"She shivers in the wind like the last leaf on a dying tree." "I let her hear my footsteps." "She only goes stiff for a moment." "Care for a smoke?" "Sure." "I'll take one." "Are you as bored by that crowd as I am?" "I didn't come here for the party." "I came here for you." "I've watched you for days." "You're everything a man could ever want. or your voice." "It's your eyes." "All the things I see in your eyes." "What is it you see in my eyes?" "I see a crazy calm." "You're sick of running." "You're ready to face what you have to face." "But you don't want to face it alone." "No." "I don't want to face it alone." "The wind rises electric." "She's soft and warm and almost weightless." "Her perfume a sweet promise that brings tears to my eyes." "I tell her that everything will be all right." "far away." "I tell her I love her." "The silencer makes a whisper of the gunshot." "I hold her close until she's gone." "I'll never know what she was running from." "I'll cash her check in the morning." "Just one hour to go." "My last day on the job." "Early retirement." "Not my idea." "Doctor's orders." "Heart condition." "he calls it." "I'm polishing my badge and getting myself used to the idea of saying goodbye to it." "and the 30-odd years of protecting and serving and tears and the blood and terror and triumph it represents." "I'm thinking about Eileen's slow smile." "fat steaks she picked up at the butcher's today." "And I'm thinking about the one loose end I haven't tied up." "helpless in the hands of a drooling lunatic." "I won't let you do this." "You're gonna get yourself killed." "You're gonna get us both killed." "I won't let you." "I'm warnin' you." "Bob." "You're draggin' me down with you." "too." "I ain't putting' up with that." "I'm gettin' on the horn and calling for backup." "Bob." "We'll just wait." "Sit on our hands while that Roark brat gets his sick thrills with victim number four." "Victim number four!" "age 11." "And she'll be raped and slashed to ribbons." "And that backup that we're waitin' on will just so happen to show up just late enough for Roark to get back to his US Senator daddy." "Hartigan." "Settle down and think straight." "You're pushin' 60 and you got a bum ticker." "You ain't saving' anyone." "Bob." "you are." "Eileen's at home waitin' for you." "Think about Eileen. maybe you are right." "I'm glad to hear you're finally talkin' sense." "Hell of a way to end a partnership." "Hell of a way to start my retirement." "age 11." "she's dead already." "Nancy." "You've been very quiet." "Don't be scared." "We're gonna be taking you home really soon." "we're going to introduce you to somebody." "He's a very nice man." "and it hits." "Icked spot of indigestion." "At least that's what I pray it is." "...lighthearted and momentary digression." "The briefest indulge-ment in automotive pleasure." "Mr. Shlubb." "You would risk engender-ating ill will on the part of our employers." "Burt Shlubb and Douglas Klump - two any-dirty-job-there-is thugs with delusions of eloquence." "This Jaguar you so pinheadedly covet - temporarily remanded to our custody though it may be - remains the property of the son of Senator Roark." "Gotta keep this quiet." "Take 'em down fast. and the before-mentioned consequences of which I so recently made mention shall surely be athwart us." "Catch your breath." "Give your heart time to slow down." "But it won't slow down." "Get over it." "She needs you." "Benny." "Let's give them some time together." "Give them some privacy." "Lenny." "I'm just making sure they get along really well." "And what kind of beast couldn't get along with a precious little girl like this?" "You must be awfully scared now." "But you've got nothing to be scared of." "All we're gonna do is have a nice little talk." "That's all." "Just a nice talk." "Just you and me." "Don't you cry now." "Doctor said it'd be like this." "Just take the pill he gave you." "No need to play it quiet." "Not anymore." "old man." "Prove you're not completely useless." "What the hell?" "Go out with a bang." "He likes to hear 'em scream." "frozen in their last horrible moment of living." "or I'm way too late." "old man." "Roark." "Give it up." "Let the girl go." "Hartigan." "You know who I am." "You know who my father is!" "you piece-of-shit cop." "Look at you." "You can't even lift that cannon you're carrying." "I can." "Nancy." "I don't want you watching this." "baby." "Cover your eyes right now." "I take his weapons away." "Both of them." "Hell of a way to end a partnership." "don't make it any worse." "Bob." "Never better." "I'm ready to kick your ass." "Keep him talking." "Buy time." "Just a few more minutes." "Just till the backup gets here." "Sit down and stay down." "I'll kill you if I have to." "Keep his mind off the girl - skinny little Nancy." "He can't kill her once the backup gets here." "Nancy." "Run for your life." "Don't listen to him." "He's a crazy man." " What a tough man you are?" " You stay right where you're at." "You shoot your partner in the back... then you try to scare a little girl." "show you how it's done." "but you've blown that." "Sit down or I'll blast you in half." "you'll never stop me." " Sit down!" "You'll never be able to stop me." "just like you told me to." "The sirens are close now." "She'll be safe." "Things go dark." "I don't mind much." "Getting sleepy." "It's OK." "She'll be safe." "a little girl lives." "Fair trade." "The night is hot as hell." "It's a lousy room in a lousy part of a lousy town." "I'm staring at a goddess." "She's telling me she wants me." "I'm not gonna waste one more second wondering how I've gotten so lucky." "I want you." "She smells like angels ought to smell." "The perfect woman." "The goddess." "I need you." "Goldie." "She says her name is Goldie." "Three hours later and my head is feeling several sizes too big." "And that cold thing happens to my stomach." "And I realize Goldie's dead." "Not a mark on her." "You'd have to check her pulse or notice those perfect breasts of hers aren't moving like they would if she was breathing." "She was murdered and I was right here when it happened." "just like she was." "Goldie." "Who were you and who wanted you dead?" "giving a two-time loser like me the night of his life?" "It sure as hell wasn't my looks." "So why the sleazy saloon?" "Goldie?" "showing up before anybody but me and the killer could know there's been a murder." "Somebody paid good money for this frame." "No reason at all to play it quiet." "No reason to play it any way but my way." "Goldie." "police!" "I'll be right