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Reaan&039;s car with his left hand in the air and his head down between his knees A thick white bandage was tightly wrapped around his er Rea ith a particularly wicked little sahich had neatly sliced off the top half inch of the finger Blood had spurted, and Rea an aan said Reaer in a towel and driven hiht-headed," Reams had explained "I saw stars I never believed that about seeing stars before, but I do now I felt I was spiraling down into a long black hole, slipping right out of the daylight, swi cottony sleep"

It sounded like soan turned onto Rea you hoet a prescription or anything?"

Reams shook a little bottle of pills in the other hand "These will get me by for a day or two Doctor had some sas

"Jesus, will you sit up?" Morgan said

"I need to sit like this Isn&039;t this what you&039;re supposed to do?"

"That&039;s for airline crashes That&039;s crash position you&039;re in"

Reaht I was supposed to let the blood flow to "

"I&039;ll have you home in a few minutes and you can stick your head in a bucket if you want"

"Daan, have a heart why don&039;t you? I&039;ve been er"

"I think I sliced an artery," Reams said "If I&039;d passed out before I made it to the phone, I an doubted that

"I&039; a little ill even now I&039;ve had a shock to the systely little injuries can sometimes be serious They shock the systean parked in Reaishly, Rea his hand over his head It looked like he was flipping the bird to the whole neighborhood He fished his keys out of his pocket with the other hand

"Thanks, Morgan I didn&039;t knoho else to call, but I knew you said you&039;d be hoan said

"Right" Reams closed the car door, took two steps toward his house, and stopped He swayed A pause Reaan watched for a few seconds, but Reaan shut off the car, clirass "You okay?"

"Hmm? What?" Reams rubbed his head "See, I told you I asked the doctor for a transfusion, but he wouldn&039;t do it Daed Reams to the front door, took his keys, and unlocked it They went in Morgan draped Reaan I really owe you even more now"

"No, you don&039;t"

"Yes, really First that craziness with Pritcher and now this I think you ought to come down to Houston with et you a job lined up for fall"

"I&039;ll think about it"

"Good" Reaed it so his hand was elevated above his head "What&039;s it like?"

Morgan sat in an uncomfortable wooden chair across fro, ht about it "I used to like it, or thought I did Changing scenery all the tis But I think I&039; tired of it I thinkies back intowhen you&039;re alorried about your next paycheck"

But Reaer over his head, blazing white to the world

twenty-seven

While waiting for Morgan to return, Ginny Conrad went through all the professor&039;s cabinets, closets, and drawers She realized, even as she was doing it, that her actions were the result of a minor, quirky character flaw She hated to be left out of anything, hated the thought that so on and she wasn&039;t in on it

Once, when she was eleven years old, she&039;d painted a Magic Marker e She&039;d picked up two friends and went to see an R-rated movie in which there was ruht her home warned her father he&039;d better keep an eye on her

The incident had only strengthened her resolve to get aith things She , and daan was a thrill He was older (a teacher!) and a writer He hung out with dangerous criirl had been one of the s she&039;d ever done She&039;d been so horny in the peach orchard, she&039;d been unable to keep her hands off hian had been a bit of a dud since He seeht or that soood, but she could get sex anywhere And ruan&039;s closets was dullsville Pale blue Hanes boxer shorts, a half-used tube of BENGAY, and a clip-on tie fro her clothes on, leaving a note for Morgan

No, she&039;d wait Onehi space in front of the convenience store He shut off the engine, went in, hands shaking as he pulled cruht another six-pack of beer and a pack of cigarettes

The girl behind the counter looked scared of hiht his reflection in the fish-eye irl He looked distorted and evil, eyes red, skin waxen and ht Stubbs, like in a creepy foreign filn file, but he knew he&039;d crossed soet back

On his way out to the car he ripped a phone book out of a booth He sat in the front seat, flipped through the residential listings until he found Jay Morgan&039;s address

He popped a beer, gulped half, lit a cigarette, and sucked it slowly He let out a long gray breath

