"We are miners" "Hard rock miners" "To the shaft house" "We must go" "Pouryour bottles" "On our shoulders" "We are marching to the slow" "On the line, boys" "Freedom ofreligious worship and expression." "Drillyour holes and stand in line" "And his lack ofpolitical experience." "Soldiers ready" "His positions on crime, immigration and gay marriage... have earned him the endorsement ofseveral Christian and family values organizations." "Can't you feel the rock dust" "In your lungs" "It'll cut down a miner" "When he is stillyoung" "Two years and the silicosis" "Takes hold" "Freedom from the cultural tyranny... and the new-age demagogues." " I do mean citizen." " Yes, I feel like I'm dying" "From mining for gold" "What I'm talking about comes down to that precious word "freedom. "" "Richard Pilager cares about Colorado." "I always turn to nature... when I need to sort thi ngs out i n my m i nd... to make sense of the world." "But our environment is under siege" "Under siege?" "." "Under fire?" "." "Under attack?" "." "It's not under anything, Dickie." "It's endangered." "I always turn to nature when" "Okay." "Okay." "All right." "Look." "No, no!" "." "We'll buy 10 ofthe 20-second spots... and you'll put a hold on the next 12." "All right." "No, I'm here!" "." "I'm here!" "." "I'm shooting the bucolic fishing thing... and the press is gonna be here in about an hour... and we're gonna have to give them a photo op and position quotes." "So have the helicopter ready on my signal." "Ifthey get really pushy, I'll whisk him away." "Can'tyou find something less garish?" "." "Look at this!" " It looks like a French tickler." " It's supposed to attract the big ones." "We're trying to attract voters, okay?" "." "Not fish." "Folks." "Let's set up for rehearsal." "Director guy, the trout are gonna spit this thing out." "No, Dickie, we just wantyou to go through the action, okay?" "." "Nice and smooth, so we can get the camera movement down." " We'll deal with the props later." " Let me get out ofyourway." "Okay." "Let's start in nice and tight on the hands, move up to his face... and then go around to the front." "Okay, here we go!" "We're rehearsing!" "Roll sound." "Action!" "You know, I've always turned back to nature... to sort things out in my mind, to make sense ofthe world... but our environment" "Damn it." "Our environment is endangered." "I'm hung up on something here." " Here, let me get that foryou." " No, I can get it." "Think I hooked a Russian submarine!" "Dang, it's a whopper, whatever it is." "Oh, God." "Put that down." "Turn that off." "Now!" "Turn it off, now!" "Donna, we're scrambling here." " What is the backup location for this?" "." " Wilson's Creek." "Donna, we're gonna change location to Wilson's Creek." "Notify the press people and get the chopper in here immediately." "Dickie, you're on the chopper." "Go!" " Somebody's screwing with us, Chuck." " I'll deal with it." "Find out who it is and cut him offat the knees!" "I'm on top ofit." "Just go." "All right." "People?" "." "We're gonna relocate, and I wantyou all to follow Leslie... to Wilson's Creek, okay?" "." "Hey." "Come here." "Come here." "Come on." "Hold this." "Hold it." "Thereyou go." "Leslie, I don't want any ofthese people to leave... before I debriefthem." " Should I call the police?" "." " No." "I'll do that." " Sir?" "." " Yeah?" "." "What doyou want me to do with this?" "." "You don't reel it in, and you don't let it get away." "Boy's been through the wringer." "You understand how much we appreciate a low profile here, Sheriff?" "." "I've already spoken to Captain Fox at the State Patrol." "You have, have you?" "." "You do yourjob- and I am certain that you're very good at it- and I'm just doing mine." "Sheriff, I found something!" "I don't think that's what killed him, Davis!" "Keep looking." "Enthusiastic kid." "Just hired him." "Doyou have any idea, any guess as towhat this might be?" "." "Henry does all the guesswork on the cold ones." "These people insist on floating to the surface on my day off." "Henry." "Chuck Raven." "We met at the fund-raiser for Clark Hodges." "Right." "You're Dickie" "We were just about to shoot an environmental spot- beautiful setting, beautiful day" "then this happens." "I'm surprised you caught anything with this lure." "Kermit, my man!" "What's shakin'?" "." "You might want to run the Dustbuster over him whileyou're at it, Lupe." "Boss wants to seeyou." "Just filling out mytime sheet." "She told me to let her know the minuteyou come in." "What'd I fuck up this time?" "." "Danny boy!" "My favorite snoop." "Mort, how's the real estate moving?" "." "Got a big one on the hook, Danny." "Just gotta land her." "Later, folks!" "Mort the mogul." "He's had a big one on the hook since the day I met him." "Danny?" "." "I have a client in my office... who's brought a lot ofbusiness to this firm over theyears... and I need you to be on your best behavior." "Obviously, we at the campaign... don't want to seem too interested." "We don't want to be associated in the public mind with" "Why don'tyou just walk away from it?" "." "That's exactlywhat I intend to do." "These things tend to stick in the public mind." "People get distracted from the message." "Gerald Ford falling down that flight ofstairs." "And Carterwhacking that little rabbitwith his paddle." "I don'twant my candidate remembered as" "As the guywho hooked a stiff in Arapaho Lake." "Exactly." "There's also the remote possibility that this is not a coincidence." "I don't think I'm being paranoid... when I consider the possibility... that one of our opponents had something to do with it." "You mean somebody put a dead body in the lake as a prank?" "." "I'm not accusing the other side." "I'm saying that when you play this game to win... you're bound to step on a few toes." "There are a few loose cannons on this deck... people who hold grudges." "Who'd hold a grudge against Dickie Pilager?" "." "Unless it was some hazing incident from his fraternity days." "I am the best at what I do because I have the best intelligence." "Here are three names." "These are people who I consider to be... unstable enough orvindictive enough" "And you want them investigated?" "." "I want them confronted." "Let them know they're being watched." "Don't be subtle." "A good, stiffwarning." "Nothing actionable." "And, of course, the press is not to hear a whisper ofthis." "Totally confidential." "I'll expect a progress report by... next Thursday." "Happy hunting." "I ought to put a muzzle on you." "Sorry." "Okay, you're offjury prep." "You're on this." "Don't worry about overtime or expenses." "I really appreciate your confidence, Grace." "Don't." "Peters is still in Grand Rapids chasing the trust fund kid... and Kelly's stuck in court for the next two weeks." "What I want to know is, can I trust you?" "." "I always picturedyou in some smokyhole in the wall, hunched overyour computer... spewing your bile at the military industrial complex." "Yeah, well, it is a hole in the wall... but I'm surrounded by a bunch of anti-tobacco fascists." "I thinkwe call 'em pro-oxygen these days." "A bunch ofvegans and computer nerds." "Half of'em don't know dick." "But they at least don't buy the official story." "You're some kind of investigator now, aren'tyou?" "." "Yeah." "Some kind." "Maybeyou can do a little snooping for me for the Web site." " What's it pay?" "." " What doyou think?" "." " Bupkes." " Yeah." "I don't really do politics anymore." "Debbie always said it was bad for my mental health." "Nothing I can do about it anyway." "Listen." "I'd like to run some names byyou." "CliffCastleton." "Neo-fascist radio crackpot." "I've listened to Mr. Castleton." "Very big with the crowd that thinks our form of capital punishment... isn't painful enough." "Casey Lyle." "He was a big cheese in one of the health and safety agencies... couple ofadministrations back." " Unstable personality?" "." " What, compared toyou?" "." " Thanks." " Speaking of unstable personalities" "Madeleine Pilager." "Nympho nutcase sister." "What is this you're working on?" "." "Something that if one detail ofit ends up here on Kill-The-Rich. com..." "I get fired." "You're no fun anymore." "YourWeb site- foryou, this is a natural progression." "You neverwanted to be a mainstream news guy." " Neither did you." " Of course I did." "Ifyou hadn't talked me into pushing that fucking kickback story on Jerry Skaggs" "We were set up." "You could have triple-checked the information." "You're working for them now, aren'tyou?" "." " Them?" "." " Them that run the whole deal." "Listen... what doyou know about the Pilager family?" "." "Jeremiah Pilager, who comes here in 1870... sells dry goods at cutthroat prices to the pickers and panners." "He accepts a land deed as payment from one poor sourdough... which becomes the Pilager Seam." "So the lone wolf prospector legend?" "." "It's a crock." "Boomtown money, big mansions, extravagant lifestyles." "But when the silver bubble bursts in 1893..." "Pilager's already diversified, and he comes out richer than ever." "These days, the family fortune has switched from mines to... cow pies." "More than you can possibly imagine." "If someone doesn't dispose of this stufffrom time to time... the stockwould be up to its sirloin in shit." " The family business." " The flagship, so to speak." "The real money comes from their association with this gentleman." "You know the nameWes Benteen?" "." "As in Benteen Ranch?" "." "Benteen Realty, Benteen Medical