out." "Goldie." "but you were a friend and more when I needed one." "it won't be quick and quiet like it was with you." "It'll be loud and nasty - my kind of kill." "the hell I send him to will seem like heaven after what I've done to him." "Goldie." "Claire?" "Lucille." "I was just grazed." " You got any beers around this place?" " No way am I giving you any alcohol." "is it?" "No." "Go ahead." "You're worse without 'em." "Thanks." "You're the best." "Lucille's my parole officer." "but God knows why." "Its that body of hers she could have any man she wants." "The pills come from a girlfriend who's a shrink." "She tried to analyze me once but she got too scared." "Haven't seen you like this in a while." "did ya?" "that's for damn sure." "How the hell do you suppose I'm gonna square this with the board?" "There ain't no squaring it." "Not this time." "This isn't some barroom brawl." "Or some creep with a gas can trying to torch someone." "hey." "This is big." "there ain't no settling' down!" "and by the gallons." "the all-or-nothing days." "They're back." "There's no choices left." "And I'm ready for war." "Marv." "It's gonna be life this time." "Hell's waking up every goddamn day and not even knowing why you're here." "But I'm out now." "It took somebody who was kind to me getting killed to do it." "But I'm out." "I know exactly what I gotta do." "Goldie?" "Somebody wanted you dead and you knew it." "meanest lug around and finding me." "and I'm gonna give him the hard goodbye." "Walk down the right back alley in Sin City..." " Leave your hands off Nancy." "... and you could find anything." "That coat looks like Baghdad." "So does your face." "Take off!" "Marv." "He didn't know." "Kadie's is my kind of joint." "but already the crowd's breathing hard." "shoulder to shoulder with all the other losers like me." "But that's not what I'm lookin' for tonight." "Marv?" "and keep 'em comin'." "now." "Most people think Marv is crazy." "He just had the rotten luck of being born in the wrong century." "swinging an ax into somebody's face." "Or in a Roman arena taking a sword to other gladiators like him." "They'd have tossed him girls like Nancy back then." "dickwad." "Drink up." "that's one fine-looking coat you're wearing there." "do-gooder son of a bitch." "you don't feel bad." " Take it off." " What?" "and you're bleeding all over it." "God!" "It wasn't you losers who killed Goldie." "he knew what he was doing." "man." "Who sent you?" "I don't hear you giving me any names." "So I guess when I shot you in the belly I aimed a little too high." "and I'm gonna have to get really nasty." "It was Telly..." "Telly Stern passed me the order." "He runs the tables over to the Triple Ace Club." "Thanks again." "Then the damnedest thing happens." "I smell the angel smell that belonged to my Goldie." "is all." "Bastard." "You're gonna pay for what you did to me." "Louie?" "Louie?" "Huh?" "How many for the kill?" "It was Connelly." "He set me up." "He'll never talk." "but I'm havin' a ball." "Connelly talks." "They all talk." "my son? so I'll just fill you in on the latest batch." "they got blood all over 'em." "You're speaking figuratively." "I just go out and look for somebody and I go and I ask them." "I ask pretty hard." "I killed three men tonight." "Tortured 'em first." "You might say I been working my way up the food chain." "First two were minnows - small-time messengers." "Padre." "this is a house of God." "Just give me a damn name. feeding me garbage like that." "It can't be that big." "There's a farm at North Cross and Lennox." "It's all there." "Find out for yourself. ask yourself if that corpse of a slut is worth dying for." "Worth dying for." "Worth killing for." "Worth going to hell for." "Amen." "or at least that's what they're passing off as a Mercedes these days." "Modern cars - they all look like electric shavers." "Goldie." "Goldie!" "It couldn't be Goldie." "that I got confused." "I've been having so much fun I forgot to take my medicine." "That wasn't Goldie back there." "and that's the whole reason that I've been doing what I've been doing." "it's bad to forget your medicine." "it creeps into my gut and tells me one more time it won't let go." "this farm." "People have died here the wrong way." "pooch." "I got no gripe with you." "boy." "buddy." "and I think I know what kind." "So I sniff around to see what's buried." "Here we go." "It's impossible." "Nobody can sneak up on me." "I go blind." "Not a sound." "Nobody's that quiet." "Nobody except the one who snuck into that hotel room two nights ago." "you bastard." "You killed her." "You killed Goldie." "It was..." "Goldie." "but he was better than me." "too quick." "A killer born." "Why didn't he finish the job?" "He keeps the heads." "He eats the rest." " Lucille?" " It's not just that wolf of his." "The wolf just gets scraps." "Bones." "It's him." "He eats people." " He cooks them like they were steaks." " Let's get you warm." "Just like they were steaks." "Now he's got both of us." "slow breath." "Just look at the heads on the wall." "The heads on the wall." "The heads on the wall." "Son of a bitch!" "He kept smiling that damned smile." "He made me watch him suck the meat off my fingers." "Jesus." "He made me watch!" "I could use a cigarette." "Dames." "Sometimes all they gotta do is let it out." "there's no way you'd know." "Marv." "Whoever's behind this whole thing has his connections right in the department." "Any leads?" "One guy I talked to told me it was Roark running the show." "he knew I was checking out that hooker almost before I did." " What hooker?" " The one you've been obsessing over." "The dead one." "Goldie." "I didn't know she was a hooker." "Doesn't make any difference about anything." " But I didn't know that." " She was high-class stuff." "She must have shown you quite a time." "Quiet." "There's a car coming." "Kevin!" "All I've got is a face... and a name." "Kevin." "Let's go." "They're done checking the house." "They're coming this way." "Bastards." "I'll show them." "Marv." "don't shoot!" "Please." "Listen to me." "I'm his parole officer. so there's no need to kill him." "the target - there's no sign of him." "Here's a sign!" "That there is one damn fine coat you're wearing." "I keep coming back to that cop I just killed and what he told me." "so I took my time with that son of a bitch." "It wasn't till I showed him all those pieces of himself that he said it." "man of the cloth." "but he chose to serve God." "he happened to become the most powerful man in the state." "He's brought down mayors and