«It's bullshit», Raylan said when they had been silently in the car for ten minutes, driving back to the City South Police station.
«I beg your pardon?», Jack said, more because he feared he had missed something Givens had said than for his phrasing. He acknowledged he hadn't exactly been the best host in that moment, but he was doing his best to try to manage driving safely while his mind was so disquiet.
«Remember that thing Harker said about how I came highly recommended by my boss?»
«I do», Jack said, quickly glancing at him, not exactly sure where that conversation would lead.
«It's bullshit. He thinks I'm a lousy Marshal. He has said so himself and I guess he's right sometimes. There are moments where I'd argue I'm good at my job, but I do bend too many rules, don't always follow orders, leave a lot of messes behind that he has to deal with. He sent me here because he says I'm obsessed with Boyd Crowder», Raylan said, making a small pause afterwards.
« Boyd is the Billy Ashton of Harlan, if you want – bootlegging, drugs, prostitutes, protection money, you name it, he's probably involved in it. We've been playing cat and mouse for a long time», he continued, scratching the inner corner of his left eye, his gaze back on the road ahead afterwards. «I shot him in the chest, I've been able to get him in jail once, but he has always been able to escape, it doesn't matter if death or prison. I'm not very religious and I'd bet that it was all a lie, but maybe God does pay attention to his preachin'».
Jack was still driving in silence as Raylan spoke.
« Boyd and I come from way back – you could say our fathers were associates, we were friends once when we dug coal together and we've even saved each other's lives in a couple of occasions, both inside and outside the mines, but I still want to put him away for good, because the guy is a criminal, an outlaw, and a murderer with a rap sheet as long as my arm even if I know he may be sentenced to the death penalty. The past just makes it even harder, but you do what you got to do», he said in a very matter-of-fact tone. « I was supposed to be in Florida, you know? It's where my ex-wife and my daughter live now. My relationship with her mother was complicated, but I want to do right by her, to not be a shitty father as mine was, yet I'm still in Kentucky after Boyd. Art says that I'm so blind by catching him that I'm making mistakes that hinder more than what they help and he isn't even sure if I'm not stalling my move to Florida on purpose», Raylan finished talking. He had recalled that conversation many times and he had wondered if his boss wasn't indeed right every moment he did so, at least to a certain degree. Besides, Raylan had very rarely been open about any of these situations and finding himself sharing them like this took him by surprise.
«The reason why I'm telling you all this», he resumed, turning slightly to Jack, «is because I noticed how this Cal Evans guy seems to be sort of your own Boyd Crowder. You struck me as someone who doesn't talk much from the beginning, but you have been holding that steering wheel with more force than needed the whole time since we left that idiot behind.»
Jack kept silent. He didn't live his life meaning to be a cipher, but it was always strange when someone read him as clearly as Raylan had just done.
«You are right, I'm afraid», Jack said eventually. «Evans and I don't have that personal connection, or maybe we do, because I've been trying to bring him to justice for the past 10 years», he continued, his eyes fixed on the road and not only because he was driving. Jack Robinson was a straightforward man, but there were things that were easier to access and reveal without facing another person even if knowing someone was listening was of some comfort.
«He killed the younger brother of a bloke who owned Ashton money. Apparently it was supposed to scare him only but he killed a 12-year-old boy in the end and I couldn't catch him for it – there was circumstantial evidence only and the two witnesses recanted their testimony out of fear; you don't challenge the Ashtons and hope to come out of it unscathed», Jack said, swallowing dryly, « His name was Peter Ware. He was riding his bicycle to meet some friends for football. Evans hit the back wheel with the car, once, twice. Peter lost the control of the bicycle, fell, and hit his head on the pavement. Cal Evans let him bleed out in the middle of the street and drove away.»
Jack felt his eyes sting with tears and was glad for having the shadow of the brim of his hat falling over them.
«I'm sorry to hear that», Raylan said after some moments of silence.
Inspector Robinson nodded. There was nothing else he could add.
«Far from me to think I'm wise enough to dispense advise to anyone and what I've just said is classic 'do as I say, not as I do' because once I'm back in Kentucky, I'll resume looking for Boyd, but I hope you don't let this Evans thing get the best of you, even if he doesn't go down for Wolfe's murder, because, let's be honest, it looks like it's going in that direction.»
