Silver City Page #5

- One of our clients, yes.

You said there was no scientific

evidence that smoking can cause cancer.

I see myself as sort of a champion

of the underdog.

Every point of view,

no matter how politically incorrect...

deserves an advocate

in the court of public opinion.

I heard that you were with somebody new,

but, hey, a champion of the underdog.

- Great.

- It was nice to see you, Danny.

- Yeah. Right.

- Rebecca Zeller.

Yes.

Keep up the good fight.

Thanks.

Of course, getting dentists to see

Medicaid patients was never any picnic.

And then the migrants...

they'd rather chew aspirin

for the rest of their lives...

than risk getting

the I NS involved.

- Who hires undocumented workers then?

- Who doesn't?

Nice, cheap labor who can't complain

to the authorities...

if they're ripped off or mistreated.

Just continue around straight,

Mr. Scarpa. That's it.

Do you have a list of employers?

Six months old.

A lot of these characters, these little

construction outfits and whatnot...

they move around.

It's a place for me to start.

You really blew it,

you know?

- With Nora.

- Tell me about it.

She was devastated after she left you.

She seems pretty happy

with this Chandler guy.

- Mercenary little prick.

- You've met him.

I'm working for... this is

strictly confidential, by the way...

a close friend

of your employer.

The Pilager family?

Look, I only want to know

if any of your workers are missing.

What, these guys? They're all missing.

They don't exist, right?

Illegal.

Undocumented.

Whatever.

Look, this is a prep crew.

The foundation, the frame and the roof.

I don't get into citizens

until the plumbing and wiring go in.

- This is standard practice?

- If you want to stay competitive, it is.

Look, I'm a subcontractor.

Bentel hires someone,

who hires me...

and I hire a guy to go out and find these

"trabajeros" on a job-to-job basis.

I ask him no questions.

If somebody doesn't

show up for work?

My labor contractor makes sure

there's somebody ready to take his place.

I don't know the language.

I don't even learn their names.

It's like, "Yo, amigo,"

and you show 'em what you want.

The Immigration?

You know, the funny thing,

working for Bentel...

we don't seem to have

too much trouble from them.

Right.

- Corona.

- It's conoce.

You don't say "sabe"when you're

asking about a person.

It's...

It's not "el mano"?

It's irregular.

Like a gringo coming to this bar

asking questions.

Irregular.

Right.

So what's his name,

this tipo you're looking for?

I don't know.

Tough to find somebody,

you don't know his name.

He has this on... la mano.

There's a reward

for this information?

- There could be.

- How much?

$100...

to whoever can put the name

to this tattoo.

Tony Guerra.

That's the name.

- Who's Tony Guerra?

- Speaking.

I'll take 20s if you got 'em.

What do you want with me?

I gotta warn you.

I'm a citizen.

I don't have to take no sh*t.

It's not you.

- How do you know that?

- You're still breathing.

Where'd you get

the tattoo?

Me and the lavaplatos

from my kitchen...

we went out one night,

I got a little borracho.

- You're a cook?

- I'm a chef, por favor.

Up in Vail, with the ski bunnies.

We're talking blue corn polenta

with mango-chipotle salsa...

free-range sage hens

stuffed with chestnuts.

The tattoos.

I saw it on a wall in this place

we went, liked the way it looked.

I asked the dude,

"Lay it on me."

I keep my own records,

you know, if you can call it that.

I have them sign

when they come in.

I check their I D

if they look underage.

Redeye Stinger.

"Tony Guerra."

- He was pretty drunk, that guy.

- No, not him.

Try earlier.

I only done

one other stinger this year.

Do you remember anything about him?

The other one.

Another Mexican. I think.

I get so many bean-eaters in here.

I was probably just glad

it wasn't her again.

I could do that tat

with my eyes closed.

So, is this like a cop thing?

I imagine they'll get

around to you pretty soon.

There he is. Lzaro Huerta.

And the caterer will be here

very, very early.

I get up with the sun.

How's my...

How's the candidate holding up?

Give it to me straight.

He doesn't have your head for policy.

I'd like to see him plowing his way

through the appropriations bill.

He's never been

much of a reader.

Well, we break it down and feed it

to him bite-sized.

He's impatient.

He's always been impatient.

He's knuckling down. You have

every reason to be proud of him.

Publicly...

He's a f***ing disaster

when he's off the script.

I don't think we have to worry

so much about him straying that far.

I mean, as long as nothing

comes flying in from left field.

And what would that be?

In Carbonville...

right next to

Everything For A Buck store.

I've looked up 18 Huertas

in the phone book.

I've called them all.

Sh*t!

I seem to be missing

a microwave oven.

If anything else comes up, I'll make

sure to get back to you, Sheriff.

Okay.

She takes the broom,

leaves the dustpan.

Story of my life.

Hello?

- Yes, hi, it's...

- Danny?

Yeah. It was great

to see you the other day.

You looked really good, Danny.

Hey, if this is about me

and Chandler...

No, no.

This is business.

I'm doing a little background

on the Pilager family...

and since you're covering the...

I'm actually going to a function

at the senator's house tomorrow...

a thank-you

for their big fund-raisers.

If you promise to be

on your best behavior...

That would be great.

Chandler won't mind, will he?

It's a fund-raising thing.

Why would he mind?

Nora, I've been thinking

a lot about you lately.

Even before Debbie left, l...

Danny, stop.

It's too late, all right?

It's really sweet of you,

but we've both moved on, haven't we?

Yeah. Right.

We're yesterday's news.

Sorry to bother you at this hour.

Good night.

Good night, Danny.

Richard Pilager cares

about the family.

So, what did you see in him?

He was intense.

You know, he cared about things.

Oh, my God.

He used to...

He used to write on the walls.

- Like graffiti?

- In the house.

He'd be working on a story,

and he'd get so wrapped up in it...

that he'd, like,

get a Magic Marker...

and write all the names and important

facts all over the living room wall...

and then he'd try

to connect the dots.

So you had to live with it.

The landlord

wasn't thrilled about it...

but Danny always

painted over it.

You know, he thought...

This was when we were still at the

Monitor, when it was still political.

He thought that journalists

should change things...

you know, not just report.

He wanted to be the referee

and not just the scorekeeper.

I guess.

When I was a press liaison

for Fred Loomis...

we had a slogan

on the wall.

It said, "You don't tell us

how to stage the news...

and we won't tell you

how to report it."

Terrific.

Power is a locomotive, babe.

You either hop on board,

or it runs right over you.

Sounds like he laid down

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