governors like they were nothing." "He even made his rotten brother a US senator without breaking a sweat." "And here he's gonna get killed in the name of a dead hooker." "I'm liking the sound of it." "Then it hits me like a kick in the nuts." "What if I'm wrong?" "I've got a condition." "I get confused sometimes." "I can't get my medicine." "What if I've imagined all of this?" "What if I've finally turned into what they've always said I was gonna turn into?" "A maniac." "A psycho killer." "Can't kill a man without knowing for sure you ought to." "I've gotta know for sure." "The merchandise is on display by the time I make my way to Old Town." "I asked around about Goldie." "but I know I'm bound to." "she has roots here maybe even family." "You can't be Goldie." "Goldie's dead." "right." "I haven't eaten anything or taken my medicine for days now." "No wonder I'm seeing things." "Bastard!" "He's crazy." "Wendy." "Harder." "Wait a minute." "Why did she call you Wendy?" "you ape." "Goldie was my sister." "My twin sister." "I guess she was the nice one." "Goldie and the other six - where are they?" "What did you do to them?" "You crazy goddamn broad." "Just take a look at this mug." "Would any of you dames let me get close enough to you to kill you?" "but Goldie." "And she only did because she thought I could protect her." "did they?" "guns blazing." "and I've been killing my way to the truth ever since." "doll." "or get the hell out of my way." "Nuts." "I'm glad we got all that sorted out." " What the hell?" " I tied those knots!" "That's my specialty! when you could've taken my gun away from me any time you wanted to." "sure." "I thought I might be able to talk some sense into you. and I don't hurt girls." "I need a pair of handcuffs." "What style do you want?" "I got a collection." "Gail. and I don't know why." "I know that sounds crazy." "it doesn't." "Goldie worked the clergy." "a whopper of a puzzle piece falls smack in my lap." "and I taste her lipstick on it." "my heart's pounding so loud I can't hear anything else." "I want to reach over and touch her and taste Goldie's sweat one more time." "But she isn't Goldie." "yeah." "This'll do." "I'm also gonna be needing a dozen two-foot lengths of this rubber tubing... and a spool of razor wire... and a pair of those special gloves that'll let me handle the wire." "huh?" "You can bet your ass." "so I'm in this one to the end." "But why are you willing to go up against Roark for someone you barely knew?" "gave me something I didn't even know existed." "I wasn't never even able to buy a woman." "the way I look." "I take my mind off her and I crawl back inside myself." "and I'd better get sharp." "Gladys and my mitts." "Marv." "Keep the engine runnin'." "you get the hell outta here and don't look back." "Marv." "Kill him good." "Goldie." "Heading downstairs to the kitchen." "and I can guess what kind." "you son of a bitch." "he's slick." "creep?" "get close." "I can take it." "you little bastard." "Let's see you hop around now." "I try to slow my heart down and breathe the fire out of my lungs." "My muscles make me a thousand promises of pain to come." "Marv." "She was my sister." "Let me finish him." "Wendy." "but I want to..." "and I don't want you watching the rest." "It'll give you nightmares." "I'm good and bushed." "either." "It's all that sawing and tying." "It's not as easy as it looks." "Could have been a real mess around here if I didn't have that tubing for tourniquets. to get that friend of yours to come running." "what do you know?" "Look who's here." "Here he comes." "That's a good dog." "not even when the mutt's had its fill and Kevin's guts are lying all over the place." "still staring at me." "Not even when I grab the saw and finish the job." "He never screams." "I put in a call to Kadie's and ask Nancy to get her clothes on like always." "you got any beers?" "Marv." "Who's the babe?" "There isn't much of anything Nancy wouldn't do for me." "Not since a year back when a frat boy roughed her up and I straightened him out but good." "It really gets my goat when guys rough up dames." "what do you want me to do with her?" "your best bet is drive her all the way up to Sacred Oaks." "What about you?" "Are you leaving town?" "no." "I like it here." "I hot-wire a parked cab and stay under the speed limit so as not to get any attention." "My head starts to clear." "Things start to make sense." "Goldie." "I owe you one and I'm gonna pay up." "win or lose " "I'll die laughing if I know I've done this one thing right." "Quiet as a grave out here." "No sign of target." "keep a lookout." "anyways." "The dog ate the rest." "my God." "You monster." "You demon." "Don't scream or I'll plug you." "yet he spoke only to me." "And he's dead now because of one stupid whore." "It's not a real good idea for you to talk about Goldie that way while I'm around." "When he came to me... he was a tormented boy." "Tormented by guilt." "I tried to counsel him." "But the eating - it filled him with white light." "he swore to me that he felt the touch of God Almighty." "What the hell do you know?" "I know it's pretty damn weird to eat people. he ate their souls." "And I joined in." "They were all whores." "Nobody cared for them." "Nobody missed them." "And then your Goldie almost ruined everything." "She stayed in public places." "And then with you." "You were so convenient." "You'd broke a man's jaw that very night." "Who would believe a thug like you?" "Kevin killed her." "but you wouldn't be caught." "You wouldn't stop." "And now he's dead and you're here to... eliminate me." "my son?" "Killing a helpless old fart?" "no." "No satisfaction." "Everything up until the killing will be a gas." "Kevin... we're going home." "You can scream now if you want to." "only better." "the hell I sent him to must seem like heaven after what I've done to him." "my God!" "Jerks." "and enough times to make sure." "It's so stupid." "but they go through the motions anyway." "What a waste of time." "Months fall off the calendar while I breathe and eat through tubes." "I wait for somebody to come and finish me off." "I realize it's not gonna be so easy as that." "I'm on my feet for about ten minutes before the cops kick them out from under me." "They don't ask me any questions." "They just keep knocking the crap out of me and waving a confession in my face." "And I keep spitting blood all over it and laughing at how many fresh copies they come up with." "Then along comes this worm assistant district attorney who turns the recorder off they'll kill my mom." "I break