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it had been broken before, maybe more than once. Up close, I could see that several of his teeth were capped with gold crowns. I suspected Mister Bob had done a lot of fighting in his life, and it appeared he hadn’t always come out on top.
    “You didn’t leave me a choice,” I said.
    “I told you I wasn’t gonna hurt the broad.” Bob moved his hand from his nose, wiped the blood on his pants leg, and tried to sit up. “All I wanted was to get Frankie’s diamonds back. It didn’t even concern you—and now you went and made it personal between us.”
    I used my foot to push him back down. “Don’t get up.”
    Bob reached out, but I moved back out of the way before he could grab me. He shot me an ugly look. “You’re a dead man. And your girlfriend there is gonna join you if she don’t cough up those diamonds.”
    “Maybe I should hit him again.” Destiny moved up alongside me, kicked out with her right foot and caught Bob in the ribs with the tip of her shoe.
    Bob grunted and grabbed for her ankle, but I was faster.
    “What are you, nuts?” I snatched her arm and dragged her away from him. “Didn’t you hear him threaten to kill you? I don’t think the man’s joking.”
    “Fine.” Destiny pulled free of my grip, turned, and started off down the street. “I suppose I should thank you for your help, Mister Tough Guy,” she called out over her shoulder. “Of course you’d already be dead if I hadn’t stepped in to save your sorry ass. I’m out of here.”
    “Hey, Destiny,” Bob tried to sit up again, and this time he succeeded. “I’m coming after those stones.”
    Her body slumped, but she kept walking, calling out in the dark, “My name is Gail, not Destiny. You made a mistake, Mister Bob. I don’t have your diamonds.”
    Bob turned his gaze to me and something about his stare told me I’d better stay out of his reach. “She looks like the picture Frankie showed me. Is she or ain’t she Destiny?”
    “How am I supposed to know?” Keeping an eye on Bob I moved over to where the revolver lay. “I’m sure Frankie gave the same picture to my mother he gave to you.”
    “Frankie is not going to be happy about this,” Bob said.
    “I don’t really care at the moment.” I picked up the gun and pointed it at him. “Take off your belt.”
    “You don’t want to do this.” His voice held an edge, and he spoke so quietly it took an effort to hear what he was saying.
    I transferred the gun into my other hand and repeated, “Take off your belt.”
    Bob shifted his gaze from my face to the gun and back to my face. I could almost see the gears grinding in his mind while he debated with himself, trying to decide if I was capable of shooting him. He must have read something in my eyes, because he reached down and started unbuckling his belt. Once he’d slipped it out of the loops, he held it out in front of him.
    “Now toss it here,” I said. “And lay down on your stomach with your hands behind your back.”
    Bob followed my orders and I formed the thin black belt into a loop. Holding the gun in my left hand I shoved the barrel into his back. With my right hand I slid the loop around his wrists, cinched the belt, and took off my own belt which I used to bind his feet.
    I tucked the pistol into the back of my shorts. “You should be able to work your way free in a little while,” I said.
    “Hey man.” Bob started to struggle with his bonds. “Don’t take my gun.”
    “What am I supposed to do, Bob? You told me you were going to kill me. I’m not about to leave the gun with you.”
    “I can maybe get over what happened between us today. That ain’t gonna happen if you take my gun. You might as well shoot me right now; because I swear I’m gonna get it back. And when I do, I’m gonna pistol whip you until you wish you’d never met me. After that, I’m gonna shoot you dead. That’s a promise.”
    “I already wish I’d never met you, Bob. But I couldn’t stand by and watch