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“I will, I will, but not yet. There’s just a few things I got to do yet. ”
The phone rang, but Ruger made no move to answer it. He merely let it ring itself out. He finished the drink and set the glass down primly on the side table. Val was amazed: he must have poured five fingers’ worth into the tall milk glass and he’d downed it all in six or eight gulps. How much whiskey was that? A quarter pint? What would he be like when the whiskey hit his system?
“Okay, next question, Mr. Guthrie,” Ruger said with no trace of a slur in his voice. “Do you have a stretcher?”
“A stretcher?”
“Yeah. ”
“No. A stretcher? Why would I have a stretcher?”
“You got anything I could use as one?”
Guthrie frowned. “I guess you could take a door off its hinges and use that. Who’s hurt?”
“Hey, hey, now, I didn’t say you could ask any questions. ”
“Okay,” Guthrie said in a soft, placating voice. “Sorry. ”
“Okay then. How ’bout a wheelbarrow?”
“Sure. We have a couple of those. ”
“Where?”
“In the shed. Small yellow building next to the barn. ”
“Is it locked?”
“No. ”
“No?” Ruger chuckled. “Aren’t you afraid of thieves?”
Guthrie looked at him coldly. “Not usually much of an issue way out here. ”
Ruger just shook his head. “Okay, and how about rope? Or that gray tape, whaddya call it?”
“Duct tape?”
“Yeah, duck tape. You got any duck tape?”
Guthrie nodded. “Couple rolls. ”
“Where?”
“In the cellar. ”
“Rope?”
“Some in the barn. Washing line, bailing twine in the cellar. ”
“Good, good. ”
Ruger rocked in his rocker for a little while, again pursing his lips, the smile coming and going, and his reptile eyes staring blackly at them. “Okay, then,” he said at length, “here’s the plan. Val, you are going to go fetch me some rope and some of that duck tape. You go fetch it and come right back. ”
Val’s heart hammered in her chest as she thought about all the things in the cellar. She stood up quickly and turned to go, but immediately Ruger was on his feet, too. He grabbed her shoulder, spun her around, and looked into her eyes. She didn’t know what he was seeing there, but his face seemed angry at first, and then his smile crawled back. He slowly shook his head. “Uh-?uh, honey. You sit your pretty ass back down. I was born at night, darlin’, but it wasn’t last night. Sit down. ”
She let her gaze fall away and slowly crept back to the couch and sat down. Her father handed her the ice pack she had dropped and she pressed it back it place. Connie was staring at her with a total lack of understanding.