his arm in three places and I sign it." "it's the circus everybody wants it to be." "and even Goldie." "The judge is all fire and brimstone when she hands down the sentence." "when I get my first surprise in 18 months." "My only visitor." "I'm ready for anything but that scent." "Goldie?" "Wendy." "I got confused again." "Just seeing you like this." "You can call me Goldie." "She smells like angels ought to smell." "The perfect woman." "The goddess." "Goldie." "She says her name is Goldie." "They fix me a pretty decent steak for my last meal." "They even throw in a brew." "It's the first I've had since back at Nancy's." "Then they shave my head and fix me with a rubber diaper and get to it." "if you ask me." "though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death..." "Would you get a move on?" "I haven't got all night." "You heard the man." "Hit it." "you pansies?" "He's gone." "man." "You can bang on that door all night if you want to." "There is no way in hell I'm letting you in." "Shellie." "Everything we've shared - it has to mean something to you." "Ha." "It meant plenty." "Plenty of lost pay on account of how nobody wants to flirt with a waitress whose face is all purple and swollen up with bruises." "baby." "And I forgive you for that without you even asking me to." "There's a difference between getting honked off and finding out that you've been sweet-talked by a total jerk loser who skips out on a wife that he doesn't even tell you about which is way too often!" "Especially the kind of total jerk loser who has to beat up on a girl to make himself feel like a man." "Shellie." "but don't go trying to cut my nuts off." "I am impossible to get." "like a shrink." "Get help and get lost." "Just open the door." "Shellie." "I'll take care of this." "Just open the door and you'll see how wrong you've been about me." "Shellie." "I'm ready for him." "you don't know how bad this could get!" "mean drunk on. breathing hard and just as drunk as he is." "I could swear I heard somebody in there with you just now." "it's a regular African love fest in here! and half the bench of the Basin City Blues keeping me company." "You feel like taking them on?" "baby." "Some of my best friends..." "But you're really pushing my buttons." "I could kick this damn door to splinters." "you know what I can do." "then!" "all right!" "make yourself at home." "You brought your whole pack with you?" "they gotta hang out with you?" "baby." "You're gonna call up some of your friends who work the saloon. and it's gonna be great." "I ain't calling up nobody." "and I'm sure as hell it ain't one of mine." "You got somebody's love stink all over you." "You've been with another man and you've been with him tonight." " Who is he?" " He's Superman. 'cause you scared him so bad." "You think I have no feelings at all. you sick bastard. right in front of my friends." "I have never hit a woman in my life." "man." "You goddamn bastard." "You goddamn coward." "we're all here to have a good time." "I gotta take a leak." "Jackie Boy." "Then you could've met my boyfriend." "Could've seen what a real man looks like." "after my nuts again." "But I forgive you." "I'm a generous guy." "He is generous." "But that temper of his..." "You never should have picked on him like you did." "My temper you don't have to worry about." "Shut up and keep your hands to yourself or I'll cut your little pecker off." "I've been told." "I don't hear you making those calls." "Answer me!" "I don't need this grief." "Hi." "I'm Shellie's new boyfriend and I'm out of my mind. and I'll cut you in ways that'll make you useless to a woman." "man." "A big mistake." "Yeah?" "You already made a big mistake yourself." "You didn't flush." "get outta here." "damn it." "No questions." "Now!" "what in the devil did you do to him?" "I just gave him a taste of his own medicine." "I don't think he'll be bothering you again." " How's your jaw?" " I've been slapped around worse. before you showed up again with that new face of yours." "And it was only 'cause I felt sorry for him." "And it was only once." "I've done some dumb things." "Shellie." "he's a menace." "He might kill somebody if I don't stop him." "I'll call you later." "don't go!" "Shellie shouts something I can't quite make out over the racket of a passing police 'copter." "but I can't be sure." "and let Jackie Boy and his pals find their fun." "They're a pack of predators and they're out for blood tonight - a woman's blood." "Dwight." "Damn it." "You fool." "You damned fool." "I cut my Caddy across the park to pick up Jackie Boy heading like a bat outta hell up the hill." "I'm speeding." "That's a good way to get yourself noticed." "And if you're a murderer with a new face" "the last thing you want is to get noticed." "there's always the outside chance he's one of the honest ones." "or do I take this cop down and risk it all?" "steaming pile of trouble." "Jack!" "Cops!" "They're right on our ass!" "Not for long." "Not where we're headed." "My gut tightens up." "Jackie Boy's leading us straight to Old Town." "The cop shuts off his siren." "not in Old Town." "beautiful and merciless." "they'll make all your dreams come true." "you're a corpse." "baby." "sugar." "We'll get you there." "Sweetheart." "I work the day shift and it's been a long day." "I don't do group jobs." "baby." "We'll just talk." "It'll be nice." "either." "I've had me one hell of a bad day." "I've been beat up every time I turn around." "But the day I get turned down by a hooker hard-earned cash to pay her with... well... there's only so much a man can take." "Go try the Alamo over on Dillon Street." "not the Amigo." "The Amigo's a fag joint." "Are you having a good time humiliating me like this for no damn reason at all?" "Dwight." "We've been on top of these peckerwoods since they first showed up with that cop behind them." "Everything's under control." "Enjoy the show." "There's no use arguing with her." "The ladies are their own enforcers." "the one that never shuts up?" "Gail." "aren't we?" "Dwight." "You worry too much." "anyway." "Gail." "Not right now." "Those clowns down the way - they some of the barmaid's boyfriends?" "One of them thinks he is." "He's outta control." "I followed them here to make sure he didn't hurt any of the girls." "Us helpless little girls." "and still it's hard to take my eyes off her." "Lancelot." "Those boys in that Chrysler are one mistake away from seeing what Miho can do." "And she's been aching for some practice." "She guides my glance upwards to the pixie perched on the roof's