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“Who, may I ask, is Mike Sweeney?”
“Kid who delivers the paper. ”
“Okay. And you’re what—learning his route?”
“No. Actually I almost ran him over. Don’t panic, it was just by accident, though…I wasn’t aiming for him. ”
“I should hope not. ”
“But someone else tried to do it intentionally. ” Silence. Crow said, “Terry?”
There was a sigh at the other end of the line. “Tell me that again. Someone else tried to…”
“…Run him over, yeah. The kid was pedaling along A-32 when this tow-?truck comes zooming down the road and tries to run him over. ”
“Oh, for Pete’s sake, Crow, the guy probably didn’t see him. Kid on a bike out on the highway. Like I said, the trucker probably never saw him. You just said you almost did the same thing. ”
“Kid says that the tow-?truck went out of its way to chase him down. The kid was in the oncoming lane, crowding the shoulder, and the truck swerved into the lane and accelerated toward him. ”
“Oh, come on. ”
“I believe he’s telling the truth, Terry. ” For just a moment Crow thought about the incident from a different perspective. Mike’s stepfather was Vic Wingate, who was widely believed to be physically abusive to the kid; and Vic worked for Shanahan’s Garage, and Shanahan owned a tow-?truck. Could it have been Vic behind the wheel? He thought about that for a second and then dismissed it as fanciful.
“Crow, we really do have more important fish to fry than some trucker, probably drunk, who may or may not have even seen the kid. I mean, really. ”
“Kid got hurt. ”
A pause. “Hurt? How bad? Do you need an ambulance?”
“No, nothing like that. Busted rib or two, some bruises. Got a bit of a knock on the head, though. I think he should go to the emergency room. At least have a doctor look at the rib and his head. ”
“Where are you now?”
“On A-32, on the service pull-?off near Shandy’s Curve. I can’t lug the kid all the way to the hayride with me, though, and if I take him over to the hospital, I w
on’t get to the hayride until well after eleven. ”
“That’s too late. ”
“Uh-?huh. ”
“Can’t you call his folks? Have them pick him up at the hayride?”
“Mm. I guess so…. ”
“Try it. ”
“Maybe. Guess who is stepdad is? Vic Wingate. ”
There was a thick silence on the line. “Oh. Great. ”
“Uh-?huh. ” Everyone in town knew Vic Wingate. Those who weren’t downright afraid of him merely loathed him. “Because of the accident, the kid’s really late. Vic has this thing about being home on time…. ”
“Vic’ll probably give the kid a hiding for having the temerity to have his ribs broken. ”
“That would be my call,” Crow agreed.
“So, what do you want me to do?”