Associates..." "Gold Mine Communications, BENagra... which produces the poo-poo the Pilagers clean up..." "Bentel Stadium." "So he's the Bentel Corporation." " Founder and CEO." " Big money guy." " Mega." " And a real piece ofwork." "During the Iran-Contra thing, he sent Oliver North's boys a set of cargo planes." "He used blacks and Chicanos to bust the unions in slaughterhouses... and then he fired half ofthem and brought in migrants without papers." "He's never once been hit on by the Immigration Service." "And he and the senator?" "." "When Richard, the son, who is fondly referred to... by his frat mates as "Dim Dickie"... sinks his inheritance into Silver City, a ghost town with an abandoned mine... which turns out to be abandoned for a good reason... guess who bails him out by paying six million dollars over its original value." "Wes Benteen." "A personal favor." "One contributor putting up over halfthe money for a senate run." " Looks kind offishy." " Unless it comes from within the family." "So, Dickie Pilager." "Not a public official yet." "Serves as a front to Benteen, bankrolling his father's campaign." "Benteen is in real estate." "He's in cattle." "He's in publishing, media, mining... utilities, waste disposal." "How much federal regulation doyou thinkthat entails?" "." "When Benteen wanted to end health and safety inspections... at his meat processing plant, SenatorJud led the charge." "So he wants his own man in the governor's mansion, someone corruptible." "There is not a corrupt bone in Dickie Pilager's body." "He's just" " What?" "." "He's user-friendly." "Wes Benteen, Chuck Raven just saywhatever they thinkwill get them what theywant." "Dickie Pilager is a true believer." "These are the guys you're working for, pal." "I wasn't even born when most ofthis happened, and it still pisses me off." "It's not like I'm helping them get elected or anything." "You're just trying to pay the rent like everybody else, right?" "." " Any dirtyou can spare though." " Come on, Mitch." "I've got... professional ethics." "Chickenshit." "Seen Nora lately?" "." "Nora?" "." "No." "I see her byline." "I hear she's engaged to some guy." "Terrific." "With the amount offederal money coming to the state decreasing" "I'm not raising taxes." "What about the shortfall in social programs?" "." "I repeat, I'm not raising taxes." "We can't just keep throwing the taxpayer's hard-earned money at these perceived- some ofthem, I admit, are real- so-called social problems." "We have to get our priorities straight." "Education is a priority." "Health care is a priority." "Our economy is a priority." "The environmental" "The whole environmental, uh, arena- that's a priority, big priority." "Building new roads and maintaining the present- keeping the infrastructure in place, where it belongs- that's a priority." "What isn't a priority, sir?" "." " What's not a priority?" "." " Yeah." "Is those matters which are less of a- not that they're not important, but" "Ifyou're gonna have a front burner... which is whereyou want your priorities" "It's like cooking." "There needs to be something sitting on the back one." "That's whereyour other organizations- your church people and your organizations... formed to help these things... will be happy to pitch in if only government would get out oftheirway." "No, no." "Press conference is at 2:00, people." "It's no fair trying to kidnap the candidate when we're late for a meeting." "One more question, sir." " Where wereyou?" "." " Gridlock." "Don't ever letyourself get caught out in the open like that again." "Who's that chick in the red?" "." "She's on me again." " The newswoman?" "." " Yeah, whatever." "That's Nora Allardyce." "She writes for the Defender." "She was on my DWI's." "All that stufffrom 10 years ago." "Give it a rest." "She'll back off." "I got something in the works." "Debbie?" "." "Debbie." "RockyMountains that I love so much... are part ofournational heritage." "They're something we must keep safe for future generations." "Debbie?" "." "We have to stimulate the economy." "We have to encourage investment... to get America working again." "Richard Pilager cares about the elderly." "Our senior citizens are the ones" "There used to be a couch here." "" D-Day. "" ""Cal I movers. "" "She's been planning this for fucking weeks." ""Sorry, but I had to do this." "Don't try to find me." "I'll call you when you calm down. "" "Modern life challenges the nuclearfamily." "I want to nurture that family... to protect andpromote those traditional values... which are the backbone ofour American" "I'm extremely cal m." "Paid for by Citizens for Responsible Government." "So, official ly, you're not here." " Yeah, the candidate" " I got the message from his people." "This guy's seriously dead." "Smells of" " What?" "." " Apricots." " Yeah." "CBI sent a pathologist out, took some tissue samples." ""Cause of death:" "Deceased suffered multiple fractures including trauma to the skull... crushed rib cage and damage to internal organs consistent with a fall. "" " Fall from what?" "." " That's manner of death." "I left that blank so far." "Pathologist faxed me this." " "A residue of cyanide" " He was poisoned too?" "." "was present on hair and skin... but none was present in lungs, stomach or liver"" "Like he'd been dipped in the stuff." "What else?" "." " "Chlorine in the lungs"" " Like from a swimming pool, chlorine?" "." "Your guess is as good as mine." "I'm just a county coronerwith a law degree." "Any idea who he is?" "." "Was." "Hispanic male, late 20s, early 30s." " He's dark, but how doyou get Hispanic?" "." " Check out the dental work." "See, that kind of gold, we're talking Mexico, maybe Guatemala." "Probably a manual laborer." "There's heavy callousing on the hands." "Here's where the fish hook snagged him." "Any I D on his clothes?" "." "Bought his shoes at Wal-Mart." "Other than that, he's just anotherJuan Doe." "This is his only distinguishing feature." "Can I take a photograph ofthat?" "." "Have one of mine." "You!" "You're the oneworking forthe Pilagers." "I'm not here officially." "I'm supposed to keepyou in the loop on this." "Danny O'Brien." "You used towrite for the Mountain Monitor." "When it existed, yeah." " And you are?" "." " Timberline County SheriffJoe Skaggs." "I used to know a Jerry Skaggs." " My brother." " How's he doing?" "." "He died a year ago of colon cancer." " I'm sorry to hear that." " No, you're not." "This should be totally routine... so don't go making it complicated." "I wouldn't think ofit." "You know who he is?" "." "CBI has nothing on his fingerprints." "The falls we get... it's usually one of our many climbing enthusiasts up from Boulder." "Theywander offthe trail to admire theview, you know." "Haveyou checked the stomach for granola?" "." "Sorry." "He's got that... crossed-the-border-crammed-in-a-car-trunk look to him." "We find a lot ofthose boys out in the bush." "We never do get an I D." "Ifyou do stumble on anything that pertains to this case... what's the first call you're gonna make?" "." "Timberline Sheriffs Department." "Ifanything goes public before I know about it..." "I'm coming afteryour ass." "Seeyou, Henry." "I don't think he likes you." "Russell, I can senseyourfrustration." "But what'syourpoint?" "Okay, we go run their dictators out ofthe country... and suddenly it's our responsibility to pay for reconstruction?" "Ifl have Terminix come over to get rid ofsome vermin... they hand me the bill, not the other way around." "I'm with you a hundred percent, my friend." "It's the price ofdemocracy, and it's only fair they're the ones to pay it." "Listen, we 're out oftime, but I appreciate allyour calls today... especial ly that wi ng nut from Boulder." "Eat some red meat, buddy." "Your brain needs the protein." "This is Cliff Castleton." "You've been listening to The Hot Seat on KQRY... the free voice..." "ofthe American Rockies." " Mr. Castleton." " Talk to me." "Danny O'Brien." "I'm here sort of on behalf ofthe Pilager campaign." "Dickie didn't send you over." "His little pit bull did." " Thatwould be?" "." " Chuck Raven." "You know Mr. Raven." "Chucky and I go back to campus politics." "You know the American Students' League?" "." "The information tables at the airport?" "." "Something about nuking Jane Fonda." "God, we miss her." "Soyou and Mr. Raven were college buddies?" "." "I was in line to be national president ofthe ASL." "The right wing answer to Abbie Hoffman." "There was going to be an orderly succession... strict adherence to parliamentary procedures... when we start hearing about credential challenges at the regional chapters." " And behind this is?" "." " Chuck Raven." "Mr. ifyou Can't Win The Game, Just Change The Rules." "We come to the convention, we've got two sets of delegates fighting over the seats." "Bedlam." "We have to kick it up to the party for a ruling." "Totally humiliating." "This is when the Democrats were riding high." "So we become this embarrassment." " And who's the man to make the decision?" "." " I have no" " Judson Pilager." " The senator." "Who Chuck Raven has been carefully cultivating, knowing this would come up." "He wrote his damn thesis on the senator, went to picnics with the family." "I'm not only screwed in the election." "From that moment on, I'm persona non grata with the party." "Soyou tell Chuckywhatever he wants, he can go fuck himself." "You're being watched." "What?" "." "He wants you to know you're being watched." "There's a perception that you might