"Raylan." "I got a courtesy call from the Harlan County Sheriff's Department this morning." "Your daddy's been arrested." "He kill anybody?" "DUI." "Sounds like it's not the first time." "All right." "Thanks, Art." "Is there something else?" "Well, they left a number in case you wanted to give him a message or get an update on how he's doing." "He's fine." "I'm sure he's feeling right at home." "Just out of curiosity, is he a knucklehead, your daddy, or is he a real bad guy?" "You gonna pretend like you didn't pull his sheet soon as that call came in?" "Well, it's not every day that I run across a man who's been a leg breaker and a grifter." "Yeah." "He's done time for both." "So, what does that tell you?" "His sheet tells me that the thing that kept tripping him up in both his chosen professions was a tendency to ill temper." "It's a good thing he didn't pass that on." "Isn't it, though?" " Hey." "Art tell you about the phone calls?" " He told you?" " What are you talking about?" " Wait, what are you talking about?" "The phone calls." "Arnold Pinter." "Who's Arnold Pinter?" "He's a snitch." "Actually, as of this moment, he's your snitch." "One of the ways we welcome new deputies around here is having them handle Pinter." "For the last nine months, that honour has fallen to Deputy Gutterson." "Today he passes the torch on to you." "Yeah." "So, this is some kind of hazing thing, like the way a rookie's got to carry a veteran's bags on the road?" "Don't worry." "You'll be carrying my bag." "I've been doing this 17 years." "I don't think that qualifies me as a rookie." "Hey, you tell Pinter I said hi." "Excuse me." "I'm looking for a..." " Mr Pinter?" " Hey, at your service." "Is there somewhere you want to talk?" "Are you my new Marshal?" "I know it's called Confidential Informant, but I ain't got no time for confidential." "They didn't tell you?" "See, I'm too busy trying to get enough money together to get my ass the hell out of this inbred, squeal-like-a-pig backwater." " No offence." " No, none taken." "And, yes, they did." "Doesn't seem like a safe way to live." " Hey, what in this life, huh?" "Am I right?" " Well..." "Deputy Gutterson couldn't get used to it, either." "He says hi, by the way." "Samantha!" "I'll take another fizz, and one for Deputy Marshal..." "Givens." " One for Deputy Givens." " I'm fine." "Thank you." "Actually, I would like some vanilla ice cream." "Thanks." "You know what you're missing?" "You ever have a chocolate egg cream?" "Not that I can recall." "I taught Jimmy how to make them." "It's like drinking Brooklyn." "In a good way." " How long you been in Kentucky?" " Twelve long years, brother." "See, back in the '90s, times were tough in New York." "Russians, Jamaicans were muscling in." "Jamaicans, they had this thing called "jointing,"" "where they'd saw through a guy at every joint and leave pieces of him in the street." "See, I could always work with the Italians, but how you gonna do business with people like that?" " And what kind of business are you in?" " You know, little of this, little of that." "You know what a fixer is?" "Yeah." "It's a local guy who works with foreign reporters?" "Very good." "I'm a big cable-news guy." "Kept hearing about these guys who work with news crews, getting them info, transpo, security, even girls." "Got me thinking about the old days, where a guy could support himself just making book." "Here in the hinterlands, you got to diversify." "But why here?" "It seems like a lot of places that could use a bookie." "Now you tell me!" "I don't know, I guess I figured the climate, the lifestyle." "The lifestyle?" "See, I started out in Miami, but not only do they have their own Russians and Jamaicans, they've got boatlifters and every other goddamn bunch, and the only thing that they got in common is they all like slicing up people with machetes." "Here it is!" "Beautiful." "All right." "You got to at least try a sip." " You won't be sorry." " No, no, no." "That's fine." "Thank you, doll." " Yeah, that's fantastic." "Thank you." " Good for you." "Oh, shit." "Givens." "Miami." "You're the guy who pulled a Wild Bill on that guy at the Delano." "See?" "Cable news." " Mr Pinter?" " Yeah?" "Do you have any information that may be of interest to the United States Marshals Service?" "Isaac "Tiny" Winfield." "Fourteen arrests since '01." "Felony assault, menacing, making terroristic threats." "Convicted twice." "Last time was in Tennessee." "Did