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Crow toppled under his around Crow’s hips for balance, and began the work of beating this man to death Blood burst from Crow’s eyebrow and nose, his cheek ruptured and tore, and the fists never stopped They kept hitting and hitting

Then suddenly Ruger was falling!

Crow had brought his knees up, planting his shoes flat on the th and speed, had arched his back and twisted Ruger was lifted like a rodeo rider on a bucking bull, and as Croisted, Ruger’s weight pitched hiht fist so that the secondary knuckle of his forefinger protruded, and as they landed he punched Ruger once, twice very hard in the very top of his thigh

The pain was so intense that it er kicked himself free and rolled catlike to his feet, and Crow cah with both hands as if to tackle Ruger around the middle and then dropped suddenly to one knee and hooked a sharp uppercut into the tender flesh on the inside of Ruger’s thigh,buckled and twisted, and he went back down

Crow leaped at hier kicked out as he fell and the thick heel of his boot caught Crow in the chest and using his leg like a strut, he thre over his head

Crow tucked and rolled and was on his feet first, spinning and crouching to face Ruger

Ruger staggered to his feet, ignoring the pain in his leg His hands opened and closed, opened and closed as if he were squeezing soer’s eyes narrowed as he ht From a murderous attack--the kind of attack that had worked for him so ht Whoever this guy was, he could fight, and in a twisted way Ruger was actually enjoying it

They circled each other for a few seconds,half-​thrown blows

It was Ruger whothat lit the sky He used a variation on Crow’s trick and faked high, then dipped and dove for Crow’s legs The s just above the knees and bear forward The poor sap goes down hard on his coccyx with two sprained knees to boot

Crow stepped into the rush, and as Ruger’s ars, he punched doard in as hard and true a vertical line as a drill press, driving the two big knuckles of his right hand between Ruger’s shoulder blades, dropping all his body weight with it to try and break theblow, but the er was hard Still, the air went out of his lungs for a moment and he tasted mud in his , heart ha from fear as much as from exertion He had never seen anyone ht with such anilance at Val, as on her knees, one handher throat, he face slack with dizziness and nausea He tried to give her a reassuring ser abruptly reached up and punched hiered back, cupping his testicles, yet backpedaling to give hiole to fuck you up so bad they’ll have to bury you in installroin felt as if it were on fire

Ruger hurled a handful of mud at Crow’s face, and followed it with another rush

Croas not as hurt as he pretended A strike to the groin, even a hard one, does little actual dae It’s just pain, and it is the pain that stops most people, but some people don’t care as much about pain They know it, they’re used to it; it may not be an old friend, but it is an old co acquainted with pain, even the pain of a hard punch in the balls It hurt him, but hurt can be dealt with

He waited in his half crouch, looking done-​in, letting Ruger close the distance, letting Ruger provide the force

Then he slid in between Ruger’s reaching ar one of his ar the back of his neck with the other and then pivoted his body as fast as he could Ruger’s force, plus the speed and arc of the turn, plucked Ruger right off the ground and sent hi brown Ier’s head sla a deep dent in Missy’s door He slid down to the ground shaking his head, tried to get to his feet, and fell back again against the door, head lolling

Crow stepped forward and grabbed him by the hair, hauled him ten inches away froust, and then literally threw hi his skull off the cruround by the tire and lay there in the rain, blood running frons of trickery Ruger didn’t flicker so much as an eyelash Just to be sure, and because his battered face was really starting to hurt like a bastard--and because the dread of this uts--Crow kicked him in the er fell over sideways, face forward into theto buckle Fireworks were going off at the corners of his vision and there was so with his head--it felt as if it had been badly broken and poorly taped back together He wanted to vo one hand to his streah the rain and theher in his ar ar to feel her solidity, her realness in his arms He showered kisses on her mud-​streaked face, kissed her hair and her eyes She was crying with big, painful sobs, and each one stabbed into Crow as surely as a needle

"Baby, baby, baby," murmured "What happened here? What did he do to you? My sweet baby…"

Her voice was a strained croak, the vocal cords bruised beyond nore of a big waterfall that wanted to take her over and down into the blackness

Somewhere, half drowned by rain, the wail of police sirens could be heard, co…The sirens made her remember

"Daddy!" she cried "Oh my God, Crow…Daddy’s out there!"

"What? Where?"

"In the cornfield He needs help I tried to help him, but I couldn’t, Crow, I couldn’t…" she rambled, hysterical, al up to her now, overwhel her The iron deter now as grief and injury took hold

"Val," Crow said sharply, trying to steady her "What about your dad? What’s wrong with him? Where is he? What the hell happened here?"