have it in for the candidate." "There's more than a perception." "I let the little snot have it with both barrels at least once a broadcast." "They think they can get me to back down by investigating me?" "." "He's wishy-washy on right to life." "He's got no plans for dealing with this alien invasion we're in the midst of." "You go to Pueblo, English is the second language, ifnot the third." "He's a draft dodger and a mama's boy and a dimwit." "Ifhewasn't running against a known communist, I'd run him out ofthe state." "What I'm saying is... ifyou were to do anything illegal to embarrass the candidate" "Ifl were to pasteyou one in the mouth right now, would that be illegal?" "." "I don't think that'll be necessary." "You come into my studio with threats and intimidation." " Thankyou foryourtime." " Tell Chuck Raven I'm not afraid ofhim!" "I'll conveyyour sentiments." "Best luckwith your show." "Hewants a piece ofme, he knows where to find me!" "Little prickwouldn't last 30 seconds on the airwith me!" "I want them dead in thewater!" "Listen to me." "If, when we are finished here... ifhe can still show his face in the state ofColorado... we will have failed our mission!" "Okay?" "." "Okay?" "." "Just do it." "Okay." "So how did it go with our friends from Cherry Hills?" "." "I think they get it." "They can finance the attack campaign" "Public information outreach." "As long as it's limited to phone calls and print material... financed directly through the educational committee they set up." "And we provide them with" "Advise them." "Advise them on which agency to hire on the content ofthe print material... and the text for the phone messages." "We give them voter lists, home and work numbers" "Stephanie, getJim Wilkinson at The Defender... and when my call from Washington comes through, get it to me right away." "When will these ads get here?" "." " Where the hell is he?" "." " He's in with his spiritual advisor." "Oh,Jesus Christ!" "He may be in there too." "We're talking about murder." "The murder ofinnocents." "There's a limit towhat I can do on this, Billy." "It's the kind ofissue that attracts a lot ofpeople to the polls... whowouldn't ordinarilyvote." "Ifyou were to take leadership on the issue... throw the full force of your office behind it" "Ifyou can get it on a referendum." "I honestly don't think it would pass... not in the secular climate we live in." "But when Moses found the children oflsrael... prostrate before the golden calf, did he call for a referendum?" "." "No, he did not." "Excuse me, Reverend Tubbs." " We need him." " We're discussing the children oflsrael." "We must obey the 11 th Commandment:" ""Thou shalt not keep the press waiting"" "With a planned community, you knowwhatyou're getting." "People own their houses, they own shares in the amenities... but the corporation calls the shots." "This whole section here will be assisted living." "The lake is a nice attraction." "The lake is the key." "Halfthese people, they don't fish, they don't boat... they can't climb a flight ofstairs, much less a mountain... but knowing it's there just around the bend" " Live in the Rockies." " We're selling a dream." "Now, of course, a few regulations need to be" "The Development Association would be happy" "Which I pay into." "The association has to concentrate on some general legislation right now." "Any individual cases would be" " You talk to Chuck Raven." " On a daily basis, yeah." "After all, he's the brains behind our future governor." "You need examples, specific instances... foryour general legislation, right?" "." "Silver Citywould be a perfect model." "That wouldn't be fair to the other members ofthe association." "Showing favoritism would compromise my position." "But ifyou were to retain my services... as a lobbyist on an individual case... there's no reason I couldn't honestly serve both clients equally... during my talks with the future governor and his staff." "Retaining." "So much of my cash is tied up with the acquisition ofthe land." "I could probablywork on a commission basis." "You mean, like, a piece ofthe action?" "." "Mort, the regulatory legislation that the governor is going to bat for?" "." "I'm writing it." "What, doyou think the association pays me to suck up to these people?" "." "We're only that far from qualifying for an economic initiative subsidy." "Timberline County is on the ropes." "And ifthe State was to relax the soil standards just a fraction" "There's no reason we couldn't... raise the river and lower the bridge at the same time." "How big a piece ofthe action would this be?" "." "In the case of capital offenses..." "I am absolutely in favor ofthe death penalty." "You hear stories about frontierjustice." "You can bet that the wrongdoers... the folks who couldn't play by the rules... they had some respect for that." "And there was no" "Taxpayers didn't pay any" "Ifthey had had taxpayers back then" "Those were the good old days, I suppose." "All you needed was a good, strong rope... and a tree to hang it from." "So you support mandatory sentencing?" "." "My message to the criminals is this:" "you straighten up or get out." "There's no place foryou in our state." "You do the crime and, by God... you're gonna have to faceyour lumps." "But the majority ofthose serving time for drug possession are" "You want to change a behavior?" "." "Stiffen the consequences." "There have been reports, Mr. Pilager... that before you entered politics, you had considerable experience" "Look, ifyou're up in a helicopter, airplane... you know, something that flies... you don't wantyour pilot intoxicated with drugs, doyou?" "." "It's that way with our schoolchildren." "Junior can't read ifhe's high on crack." "Yeah, the air is thin enough up here." "Yes." "The question you have to askyourselfis... doyou wantyour county to be thought ofas one big Superfund site?" "." "We've got Carbonville." "Or one big migrant labor camp?" "." "No offense intended." "Or doyou want Silver City... emerging like a shining phoenix from the ashes?" "." "The land." "Bentel Corporation had no further use for it." "And, of course, it's been classified as a degraded habitat." "Meaning?" "." "Meaning the environmental folks won't be breathing down our necks... once we get this project rolling." "But the soil is still full of heavy metals." "Ifyou dig a well" "We're not digging anywells." "We've got some folks downstate..." "I'm pretty surewill be happy to sell us theirwater rights." "Whywould they do that?" "." "Let's sayyou growyour crop out on an arid plain." "Gotta irrigate the hell out ofthe land." "Gotta rely on federal price supports." "Now, you pull that price support out ofthe equation... well, there's a bunch offarmers who'd be thrilled to cash in their chips... for a healthy, onetime water settlement." " How doyou know that's gonna happen?" "." " The price support is a line item... pushed into the federal budget everyyear by our senator,Jud Pilager." "He told you that" "Chuck." "Hot on the campaign trail." " How's it going?" "." " Good, good." " You know our man here?" "." " Governor." "Don't jump the gun." "You're 15 up in the polls." "Hey, I'd like to introduceyou... to some ofyour supporters out in the trenches." "This is the Timberline County Commission." "Please, don't stand up." "This is Phil, Ellie, Freddy Mondragón." "It's such a pleasure." "Hey, where's your electric train?" "." "This is Silver City." "Really." "I owned a patch ofland out where that used to be." "Pretty near lost my sh" "Mort is spearheading the development... of some ofthe property in that part ofthe state." "Nice to see private sector taking a little initiative." " Thankyou." " Right." "You folks in Timberline could use a shot in the arm, and he" "Mort." "Mort is the fella that could do it foryou." " Have a nice lunch." " Thankyou." "You too." "Terrific guy, Dickie." "He'll make a hell ofa governor." "Still writing in restaurants?" "." "Hi." "Sorry." "So this is where all the politicians hang out." "And the humble reporters who cover them." "How's..." "Debbie?" "." "She moved out..." "from where she was living, with me." " Oh." "Sorry." " Took the furniture." "I should have been suspicious when she bought all those boxes from Staples." " Soyou were having problems." " Apparently." "We weren't" "Maybe she wanted somebody more predictable." "You're totally predictable, Danny." "You get involved in something positive, then find a way to fuck it up." "And you're" "I'm... fine." "Fine." "They have me assigned to the governor's race, so" " Listen, there's a work thing." " Areyou still a private eye?" "." " Investigator, yeah." " Yeah." "Your friend who worked in health care with the migrants?" "." " Rebecca Zeller." " Zeller." "Right." " She still in town?" "." " In the phone book." " Sorry I'm late." " Hey." "Just greasing the rustywheels of government." "Hi." "Chan, this is Danny, who I told you about." "Danny, ChandlerTyson." " Danny" " Ex-boyfriend from hell Danny?" "." " Yes!" "Hi." "I knowyou." "Really?" "." "I don't think so." "Yeah, on TV." "That was a while ago." "The public statements I was making... on behalf ofthe industry." " You're a tobacco lobbyist." " One of our clients, yes." "You said there was no scientific evidence that smoking can cause cancer." "I see myself as sort of a champion ofthe underdog." "Every point ofview, no matter how politically incorrect... deserves an advocate in the court of public opinion." "I heard thatyou were with somebody new, but, hey, a