The Dame (1969) – Macmillan – DonaldWestlake.com

A Grofield Predicament (#2)

___He came down to the dirt road, turned left, drove the four-tenths of a mile back to route 185. He stopped at the intersection, and the passenger door opened. Out of nowhere a smiling bearded man, barefoot and in filthy once-white trousers and once-white shirt, a blue-black Colt .45 automatic huge in his hand, slid in and shut the door. His smile showed clean and perfect teeth. He said, “Turn right, you great big hunk of man.”
___“No riders,” Grofield said. “Didn’t you see the sign?”
___The smile didn’t change an once. “Don’t cause me trouble, honey,” he said. “They make me buy my own bullets.”
___Grofield looked at him, saw that behind the smiling mouth and the mock-cute speech the eyes were cold and the Colt was off safety, and decided that if this bird had wanted to kill him he didn’t have to get into the car to do it. Grofield nodded. “The customer’s always right.”
___“Beautiful and smart,” said the bearded man.