jobs and lived this long? Unreal.

Anyway, the car was in the lot behind the Four Jacks, and Jerry fell asleep in the rider’s seat probably thirty seconds after he managed to fasten his seat belt. Driving north toward Vegas would have put us in Clark County and that meant big city cops maybe taking an interest. Jerry had half a tank of gas, so I drove south a good thirty miles, with the last gorgeous gasps of an orange desert sunset glowing off to my right, like a fire far away. Jerry was snoring.