champion ofthe underdog." " Great." " It was nice to seeyou, Danny." " Yeah." "Right." " Rebecca Zeller." "Yes." "Keep up the good fight." "Thanks." "Of course, getting dentists to see Medicaid patients was never any picnic." "And then the migrants... they'd rather chew aspirin for the rest oftheir lives... than risk getting the I NS involved." " Who hires undocumented workers then?" "." " Who doesn't?" "." "Nice, cheap laborwho can't complain to the authorities... ifthey're ripped off or mistreated." "Just continue around straight, Mr. Scarpa." "That's it." "Doyou have a list of employers?" "." "Six months old." "A lot ofthese characters, these little construction outfits and whatnot... they move around." "It's a place for me to start." "You really blew it, you know?" "." " With Nora." " Tell me about it." "She was devastated after she left you." "She seems pretty happy with this Chandler guy." " Mercenary little prick." " You've met him." "I'm working for- this is strictly confidential, by the way- a close friend ofyour employer." "The Pilager family?" "." "Look, I onlywant to know if any ofyourworkers are missing." "What, these guys?" "." "They're all missing." "They don't exist, right?" "." "Illegal." "Undocumented." "Whatever." "Look, this is a prep crew." "The foundation, the frame and the roof." "I don't get into citizens until the plumbing and wiring go in." " This is standard practice?" "." " Ifyou want to stay competitive, it is." "Look, I'm a subcontractor." "Bentel hires someone, who hires me... and I hire a guy to go out and find these "trabajeros" on a job-to-job basis." "I ask him no questions." "If somebody doesn't show up forwork?" "." "My labor contractor makes sure there's somebody ready to take his place." "I don't know the language." "I don't even learn their names." "It's like, "Yo, amigo," and you show 'em whatyou want." "The Immigration?" "." "You know, the funny thing, working for Bentel... we don't seem to have too much trouble from them." "Right." " Corona." " It's conoce." "You don't say "sabe" when you're asking about a person." "It's" "It's not "el mano"?" "It's irregular." "Like a gringo coming to this bar asking questions." "Irregular." "Right." "So what's his name, this tipo you're looking for?" "." "I don't know." "Tough to find somebody, you don't know his name." "He has this on..." "la mano." "There's a reward for this information?" "." " There could be." " How much?" "." "$100... to whoever can put the name to this tattoo." "Tony Guerra." "That's the name." " Who's Tony Guerra?" "." " Speaking." "I'll take 20s ifyou got 'em." "What doyou want with me?" "." "I gotta warn you." "I'm a citizen." "I don't have to take no shit." "It's notyou." " How doyou know that?" "." " You're still breathing." "Where'd you get the tattoo?" "." "Me and the lavaplatos from my kitchen... we went out one night, I got a little borracho." " You're a cook?" "." " I'm a chef, porfavor." "Up in Vail, with the ski bunnies." "We're talking blue corn polenta with mango-chipotle salsa... free-range sage hens stuffed with chestnuts." "The tattoos." "I saw it on a wall in this place we went, liked the way it looked." "I asked the dude, "Lay it on me"" "I keep my own records, you know, ifyou can call it that." "I have them sign when they come in." "I check their I D ifthey look underage." "Redeye Stinger." ""Tony Guerra"" " He was pretty drunk, that guy." " No, not him." "Try earlier." "I only done one other stinger this year." "Doyou remember anything about him?" "." "The other one." "Another Mexican." "I think." "I get so many bean-eaters in here." "I was probablyjust glad it wasn't her again." "I could do that tat with my eyes closed." "So, is this like a cop thing?" "." "I imagine they'll get around toyou pretty soon." "There he is." "Lázaro Huerta." "And the catererwill be here very, very early." "I get up with the sun." "How's my" "How's the candidate holding up?" "." "Give it to me straight." "He doesn't haveyour head for policy." "I'd like to see him plowing his way through the appropriations bill." "He's never been much ofa reader." "Well, we break it down and feed it to him bite-sized." "He's impatient." "He's always been impatient." "He's knuckling down." "You have every reason to be proud ofhim." "Publicly" "He's a fucking disaster when he's offthe script." "I don't thinkwe have to worry so much about him straying that far." "I mean, as long as nothing comes flying in from left field." "And what would that be?" "." "In Carbonville... right next to Everything For A Buck store." "I've looked up 18 Huertas in the phone book." "I've called them all." "Shit!" "I seem to be missing a microwave oven." "Ifanything else comes up, I'll make sure to get back toyou, Sheriff." "Okay." "She takes the broom, leaves the dustpan." "Story of my life." "Hello?" "." " Yes, hi, it's" " Danny?" "." "Yeah." "It was great to seeyou the other day." "You looked really good, Danny." "Hey, if this is about me and Chandler" "No, no." "This is business." "I'm doing a little background on the Pilager family... and sinceyou're covering the" "I'm actuallygoing to a function at the senator's house tomorrow... a thank-you for their big fund-raisers." "Ifyou promise to be on your best behavior" "That would be great." "Chandlerwon't mind, will he?" "." "It's a fund-raising thing." "Whywould he mind?" "." "Nora, I've been thinking a lot aboutyou lately." "Even before Debbie left, I" "Danny, stop." "It's too late, all right?" "." "It's really sweet ofyou, but we've both moved on, haven't we?" "." "Yeah." "Right." "We're yesterday's news." "Sorry to botheryou at this hour." "Good night." "Good night, Danny." "Richard Pilager cares about the family." "So, what did you see in him?" "." "He was intense." "You know, he cared about things." "Oh, my God." "He used to" "He used to write on the walls." " Like graffiti?" "." " In the house." "He'd be working on a story, and he'd get so wrapped up in it... that he'd, like, get a Magic Marker... and write all the names and important facts all over the living room wall... and then he'd try to connect the dots." "Soyou had to live with it." "The landlord wasn't thrilled about it... but Danny always painted over it." "You know, he thought" "This was when we were still at the Monitor, when it was still political." "He thought that journalists should change things... you know, not just report." "He wanted to be the referee and not just the scorekeeper." "I guess." "When I was a press liaison for Fred Loomis... we had a slogan on the wall." "It said, "You don't tell us how to stage the news... and we won't tell you how to report it"" "Terrific." "Power is a locomotive, babe." "You either hop on board, or it runs right overyou." "Sounds like he laid down on the tracks." "See ya." " Dinner at La Fonda?" "." " Yeah." "He was the love of my life." "It rains like the dickens in these mountains... butyou won't see any streams running down them." "So where does the water go?" "." "Whatyou're looking at is honeycombed with hundreds... maybe thousands of mine shafts." "When you stop pumping the water out... over time those holes fill up top to bottom... till there's nowhere else for it to go." "A huge pressure builds up looking for an outlet." "In 1943... four miners broke a pick hole... in a wall to an adjacent area... that hadn't been worked in 20 years." "Water exploded out ofthat wall... drove those four fellas and their equipment... back through the shaft they'd dug, out into the main tunnel... that Newhouse had built to service the mine... blasted through an opening... and blew the water clear across the river to the other side." "For three days, water blasted out ofthat mountain- timber, tracks, loose rocks, half-ton ore cars... flying through the air like theywere toys." "You know, we think we can wound this planet." "We thinkwe can cut costs and stick the money in our pockets... and just walk awaywith it." "But someday the bill comes due." "This oreyou're looking at... assays out at about an ounce and a halfa ton... which can be worth yourwhile... depending on how much it costs you to get it out ofthe ground." "You gotta knock it down with dynamite... throw it on one ofthose carts up there... and then upstairs, run it through all the crushers... and chemicals separate out the valuable stufffrom the tailings." "Yeah." "Now, ifyou want to move up ahead to under that stope... and look offto the left... you'll see what every miner was hoping for- a vein of almost pure yellow stuff." "You can all fit in." "I'll join you in a minute." "Soyou were a miner?" "." "Mining engineer... until I went to work for the feds." "Got interested in how to do the job... better and safer." "That was under Carter." "He put some teeth in the rules." "What's your beef with Dickie Pilager?" "." "You're not here just for the tour, are you?" "." "I have to inform you you're being watched." "Is that so?" "." "There was an incident on the campaign trail the other day... and your name came up as a potential" " Perpetrator?" "." " Something like that." "It's the old man whose guts I hate." " The senator." " Him and his pal Benteen." "Take a good look, Dickie." "What doyou see?" "." "Mountains?" "." "I see a big sign that says, "No Americans allowed"" "You do?" "." "You look at a map, they got halfthe West under lock and key." "They?" "." "Bureau of Land Management, Forest Service... national parks, the State." "Right." "Right." "It's like a treasure chest waiting to be opened... only