«I know», said Jack, «Every policeman has a case that won't leave him be, whether they have been on the job for a year or for thirty.»
«I'm aware than what I'm about to say will sound bad, but it's not worth it. A part of us will keep looking for them until they're in jail or either one of us is dead because we all carry our own Peter Wares with us, but it's not worth it. The best we can do is focus on the task at hand, catch the ones we do can catch.»
Jack didn't reply, but they were both glad for that conversation.
A/N:Thank you so much for reading and for your enthusiasm and support.
This may be the penultimate chapter, but it curiously features the «image» that made me go forward with the story.
I was minding my life when suddenly I 'hear' Raylan saying to Jack: «You know that thing about me coming here highly recommended by my boss? That's bullshit, he thinks I'm a lousy Marshal.»
From that moment on I couldn't stop thinking about writing something and how to bring Raylan to Melbourne - at first I considered him chasing a fugitive to Australia but I didn't know if it would be 'workable' due to jurisdictions and this was supposed to be a short thing, not something that would require a ton of research. I ended up with this protocol thing that may be as inaccurate as the chase mentioned above and I honestly thought I couldn't even get a drabble out of it all.
Art did say to Raylan: « I'm stuck with a man who is a lousy marshal, but a good law man. And you are who you are, nothing I say has ever made any difference. No punishment that I can dream up will ever change you. Maybe someday you and I'd be able to look back on this and laugh. I don't think you'll live that long.» *excuse me while I go fetch a handkerchief*
This idea of Jack having a criminal he had meant to catch for long but was failing to was one of the first things I set as well. I don't know exactly why, but looking back I think it derived from Raylan and Boyd's canon and how it could be a way to tie their stories somehow, having them both relate in light of their similar situation. I've been afraid this seems a bit of an 'info-dump' chapter but I find sometimes that when people start disclosing something that troubles them they can't put the lid back as fast as they wished. I hope this and its presentation in the text makes some sort of sense.
I had the feeling that it had been Art that had raised the question about Raylan seeming to be stalling his going to Florida, but as I was looking for the quote to refer in this note, I find out that it's Raylan himself who once says to Boyd that he has been lying to him: «Keeping up the fiction that I got all manner of things tying me to Kentucky, things that forestall my moving to Florida. But there is only the one thing: you.» (Don't google the quote if you don't want to spoil a moment displaying many of the fine achievements of Justified I've praised over and over again).
I guess I was mixing it up with another reference Art made to Florida and Raylan's life there in case some things happened - keeping it vague because spoilers -, but I didn't change it completely in this chapter because I believe Art would make some sort of similar comment at some point (if he hasn't indeed and I'm just having trouble locating it). Given their interactions over the course of the show, I wouldn't put it past possibility.
If he didn't get his job done most times and Art didn't have a soft spot for him (I've already mentioned their sort of father-son relationship), I have little doubt about how Raylan would have probably been fired already, considering all the things he finds himself involved in, not to mention all the messes he seems to willingly run towards as well.
A simplistic view would say that Boyd Crowder is the anti-hero to Raylan's hero but that isn't exactly like that. He's so wonderfully written and portrayed you will have moments where you hate him and moments where you empathise with him. Moments where you want to punch him in the face and moments where you want him to succeed.
I added the bootlegging thing because of the 1920s setting but Boyd is indeed involved in a lot of criminal activities mentioned as the show goes on and a significant part of Justified revolves around the long and complex game of cat-and-mouse between Raylan and Boyd. They dug coal together and they were friends, they have saved each other's lives many times both inside and outside the mines, both in the past and in the present; Nothing I can write here will properly convey the terrific moments of storytelling and TV their interactions create. The writing is fantastic and Timothy Olyphant and Walton Goggins elevate it to a superior level.
Curiously, Boyd actually dies in the short-story upon which the Justified pilot is based on, but he was kept on and even Elmore Leonard brought him back in «Raylan», the book he wrote once the show was already on air. I think this is a testament to the quality of Justified's take on the character, both writing and acting-wise.
I'm sorry for a note almost as long as the chapter itself (if not longer). I hope you find this interesting at least.
I also hope you are still interested enough in order to read the conclusion of this story.
Thank you for reading and for your feedback.