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“Do you mind if we ask you a few questions?”
“Since I’m bored out of my mind, I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to sell me life insurance. ”
The younger man grinned at that; the older one did not. They both pulled up orange plastic chairs of the type that had aluminum legs and looked like they had been designed for the sole purpose of making the user uncomfortable. Both men sat down, sighing in unison with obvious weariness.
Crow looked at them, half smiling. “Let me guess,” he said, “Philly cops?”
“Right the first time. I’m Vince LaMastra, and this is my partner, Detective Sergeant Frank Ferro. ”
“Did I meet you guys last night?”
“Yes, sir. We were out at the house. ”
Crow’s hands were bandaged, and one was hooked to an IV, so they just exchanged nods, and Crow was even careful about that. His head still felt as if it had been used in a soccer match.
“Mr. Crow,” began Ferro, “first, I want to say that on behalf of myself, my partner, and the other law-?enforcement officers, I want to thank you and commend you for your bravery and resourcefulness last night. ”
“Aw, shucks,” Crow drawled. “’Tweren’t nothing. ”
“I’m serious, sir. You managed to save the lives of four people, not to mention yourself, and faced down a man who is widely regarded as extremely dangerous. ”
“Oh, come on. ”
“No joke, man,” LaMastra agreed, nodding vigorously. “You went up against Karl Ruger and whipped his ass. ”
“Truth to tell,” Crow said, rubbing his jaw with a skinned knuckle, “it was kind of a mutual ass-?whipping. And quite frankly—isn’t everyone making a bit too much out of that? Okay, so I won a fight. Considering everything else that’s going on, what’s the big deal?”
“Uh-?huh,” said Ferro quietly. “Mr. Crow—”
“Look, if you would, just call me Crow. My old man was ‘Mr. Crow’ and he was kind of an asshole. I’m just Crow to everyone. ”
“Tell me, Crow,” said Ferro, trying it on, “how is it that you are as dirty a fighter as Karl Ruger? You box?”
Crow shook his head. “Martial arts. ”
“Karate?”
“Jujitsu. ”
LaMastra brightened. “No kidding? I did some judo in college, and I—”
Ferro looked at him until he stopped talking, and then the detective turned back to Crow. “The mayor and quite a number of the town’s officers have been telling us stories of your exploits. Fighting biker gangs, that sort of thing,” Ferro said in a tone that suggested he didn’t believe much of what he’d heard.
Crow didn’t feel like making a case for himself, and besides, half of what the cop had been told probably was a pack of lies. “People love to exaggerate. ”
“Frequently,” Ferro said quietly.
Was the cop baiting him? Crow wondered. “Tell you one thing, though, I never fought anyone tougher. Or faster. Son of a bitch was something else. You can’t imagine how cat-?quick this guy is. He’s every bit as dangerous as everyone thinks he is. Maybe more. No remorse, either. He shot Rhoda Thomas and me without any hesitation. ”
“He’s killed a lot of people,” LaMastra said. “It’s nothing new to him. ”
“It’s nothing to him at all,” Ferro summed up. He tilted his head to one side, appraising Crow. “You know, despite how banged up you are, you’re lucky to be alive and in fairly good working condition. ”
“Gosh, I feel like dancing. ”
“No, seriously. Ruger has a habit of doing some rather horrible things to the people he doesn’t like. ”
“I heard about the whole Cape May thing. ”