there's a 500-pound bureaucrat sitting on it." "I'm a small government man." "That's whywe choseyou, son." "Of course, the people" "The people gotta be grabbed by the horns and dragged to what's good for 'em." "The people." "You remember the shale oil?" "." "Over in Parachute." "The big oil companies say theywere gonna squeeze oil out of rock." "The people come flocking like a damn herd ofsheep." "Thought theywere all gonna get rich quick... like with every other mineral strike in the history ofthis state." "But who's left holding the shiny stuff after all the dust clears?" "." "Who?" "." " The folks that see the big picture." " Right." "That's me and you, son." "We're looking at it right now, all around us." "Right." "Couple ofweeks, I'm gonna have to call you Governor." "You know what the big picture is, don'tyou, Dickie?" "." "It's" "Privatization." "The land was meant for the citizens... not them damn pencil pushers in Washington." "Like this Silver City deal?" "." "Just a pile of mine debris I'm trying to unload." "Son, we got resources here you wouldn't believe." "Untapped resources." "You and your dad are the point men in the fight to liberate those resources... for the American people." "Aspen, Vail." "That ain't shit compared to what I could build... ifthey opened this up to somebodywith some ideas... with some know-how." "I understand." "And the people won't get it done... not by a long sight." "They get distracted worrying about some postcard idea ofthe Rockies... some black-footed ferret or endangered tumbleweed." "But if a man ofvision were to come along" "I can see it." "How's that saddle feeling?" "." "It's coming along." "We'll make a cowboy out ofyou yet." "We'ddoneso well with that one..." "I took on the second biggest hazard in the state- the Silver City mining operation." "Owned by Dickie Pilager." "He owned the land, but Benteen was leasing the mineral rights." "They go hand in glove, you know- the Benteens and the Pilagers." " Theywere still digging." " They had acres and acres oftailings... piled up from the Silver City glory days." "Looked like a pile oftrash rock... but ifyou could process it on a large enough scale" "I'm talking about bulldozers the size ofbattleships- you could make a fortune." "Providing jobs for the economically depressed." "A few, sure." "But then we started getting nasty pH readings... from the watershed all around them." "Started getting fish die-off... heavy metal residue." "The company said it was from the old mine shafts in these mountains around them." "There was nothing they could do about it." "Not true?" "." "Theywere concentrating the gold in these huge leach piles... and then dumping cyanide solution on them." " They used cyanide?" "." " Sodium cyanide." "It's a lixiviate." "Basic chemistry." "Smells like apricots for miles around." "I had an informant inside." "Or I thought I did." "Esparza- thatwas his name." "Vincent Esparza." "He told me theywere pushing all the contaminants to one side." "No treatment, no containment." "Just leaving it out there forthe elements." "And thatwas what's getting into ourwater system." "He even helped me plan my surprise inspection." "But when I got there... nothing but a bunch of empty pits... and a workforce with their lips buttoned." "I felt like an idiot." "I'd brought the press, photographers." "And your inside man, Esparza?" "." "Gone with the wind." "They said he'd been fired months earlier." "You got sandbagged." "Benteen, he doesn't take any prisoners." "He had his friend, Senator Pilager... appoint a new man at the top... whose only mission was to castrate the agency." "And who doyou think got fired first?" "." "Then they started allegations of misuse offunds." "There were even public hints about a drinking problem." "And when I tried to go back to work as a mining engineer..." "I found out soon enough I was all but unhireable in the industry." "Yeah." "And then I figured, well... since they accused me of having a drinking problem..." "I just might as well develop one." "And even with all that, you still wouldn't" "They don't have to worry about me, the Pilagers." "I know when I'm licked." "Ifthere's one thing I know all ofyou good folks have in common... it's that you know a good investment when you see one." "A big part of our agenda is up and rolling on a federal level... but it's high time we had somebody running this state... who's a hundred percent behind the program." "Hear!" "Hear!" "This has required a great commitment oftime and finances... from each and every one ofyou." "And despite the attack on our rights by Proposition 27... you folks went out and you shook the money tree like never before." "So I'm here to present our next governor... a young man who- well, who's almost as good-looking as his father." "Richard Pilager!" "I know none ofyou came here to listen to another speech." "But I'd just like to say how much I appreciate... your support in this... effort we've got going... to bring sober, responsive government back to this great state." "And you might as well pledge some money... to my daddy's next campaign whileyou're here." "Thankyou." "So, Mr. Benteen." "How's it look for the Prospectors this year?" "." " You a fan?" "." " Sure." "Why?" "." "They're fun to watch." "More fun when theywin than when they lose." " Sure." " Nothing to be ashamed of." "It's basic human behavior." "You can always pull for the underdog." "Americans don't have the patience for underdogs they used to." "They don't?" "." "A coach goes three seasons without a ring, he's out on his ass... as he should be." "Hendrickson has been off for how long now?" "." "Hendrickson isn't coming back." "People want to back a winner." "They need to feel a part of something bigger than they are." "They used to advertise the quality of a product- tastes great, whitens your teeth... shaves close, rides like a dream." "Now what do they push?" "." "America's number one soft drink." "Best-selling mid-sized utilityvehicle." "It isn't "buy the product" It's "join the club"" "You make people feel part ofa winner, they'll followyou anywhere." "You a winner, son?" "." "I like to think so." "Good boy." "You know, Dickie is not really a fine print kind of guy." "He's more intuitive." "My people have whittled the regs down pretty much to where we want them to be." "It's fairly simple stuff." ""Environmental Heritage Initiative"" "Yeah, we thought it sounded better than "Developers' Bill Of Rights"" "You breathe the word "deregulation," certain parties get a little uppity." " What is he doing here?" "." " You know him?" "." "His agency is looking into something for us." "Really?" "." "Good luck." "What does that mean?" "." "He used to be a reporter." "O'Brien." "Till he screwed the pooch and bankrupted his paper." "Grace Seymour hired him on the rebound." "And when was all this?" "." "I'm surprised you could find me." "You must be some kind of detective." "So this Lázaro could have worked in a kitchen?" "." "They bus them up from Carbonville every day." "Resort towns run on frijole power, man." "The richer the Anglos are... the more of mis hermanos delsur they got working for 'em." " Your restaurant caters too?" "." " I'm moonlighting, man." "They're doing a big renovation." "I got two weeks off starting tomorrow." "I figured I go up to Black Hawk... hit the casinos before my ex-wife gets ahold of my paycheck." "How would you like to work for me?" "." "You know who most ofthe labor contractors are." "What's it pay?" "." "Whateveryou make a day at the restaurant, plus 20." " Private eye, huh?" "." " Looks good on the resumé." "I'm thinking about the chicks, man." "In the movies, those cabrones make out like crazy." "You speak the language." "You know how to get around." "So what happened to this Lázaro Huerta that he's not breathing no more?" "." "Multiple fractures, busted skull, punctured lung." "Still want the job?" "." "Thanks." "Why did she dumpyou?" "." " Debbie?" "." " Yeah." "Maybe she figured out I was always gonna treat her like the consolation prize." "I mean, afteryou, I kind of retired, emotionally." "We were" " I don't know." "Incompatible?" "." "We had our issues." "She seemed way too structured for someone likeyou." "Why did you dump me?" "." "You were so down on yourself... so convinced thatyou were a loser... that I started to agree with you." " I was a loser." " You lost a job." "You were moving up, and I was moving down." "And I didn't quit the paperwhen you were fired." "That wasn't loyal." " I deserved to be fired." " You were set up." "And I was ambitious." "So, areyou marrying this guy?" "." "Seems like the mature thing to do, yeah." " That sounds exciting." " Come on, Danny." "It's not earth-shaking between us, but" "Romance is for kids." "We like to ski." "We like to travel." "He's a corporate mouthpiece." "And I'm a part of the entertainment business." "What else doyou think is out there?" "." "Look, I hopeyou're happywith it." "No, you don't." "Come on up." "There's somebody here I'd likeyou to meet." " Stay in touch." "Okay?" "." " Yeah." "I've never been so close before." "I know how much this means toyou." "The county commission went offwalking on air... when Chuck Raven brought Dickie Pilager to the table." "That was a nice thing for him to do." "Nice?" "." "I'm paying ChandlerTyson a fortune for that kind ofaccess." " A fortune?" "." " A slice ofthe pie." "But theywere starstruck, Gracie." "The zoning's in the bag." "These people will bend over backwards." "You