three years in Riverbend." "Attempted murder, pled down to aggravated assault." "November last year, gets busted in Memphis for stomping a nightclub owner." "Escapes Memphis PD custody." "Been in the wind since." "Wanted on various charges, including federal parole violation." "Where did he escape from?" "Back of a squad car." "Pulled his shackles apart, kicked in the barrier, and put two officers in the ICU." " "Pulled his shackles apart"?" " Yeah, that's what it says." "Why do I get the feeling "Tiny" is meant to be ironic?" " Oh, my God." " What does it say, he a big 'un?" " Shit." " Textbook shakedown psycho." "You figure he's muscling Pinter, so Pinter dimed him to us?" "That would be nice and linear." " 20G reward ain't bad, either." " And this woman that Pinter gave you..." " Sherese Mason." " Sherese." " Nothing in the file about Tiny having a wife." " She's his common-law wife." "How long do we sit on her?" "Well, Pinter said that Tiny moves around a lot, but sooner or later, comes back to Sherese." "We're taking the door." "US Marshals!" "Search warrant!" "Open the door or we'll break it down!" " Let me see your hands!" " Here are my hands, bobo chota." " Who else you got in here?" " I'm not enough?" " Where's Tiny?" " He's not here." "Mamacita, if he's here and we find him, you are going to jail." "He's in the bedroom." "You won't need all that." "That's just wrong." "Hey." "Egg cream?" "Nah, man." "I'm off sugar." "Got to keep this gut in check." "Hey, it's a real shame the way you've been letting yourself go these days." "Yeah." "So, I hear Tiny's in town working on his gorilla act." " That's what you're calling me for?" " I can handle Tiny." "What, you gonna sic the Marshals on him?" "This new guy that they assigned me, guy dressed just like a cowboy, boots and everything?" "Turns out he's the guy who outdrew that gun thug in Miami." "Actually, that time he had the hat on." " It was on the news." " Yeah." "I don't watch the news too much lately." "I'm busy trying to make this paper." "Know what I'm talking about?" "Are you still trying to get the scratch together for that carpet-cleaning business?" " Landscaping." " Right." "You think about that offer I made to you about being a ground-floor investor?" "Yeah, sorry." "But I do have a way for you to make some paper." "Guy's name is Travis Travers." "What's that?" "Is he a porn star or something?" "No." "He's just a scumbag playboy who doesn't honour his markers." " That's his real name?" " As far as I know." " How deep is he in?" " $15,000. $16,500 with the vig." "Turns out this guy's been calling in bets under three different names." "Always calling around 6:00, 7:00 in the morning, when he's sure that the runners were covering the phones." "He bet a nickel three times on the Grizzlies giving 3.5." "Didn't have the sense to pay for a half point." "Not that it would have made a difference." "You know where this Travers live at?" "Yeah." "He lives in one of those old Tudors in Ashland Park." "I think his parents left it to him." "Well, it sounds like it shouldn't be too much problem for him to get the money up." "Hey, hope you don't think that means that I'm gonna give you no discount, though." "No, of course not!" "No." "Just bring me my $15,000." "You keep the juice and go buy yourself a nice, new weed wacker." "That's what I'm talking about." " Pleasure, as always." " All right." "Well, he creeps me out." "That's his job." "Sending him after Travis?" "Think he's up to it?" "Wow." "What's Miami like?" "Biggest Marshals Office I ever saw." "How about outside the Marshals Office?" " Sunny." " Thanks." "Miami is a sunny place for shady people." "I'm gonna go there someday." " Really?" " I got a list of places." "Like?" " Costa Rica." "You been there?" " No." "I went to Nicaragua once." " Was it wonderful?" " Actually, no." "Not so much." " How did you meet Winona?" " Here we go." "I was working a prison transport in Salt Lake City." "That's not one of the places on my list." "Salt Lake's a pretty city." "Mountains all around and..." "Anyway, I was sitting at this bar, and I was thinking, not only does my beer taste like water, but there was no one around I wanted to drink it with." "Then this court reporter sits next to me." "Soon as she started talking, I could tell she was from Kentucky." "So you've got a weakness for Kentucky girls." "Well, it didn't hurt that she was the most beautiful woman I ever saw." " Ever?" " Up