edge." "cowboy." "Turn around." "Save yourself and your buddies a ton of grief." "You're a sassy little thing." "You ain't hardly in any kind of position to be making threats." "locked and ready to spring." "So what?" "They're scum." "They deserve what's coming." "So why this rotten feeling in my gut that something is awfully wrong?" "They haven't killed anybody I know about." "but they didn't kill anybody." "And they won't." "Why this rotten feeling?" "Something Shellie said." "I can't place it." "OK." "I sounded off a little more than I should have." " I'm a little on edge." " Over the edge." "It's not a woman you need." "It's a good night's sleep." "the state you're in." "Jack." "You wanna see it?" "You wanna see what I got?" "all sizes." "You seen this one?" "Get in the car." "you just gone and done the dumbest thing in your whole life." "no!" "This is crazy!" "for no reason at all!" "Go ahead." " He's got the drop on her." " He's got squat." "He's dead." "He's just too damn dumb to know it." "I got you right where I want you." "whore." "Jackie Boy." "This isn't funny." "Don't anyone laugh." "I got friends you can't imagine." "Every one of you is gonna burn." "Hang it up." "She's just playing with you." " You're only making it worse." " You shut the hell up." "Don't pull the trigger." "She blocked the barrel." "It'll backfire." "I told you to shut up." "I can't see." "What's happening?" "I can't see." "I can't hear anything." "finish him." "will you?" "She doesn't quite chop his head off." "She makes a Pez dispenser out of him." "Then it's straight to business - stretching the corpses out on the alley floor divvying up cash when they find it." "I'm fishing around in Jackie Boy's pants." "His wallet is packed." "and nearly 300 bucks worth of twenties that I'm not too proud to stuff into my own pockets." "Then I find an atom bomb." "you son of a bitch." "I couldn't quite make out what she said." "I thought Shellie said "stop. "" "She said "cop. "" "Detective Lieutenant Jack Rafferty." "the papers call him." "A goddamn hero cop." "the shaky truce." "The cops get a slice of the profits and free entertainment when they throw a party." "The girls get to administer their own brand of justice." "They get to defend their own turf." "If a cop blunders into the neighborhood" "but they send him back alive." "That's the rules." "That's the truce." "The cops stay out." "That keeps the girls free to keep the pimps and the mob out." "Old Town will be left wide open." "It'll be war." "The streets will run red with blood - women's blood." "The cops!" "The mob!" "Things are gonna go back to the way they used to be!" "The hell they will!" "We got guns." "We'll fight the cops and the mob and anybody else who tries to move in on us." " We'll go to war." " Don't be stupid." "You wouldn't stand a chance." "Get me a car." "Make sure it's a hardtop with a decent engine." "I'll hide the bodies." "Did you forget that cop car that trailed them here?" "The cops know Rafferty came here." "they'll check the sewer." "They'll find him and come gunning for us." "I'll haul the bodies to the pits." "The cops won't check the pits." "Get that gun out of my face or I'll smack ya." "giving orders?" "Gail." "You got what you wanted out of me!" "off playing with that barmaid." "Gone until you brought this unholy mess on us." "Miho moves to my back." "One word from Gail and she'll cut me in half." "They'll be watching the roads." "They'll catch you." "It'll be the bad old days all over again." "the rapes!" "they won't!" "Get me a damn hardtop!" "you can have your war." "Get that gun out of my face now!" "Bastard!" "I forgot how quick you are." "My warrior woman." "shoving my mouth into hers so hard it hurts." "gray years between the now and that one fiery night when she was mine." "A hardtop with a decent engine." "And make sure it's got a big trunk." "baby." "Always... and never." "Where'd you find that heap?" "Just look at that trunk." "We'll never fit 'em all in. you think maybe I could go home?" "All this blood and stuff's got me kind of feeling like maybe I'm gonna hurl." "go home." "not even your mom." "They'll never fit in that trunk." "they won't." "Miho." "Dry your hair as soon as you get home!" "You'll catch cold if you don't." "Becky." "Gail said no calls." "I just want to hear my mom's voice." "I won't tell her nothing." "don't say nothing to Gail." "Mom?" "Dizzy dames." "sticking me with a beat-up bucket of bolts like this?" "we packed it so tight." "out where anybody who cares to look will see him." "take one of his cigarettes." "It'll help." "bud." "Jackie Boy." "You're dead." "so shut the hell up." "don't it?" "It's got you hearing things." "It's got your nerves shot." "It's got you smoking." "You know it's true." "Nobody ever really quits." "A smoker's a smoker when the chips are down." " And your chips are down." " I'm fine." "You shut the hell up." "Will you look at that?" "Those hookers let you down." "call AAA?" "you." "You ain't even gonna make it to the pits." "You shut the hell up." "I'll make it." "sugar pie." "Watch it!" "This is great." "Just like being in a buddy movie." "Shut up!" "you're screwed." "It's over." "You're flushed." "I can't bring myself to tell him to shut up." "he's an asshole." "he's dead." "I'm just imagining that he's talking." "None of that stops the bastard from being absolutely right." "I don't have a chance in hell of outrunning this cop." "Not in this heap." "Pull over!" "The only question left is whether I'm gonna kill him or not." "Tough call. a wife and a pile of kids. sliding one of my guns to my lap and thumbing back the hammer." " I don't know what to do." " You better stop." "You're making him mad." "Whatever you say." "Your friend here..." "party a little too hard tonight?" "I'm the designated driver." "you're driving with a busted tail light." "I'll let you off with a warning." "What next?" "The tank goes dry a quarter mile from the pits." "I shove the T-Bird the rest of the way." "A few minutes' more work and it'll all be over." "go home and call it a..." "Dallas." "Do what I say." "Clear the streets." "We're in lockdown." "We're not selling any tail in Old Town." "Not tonight." "Don't struggle." "You'll only hurt yourself." "Your cause is lost." "We know everything. and the truce between your prostitutes and the police will be shattered." "There'll be arrests." "There'll be deaths." "My employer will seize what remains of this neighborhood." "You will all be slaves." "Nothing can stop this." "But it is within your power to save many lives by negotiating the terms