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Thirty

Theo

"Listen," Theo said, cocking his ear toward the cave lanced to the back of the cave Fro she could see that the pilgri his scales She turned back to Theo "You’ve got to stop the helicopters Call them and stop it"

"Molly, it’s not the news helicopters that will hurt hiuys who just pulled up" Theo peeked out thedown on the marine terrace, about a hun-dred yards froht, they still think they need cover

Molly brandished her broadsword, holding it only inches froive you, Theo Crowe I’ll track you down to the ends of the earth and kill you like the radioactive scu?"

"I mean it," she screamed, almost hysterical now Steve roared froo nuts onyour pal seems likely to do is eatelse"

Molly slu her head as if soh a valve in her boot Theo fought the urge to comfort her, afraid that if he even touched her shoulder the Sea Beast ht attack him

Then it hit him He flipped open his cell phone and dialed the Head of the Slug

Mavis

Mavis Sand had spent a lifeti from them, and that perspective ood for people better than they knew themselves Consequently, Mavis was a meddler Most of the time she was content to use information as her tool of choice and rumor as her means of delivery What someone knew - and when they knew it - controlled what they did (The Spider, pulling digital strings from his basement web, had exactly the same philosophy) Today she’d had a heap of problems dumped on her, none of the withoutup with a way to manipulate the information to solve them Then the call caht, they could use the et theht, she could solve a couple of other problems as well

She put down the phone and Catfish said, "Who that?"

"It was Theo"

"That ol’ dragon ain’t et him yet? Boy must be livin a charmed life"

Mavis leaned over the bar, close to Catfish, took his hand in hers, and began squeezing "Sweetie, put on your friendly persuasion hat I need you to run down to the phar foras the bones in his fingers coone, Mavisthrough boxes and filling cabinets until she ca for: a shter plug on the end "Don’t worry, Theo," she said to herself "I put o, and I’ like the starter cranking on a fuel dry Ford

Catfish

A Bluesman hates to be told what to do Authority rankles him, inspires his rebellion, and plays to his need to self-destruct A Blues a boss unless he’s on a chain gang (for the chain gang boss ranks below only ain the hier-archy of the Blues Muse, followed closely by bad liquor, a dead dog, and the Man) Catfish had a boss as aturn of the Blues screw that et shot, get hold of souitar and take a job down to the hty trips around that cruel, cruel sun without gaining soo to the phar white boy with the co lid on a bean can And when he was done, he would pick up his pay froet his wrinkly Black ass out of this town and go nurse his heartbreak on thetrap that was, is, and always shall be the road

So Catfish strolled a rolling Delta moonwalk of a stroll (redolent of sas-safras and jive) into Pine Cove Drug and Gift, and the four blue-haired chicken wo to get to the back rooine it: a person of the Dark persuasion in their midst What if he should ask for a vial of Afro-Sheen or some other ethnic-ally oriented product hich they were totally unfa witches, when their col-lective minds steamed to a stop Do we look like thrill-seekers? Wasn’t it enough that we had to put up that sign reading NO HABLA ESPANOL and acknowledge the existence of thirty percent of the population, even in the negative? No, we shall err on the side of safety, thank you, and in lieu of sand in which to bury our heads, we shall head into the back roo fake Zolofts behind his glass wall, looked up and saw Catfish coretted that he hadn’t installed bulletproof glass Still, Winston was a e the fantasy offamiliar with the ways of people of color, for that is who dolphins prefer to hang out with, when they aren’t hanging out with the Cousteaus, or so it appeared on the Discovery Channel He stepped out of his booth and met Catfish as he reached the counter

"Good day, me brother-mon, ye," Winston said in his best island dialect "What can I be gettin for ye?" And there was that welco smile, only a dreadlock and a white sand beach short of a travel poster

Catfish squinted, re scalp, stepped back, turned his head to the side and studied the pharmacist for a moment, then said, "I will slap the shit out of you You know that?"

"Sorry," Winston said, coughing soe the errant Jamaican from his throat "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Mavis down to the Slug sent me up to ax you somethin"

"I’m familiar with her medical records," Winston said, "You can have her call me if she has a question"

"Yeah, she don’t want to call you She want you to come down to see her"

Winston adjusted his bolo tie "I’m sorry, but you’ll have to have her call me I can’t leave the store"

Catfish nodded "That what she thought you’d say She say to ax you if she can have a big jar of thelanced at the back room where his staff was huddled like Anne Frank and fah the crack in the door "Tell her I’ll be right over," Winston said

"She said to wait and co now; oily beads rose on his scalp "Let me tell the staff where I’ll be"

"Hurry up, Flipper I ain’t got all day," Catfish said

Winston Krauss shuddered, hitched up his double knits, and waddled around the counter "Ladies, I’ll be back in few minutes," he called over his shoulder

Catfish leaned over the counter to where he could see the row of eyes peering out of the crack and said, "I be back in a few minutes my own self, ladies I needs soe black dick I have to carry around The weight of it like to break my back"

There was a collective intake of breath so abrupt that the drop in pressure sprung the barometer on the wall and made Catfish’s ears pop

Winston Krauss turned and scowled at Catfish "Was that really necessary?"

