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forty
Moses Duncan sat in his pickup truck in the university&039;s south parking lot thinking about Mexican whores Duncan preferred blondes, big Swedish honeys with long, long legs and giant milky tits But Mexican whores were cheap That is to say, Mexico in general was a cheap place to be He&039;d been to Juarez once with his dad The A-anything-down there if he had cash
Duncan had been thinking he could still get his hands on the coon&039;s cocaine and split town for Mexico He could disappear and set hiood south of the border On his way down, he could unload the stuff in Oklahoma City or maybe Dallas
He sort of felt bad about Eddie, but these were desperate circumstances It was every man for himself Even as he walked out of the old fa back He couldn&039;t Too ht The world wasn&039;t right, and Moses Duncan didn&039;t kno to live in it In Mexico, cash and pistols would make him The Man A system he could ith
He tucked his dad&039;s revolver into the front of his pants He popped open the glove cole-action Colt, and stuck it in the back The corduroy coat hung low enough to cover both pistols He put on his Harley-Davidson cap, tugged the bill down to hide his face
He got out of the truck, walked toward the cluster of buildings at the heart of ca to do now but keep his eyes peeled That was i pimp Zach He was on his own mission
Maurice sat in his parked Lincoln Town Car ts from Duncan&039;s truck If Zach wanted him to keep an eye on Duncan, then the peckerwoodoff a bad vibe Anyway, Zach was suspicious Then again, Red Zach was always suspicious of everyone and everything Maybe that&039;s how the ot to be boss
Duncan was on the ot out of the Lincoln but kept his distance Maurice are he didn&039;t exactly blend in He checked his gat, his cell phone He buttoned his coat and headed for the long yard in front of caht
Zach hadn&039;t said anything specific, but Maurice knew this peckerwood&039;s time was short Zach would use him to track down Jenks, then Maurice or one of the others would put a bullet between Duncan&039;s eyes And if Zach still thought it orth setting up an operation in Fumbee, he&039;d pick his own man
A few of the college kids looked sideways at Maurice, but ainst the sharp wind that had risen sudden and bitter from the west Maurice craned his neck The weather looked bad, clouds collecting low in the sky But he didn&039;t look at the sky for long, kept his eyes on Duncan
Duncan wandered without plan, strolling a lazy circle around the cas Maurice shook his head A to spot soy was to stay put in a good location and let the crowd cycle under your nose Eventually, whoever you&039;re trying to find will drift by But this was Duncan&039;s turf Maybe he knehat he was doing
Duncan stopped, so Maurice stopped too Maybe Duncan had seen so Or maybe the motherfucker was just stupid and lost Maurice backed up close to a tall bush Watched
That guy in the deniht A white guy, but Jenks had brought a couple of white boys with him that day at the barn This looked like one of the not to seeuy alking fast, not really looking around Duncan could follow no proble, and Duncan stopped to read the sign Albatross Hall
Maybe this was it He&039;d go in, find Jenks, put the grab on the coke, then fill these shits with lead and head to Mexico It was a perfect fucking plan He touched the butts of his two pistols through the coat&039;s heavy material Okay He was ready
Moses Duncan entered Albatross Hall, followed Wayne DelPrego to the stairway that led up to the building&039;s dead floors
DelPrego trudged the steps up to the fifth floor There was no anger left in hi at all had burned away in the fire of his rage He was hollow and exhausted and each step was a test
He found Valentine&039;s office, pushed his way in without knocking An oldfrom the couch
"Where the fuck you been, boy? Where&039;s the bag?"
