You got a guitar? I said.
The gringo stuff impresses a lot of anglos, del Rio said. Makes them think Im very bad.
Scared the hell out of me, I said.
I can see that, del Rio said.
Chollo had gone to one side of the office and lounged in a green leather armchair, almost boneless in his relaxed slouch. His black eyes had no meaning in them.
You see how we scared him, Chollo? del Rio said.
I could improve on it, Vic, if you want. It was the first time hed spoken. Neither he nor del Rio had even a hint of an accent.
You sure you guys are Mexican? I said.
Straight from Montezuma, del Rio said. Me and Chollo both. Pure blood line. Whats this about Zabriskie?
I took the picture out of my inside pocket and put it in front of del Rio. He looked at it without touching it. I picked it up again and put it back in pocket.
So? del Rio said.
Your daughter, I said.
Del Rio didnt speak.
I got it from her grandmother.
Del Rio waited.
Anything you dont want him to know? I said.
Chollo knows what I know, del Rio said. Chollos family.
How nice for Chollo, I said. I know who your daughters mother is.
Yes?
Jill Joyce, I said, Americas cutie.
She tell you that? del Rio said.
No, I said. She hasnt told me anything, and half of that is lies.
Del Rio nodded.
That would be Jill, he said. What do you want?
Information, I said. Its like huevos rancheros to a detective.
Si, del Rio said.
Were you and Jill married? I said.
Del Rio leaned back a little in his chair with his hands resting quietly on the bare desk top in front of him. His nails were manicured. I waited.
Your name is Spenser, he said. I nodded.
Okay, Spenser. You think youre a tough guy. I can tell. I see a lot of people who think they are a tough guy. You probably are a tough guy. You got the build for it. But if I just nod at Chollo you are a dead guy. You understand? Just nod, and He made an out sign, jerking his left thumb toward his shoulder.
Yikes, I said.
So you know, del Rio said, youre on real shaky ground here.
It goes no further than me, I said.
Maybe it doesnt go that far, del Rio said. Why are you nosing around in my life in the first place?
Im working on a murder in Boston, I said. And Im working on protecting Jill Joyce. The two things seem to be connected and your name popped up.
Long way from Boston, del Rio said.
Not my fault. Somebody has been threatening Jill Joyce. Someone killed her stunt double. Jill wont tell me anything about herself, so I started looking and I found her mother and then I found you.
Del Rio looked at me again in silence.
Okay, Spenser. I met Jill Joyce when she was Jillian Zabriskie and she was trying to be an actress, and I was starting to build my career. We were together awhile. She got pregnant. I had a wife. She didnt want the kid, but she figured it would give her a hold on me. Even then I had a little clout. So she had it and left it with her mother. I got her some parts. She slept with some producers. I supported the kid.
You still got the same wife?
Yes. Couple years after Amanda was born, Jills mother started disappearing into the sauce. She was never much, but He shrugged. The shrug was eloquent. It was the first genuine Latin gesture Id seen. So my wife and I adopted her.
Your wife know about you and Jill?
No.
She know youre the kids father?
No. She thinks we adopted her from an orphanage. We dont have any other children.
How old is Amanda now?
Twenty.
What happens if your wife finds
out?
Whoever told her dies.
What happens to her?
Again the eloquent shrug. My wife is Catholic, del Rio said. She is a lady. She would feel humiliated and betrayed. I wont let that happen.
Amanda know?
No.
We all were silent then, while we thought about these things.
And Jill knows better than to talk about this, I said.
Jill dont want to talk about it. Jill dont want anyone to know she got a spic baby.
But if someone was looking into things you might want to squelch that, I said.
I wanted to, I would, del Rio said.
What if you sent some soldier out there to clip her and he got the wrong one, I said.
Get you killed, del Rio said, thinking things like that.
I nodded. Something will, sooner or later, I said.
Most people prefer later, del Rio said.
We all thought a little more.
I dont like you for it, I said. Its too stupid. Killing Jill or somebody else like that stirs up more trouble than it squashes. Youd know that.
Havent killed you yet, del Rio said.
Same reason, I said. You dont know who knows Im here.
You gotta understand something, Spenser. He always pronounced my name as if it were in quotes. Im a bad guy. Maybe the baddest in southern California. But bad guys maybe have good sides too.
Hitler loved dogs, I said. I hear he was sentimental.
I love my wife. I love my daughter. Im going to protect them-their privacy, their dignity, all of it. And if that means killing some people, Im bad enough for that. And if it means not killing people I ought to kill, Im all right there too.