"Man’s got to look after his reputation," Catfish said

The Sheriff

Burton had theh the rocks and across the marine terrace to the Blazers He found Sheridan crouched behind the fender, his M-16 trained on the cave entrance

"Rougha hint of a smile at Burton’s disheveled suit

Burton looked around at the other teah rifle scopes at the cave entrance "So we only have five?"

"Morales is coaching Pee-Wee Football today The others are on regular duty We couldn’t pull them off"

Burton scowled "As far as I know, they only have the one weapon, but it’s a fully automatic AK I want two men on either side of the cave mouth, one down in that crevice where I was pinned down can deliver the gas, followed by concussion grenades I’ll stay here with a sniper rifle to take out anyone who gets past the entry crew Shoot anything that as," Sheridan said

"What?"

"No gas and no concussion You wanted us here without checking in That stuff is kept in the locker at County Justice We just have the body armor and our own personal weapons"

Burton looked around at the other uys all have your own personal M-16s, but no grenades?"

"Yes, sir"

"So I have a standoff? I had a standoff before, Sheridan A standoff doesn’t do ood Come with me" He pushed a fresh clip into his 9 mm and turned to the others "Cover us"

Burton led the SWAT commander to a spot in the rocks just below the cave h time to consider my offer!"

"Offer?" Sheridan asked

Burton shushed hiot thirty people in here to discuss it with and they’re not being cooperative"

Sheridan looked at Burton "Thirty people? We can’t shoot thirty people I’ any thirty people"

"Five minutes, Crowe," Burton said "Then you have no more options"

"What’s the offer?" Sheridan whispered to the sheriff

"Don’t worry about it I’es so we can take him out"

"Then we’d better have a description of the suspect, don’t you think?"

"He’s the one in handcuffs," Burton said

"Well, aren’t you the fucking hero?" Sheridan shot back

Skinner

Skinner watched from the front seat of the Mercedes as the Food Guy was loaded into the back of the Suburban with the cage in it The Bad Guys hadn’t even left the s cracked Hoould the Food Guy breathe? He wouldn’t be able to sit in the front seat and put his head out theeither Skinner was sad for the Food Guy

He crawled in the backseat of the Mercedes and lay down to nap away his anxiety

The Head of the Slug

The first thing Catfish sahen he ca was Estelle standing at the bar, and he could feel the crust peeling off his heart like old paint Her hair was down Brushed out, it hung to her waist She earing a pair of pink overalls that had been splattered with paint over a man’s white T-shirt - his T-shirt, he realized She looked to hiht home was supposed to look like, but as a Bluesirl, what you doin’ here?"

"I called her," Mavis said "This is your driver"

"What I need a driver for?"

"I’ll tell you" Estelle took his hand and led hih the door a second later and Mavis waved him over to the bar "Son, I’m about to make you the happiest man in the whole world"

"You are? Why?"

"Because I like to see people get what they want And I have what you want"

"You do?"

Mavis stepped up to the bar and in low, conspiratorial tones, began telling Winston Krauss the eously erotic tale that she had ever told, trying the whole ti to wanted to have sex with marine animals

Over in the corner booth, Catfish’s , even as tears welled up in her eyes "I wouldn’t ask you to do it if I thought it would put you in danger Really"

"I know that," Catfish said, a gentleness in his voice that he usually reserved for kittens and traffic cops "It just that I been runnin from this my whole life"

"I don’t think so," Estelle said "I think you’ve been running to this"

Catfish grinned "You gonna take theood, ain’t you?"

"You know it"

"Then let’s go" Catfish stood up and turned to where Mavis and Winston stood

"We ready? Y’all ready?" He noticed that the front of Winston’s trousers had becoht "Yeah, you ready You sick, but you ready"

Mavis nodded, a slightfrom her neck, "Take the second turn out, not the first," Mavis said to Estelle "Fros the coast, so there’s no hills"

"I have to go get my mask and fins," wailed Winston

Thirty-one

Molly

"Has it been five ed, her sword held across her knees Theo jumped as if he’d been poked with an ice pick, then checked his watch He crouched by the cavefor the sound of either salvation or death

"About a minute left Where the hell are they? Molly, maybe you should find some cover"

"What cover?" She looked around the cave It was an open chamber; the only cover would be the darkness in the back of the chamber

"Get behind Steve"

"No," Molly said "I won’t do that" She heard a voice come from the back of her mind "Get to cover, you daffy broad What, do you have a death wish?"

"I have abandon to turn around and abandon someone else," Molly said