of the surrender of Old Town." "Son of a bitch!" "I know you." "I have suffered your kind before - the dregs of Sin City. and soon you and all your wretched kind will serve him as well. he is surely dead." "You don't know him." "My man will find a way." "He always finds a way." "I can't fathom these Americans always whining and going on about how they got it so bad." "grand country." "it is." "land of opportunity." "Where else would one bullet buy us the fortune that we're getting for this?" "Sure beats the living hell out of blowing up airports and churches without shite to show for it." "Yeesh." "Murphy?" "dead cop's badge." "It's all bent up." "What's this stuck in it?" "Bloody hell." "It's the bullet." "You son of a bitch!" "Bastard!" "these four." "They were mercenaries." "the bad times haven't even started yet." "And everything seemed to be going so well." "Brian." "Ronnie." "Lend me your knife." "Should I take a nap while I'm doing all this waiting?" "all right?" "There we go." "Have you ever seen anything so pretty in your whole life? OK?" "now." "No air to breathe." "oily tar taste creeping up my nostrils." "Let it in." "Let it fill your lungs." "They were counting on you and you blew it." "steely fingers at my wrist." "you're an angel." "You're a saint." "You're Mother Teresa." "You're Elvis." "You're God." "we'd still have Jackie Boy's head." "they got Gail!" "It's a cinch." "You got yourselves a spy in Old Town." "A stoolie who sold you out to the mob." "We gotta find out who it is and rescue Gail." "we gotta get our hands on Jackie Boy's head before it gets to wherever it's going and this whole situation blows wide open." "I hope to hell you left one of 'em alive enough to talk." "I let him know I'm not fooling around." "We talk." "Stay smart." "Stay cool." "It's time to prove to your friends that you're worth a damn." "that means dying." "it means killing a whole lot of people." "There they are." "What do we do?" "Dallas." "Jackie Boy's head is so close to me" "I could almost reach out and grab it right then and there." "Get the head!" "I got it!" "you stupid slag!" "but I'm on my feet and every ounce of me wants to get some killing done." "sweetheart?" "So come down and get it!" "Brave lad. if I hadn't got me revolver all wet and useless." "love." "I'm as helpless as a baby." "sweetheart." "It was an outright lie I was giving ya about me revolver being wet." "I'm not too fond of shooting'." "It's my preference to blow things up." "Once you blast the roof off a pub a little bang bang's never gonna match the sight of that." "with all these fine grenades and such a sweet beauty of a remote." "But it's me knife I'll be doing you with." "You killed me mates." "Someone shoulda told ya - never give an Irishman good cause for revenge." "Deadly little Miho." "You won't feel a thing unless she wants you to." "She twists the blade." "He feels it." "I tell Miho what we're gonna do and how we're gonna do it." "I grab poor Dallas's car phone and make the most important call of my life." "then comes the kill." "fat kill." "Do we just gotta stand here and watch this?" "man?" "I could watch old Manute do his thing all night long and not get tired of it." "the man's an artist." "Only an artist should be allowed to touch such a beautiful subject." "Your skin is perfect." "responsive." "Beautiful." "Gail." "Gail." "There's no fighting them." "Dwight's dead." "They got what's left of that cop we killed." "the cops are gonna mow us down." "We gotta cut a deal." "You little bitch!" "You sold us out!" "I didn't have no choice!" "They was gonna hurt my mom." "You gotta cut a deal with these people." "you holding out like this." "You're gonna get a lot of girls killed for no good reason." "It wasn't your mom!" "We could have protected her and you know it." "you stupid little bitch!" "you could've moved my mom into Old Town and let her know that her daughter's a goddamn whore." "doesn't it?" "They offered me what you couldn't never offer me - a way out." "I had to watch out for my own neck." "Your neck." "little neck!" "you crazy whore!" "fetch my blades." "I was promised!" "Stupid little bitch!" "You deserve worse!" "I knew there was a reason I got out of bed this morning." "Nobody." "I don't see nobody." "look." "There's something wrapped around it." "Some kind of note." "Give it to me." "look." " It's starting to really hurt." " Out back." "Everyone." "And bring the women." "Do you think somebody should call me a doctor or something?" "you fool." "Guys?" "armed to the teeth." "outgunned." "dark and very narrow." "They can't surround me." "you can beat the odds with the careful choice of where to fight." "I don't care." "Just give me the woman." "Shut up." "don't do this." "or I'll plug you!" "Mr. McCarthy." "A fair trade." "She's all yours." "if you'll explain to me why we shouldn't blow both of you to pieces... what have you done?" "Exactly what I had to." "Every step of the way." "No!" "It isn't right!" "There wasn't no tape over his mouth!" "How come there's tape over his mouth?" "Where to fight counts for a lot." "but it will do you no good." "But there's nothing like having your friends show up with lots of guns." "you shit!" "The girls all know the score." "no mercy." "We gotta kill every last rat bastard one of 'em." "Every last one." "not because it'll make the world a better place." "We need a heap of bloody bodies" "he'll see what it cost him to mess with the girls of Old Town." "The Valkyrie at my side is shouting and laughing" "and so am I." "baby." "It'll burn us both." "my Valkyrie." "You'll always be mine." "Always... and never." "officer." "do I?" "You read the papers." "you've seen plenty of my picture." "You know who I am and what I can do." "Hartigan." "I'm doing you." "You blew my son's ear off." "You blew his arm off." "You even blew his nuts and his pecker off." "He's in a coma right now." "They say he may never come out of it." "My boy. dickless freak." "Pullin' that trigger make you feel powerful?" "Power don't come from a badge or a gun." "Power comes from lying." "and gettin' the whole damn world to play along with you. you've got 'em by the balls." "maybe 500 people in this hospital?" "and I wouldn't even be arrested." "Everyone would lie for me - everyone who counts." "all their own lies - everything that runs Sin City - it all comes tumbling down like a pack of cards." "But I want you firm and fit and healthy." "I'm even putting up cash of my own to get you more surgery." "Fix that heart condition of yours." "You're gonna keep on living a long time." "I'm