to that point." "Nice save." "Is that why you come back here for her?" "No." "I got sent here," "I think because they knew it was the one place I didn't want to go." "In fact, as I recall, Winona and I promised each other we'd never come back here." "Yet here we are." "And yet here we are." "Not long, though." "As soon as I can get reassigned, I am gone." "Well, I'm thinking about going, too." "Is that right?" "Turned out there's nothing here for me." "Ava." "I know, I know." "It is not me." "It's you." "It's a damn shame, though." "We could have had some fun." "Say, Travis, a little bit of landscaping, this place wouldn't be half bad." " That a fact?" " Yeah." "I used to be a gardener." "Is that right?" "What you do now, besides watch people tan and critique their yards?" "Arnold Pinter asked me to come over here." "You know what I'm talking about?" "I got a pretty good idea." "You want to call him, see if he sent me over here to pick up what you owe?" "No." "That's all right." "Five grand on the Memphis game, right?" "Nah." "That's not right." "You bet five three times under different names." "That's $15,000, $18,000 with the juice." "Now, actually, 10% vig on $15,000 is $1,500, which makes $16,500, not $18,000." "Nah, but you're forgetting my expenses." "Driving over here, the price of gas is way up." "Actually, the price of gas is going down." "See, I'm big into current events." "Pinter and me, we got that in common." "Let me ask you a question." "Is it the weed that makes you so cool, or is it the fact that you think that I ain't serious?" "No, I'm pretty sure you're serious." "The problem is, I ain't got $18,000." "Matter of fact, I ain't even got the $16,500 I actually owe." " How you afford this cush?" " I grow it out back." " Did you want a hit or..." "Whatever." " How much this place worth?" " This market?" " Yeah." " Point is, 18's not so bad." " Look, man, my parents left me this place." "I've already sold off half the furniture to pay the property taxes." "You watch the news?" " I told you, current events." " Okay." "Well, then, you know that we got people in this country that are living out of cardboard boxes who still manage to supply their grand-a-week drug habits." "I'm more into, like, international." "Point is, I'm betting that if you needed to, you can come up with the money." "Now, I told you that I used to be a gardener, learned grounds beautification in Angola." "Thing I loved doing the most was pruning, kind of like you need around here." "So, I'm saying, if you don't come up with the $18,000 by, say, day after tomorrow, then I'm gonna start pruning things on you." "I'm gonna start with your ear and then maybe your fingers and your toes, and we'll see where that leads." "You know, what's funny is that experts say that torture don't really work." "It does when I do it." "All right!" "Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." "Okay." "Let's say you didn't have to settle for $1,500." " I told you my cut's $3,000." " $3,000." "What if I told you you can get 10 or 20 times that much?" "Okay, I'm listening." "So you think he didn't know about the reward money?" " I thought that's what you thought." " No." "I just said he didn't mention it." "Arnold Pinter would not half-ass his due diligence." "That's what I figured, especially when there's 20 grand in there for him." " Yeah." "So you're thinking what I'm thinking." " Which is what?" "Sorry." "Initial there and there and sign at the bottom." "Now, Raylan, be careful." "Rachel and Tim think that this guy's a joke, but he's not." "He's a stone-cold flimflam man, and if you let him, he will pull your strings." "At least he doesn't make excuses for himself." "Distinguishes him from the other conmen I've known." " Excuse me." "You seen Pinter?" " Nope." " You been here all morning?" " Yep." "Any idea where I can find him?" "Probably woke up with a cold this morning." "It's not like he has to call in sick." " Yeah." "He was here yesterday?" " And the day before." "So, every day since I last saw him." "Well, will you do me a favour?" " Will you ask him to call Deputy..." " Givens." "I remember." "Thank you." "Wasn't there." "Well, let's sign it back in, and we'll keep it here tonight and you can try it again tomorrow." "Well, it seems odd to you, right, him not being there to collect his reward money?" " Well, you know how flaky these CI's are." " Yeah." "Plus, you said yourself that you didn't even know if he