Pronto by Elmore Leonard Read Free Book Online Page A

room he would raise his voice to the other agent searching the bedroom, telling him that after he had the resident agent's job in West Palm he was ready to retire, take a job in corporate security, and should've instead of coming down to this Third World city. Talking about Miami. He said he worked an investigation once, a broad who lived in this same hotel tried to extort six hundred grand from the old guy who owned the place. They had her practically indicted and you know what happened? The old guy married her. His attitude: So she was trying to take him, he didn't give a shit, he wanted her. Not long after that he died of natural causes. She was a former movie star, Jean Shaw?
    The agent in the bedroom said he'd never heard of her, but then asked where she was now.
    "Who knows?" McCormick said.
    Talking, they didn't seem too interested in what they were doing. Going through the motions. McCormick was in the kitchen now, bent over poking around in the refrigerator. Coming out to the living room he said to Raylan, "You wear that hat all the time?"
    "When I go out," Raylan said, "yeah."
    "You wear it when you sit down to eat?"
    "Not usually."
    "Some of you cowboys do. Never take your hat off. Watch country music awards on TV. You see all these bozos sitting there with their hats on, pretending they're cowpokes." He said, "Why don't you make us some iced tea? There's some instant in there."
    It was the first time since they got here McCormick had spoken to him, and what was it about, his hat. Raylan fixed two glasses with ice cubes and lemon wedges he found and brought them out to the dining table. McCormick looked over from where he stood at a wall of pictures. Raylan thought he was going to ask to have his brought to him, but he came over to the table.
    Raylan said, "You haven't found anything? Any clues to where he might be?"
    "No, but I'll let you know if I do," McCormick said. He raised his voice to the other room saying, "Jerry? Raylan wants to know have you found any clues."
    Jerry's voice came back, "Who?"
    This was Jerry Crowder, a young agent who could learn a bad attitude, Raylan believed, hanging around McCormick. Basically he was a good guy, big and rangy, a former college football player. Raylan had backed him a couple of times making arrests.
    McCormick had picked up his iced tea. He sipped it looking at Raylan and said, "I've meant to ask you, when Harry Arno gave you the slip, did he stick you with the dinner check?"
    Giving Raylan a serious, interested expression now, waiting.
    "Sixty bucks," Raylan said. "I paid it."
    "I hope you don't put it on your expense account." Raylan didn't say anything and McCormick said, "What grade level are you?"
    "GS-Eleven."
    "For how long?"
    "Seven years."
    "Stuck, huh? That's a shame. I understand this is the second time you've let Harry Arno get away. Is he a friend of yours?"
    "I've never thought of him as such, no."
    "Didn't they teach you never let a prisoner out of your sight?"
    Raylan said, "He wasn't a prisoner," and knew right away he shouldn't have. It was like talking back to the teacher.
    McCormick said, "Well, you were watching him, weren't you? That's what we're talking about."
    Raylan felt now he had to keep going and said, "You want to know how I see it?"
    "How you see what?"
    "This situation, with Harry."
    "I sure would, but wait," McCormick said, and called out, "Jerry, come in here." Crowder appeared in the bedroom doorway, almost filling it, and McCormick motioned to him. "Have an iced tea. Raylan's going to tell us how he sees it."
    Coming over to the table Jerry said, "How he sees what?"
    "That's what we're going to find out." McCormick looked at Raylan. "Go on."
    "Well, first of all," Raylan said, "I can't think of a reason why Harry would take off knowing he needs protection. Another reason, he's too smart to become a fugitive, have to hide out the rest of his life."
    McCormick said, "You know Harry pretty well?"
    "I was with him on two occasions. Both