have worked so hard." "Ifwe were a little bit more liquid..." "I'd sink every dimewe have into this thing." "Likeyou did that time with the stock market?" "." "Hell, it's more than the money." "I'm building a city, Grace." "A city." "We run something on theWeb site- information we've got- we connect the dots... and the guilty party, they pretend to ignore it." "Ifthey sue us, certain documents could be entered in a court oflaw... where ifyou deny things it's perjury." "You gotta have the documents." "It's amazing what things are blowing under my door and end up on my desk." "So, you plant the seed." "And the mainstream guys, the print journalists... they bring it to their editors and their editors say..." ""Cool yourjets." "This is too far out." "We don't have the resources." "We don't have the balls to go after this kind ofthing." "But track the story... and ifit ever breaks-"" "You gotta have the balls." "So we keep accumulating the facts... till the story is screaming out so loud it's impossible to ignore." "And they run a little test item on page six... saying allegations have been made." "Allegations?" "." "It's beneath their dignity to quote some cellar-dwellerWeb site... in their hallowed journal." "But the bastards in power have to publicly deny those allegations... and then they're fair game." "First it's the columnists taking potshots." "Then when they've got the politicians on the run... they use our legwork, our ideas to write outraged exposés and win Pulitzers." "Then they gang up like a pack ofjackals." "But somebody has to plant the seed." "The seed of doubt." "He seems a lot more gubernatorial with the sound off." "Fora dayis coming, myfriends... a great dayanda terrible day... a day when the skies shall open and the waters shall part... and the dead shall rise up and walk upon the Earth." "And the wicked and the righteous shall be judged alike." "But that day cannot come... unless the children oflsrael are within the holy land... for so it has been prophesied in the great Book ofRevelations." "So let us look at a map ofthe Middle East." "Let us look at the headlines oftoday... and see what conclusions we can draw from the evidence." "Many are the portents and the signs." "But we need to discern a pattern." "We need to connect one event with the other... and it will be clear that there are no accidents... that there is a greater force at work... and it holds the plan for Armageddon." "Richard Pilager cares about the American worker." "You work with the same bunch al I the ti me?" "." "Yeah, more or less." "As far as I know, they're all citizens." "I wasn't asking that." "Mojados are a bit cheaper, but they're not worth the hassle." "Need some hard huevos to keep 'em in line." "Not that I got anything against 'em." "I wouldn't go that far." "Butyou should check into the packing houses across town." "They got a lot of'em in there making chorizo." "Any ofyour own guys been missing the last few days?" "." "You're looking for this Lázaro, right?" "." "Cops were here this morning asking the same thing." " I'm not a cop." " No shit." "But it's like I told him." "I got no Lázaros here." "Who brings 'em up... here in Timberline County?" "." " You heard ofVince Esparza?" "." " Yeah, I've heard the name." "He's the Saddam-fucking-Hussein oflabor contractors." "They pay the coyote half up front to get them across the border... and when they're delivered here they owe Esparza the rest." " So they start in the hole." " And they stay in it." "He keeps them moving around the country... keeps them isolated, keeps them scared." "Where can I find him?" "." "You do not want to fuckwith Vicente Esparza, my friend." "I hired a few ofhis boys without knowing it once." "They'd run off or try to make theirway back home." "Next thing I know, I got a shotgun stuck in my face." "What's up?" "." "Daniel O'Brien." "I called earlier." "She's back in the rink." " Just keep heading straight through." " Thanks." "I wanna play that last one back." "Nice shot." "It bit." "Training forthe Olympics?" "." "Actually, I am." "The only sport I'm not already too old for." "No, thanks." "Helps me with the Zen aspect ofthe thing." "Eventually the arrow should become one with the bull's-eye and release itself." "Then I'll just be like a channel." " So, you from Home and Garden orwhat?" "." " I'm working for Chuck Raven." "Go on." "You're, like, really accurate with that, right?" "." "It depends on how much dope I've smoked." " How much haveyou smoked?" "." " I've lost track." "There was an incident on the campaign trail... that was potentially embarrassing toyour brother." "What, he made a speech without a teleprompter?" "." "There was a dead body involved." "Anyone I know?" "." "Lázaro Huerta?" "." "Can't place him." "Maybe just another skeleton out of Daddy's closet." "You sure you don't want a hit?" "." " You look a little tense." " No." "It makes me paranoid." "Like someone's gotyou in their crosshairs?" "." "Yeah." "Something like that." "How about a drink then?" "." "A bottle oftequila byyour left leg." "You're not gonna, like, shoot it out of my hand or anything?" "." "Relax." "Soyou're some kind of a campaign lackey?" "." " Investigator." " Am I being investigated?" "." "Mr. Raven thinks you may be harboring a grudge." "Mywhole life is a fucking grudge." "Investigator." "You go to some kind of school for that?" "." "No, I was working as a reporter." " I hate reporters." " Well, I'm not one anymore." "Fifteen years old, I'm pregnant... the fucking Mountain Monitor outs me." ""Senator's Daughter In College Sex Scandal"" "It was before my time." "The whole thing was set up." "Fly to Nevada, nice, quiet operation, back to school within a week." " You could still have had a" " Public abortion?" "." "With the Christian crusaders block-voting for my father?" "." "So he advised you not to." " I was a hopeful." " A hopeful?" "." "Yeah." "Olympic hopeful." "Figure skating." "Nine months carrying DeweyJunior... another four to recover." "My bodywasn't the same." "Your center of gravity changes... and you can't do the jumps." "That's what happened to Tonya Harding, you know." "It wasn't Nancy Kerrigan." "It was her center of gravity." "You mature, your perception changes... and you never get it back." "What's your name?" "." "You're cute." "Thanks." "If I'm being investigated, I could do worse." "Excuse me." "And who wants to know?" "." "You gotta be him." "Howyou figure on that?" "." "It's the shoes, ese." "Braceros don't be wearing their party boots on the job." "Vince Esparza." "Man, you a legend." "People sayyou got crews working all over the county." "People say a lot of shit that isn't necessarily true." "I'm looking for a guy named Lázaro Huerta." "I don't keep track oftheir names." "I'm not runnin' a summer camp here." "Would you mind ifl was to askyour jornaleros a few questions?" "." "Yeah, I would mind." "They're here to work." "Theywanna blow their nose, scratch their balls, talk about their girlfriends... they can do it on their own time." "This is a job here." "This is private property." "And ifsomeone who is not authorized to be here was to get hurt... it'd be my responsibility." "They're hiding something." "My first husband was a downhill racer." "Won the bronze at Innsbruck." "Wow." "He ditched me in, what, '85." "My girlfriend just moved out." "You poor baby." "Took my couch." "You can have this one ifyou want." "She picked it out." "It was both of ours." "She paid for half ofit." "Rodney?" "." "They called him Hot Rod." "Won the bronze?" "." "He runs a lodge in Aspen he got as a settlement." "He sued you for alimony?" "." "Daddy paid him off so he wouldn't file adultery charges." "Anything to avoid another public scandal." "You were adultering?" "." "Yeah." "But so was he." "But he was the one who hired some fucking investigator to take pictures." "We don't do much ofthat these days- divorce stuff." " Transom peeping?" "." " Nobody has transoms anymore." "Butyou still peep." "Well, mostly it's on, you know, computer records." "We have ways to access." "We share information, buy lists- your credit balance, whereyou travel, what videos you rent." "Wow." "That's invasion of privacy." "So the skier ditched you." "Then I tried living in California for a while... but there was nobody there to embarrass but myself." " Soyou are trying to embarrass him." " It's pointless." "What could I do they haven't seen worse on some reality show?" "." "You're a senator's daughter... sister to the future governor." "They catch one president getting a BJ in the Oval Office." "The next rigs the election, gets awaywith it." "People have lost the ability to be scandalized." "So nowyour ambition is?" "." "Make sure my son gets out ofhis 20s in one piece." "Represent my country in 2004." "You're that good at it, huh?" "." "You know... the Amazon women amputated one oftheir breasts." "It got in the way ofthe bow string." "Give me three ofthose lottery tickets." "I'm feeling kinda lucky all ofthe sudden." "Somebody's fucking with me." "These were bad guys." "They owned a whole bunch oflow-rent housing downtown." "The building boom had started, and they had a big offer to sell... but they couldn't legally evict their tenants." "So theywere doing strong-arm stuff, intimidating." " There was even some arson involved." " The march of progress." "The housing inspectorwho should have been on top ofthis" " Skaggs- was taking payoffs." "I had these two informants- very Deep Throat." "Meetings in parking