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TWENTY-ONE

To hell with all this

What did Stan expect? What did he think I could do? All I wanted was to find hiot away okay Stan had delusions that he could get back on top again I didn&039;t want to think of the oldreality I was In o off someplace with Marcie and maybe have a life I went in the house

Inside, the faint sulfur of gunfire still hung in the air

As I was putting on another pot of coffee, the urgent, panicked thought that Lloyd Mercury was in the house washed over n of hietting , and I didn&039;t like it

I poured coffee Drank Thought Frowned

Soon Mercury would come for me Or maybe he&039;d send men And if he found me like this, beat up, one handed, I&039;d be toast in two seconds flat I wouldn&039;t catch hih to take hiain, I was facing reality Beggar Johnson paid top dollar for his hired killers The plan: pack up and run

I rolled the plan around on h with the horseshit It was go ti back to age was too flowery I found a Nike tote bag in Danny&039;s closet I had a few articles of clothing around Ma&039;s house, some T-shirts and jeans I twisted the silencer off the32 auto with the knives I threw in the empty410 pistol and kept the loaded one in my pea coat in case I wanted to shoot down a jus per on Ma wasn&039;t co back I never wanted to be within Beggar&039;s reach again I wanted to go so start-over

Finish

Shopping

At Joey&039;s Gun & Outdoor Supply, I bought a hundred rounds of32 ammunition and a black leather shoulder holster I didn&039;t see any kind of holster which could possibly accoot a hundred410 shells I pondered over the various kinds of shot, wondering at the different patterns,away into a crowd, but I decided I didn&039;t know anything about it Besides, I liked the way the enor in their paths

My next stop was ABC Liquor I bought twelve bottles of the absolute cheapest and most alcoholic brandy they had

My hand hurt I broke a pain pill in half Took it dry

Thirty minutes later, I was half-loopy but still able to function

Superhter fluid Rubbing alcohol Cigarettes

I took allback to the house I found a dusty ashtray under the kitchen sink, cleaned it, and put it in the living room on the lamp stand next to the empty liquor cabinet When Dad had been alive, it was kept full of Cutty Sark I lit three of the cigarettes and set them in the ashtray to burn I opened ten of the brandy bottles and e around the lamp stand, poured a trail to the drapes, dumped the remains into Dad&039;s chair It was old and would burn well

I pulled e and parked it on the street Back in the garage I durill I es, let the even reht about the Halloween costumes Danny had when he was a kid but was sure they&039;d been thrown out long ago

In the kitchen, I turned on all the stove burners

I was using my injured hand too much I took the other half of the pain pill

Upstairs II wanted, went downstairs, put the Nike tote in the trunk of the Buick

Back inside: I threw an apron and two hand towels on the stove burners Into the living room, struck a fistful of the kitchen ht I watched for a moment as the flames spread, crawled toward the curtains, leapt up the wall

I grabbed the National Geographic with Amber&039;s number on the cover I also found the jacket I&039;d worn horabbed it too An envelope fell out of the pocket It was the piece of mail that had been in Ma&039;s mailbox I stuck it in e, paused to drop a ot in the Buick and drove a block away, parked, got out of the car, and watched

It wasn&039;t asoline or so else obvious Maybe it would pass muster Maybe not Ma was insured

It didn&039;t look like much at first, but then the smoke came Some s popped out Flames lapped from within I couldn&039;t have explained to anyone why this was a good idea, but I kneas Fire, the great cleanser Pushing hbors came out of their houses I didn&039;t wait for the sirens I cranked up the car, drove

I&039;d been fucking up in every direction, starting with the stupid way I&039;d handled the Rollo Kra now ht not have been s back Stan had always said lead, follow, or get out of the way, but do so all right

I took another pain pill

Maybe I hadn&039;t done a da an The house wasn&039;t safe anymore I didn&039;t want her there by herself And it was full of papers, photo albu afterMa to try to find led

A song running around le

The pain pills, I realized I was off roup "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" I hummed it loud

I put about five as station to fill up I reached into my back pocket for ood look at it for the first time It didn&039;t have a stamp or a postmark There wasn&039;t even an address, just CHARLIE SWIFT on the front in block letters I tore it open and read

Mr Swift,

You&039;ve s very difficult for ers, and I want the lady wasshe knew We know the ledgers are in a locker someplace Call me at Jeffers&039;s ho Amber I don&039;t knohat she is to you, but I believe she&039;s very i foolish, and you won&039;t see her again Believe me, Swift, I&039;m at the end of my rope, so don&039;t pushfor your phone call

¨C Tina

My heart dropped into raphic with Amber&039;s phone nus, no answer I looked her up in the phonebook, scribbled down the address

I fractured every known traffic law getting to Amber&039;s apartment complex Her place was on the second floor I ran up the stairs three at a time A yellow strip of police tape stretched across her door I tore it down and went inside

Inside, a few sticks of furniture overturned A dark stain in the center of the carpet The place was sh it fast Nobody there I sat on the couch, flexinghard

I picked up the phone and called Burt Res, and I hung up without leaving a e I tried hih to his desk

"I&039;ve been trying to call you," said Burt "Did you know your brother&039;s in the hospital?"

"He&039;s alive?"

"In bad shape, but yeah"

I ainst the couch with relief "What happened, Burt?"

"It was at his girlfriend&039;s place"

"Amber," I said "I&039;m here now"

"You&039;re not supposed to be there It&039;s a crime scene It&039;s sealed"

"Can it, Burt I want to knohat fucking happened"

"Okay Calunshots and phoned us A patrol car went over to investigate, and they found Danny on the floor The apartment door ide open Danny&039;d been shot, and he was bleeding pretty bad The officers at the scene phoned for the paramedics, and he was taken to County General He&039;s there now I&039; okay"

"I&039;ood for you to be seen around there"

"Is he under arrest or soun, but it was purchased legally and registered, so it&039;s a straight case of self-defense"

I&039;ll be damned "Then what&039;s the probleed to call off ent Dunn keeps showing up around Danny&039;s roo to catch you there Dunn is crazy pissed There&039;s been so on"

"I&039;ll worry about Dunn"

"Charlie?"

"What is it, Burt?"

"What&039;s going to happen?"

"Don&039;t worry," I said "It&039;s all going to be over soon"

Danny opened his eyes, saw rinned weakly He had the usual array of tubes in his arms I&039;d sent the nurse out so I could talk to him

I said, "Hey, Bro"

"Hey" His voice was barely above a whisper

"What happened?"

"They came in so quick" Danny sed hard, closed his eyes "I had ood I didn&039;t even knoas happening"

"How many?"

"Three I&039;m not sure It was all confused Three, I think"

"One was a woman, sharp features, short black hair?"

"Yes"

Tina

"Do you re?" I asked

"They shotto die"

A lump rose in my throat "I know I&039; to stay awake, trying to get up and help A Oh God, screao The woman said they&039;d take her someplace out of the way She said it wasn&039;t safe to stay in Orlando"

"Where?"

"I don&039;t know Oh, God"

"It&039;s okay, Danny" I grabbed his hand, squeezed

"You&039;ve got to get her back, Charlie"

"I will"

Tears streaot to find her, get her back foryou"

"I will," I said "I&039;ll find her I&039;ll fix everything"

Outside the hospital roo turned heavy Danny My brother Almost dead

I took a pill, found the elevator, went down

In the parking lot, Agent Dunn stood next tofor me I stopped in front of hiarette, puffed

"I&039; what the hell&039;s going on," he said

"Sorry"

"I told you to get out of town"

"I&039;ve been trying"