She sneered. “But you’re still here, and your girl. Juan isn’t, and I’m finished too.”
“Let’s skip it,” I said. “This won’t get us anywhere.”
“Bat double-crossed me,” she said, spitefully.
“What did you expect? The snake would double-cross his own mother.”
“My fault again,” she said. “I wanted to use him to even things with you, but he thought I’d fallen for him. I ought to have played with him until this was over, but I gave him hell.
How could I fall for a filthy brute like him? I told him so, and he fixed me.” She moved her legs restlessly. “They swear they’ve filled me full of dope, but it hurts—it hurts like hell.”
I didn’t say anything.
“I taught Bat how to explode the gas dump, rehearsed him for weeks. God! He was dumb. He couldn’t have done it without me. He wanted to shoot you, but I had to be smart. You see, it didn’t work out. I wanted to see you and your girl go up in flames along with your smug little home.”
I looked away. It was no use hating her; she was dying and she’d paid for what she had done.
“You’re not letting Bat get away?” she asked abruptly.