garages, the whole deal." "And they give me the big lead." "Now, this is criminal activity that they're exposing." "So I write the story." "My editor, Mitch, he trusts me enough to run with it." "And they're willing to testify in court?" "." "They said yeah, ifit came to it." "But I didn't have 'em on tape." "The landlord and the inspector sue the paper... one of my sources blows town and the other flat denies it." "Big retraction, settlement out of court... and I'm seriously fired." "Worse, I'm the guy who fabricates." "From that day on... the Monitor concentrated on who bakes the best chocolate chip cookie in Denver." "And I couldn't get a job delivering a newspaper." " The editor should've" " He got fired too." "He runs a" " What doyou call it?" "." "A Web site." "At leastyou did something." "You know?" "." "I've just been taking up space and emptying out my trust fund." "Hey, you took all these pictures." "That's a hobby." "You raised a kid." "Isn't he gorgeous?" "." "His father- His biological father" "Bugged out ofthe whole deal." "I can't blame him, with the publicity and what a little tramp I was then." "But DeweyJunior is a" "He's a nice guy, you know." "Despite having me for a mother." "You raised a nice kid." "Maybe that's whatyou're good at." "One ofthe things I'm good at." "This is a nation basedon Christian principles." "What I promise to work for... is a government that respects those principles." "A government that supports traditional familyvalues... that respects the sanctity ofhuman life." "A government strong enough, brave enough... to maintain the cultural equilibrium." "What's "cultural equilibrium" mean?" "." "No handouts for homos." "Hey." " What's up, sugar?" "." " Can some ofthe guys stay over tonight?" "." "They don't have homes?" "." "They don't have satellite." "There's stuffwe want to watch." "You'll have to sort out where everybody sleeps." " I can handle that." " You sounded really good today." "You should find a club to play in." " We don't have any of our own material." " So write some." "Write about what a mess your mother is, like Eminem does." "Yeah." " Seeya." " Seeya." "Closing time at the zoo." "Getyour clothes on." "I haven't slept this well in days." "Yeah, I don't sleep much unless I pass out." "One nation under God... with liberty and justice" "Who is this?" "." "Chuck." "It's Maddy Pilager calling." " How'dyou get mynumber?" " Never mind, you little creep." "I just fucked your messenger boy." "Danny- What's your last name again?" "." " Oh, shit." " Danny O'Shit." "Tell him I'm firing him." "You send anybody else after me, I swear I'll put an arrow through his neck." "You needhelp, Maddy." "You're a sick person." "I love you too." "He says you should check in with your office more often." "You were fired this morning." "Hey." " You get the boot?" "." " I guess so." "Don't take it personally." "She's kinda moody." "Right." "So, you're a detective." "Investigator." " You look for missing people?" "." " That can be part ofthe job." "You usually find them?" "." "Depends on how long they've been missing." "Twenty-threeyears." "My father." "Dewey Hamilton." " Right." " So, how would I start?" "." "You know, like ifhe's moved out ofthe state?" "." "Sometimes people can" "Sometimes people don't want to be found." "And ifyou do, it can be pretty disappointing." "Ifthings are messy, you gotta face them sooner or later." " Areyou on the Web?" "." " Wired to the eyeballs." "There are a couple ofthings you can try." " Glad you could make it." " You're conscious." "Painkillers, man." "I'm flying." "They said you had an accident?" "." "It wasn't no accident." "It was him." "I saw the boots." "You know." "The one who sticks his head in the sand." "Ostrich?" "." "Ostrich-skin boots." "Puts his head into the sand 'cause they don't wanna see when they cut his throat." "It was vehicular homicide, man." "Dude tried to kill me with my own car." "Paper on the table." ""Fito and Rafi." "Carbonville"" "They knew our dead man." "They're pretty spooked." "Butyou could try them." "They got maybe three words of English." "Spooked by?" "." "The same hijo de la chingada pushed the car on me." "Vince Esparza." " Vince." " Vicente." "Esparza." "I'll give you odds he had something to do with... this Lázaro kicking the bucket." "O'Brien." "I been tryin' to trackyou down." "SheriffSkaggs, my friend Tony Guerra." "Shaving accident?" "." "You'll make me laugh and break my ribs again." "I haven't heard a peep out ofyou, Danny." "That wasn't our agreement." " I'm offthe case." " Step on your own dick again?" "." "Used to be this guy was a reporter... till his mouth got way ahead ofhis brains." "There's a lot more to this than some illegal alien floating in a lake." " The people who hired me" " The peoplewho hired you fired you... which means you're out ofthe conversation." " They hired me to pretend" " That means makeyourself scarce, son." "I need to talk toyour amigo here, alone." "Later, Tony." "You sleep with a client's sister?" "." "That is so unprofessional!" "That's not why Raven wanted me offthe case, is it?" "." "No, but he didn't like it!" "He wanted me off'cause I'm getting too close to something theywanna hush up!" "That's the whole point ofthejob, Danny... and he doesn't trustyou to do it!" " I don't have all the pieces, but Lázaro" " You don't have any pieces!" "He knew something, saw something, and they set him up!" "Had him killed." "Chuck Raven had you fired because he found outyou used to be a reporter." "Okay?" "." "That doesn't change anything." "He called yesterday morning." "Ifyou would checkyour cell phone once in a while, you'd know that." "That sheriff, he's been right on my tail." "I cannot deal with your paranoia." "Take the rest ofthe week off, come in on Monday... and we will sit down and discuss what's left ofyour so-called career." "My expenses so far." "Fill out a voucher." "Hilarywill take care ofyou." "Look, Danny, I'm sure you were doing a very good job... aside from banging Maddy Pilager." " Hey." "She got me stoned." " Out!" "220, 240, 260." "Sign here." "And next time I want all the receipts." "Right." "Lupe!" "Here, let me helpyou with this." " Thankyou." " Howwould you like to make $200?" "." "They said these two men, Rafi and Fito... have gone to the church." "It's not Sunday." "The day ofthe dead." "Tell 'em I came instead ofTony." "They don't trustyou." "Tell them I have their names and that iftheywant to stay in this country" "You wouldn't do that to them, would you?" "." "They don't know that, do they?" "." "We can go somewhere else to talk." "They sayyou have to come with them to the ruins, to Silver City." "So, when do we get to this joint?" "." "This is it." "They buried the cityyears ago." "What now?" "." "This is where Lázaro died?" "." "He says Lázaro died where they take the meat from the bones." "The slaughterhouse." " BENagra." " The BENagra slaughterhouse." "Lázaro was a newly arrived." "He was a very shy person." "Very afraid of everything in the north." "But especially afraid ofthe boss." " And the jefe was?" "." " Vicente Esparza." "Vincent Esparza carries a gun?" "." "We were the cleaning crew." "Aftermidnight, when theystop the line... they come in to clean the metal with scalding hot water mixed with clorina." "There is always so much noise... andyou can't see from the steam." "They have told Don Vicente that thejob up above... cleaning the machine that takes the skin offthe cows is not safe... that there has to be more scaffolding or something to hold onto." "But he says that only little babies are crying for their mamas... and he sends whoever he doesn't like to do it." "This day he sends Lázaro Huerta." "They told Lázaro he shouldn't shoot the steam full pressure... when he's turning it on." "There was nobody else i n that part of the factory... but these two men and Vicente, their boss." "He asked them to put the body in a garbage barrel... and to clean his blood with the blood ofthe animals." "At the endofwork, theycarried the body out to his truck and he drove them here." "He told them he knew this place from years ago... when he was hired to hide some kind ofgarbage." "They felt bad treating a man they knew- a human being- like he was garbage too." "They left the body at the back of the tunnel... and Vicente told them that now they are part of a crime... and if the police finds out they are going to jail." "Ifhe doesn't kill them first." "Soyou left the body up here?" "." "They came back three days later to bury him as a Christian, but" "He wasn't here?" "." "He was gone." "Maybe it was a miracle." "They left him where there was water on the floor." "So when they came back the waterwas this high." "Show me." "Come on." "All right." "Wait for me here." "Help!" "Help!" "Help, up there!" "Mr. O'Brien!" "Areyou there?" "." "Mr. O'Brien!" "Mr. O'Brien, you got all wet!" "Look atyou!" " Where are the guys?" "." " They took them away." "Took them?" "." "La Migra come, chase those men and take them away." "How come they didn't take you?" "." "Because I carry my citizen papers always." "Guess I'll have to leave you here, Lupe." "It's okay." "How come you didn't take the day off?" "." "I belong to the Iglesia Evangélica." "This?" "." "This is the devil's work." "I'll keep that in mind." "Thanks for everything." "Be careful, Mr. O'Brien." "Hey." "You again." "Hey." "I'm sorry about last night." "I get disgusted with myself, and I take it out on other people." "Don't worry about it." "You been swimming?" "." "Cave