knew there was a reward." "No." "I thought you said that." " I wouldn't say that." " In fact, I saw him the other day." "All he could talk about was grabbing all the cash he could to get the hell out of Kentucky." "Are you sure that was him talking?" "That's funny." "Look, if he wants his money, he'll be in touch." "Well, I guess so." "But something's making my neck hair stand up." "Well, far be it from me to second-guess your neck hair, but don't spend a lot of time on it." "Laurie, can you get me an address for a CI named Arnold Pinter?" " Sure." "Pinter with a "P."" " Arnold Pinter." "10-4." "I'm gonna get it." "How you doing?" "Is Pinter here?" " Who?" " Arnold Pinter." " This is his house, right?" " Yeah, yeah." "Of course it is." "You live here, too?" "No." "I just watch the place while he's away." "What's your name?" "Travis Travers." "You putting me on?" " You want to see my driver's licence?" " Sure." "Yeah, okay." "Here you go." "Well, look at that." "Can I get my wallet back?" " Yeah, sure." " Thanks." "Where's Pinter?" "Vacation." "Yeah, Florida." "Key Largo." "He's been gone all week, so..." "About a week?" "When's he due back?" "He didn't tell me." "You mind if I go inside?" " You a friend of Arnold's?" " Yeah." "Something like that." "Do you mind?" "Knock yourself out." "But, hey, I got places I got to be, so go ahead and close the door when you leave, and I'll come back, lock up later." "All righty." "Hey." "I think we got a problem." "What kind of problem?" "Travis Travers." "Local boy." "Grew up in Ashland Park." "Arrested for pandering, contributing to delinquency, and gambling." "Served 18 months for statutory rape." "Sex offender registry lists his parents' place as his LKA, although there's a note here says the IRS has put a lien on it." "Is that the kind of guy you'd want watching your house?" "I live in an apartment." "No roommates, though." "Thank God." "It's..." "No cats." "You mind telling me, with the deficit being what it is, why you're so hot to spend Uncle Sam's 20 grand?" "You said I could look." "I said you could follow your hunch, see what's goosing your neck hair." "Did you find anything?" "Not yet." "So, you ain't get a chance to search the house?" "No." "The cop showed up." "I told you." "Why you keep asking me that?" "I'm just trying to see if you got balls enough to make up this story and find the money in the house and act like a cop interrupted you." " He didn't badge you or nothing?" " I told you, no." "Yeah, well, how you know he's a cop?" "The way he acted, all entitled-like." "Though I never seen a Lexington cop dressed up like the Marlboro Man." "Ain't like it's Dallas." "You say he was dressed up like the Marlboro Man, like a cowboy?" "Yeah." "So?" "Well, that Marlboro Man was the Marshal that Gary Coopered up some badass in Miami a few weeks ago." "Remember seeing anything about that, Mr Current Events?" "Maybe." "Yes." "Shit." " What's a federal cop want with Pinter?" " Are you serious?" "Pinter's been snitching to the Marshals for years." "Excuse me?" "Don't you think you could have told me that before we grabbed him?" "Hey, I thought you knew." "Everybody knows." "All right." "So, what are we gonna do now?" "He knows my name." "Well, ain't nobody tell you to tell him your real name." "That's just stupid." "Even if I hadn't, he saw my car." "So what if he shows up here?" "Hey, when he outdrew on the guy, did he face off on him first?" "I don't know." "What if he did?" "I don't know." "I was just wondering what that would be like, you know, all cowboy-movie style." "We need to focus." "Why hasn't he coughed it up yet?" "Looks like it's pruning time." "Nah." "I can't do that." "What do you mean?" "Pinter's been too decent to me." "I wouldn't feel right cutting up on him." " Well, you were ready to do it to me." " Yeah." "That's different." "Besides, you the one that said that torture don't work." "Well, riddle me this, if you're not the intimidator, then exactly what role are you playing on this team?" "The "keep from killing your punk ass" role." "Now, you got any more riddles?" "It's time to accelerate the situation." "Oh, God, please!" "So, you see where this goes?" " I can guess." " Please, Arnold!" " Just give them what they want!" " Yeah, Arnold, time to give it up!" " Oh, God!" "Arnold!" " All right." "Hey." "Hey, Curtis, knock yourself out." "Enjoy!" "I think you got the wrong idea." "Travis, cut the shit and take the stupid masks