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“No doubts?”
“No doubts. I saw the impacts, saw his body jerk with each shot. ”
“What about a vest? Could he have been wearing body armor?”
“No way in hell. I fought him hand to hand before that, Jerry, and I know damn well I was hitting meat and muscle, not Kevlar. ”
Head nodded and sat back, sipping his Coke. “Yeah, that was my read on it, too. I saw you shoot him. I’m pretty sure I missed, but I’ll go before a judge and swear that I saw at least two or three of your shots nail him. ”
They looked at each other in silence for a moment.
“You want to ask it, or shall I?” Crow said.
“You mean…with a hundred searchers and five teams of dogs, how did a man with five bullets in him disappear?”
“Yep. ”
“Man, I don’t even know. Fucker’s painted with magic. ”
“Yeah. ”
At that point the door opened again and Mike Sweeney poked his head into the room. He saw the officer and stopped, silent.
“Come on in,” Head said, rising. “I’m leaving anyway. ” He reached out again and shook Crow’s hand. “I hope your lady and her family come through this okay. ”
“Thanks,” Crow said. “That means a lot. ”
Head turned and as he passed Mike he gave the boy a quick appraising glance, taking in the bruises. He turned briefly to Crow, eyebrows raised significantly, and then left without comment.
Mike came over and sat down, dragging the chair closer to the bed.
“Dude!” Mike said. “Look at your face!”
“Yeah, well, look at yours, too. What the hell happened to you?” And as soon as he asked the question Crow wished he could take it back. He remember Barney’s account of how Vic had beaten Mike when he picked him up.
“I, uh…”
“Fell off your bike again?” Crow asked, one eyebrow raised.
“Yeah. ”
“Yeah,” Crow said, and then had to leave it there because Mike was clearly not going to go any more distance down that conversational street. He didn’t let it show on his face, but he made a mental note to look up Vic one of these days and find some way to kick the living shit out of him and yet not wind up in jail, or in court. That son of a bitch was way overdue for an attitude adjustment.
He sighed. “Thanks for coming, kiddo. Did you get the—”
Mike suddenly grinned and dug into his jacket pocket. “I got the key from the lady at the yarn shop. I fed the cats, too. ”
“Oh, jeez, I totally forgot about them!”
“They peed on the rug. ”
“Swell. It’s their way of expressing disapproval at my tardiness. ”
“They peed on your coffee table, too. I had to throw out your magazines and some of the mail was wet. I put that in the sink. ”
“Little furry bastards. ”
“Anyway…I got the box you wanted. ” He produced a small box that was an inch and a half square and covered with navy blue velvet. Crow took it carefully and opened it. The engagement ring fairly lit the room with its brilliance. The Asscher-?cut stone was huge—nearly two carats—and according to the salesman, it was a nicely cut, G Color, VS1 clarity diamond—and it had put a serious dent in his savings, to which Crow did not even blink.
