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“Yes, darling?”
“Be extra careful. Don’t grin at me like that, you idiot, I’m serious. ”
Crow smiled regardless and dropped into a Festus drawl. “Gee, Mayor Wolfe, does that mean I can bring along my trusty six-?gun?”
With no trace of humor in his voice, Terry said, “Yes, it does. ”
Crow blinked at him, waiting for the punch line. He said, “You serious?”
“As a heart attack. ” Terry cleared his throat. “Look, Crow, all of the cops—local and otherwise—are going to be mustering at the station to coordinate this thing. If I could, I’d send one of them, not that any of them are worth the cost of a pack of Juicy-?Fruit. Besides, you used to be a cop…. ”
“Christ, Terry, in this town nearly everyone except my grandmother has been a cop at one time or other. And she’d have taken the job if she hadn’t had the rhuematiz. ”
“Yeah, well. Consider yourself temporarily reinstated. ”
“As a cop? You can do that?”
“I’m the mayor, I can do anything. ”
“That’s not what Sarah says. ”
“That’s where you’re wrong. My wife thinks I’m Superman. ” He mopped more sweat and then looked at his friend for a moment. “Look, Crow, just do this for me quick and safe, okay?”
Crow smiled but he could see that this matter really was troubling Terry, so he didn’t make another joke. “Sure, Terry. Whatever you want. And about this whole fugitive thing—don’t get too wired about it, ’cause about the last place three wanted criminals are going to want to go is to a haunted hayride packed with every teenager from the tristate area. Y’know, they got this whole thing about witnesses and such. ”
Terry walked behind the counter and retrieved his cell phone, which was only partially recharged. “Yeah, well, just be careful anyway. ”
“I promise that I will be very careful. The best man for this job is a smart coward, and damn it, Terry, I’m your man. ” He sketched a salute.
Terry Wolfe shook his head, but then he stepped forward and thrust out his hand. “Thanks. ”
Crow picked up a rubber severed arm and extended it to shake Terry’s hand. Terry batted it lightly aside and shook his head again, sadly this time. “You are very weird,” he said with a harried grin, and then left.
For a full minute, Crow just looked out through the broad glass window at the darkness, a lopsided smile on his face. He scratched his cheek with the rubber hand.
“Well, hell,” he said aloud. Then went into the back room and fetched his gun.
3
Seconds crawled over the car like army ants. Finally Boyd found his voice and croaked, “Tony? Ruger?”
Ruger just grunted at him. He quivered as adrenaline coursed through him. He could feel the hair standing up all over his body. His fingertips shook as he probed his cheek and forehead, which were puffing up and beginning to throb. There was no pain yet, but a growing tingle that forewarned him of it. It felt wonderful. Running his tongue over his gums, he could taste the hot, salty blood, and he drank it down hungrily.
“Is Tony okay?”
Annoyed by the fact that Boyd seemed to be relatively unhurt, Ruger looked at the driver, slumped motionlessly against the steering wheel. “Who cares?” Ruger said.
“What the hell happened?”
“Tony drove us over a ditch and into this fucking cornfield, whaddya think happened?”
“Shit!” Boyd said. “That’s just…shit. ”
“Uh-?huh. ” Ruger was trying to recapture the image of the man in his mind, certain that he knew the man, but
the harder he tried to grab at the memory, the more elusive it became until finally it was gone for good. He felt a pang at the loss.
Ruger, you are my left hand.