DelPrego said, "I flushed it I flushed it all It&039;s gone"
"Are you crazy?" Jenks blinked "What am I supposed to tell Red Zach now, o stuot to hi DelPrego didn&039;t care His eyelids were so very heavy He felt the long blackness pulling hian sneaked out of his office and drove horabbed the mail on the way in His house was cold, and he turned on the heat
His life had somehow spun out of control Maybe it would be okay Possibly Dean Whittaker would not fire him on the spot when Sher Perhaps Ginny Conrad would not be scarred for life Ginny
Morgan was hungry
The kitchen was not a happy place Cupboards bare The refrigerator wasn&039;t s left in the door He took thean couldn&039;t res They looked fine on the outside, white and smooth But he couldn&039;t remember the last tis had been there when he&039;d s
He popped open a beer and looked at his an had applied for a Visiting Poet position at Kenyon He read the letter Although they found his credentials io stick his head up his own ass and die Other pieces of mail wanted to sell him life insurance, pizza, and seeds
He drank the beer
Tired
He went into his bedroom, kicked off his shoes, and fell on the bed He could not i he should be doing His head spun with loose ends But he couldn&039;t tie up any of the was in his power any He had to introduce the poets to the capacity crowd, but he was naked This hen he realized he was drea, naked in front of people Even his subconscious had run out of ideas He laughed, started stroking hi and not getting anywhere at all
When Morgan awoke it was dark Panic jerked hiht he&039;d overslept, that the poetry reading had started But it was only six o&039;clock He checked theThe sky looked serious about ruining everyone&039;s plans
He flipped on the TV news The ist&039;s plastic smile beamed at him The cold front, said the weatheret a bitto pass north
Morgan showered He stood under the hot water a long ti to cos, about fear of the unknown, but it came out adolescent and silly Then he tried a poeo anywhere either The hot water started turning cold, but Morgan stood there pretending it wasn&039;t At last, he couldn&039;t kid himself anymore He turned off the water, dried himself
He looked in his closet How did one dress for a doo? The blue suit was too formal A shot of Jim Beam helped him decide Tan slacks and his broeed jacket with a black turtleneck Now he looked his most professorial Another shot of booze He could feel it on his breath when he exhaled
It was still a little early toaround He took his long coat and went to the car It was cold, and he alloves and a hat To hell with it
He unlocked his car door, felt a wet pinprick of cold on the back of his hand He looked up One or two flakes, then another It was light but steady, swirling in the wind like ash
Morgan parked on the street across fro There was a dark tavern across from campus that catered to professors The drinks were just expensive enough to discourage students
The snoas coht flakes an no longer cared if anyone saw hian ordered three vodka " He looked at his watch The poetry reading started in twenty an saw her and waved her over He looked her over The bruises around her eyes were already fading A scab on her botto important to tell you"
"You found Ellis!"
"Huh? Oh no, I made a few phone calls, but nobody&039;s seen him," Ginny said "Don&039;t worry He&039;ll turn up"
Godabitchshit-
"I want to talk about us"
Morgan blinked
Ginny said, "I don&039;t think we should see each other anymore"
"Jesus"
"I don&039;t want you to take it hard," she said "But don&039;t worry about "
"Sure" Morgan wished it were true, but he didn&039;t think Ginny strong He didn&039;t think hi Maybe people weren&039;t strong any Eisenhower
The next ulp He waved at the waiter and pointed at his glass, a gesture odda has run its course," Ginny said "We both knew it couldn&039;t work We&039;re fro a prepared speech He decided to ride it out
"I just don&039;t think we should be involved"
"I understand" Morgan finished his drink just as the third martini arrived
"But I want us to be friends," Ginny said
Morgan was a little slow re his lines but finally said, "I want that too"
She stood, dra Ginny looked like a chubby Scarlett O&039;Hara "Farewell, Professor Morgan"
Morgan flipped her a wave "So long"
"Well, you could at least act a little upset"
Morgan rolled his eyes "I&039;m in a shitstoran to stomp out of the tavern
"Ginny," he called after her When she turned around, Morgan cleared his throat, and said, "I&039;ot hurt"
Her features softened She nodded once and left
Morgan tossed his drink down and took the eantly dressed black an turned to the black et him back on track
"I&039;ve found the local forecasts to be wildly inaccurate" The black ht eyes He carried hian suddenly felt clulass and knocked over a bowl of peanuts "Shit"
"I&039;ll get that for you, sir," said the bartender
"Yeah, thanks" Thanks caet worse," Morgan said to the blackacross the street"
"I know"
"Bunch of crap," Morgan said "A big public relations show"
"I&039;an"
"Yeah, well I can&039;t really say- Have we met?" The man did look familiar
The man stood, dropped a ten-dollar bill on the bar "I&039;an&039;s mouth opened and closed a few times like a trout out of water President Lincoln Truht He didn&039;t look back at Morgan
Hell
forty-two
Moses Duncan lost DelPrego going up the stairs Did the guy get off at the third or fourth floor? Or did he keep going all the way up? Shit
Duncan stopped on the fourth and drew his dad&039;s revolver If he couldn&039;t find the guy after a quick sweep there, he&039;d head up to the fifth to look for him He thumbed back the revolver&039;s hammer Be damned if they would catch Moses Duncan with his pants around his ankles
He listened for footsteps but didn&039;t hear any He didn&039;t hear anything at all as a matter of fact The floor looked deserted Dust Only one in four light fixtures had a bulb in it No signs on the doors He went down one hall, crossed over, found hined this place, sooddamned retard?