off." " He knows." " Do you think so?" "Shit." "All right." "Doesn't change much, though, does it?" "Now, I get why you don't mind if he starts cutting pieces off you, but are you really gonna let him do it to her?" "You know, like I just said, knock yourself out." "You son of a bitch!" "I thought you cared about me!" "You thought right." "When did you know?" "You're the only one I told about the escape fund, and Travis doesn't have the ambition to pull this off." "Are you sleeping with him?" "Actually, don't tell me." "This is some bullshit." " So, what's plan C?" " She was plan C." "Now it's time to go back to plan B, pruning time." "But you said we weren't gonna actually have to hurt him." "Did you see that?" "Jesus Christ." "Now what?" "It's that cowboy Marshal." "I'll deal with him." "Can I help you?" "Yeah." "I'm looking for Travis." "Yeah." "He's out." "Wait, you that cowboy that he was talking about?" "I see you got the hat, the boots, the whole nine." " Who are you, exactly?" " I'm the gardener." "Yeah, I'm just getting started." "You must have to cut a lot of lawns to pay for those gators." "Let me ask you a question." "You like Westerns?" "Used to." "Well, you know how in every Western, the guys will take to the street, and they wait to draw until they're both set?" "You think that's really how they used to do it?" "Sometimes, maybe." "Neighbourhood I grew up in, we used to take to the street with our guns already out." "Smart, smart." "Lot can go wrong with a draw." "Yeah?" "Well, sure." "I mean, it takes practice to draw clean." "Suppose your front sight catches as you're pulling or..." "Well, now, that went well." "But suppose my thumb hit the mag release." "Now, as I'm raising my weapon, I hear all my ammo hit the ground." "Hopefully I got one in the chamber, but are you gonna bet your life on that?" "It's too bad that Travis isn't here." "You know that guy he housesits for, Pinter?" " Yeah." " US Marshals owe him $10,000." "$10,000?" "I'm supposed to deliver it to him." "I was kind of hoping I could give it to Travis to give to Pinter when he gets back from the Keys to save me from having to go back out there." " You got the money on you right now?" " No." "I left it at the office." "I mean, 'cause I could hold on to it for you." "You know, just to take it off your hands." "What happened?" "I thought you were gonna go all High Noon on him." "I am, yeah, but he's coming back shortly with a big bag of money." "Turns out he just wanted to give Pinter a reward or something." "How big a reward?" "Five grand." "That's gonna split real great between the three of us." "Now, the only thing is, you know, once we get the money, cowboy, he got to go." "So, you got a place to bury him?" "So you're gonna draw on him when he comes back here?" "I'm gonna put a hole through his hat." " Yep." " Can I get Pinter's reward money back?" " You found him." " I think I know where he is." "All right, Raylan." "I'll bite." "I need to do a little more checking first." "Since when does checking require that you carry around my 20 grand?" "You better damn sure get him to sign a receipt." " Tim." " Yeah?" "When you were working with Pinter, you ever come across a guy looks like a black Mr Clean, dresses like the janitor in a rap video?" "Like it says Tommy Hilfiger on his coveralls?" "Yeah." "Like he wears a t-shirt with his gators." "Detroit accent, looks like he can dead-lift the back of a car?" "Curtis Mims." "Runs collections for Pinter." "Told me he was a gardener." "I don't recall Pinter's house having much of a garden." "Wasn't at Pinter's." " He's a leg-breaker." "I avoided him." " He's from Detroit?" "Far as I know." "Seems like everyone's from somewhere else." "Pinter seems hell-bent on getting out of here." " Is that why you two hit it off so well?" " We didn't." "Not really." "How come you're going after this so hard?" "Well, you gave him to me." "Makes him my responsibility." "Besides, something doesn't feel right, which means someone ain't telling me something, which means somebody's trying to put one over on me." "I don't like that." " Choose one." "We'll see how you do." " You want me to play with you now?" "Yeah." "I want to try all these, see which one I get out the fastest." " All right." "Should we unload them first?" " No." "You need the right feel." "The weight." "Stick that in your belt, right there on the side." "You know, the cowboy's gonna have a holster." "Man, I don't give a