gonna make sure of that." "and shooting my boy. destroyed... alone." "Your wife?" "You tell her the truth and she's dead." "You tell anybody the truth and they're dead." "They won't let me testify." "I told the cops that you saved my life and they just acted like I was crazy." "They talked my parents into keeping me away." "They said that you'd done things that you didn't do. but they won't even check me out to see that I'm still a virgin." "still alive - thanks to you." "They got it all backwards." "the truth doesn't matter like it ought." "But you'll always remember things right." "That's gonna mean a lot to me." "Nancy." "They'll kill you if you don't stay away." "Don't visit me." "Don't write me." "Don't even say my name." "Hartigan." "I'll sign my letters "Cordelia." "That's the name of a really cool detective in books I read." "I'll write you every week... for forever." "kid." "run on home." "It's not safe for you here." "Nancy." "I love you." "John Hartigan." "Mr. Law and Order." "Mr. By the Book." "Mr. High and Mighty." "being such a straight arrow for so damn many years without it catching up with you." "friend of mine." "It's catching up with you but good." "Maybe I oughta look at him." "He doesn't look too good." "Tammy." "See?" "He's the picture of health." "isn't she?" "I rented her out of Old Town." "not in prison." "Hartigan? you might just get some of Tammy." "You see that?" "She flinched." "You make her sick." "She heard about you and that little girl." "and I'm paying it." "then turn around and throw her to the dogs." "you don't." "They want a confession." "They won't get it." "There was a letter from Nancy waiting when they put me in solitary." "just like she promised." "She makes no mention of anything that would give her away." "I figure she'll send another note or two before her young mind moves on to better things." "another one arrives." "What a sweet kid." "I do my best to keep my hand from shaking when I reach for it." "She's the only friend I've got - the daughter I never had." "My sweet Cordelia." "Skinny little Nancy Callahan." "Eight years pass." "looking for a letter from Nancy that isn't there." "Then another Thursday with no letter." "Is she all right?" "Did something happen to her?" "Nothing." "Two months now - not a word from Nancy." "Did they find her?" "Did they get to her?" "Of course!" "Stupid old man." "Do your math." "Nancy's 19 years old." "How long did you expect her to keep writing?" "She was a saint to keep it up as long as she did." "old man." "You're alone." "You're all alone." "This guy smells awful - like bad food." "Like a corpse left in a garbage dumpster in the middle of summer." "I want to throw up." "the bastard." "I see it." "but there's no letter inside of it." "something that ought to be alive - a hunk of meat and bone that ought to be the index finger of the right hand of a 19-year-old girl." "How the hell did they find her?" "She was so careful." "She never gave away where she lives or where she works." "I've got to get out." "I've got to help her." "either." "It's only one final surrender they want." "Roark." "You beat me." "just the way they want to hear it." "wretched child molester." "I agree to everything they want from me." "Nancy." "Hartigan." " You care for a ride?" " Long as you stay in front of me." "Prison's made you paranoid." "Talk about water under the bridge." "Christ." "Eight years." "if it's any consolation to you... you made me hate myself." "Any word from Eileen?" "She got remarried four years ago." "John." "Don't be." "I'm glad." "Eileen always wanted kids." "She'll make a good mother." "Bob - water under the bridge." "then I go looking for the only human being on the planet who means a damn to me " "Nancy." "How could they have found out it was you writing all those letters to me?" "How did they find out who you are?" "baby?" "Not a sound." "No sign of life." "like a kid poking at a fly when he's already torn his wings off?" "What has he done to Nancy?" "It's like all she ever does is read and study and write." "no phone numbers or addresses written down anywhere." "Closest thing to a clue is a pack of matches from a lousy saloon." "but maybe she's got some friends there." "A dead end." "Nancy wouldn't have anything to do with a pack of drunks and losers like this." "the faintest lead to wherever Nancy is this is the place." "miss." "Wondering if you could help me." "I'm looking for somebody." "stranger." "It's not like that." "Her name is Nancy." "pilgrim." "She's just warming up." "Skinny little Nancy Callahan." "She grew up." "She filled out." "19 years old." "maybe a bit too shy for her own good." "How little she told me about herself in all her letters for all those years." "How the hell did they find her?" "Then it hits me." "They were bluffing." "I've led them straight to her." "She hasn't spotted you yet." "Turn around and walk out the door." "Lead the creep outside." "and kill him." "I'm just a horny ex-con watching an exotic dancer." "Just a few seconds and she'll be safe." "Nancy." "Don't notice me." "Don't recognize me." "There's no time to explain." "put you in terrible danger." "We need to get out of here right this second." "Hartigan." "Let me throw some clothes on." "And here I'd figured you'd forgotten all about me." "Me and my dumb letters." "Kept me going." "Kept me from killing myself." "will you?" " Maybe I should drive." " Not a chance." "Nobody but me can keep this heap running." "you might have to shoot somebody." " I don't have a gun." " Under the seat." "It's loaded and it works." "this'll do." "Taken it to the range a couple of times." "Kicks like a mule." "there's so much I've wanted to say to you." "You've never been far from my thoughts." "thinking of you." "What are you talking about?" "Nancy." "Keep driving and keep the car on the road!" "old man." "What are you doing?" "Prove you're still worth a damn." "Nancy!" "He's a decent shot." "but he's in too much of a hurry." "Throwing away bullets like they were candy." "He doesn't know how to take his time." "Aim careful and look the devil in the eye." "Nancy." "Gotta confirm the kill." "now!" "confirm the kill." "Sorry." "I got a little rattled." "It's OK." "You did great." "Sit tight." "I'll be right back." "No!" "Let me stay close." "Nothing can happen to me when I'm with you." "Please?" "Let me stay close." "The stink" " I almost gag." "His blood smells even worse than he does." " Jesus." " And it's all over the place." "he's gone." "We're out of time." "The sirens" " I used to welcome the sound." "and figure