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to lean back and take it easy. They were plenty ordinary and they had slob
down pat.
We shouldn t be out here, Garrett.
Hullar was right. Winchell might recognize me. Maybe the Watch was rubbing
off on me instead of the other way around.
Belinda came to the back room where Hullar and Crunch and I were killing time
drinking. She needed reassurance.
So did Crunch. He was put out. Relway had ousted him from behind the bar. I
could handle any whipper snapper what went to bothering the girls, Hullar. No
reason me being pushed off my job.
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I m sure you could, Crunch. But I m not in charge.
Crunch turned his glare on me. I said, We re talking about a psycho killer,
Crunch. A total crazy. You don t know him. The man behind the bar does. I
hoped Relways disguise would hold up. If you were out there, he could walk in
and cut your throat before you knew it was him. It s for your safety.
This had played before. I was tired of it. I gave Belinda a peck on the
cheek, squeezed her hand. Getting close. Hang in there. Break a leg. All that.
He should ve made some kind of move already, Garrett.
I was afraid she was right. Somebody should ve come to check her out, maybe
tried to pick her up. I was worried too.
An hour later the consensus had spread to the street. Something had gone
wrong. Our fish hadn t bitten. Somewhere a woman was dying because . . .
But no one gave up playing his part.
I was in the shadows, looking into the dance hall, when Sadler walked in. He
looked incredibly evil. His expression grew more wicked as he spotted Belinda.
She was dancing with a Watchman disguised as a sailor. She spotted Sadler.
Momentary fire touched her eyes. Sadler headed toward her. Once he passed a
certain point, everyone in sight moved. He realized he d walked into
something. Fur started flying. Steel lashed the air. I stepped out to remind
the boys that we weren t killing people tonight.
Barking Dog Amato waltzed into the place.
There you go. We have us a rousing brawl going, everybody closing down a
setup in which everybody had a specific role, including those of Hullars girls
who d stuck around to make it look good. We have maybe twenty people screaming
and yelling. We have bodies flying everywhere. And in walks Barking Dog Amato
looking for his daughter. He spots me instead. He ignores the uproar. Hey,
Garrett! This s luck. A Watchman flew past him, thrown by Sadler, who was in a
truly foul temper. I tried to get to Barking Dog so I could move him somewhere
a little less violent. He demanded, Where s my girl, Garrett? I come down here
and come down here and hung out till I finally got me the nerve to talk to
her, and when I do, I find out this Sas ain t my baby at all. Her names Sasna
Progel and all she knows about Lonie Amato is she s heard Hullar and his dwarf
henchman mention the name. Another Watchman sailed by. What re you trying to
pull?
Were in the middle of something now. Could you maybe step over there out of
the way and hang on a minute?
Sadler roared my name like he d decided I was the root of every evil he d
ever suffered. He charged.
Better look out, Garrett, Amato said. He headed for a corner. That fellow
don t look too friendly.
That fellow didn t at that. He trampled Watchmen. Then he tripped over one.
I planted a strong right on his temple. It put him on his knees but didn t put
him out. I threw a little of everything I had while he was getting up.
He got up anyway.
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I bruised some knuckles on my left hand. Then Sadler hit me back. I flew off
to visit Barking Dog. Sadler came after me, ignoring all those other people
giving him hell. It was like he was holding me personally responsible for his
pain. He bent down to pick me up.
Barking Dog let him have it. Which was like a bee stinging an elephant if the
bee don t pick his spot. Barking Dog didn t. But he did irritate Sadler enough
that he decided to hammer Amato one.
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