diving." "I'm sorry ifl gotyou in trouble." "The thing I'm investigating, I got a little in over my head." " You got fired?" "." " Probation." "Sorry." "Doyou thinkyou might call me sometime?" "." "Listen, Maddy" "You're scared of me, aren'tyou?" "." "No." "I'm scared ofyour family." "Would you say those are ostrich skin?" "." "The guy's boots?" "." "Yeah." "Tony Lamas." "Excuse me." "You got a problem, my friend?" "." "You're Vicente Esparza." "Come on." "We gotta talk, you and me." "You're the one who's been stirring' up all this shit, huh?" "." "Askin' about tattoos, bothering' myworkers." "Now I hear the police are lookin' for me." "I've got nothing againstyou." "It's the people aboveyou- the ones that had you dump those barrels into the mine." " They knew what happened to Lázaro" " What the fuck is it toyou?" "." "You don't come down here where I live asking me fuckin' questions!" " I'm not afteryou." "It's them!" " That's right." "You don't care about me, and I don't care aboutyou." "I don't care ifyou live oryou die." "You see this?" "." "You see what this is, cabrón?" "You ask me one more fuckin' question" "Don't move!" "Just freeze right there!" "Put it down, Dave." "One's deader than a doornail, and the other's unarmed." " Put it down." " He had his gun out." "Put it in the holster!" "And then go keep that crowd from coming back here!" "Go!" "Jesus!" " You said it." " He wasn't gonna shootyour deputy." "Boy's a little overtrained." " This is Esparza?" "." " Yeah." "He's got that wanted-for-questioning... killed-while-resisting-arrest look about him." "They didn't clean up the cyanide waste." "Theyjust dumped it into an old mine." "Esparza was working for Bentel then." "He told my guys that he'd dumped something there before." "Only it's flooded now, and it's flooding more every day." "Somehow Huerta's body got swept away by it... and pushed through the mountain into one ofthe streams that feeds the lake." "This is sounding crazy, isn't it?" "." "Throw a dead body into a cave... and three days later it comes back out into the world all on its own?" "." "Sure, a lot of people'll buy that." "It's the water pressure." "The names ofthese two Mexicans you sayyou talked to" "Come on!" "You had Immigration follow us and pick them up." " Did I?" "." " Halfthis town is illegal." "Immigration is gonna botherto drive into the middle ofnowhere... and just run into mywitnesses?" "." "Mr. Quiñones and Mr. López have been debriefed by the I NS." "According to them, theywere working at BENagra Packing... along with a certain Lázaro Huerta, also an undocumented alien... until one day he chose... not to show up forwork." "That's the last they saw ofhim." " Of course they're gonna say that." " They're back on a plane in 24 hours... courtesy of the United States government." "Unless, of course... you choose to include that crock of shit thatyou just told me... in your official statement... in which case, they'd be accessories to wrongful death, at least." "Possibly murder." "They'd be fucked." "Bienjodido is the phrase, I believe, yeah." "Slaughterhouse?" "." "The slaughterhouse operates within guidelines set by the law." "All we've got is a failure to report an accident... and illegal burial... which begins and ends with Vince Esparza." "Doesn't it?" "." "I'll giveyou a few minutes to think about it." "You called his name." "When you were looking for him, you called his name." "Your buddy in the hospital put us on the lookout." "Vehicular homicide?" "." " It's the same speech every time." " I don't have time now, Nora." "Ifl spent a few hours reviewing his statistics..." "Later." "instead ofjust listening to him go on and on and on" " Come on, Leo!" "Come on!" " What's the deal?" "." " Where haveyou been?" "." "Out reporting the news." "I know it's easier to watch it on cable, but" "Staff meeting in 15 minutes, people!" "That means everybody!" " Then it's true." " What?" "." "They'll say, "Nobody'll be let go"" "But when they bought the Sentinel, they cut 30 jobs the first month." "Theywho?" "." "What are you talking about?" "." "We've been sold to Gold Mine Publishing, that Bentel owns." "These RockyMountains that I love so much... are part of ournational heritage... something we must keep safe forfuture generations." "Don't even thi nk about it." "Whatever pathetic publicity stunt you're hatching... in that drug-addled brain ofyours." " I don't work foryou anymore." " I know." "You were dismissed... when we discovered an incident ofsubstance abuse on the job." " Anything you say" " Don't threaten me." "You are the boy that cried wolf, O'Brien." " It was in all the papers." " A murderwas committed." "What?" "." "Murder by deregulation?" "." "That kind of thinking went out in the last century." "That's not the point." "The point is that without a smoking gun... all you've got is another opportunity... to fuck upyour sorry excuse for a life even more than now." "People likeyou thinkyou've got everything covered." "You think nobody cares enough to fight back." "But somedayyour shit's gonna catch up with you, and when it does" "You're a loser." "That's already been established beyond doubt." "So just try and be a good one." "Okay?" "." "Don'tyou thinkyou ought to changeyour shirt?" "." " How'd you find me?" "." " I'm a detective." "You said we were investigators." "I'm a detective." "You're an investigator." "And the first rule is, don't go finding more than you're looking for." "Look, ifit weren't for Mort" "All ofhis plans, every scheme he's ever had... has had a jinx on it." "His wife has to support him." "He thinks he's a failure." "Ifthis Silver Citything were to fall through" "And he's in with the Pilagers?" "." "Up to his neck." "Hush money?" "." "Severance pay." "And don't go making trouble, Danny." "Won't do any good." "So why'd you ever hire a basket case like me?" "." "Lookwho I married." "Travel expenses." "Richard Pilager cares aboutyou." "It's like he's a bad actor that doesn't believe himself in the part." "You know?" "." "You read these polls- I swear, the questions must be:" "Would you rather have Dickie Pilager as governor... or haveyour pancreas pulled out through your nose with a rusty coat hanger?" "." "But still, 33% prefer the coat hanger." "What's this?" "." "Weird." ""Silver City"" "Someone left us a treasure map." "I hearyou've been bought." " I mean, notyou personally." " Part ofthe happy Bentel family." "There's a man named Lázaro Huerta in that box- what's left ofhim." "So, this is your case." " Mr. O'Brien, yes?" "." " Yes." " Señora." " Hello." "Ramón Contreras from the Mexican consulate." "On behalf ofthe aggrieved family..." "I offer my sincere gratitude foryour generosity." "I'd like to wire some money... on top ofthe casket and the shipping costs." "Theywon't" "Anything you could send would be appreciated." "There are several children." "Ifyou'll excuse me" "The paperwork." "Nice to meetyou." "You haven't been sleeping." "No, not really." "I split up with Chandler." "Really?" "." "I was... grousing about communications monopolies... and he gave me his usual line... and we got into a fight, one thing led to another and" "Conflict ofinterests." "Many a promising merger has failed due to a conflict ofinterest." "Right." "How doyou feel..." "about us splitting up?" "." "Euphoric." "That's how I felt." "I should have been suicidal." "My paper's been co-opted..." "I have all these people to call and tell them they're not invited... to the wedding in Aspen, and" "Wereyou gonna do one ofthose ski-lift ceremonies?" "." "It would have been a very tasteful, very Caucasian affair." "Ifyou changeyour mind, I know ofa very good caterer." "Maybe we could see each other sometime." "That'd be great." "So, you quityourjob." "Grace fired me." "So, what doyou do now?" "." "First I need to repaint my living room." "I promise to respect and support our American traditions" "I'm waiting." "our right to bear arms..." "I'm still waiting." "our right to the freedoms ofreligious worship and expression... so fundamental to our liberty." "I promise to support a smaller, more efficient government." "No longermust the Big Brother ofthe social welfare system... dictate our daily lives... intruding, impeding, regulating... the very air that we breathe." "What I'm talking about, my fellow citizens... comes down to that precious word "freedom. "" "A freedom enjoyed by those bold individuals... who came to a wild frontier and built the West that we love so dearly... those steadfast men and women... whose spirit ofdaring and conquest... inspires us to this day." "The freedom from fear ofthose who envy our good fortune... who scorn our democratic institutions." "Freedom from the cultural tyranny... ofthe special interest groups and the new-age demagogues... who would seek to deny us... the harvest ofour God-given bounty... under the false banner ofenvironmental correctness." "The freedom to seek health, happiness... and, yes, fortune... in this glorious mountain state ofours." "This is the freedom I prom ise you, my fel low citizens." "But let not a man be judged by the promises he makes... but by the works he leaves behind." "America" "May God bless you all." "May God thygloryfind" "Till allsuccess" "Be nobleness" "And every gain" "Divine" "O beautiful" "Forspacious skies" "For amber waves ofgrain" "Forpurple mountain majesties" "Above the fruited plain" "America" "God shed his grace on thee" "And crown thy good" "With brotherhood" "From sea" "To" "Shining" "Sea"