out what on Earth I'm going to do next." "The stink - somehow it stays with us all the way to the motel." "I went to your apartment." "Your window was thrown wide open." "The rooms looked almost empty." "That's why I was sure you'd been kidnapped." "My window?" "Robbed again?" "That's the third time this year!" "I'd show you I grew up strong." "scared and helpless." " I'm such an asshole." " You should sit down." "You'll feel a little bit better if you sit down." "I've never been all that good with people." "I'm as expert as a palsy victim doing brain surgery with a pipe wrench." "Hartigan." "All these years." "Nancy." "You're just exhausted." "You need to sleep." "Nancy!" "Eight years." "Why do you think I kept writing you those letters?" "It wasn't just gratitude." "I tried to fall in love with boys." "Even thought I did once or twice." "But I was already in love... with you." "That's enough." "Jesus Christ!" "I'm old enough to be your grandfather!" " You're just scared." " I'm not scared." "No." "There's wrong and there's wrong and then there's this." "you're just a kid!" "I love you." "too." "With all my heart." "Cold shower- it helps." "Nancy." "Hartigan?" "you piece of shit cop?" "but I bet you can recognize my voice." "Junior." "Everything's gone straight to hell." "and put her in the hands of a murdering rapist I thought I'd put down for good." "Suckered by a spoiled brat son of a senator." "It's all gone to hell." "it's me." "I got a dead man needs to be fetched." "I want you to set me up for a party." "you dumb shit!" "it better be perfect or I'm calling my dad!" "My tools better be clean and sharp." "It better be ready!" "It better be perfect!" "whenever I want it!" "My dad" " I'd love him if I didn't hate him." "He spent a fortune hiring every expert on the planet just so the old fart can hold out some kind of hope of having a grandkid." "there were some side effects." "I've been having the time of my life." "And now you've led me back to your darling Cordelia." "We all wondered who wrote all those letters." "She left not a clue." "so pretty." "but I can forgive that just this once." "don't scream." "don't scream." "She'll scream." "I'm gonna take all night doing dear old Nancy." "And you're gonna die knowing that it's all your fault." "Hartigan." "Dozens of them - maybe a hundred." "Eight years' worth." "Every one of them has screamed." "I would show you how I'm gonna make dear old Nancy scream." "It's gonna be one hell of a show!" "This is it." "No way to fight it now." "No hope left." "No chance." "This is it." "This is the end." "No." "old man." "Keep your neck tight." "Move." "The window - maybe there's an alarm." "goddamn it!" "Stay conscious!" "Stay conscious." "No alarm." "The glass!" "Cut the rope." "You can do it." "It is inclement upon me to comment with marked displeasure on your rash impulsiveness" "Mr. Shlubb." "which I now put forth to you." "Wherein this most streamlined and trunkless of transports - boner-inspiring though it may be - wherein are we to reposit our recently deceased cargo?" "I can only express puzzlement that borders on alarm." "Tell me where Roark takes the girls or I'll cut your damn head off!" "creep!" "even agrarian." "The farm!" "That's all I need to hear." "Every cop on the force knows about the Roark family's farm and to stay away from it." "Shlubb and Klump were packing an arsenal." "I'll probably have use for the cannons." "I'll have to play it quiet." "Quiet and nasty." "Nancy's car- six miles from the farm." "she told me." "Good girl." "The car stalled out on that yellow bastard and you didn't tell him how to start it up again." "You kept your mouth shut." "I'll bet Junior was furious." "I'll bet he slapped you around something fierce." "But you stayed strong." "You bought a few extra minutes." "Nancy." "Don't scream." "I ditch the car a mile or so from the farm and make my way through the woods." "I'm not halfway there when it hits." "My heart." "Can't be my heart." "I was cured." "Bad cough - blood in it." "Doesn't matter now." "anyway." "but it's quiet." "Hate yourself later." "you stupid cow!" "Do you think I'm tired?" "Is that it?" "Do you think I'm getting tired?" "You're the one who's gonna crack!" "You'll crack!" "You'll cry and beg!" "You'll scream!" "ugly cow!" "You're thinking the whip was the worst I could do?" "That was foreplay." "Hartigan was right about you." "You can't get it up unless I scream." "You're pathetic!" "You're pathetic." "It's not wise at all to make fun of me like that." "It brings out the worst in me." "Stupid old man!" "In too much of a hurry." "Damn!" "It can't be!" "just like I told myself I wouldn't!" "Stupid old man!" " You tagged him good!" " Don't take no chances." "Perforate the fool." "Good advice." "Junior." "It's over." "Let her go." "Hartigan!" "I get to see your eyes while I fillet the woman of your dreams right in front of you!" "Look at you!" "You're about to keel over!" "You can't even lift that cannon!" "I can." "old man." "I'm sorry." "I'm taking no chances with you." "and then it's showtime." "Here it comes." "It's gonna hurt." "You're right about that." "Sucker." "I take away his weapon." "Both of them." "son of a bitch!" "so I stop." "Junior." "Been a pleasure." "not once." "I didn't scream." "baby." "You grew up strong." "Nancy stops shaking." "Her skin is warm again." "She's herself again." "Thanks for remembering my coat." "And for all the little things." "twice." " You better get rolling." " You're not coming along?" "to collect evidence." "I'm gonna blow this whole sick mess wide open." "I'm gonna clear my name." "I'm gonna put Senator Roark behind bars where he belongs." "not again." "Nancy." "the love of my life." "Shame to lie to her." "I hope she forgives me for it." "Get Senator Roark behind bars?" "Sure." "I'll go and punch out God." "There isn't a prosecutor in the state who'll go after Senator Roark." "I killed his only son." "The bloodline is cut." "Roark's lost his goddamn legacy." "He'll use all his power to get revenge on me." "He'll go after me through Nancy." "He'll find her again." "There'll be no end to it." "She'll never be safe." "Not as long as I'm alive." "There's only one way to beat him." "a young woman lives." "Fair trade." "Nancy." "Yes." "don't go on like that." "It's not the city." "I could've gotten in a traffic accident anywhere." "just a fracture." "The doctor said it's a clean break." "It should be right as rain in no time." "Turn the right corner in Sin City and you can find anything." "Becky." "Care for a smoke?" "Mom." "Anything."