shit." " What if he outdraws you?" " Then I'm dead." "That's how this works." "Now, we gonna play or what?" "Stop asking me all them damn questions, man." "Shut the hell up." " I think you're getting too far away now." " Nah, man." "I'm good." "This is fine." "So, what now?" "We count to three or what?" "No counting." "You feel him going for his, you go for yours." "Eye contact." "You ready?" "Ready." "Bang, you're dead, baby!" "See, you're too slow." "Yeah." "You got me." "What happened to your stress techniques?" "Baby, circumstances have changed, okay?" "What we got here's a classic ticking-bomb scenario, okay?" "There's a body in the yard." "The Marshal's on the scent." "It's time to stop half-assing." "Okay, but what if he's telling the truth?" "What if there is no money stash?" "You're the one he told about it." "Well, maybe he was just trying to impress me." "Well, the only way to find out is by asking, now, isn't it?" "So, I tell you what I'm gonna do." "I'm gonna start taking pieces off of him, including the one that no man wants taken off." "And after he passes out, I'm gonna cut his eyes open." "After that, I'll believe just about anything he tells me." "Who are you?" "I am whoever I need to be." "Oh, God." "Arnold, I'm so sorry." "Hey, it was a good play, and I'm proud of you." "Travis Travers, just the man I wanted to see." "Yeah." "Curtis mentioned you might be stopping by." "Yeah." "Do you mind if I come in?" "I got some papers I need you to sign." "Yeah." "Come on in." "We don't have time." "We don't have time." "Can you get a gun?" "Wow." "That seems like more than five grand." "That's 'cause it's 20." "Where'd you get five?" "Curtis?" "You don't think he's trying to hold out on you, do you?" "You know what?" "Why don't we go ask him?" "I think he's out back." "Okay." "I can't wait to see the look on his face." "I am so disappointed in him." "Shots fired, 9922 Tates Creek Road." "Plainclothes officer on site." "Requesting backup." " Here." "Are you okay?" " Yeah." " Okay." "Come on." " All right." "He's coming." "Holy shit, Marshal!" "Marshal, are you okay?" "Marshal?" "Shit." "Good breath sounds." "No aspiration." "Probable lung contusion, but I'd say a puncture's unlikely." "We'll need an x-ray to confirm." "I love how these guys are so calm when you're coughing up blood." "Well, before he goes, you want him to check your heart?" "Well, at least he didn't hit the money." "You know, Raylan, you're gonna have a week's paid leave coming up 'cause of the investigation." " That's gonna be a very restful time." " Seriously, I'm fine." "I meant restful for me." "Why isn't she wearing cuffs?" "He's claiming she was a hostage, too." " Fellows, just give us a minute." " I'm good, doll." "So, she's just as much a victim as you are." "Is that your story?" "All right, listen, Marshal." "I want you to understand how much I really appreciate..." "Then tell the truth." "Well, if she was in on it, and I'm not saying she was, but if she was, she was only doing what I taught her to do." " So she gets a pass." " You can't be serious." "Well, of course I'm gonna fire her ass." "Friends is friends, but they were gonna cut pieces off of me." "If she was in on it." "Lf." "And you care that much about the money, you were gonna let them cut pieces off you rather than give it up?" "If buying my life back means selling my dream, is it really worth buying?" "Listen, did I tell you why I call it my escape fund?" "I hate it here." "Kentucky." "I hate every one of these toothless, banjo-strumming, redneck pricks." "No offence." "So, as soon as I get my stake back, I'm gone." "I'm going to Tahiti." "You ever been to Tahiti?" "No." "Is it that nice?" "I've never been there, but all I know is Tahiti ain't Kentucky." "Hey, Pinter, just out of curiosity, do you remember which one of us toothless rednecks it was that invited you down here in the first place?" "One of you guys got my envelope?" " I swore I'd never come back here." " I know." "And then, when they sent me here, I promised myself I'd leave first chance I got." "I know." "You told me." "What would happen if I found something here that made me not want to leave?" " That would be a crying shame." " Wouldn't it?" "Put me in danger of breaking my promise." "Terrible to break a promise to yourself." "It's a good thing you haven't found anything back here attractive enough to make you want to stay." "Yeah." "See, that's what I thought." "It's a good thing."