“But everybody called you Harris when you were a cop.”
“Yeah, I think that’s the reason Ames always made it a point to call me Margot. He wants to remind me I’m not a cop anymore.”
“Don’t say it like it's a bad thing. The only thing I think about my old job is I wish I’d got out sooner.”
“The steady paycheck was nice.”
“Sure, but there’s money to be made going private.”
“I’ve heard that, but…”
“Well, Margot, that’s actually why I wanted to talk to you. As you noticed, I’m down a partner.”
“I’m sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. That wasn’t your fault. Stick knew what the job was. He knew Randy was involved in all that cartel nastiness and he took the job. If it had been the other way around, you would have taken the job and you wouldn’t have blamed him if you got hurt.”
“Yeah, I get the logic of it, but I can’t help feel like shit because of it. I could have just done it myself.”
“Then you’d be dead and Brantley would have gotten away with it.”
“Maybe. Hell, they haven’t found a body. He may have gotten away with it after all.”
“No, you beat him with a shovel and shot him like seven times.”
“Five. I shot him five times.”
“Close enough. Either way, he got eaten by coyotes.”
“I hope so.”
“I hope he was still alive when they started. He killed Stick and would have killed me too if it weren’t for you.”
“That one is mutual. I was dead before you showed up.”
Shaw nodded and smiled. “I did save your ass, didn’t I?”
“Yes.”
“See, that’s why I’m here. We saved each other.”
“Obviously. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be here.”
“Speaking of obvious, tell me you see what I’m getting at.”
Margot considered it for a minute and then asked, “Are you offering me a job?”
“No, I’m offering you to be my partner.”
“You want me to replace Stick?”
“No, I want you to be my new partner. Stick was Stick and you’re Margot. I’ll never get another Stick, but I think I could be happy working with a Margot. You’re tough and smart, otherwise neither of us would be here.”
“If I was smart, I wouldn’t have walked into Brantley’s trap.”
“Look, if you don’t want to be my partner, I’ll understand. You don’t have to talk me out of it. If I didn’t think you were up to the job I wouldn’t have ever asked.”
“I guess you caught me off guard. I figured you wanted to talk about what happened out in the desert.”