There was nothing to do now but see this through He nodded to hirio all the way The Lancaster kid wasn&039;t co back, and it wasn&039;t like Stubbs planned to turn hie and craziness had killed the kid Stubbs would have to get his shit together fro down the cocaine was his first priority He&039;d look for Annie Walsh still, and he&039;d send the parents a bill of course But following Annie&039;s trail s He ay too deep into this shit not to get soarette, started the engine, and pointed the car toward Morgan&039;s house No an knew about this the hard way or the easy way It didn&039;t an&039;s house and parked across from it on the street He watched for ten minutes, but didn&039;t see anybody in the s He drank one ain

When he finished the beer, he crushed the can and tossed it into the backseat He opened the glove compartment and pulled out his45 automatic No spare clip or extra bullets He hardly used the thing But noas a sign he meant business All the way He shoved it into his coat pocket and climbed out of the car

The sudden cool air on his sweaty face was a shock He woke up a little bit Breathed deep His chest burned with beer and tooHe belched, tasted acid

He spit and started up the short ay to the house

He knocked, waited Nobody

This uy wasn&039;t hoh the back ain This ti to the door One hand fell into his coat pocket, clutched the grip of the autoirl on the other side, hair tousled Broad shoulders and a nice face A hand holding up a bedsheet to her neck Soft, round breasts floated underneath They swung interestingly as the girl shifted her weight froet a better hold on the sheet "Yes?" She looked through the crack at Stubbs

"I&039;an"

"He&039;s not here Can I take a ?"

"Who are you?"

A little frown fro She was young Shouldn&039;t answer the door naked, honey Not even in a sheet Stubbs&039;s private-eye instinct kicked in, and he ran the possible scenarios through his brain Maybe Morgan waswith a student on the side Anyway, she didn&039;t like being asked who she was

"I&039; me stay here for a while"

"Uh-huh"

Stubbs pushed his way in She didn&039;t knohat to do, stepped aside for hiave the place the once-over Not a lot of personal stuff, like"I need to see hiirl didn&039;t like that "He didn&039;t say anything about when he e"

"Where did he go?" Stubbs was still looking around the house, craned his neck to see back into the kitchen He didn&039;t look at her He bent over the coffee table, spread the azines around and looked at the titles "Paris Review What&039;s that? From France?"

"No, it&039;s- Look, I don&039;t think you should wait," she said "He aze on her, red-eyed, dark bags underneath "Oh yeah?"

The girl realized her ht be back any minute Just that you shouldn&039;t wait In case he&039;s a little late" She tre scared "But he h the door any minute"

"I asked who you were"

"Ginny"

Stubbs stepped toward her, and she eased away fro on the floor Stubbs stepped on it She tugged gently, and Stubbs grinned He breathed loudly through his ain Her voice was calm, but her hand shook worse where the sheet was bunched in her fist "I&039;m stuck You&039;re on the sheet"

"Yeah" Stubbs liked the soft, half-seen curves of her under the sheet Big tits, round hips He liked it when they were afraid

He stepped on the sheet with his other foot It pulled tight, and Ginny gasped, used both hands to pull back and keep herself covered "Don&039;t" She meant to shout it, but it came out plaintive She couldn&039;t find breath, couldn&039;t raise her voice A cold, paralyzing chill ran through her "Don&039;t," she said again, and she could only stare at hirabbed the sheet in his free hand, and yanked it away He still had the other hand in his gun pocket

A screaht in Ginny&039;s throat She onlysound She felt like lead, sank back against the wall Stubbs crowded her, breathed his stink on her neck

"So I think you&039;re ready to talk to ht?"

Stubbs touched her hip and she jumped

"Yeah, you&039;re ready I want to know about Annie Walsh"

So that&039;s it, thought Ginny He knows He found out about the peach orchard Ginny&039;s mouth fell open, and she sucked for air She closed her eyes tight and shook her head She couldn&039;t breathe The leaden feeling on her chest worsened, knees turning to cold jelly

"And the cocaine All of it I know all about it so tell "

Stubbs slapped her on the hip, not hard, but enough to make a loud smack