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I put uy behind orilla&039;s belly Both un out and ready, but I was in to react He hardly had time to look up before I clocked hi
As for Maxwell, he had only an instant to do a quick i surprised and then he was out for the count
Doc, surprised as any of theet you riled"
I stooped to pick up the bundle of cash The hoether was labeled with the arand for a distraction,right back into
"Never et in the car before more of &039;em show"
The twoto recover I rudely interrupted,up any too soon, leaving theround It was too much to hope that they&039;d freeze The air was cold, but not that cold
I opened the rear door while Doc hobbled around to the passenger side and got settled
"Nohat?" he de Maxwell into the backseat The floorboards were all full up with bulging laundry bags "He probably knohere Opal is When he comes to I&039;ll have a few questions for him" He didn&039;t make a sound as he flopped loose over the chill leather upholstery After a quick search, I lifted a 22 seorillas to keep hih shot with it to be coer s in and sla out
Gave the house a glance, worried that soood for the moment I hopped up behind the wheel and worked the key and starter Theto life, then eased back to its usual soft purr Getting to like this car would be a very easy thing to do
No need to spin the steering wheel ht direction, so I hit the gears and gas and headed her easy does it down the rise toward the road so as not to draw attention froorillas came to, the better
We unned it
Doc sat halfway turned around to face me and to keep an eye on Maxwell in the back "Well, I owe you one, Fle"
"You sure as hell do"
"And you&039;ve got so in mind about how I should pay it off, don&039;t you?"
"Just get us both to Angela tonight and I&039;ll call it even"
"I&039;ll think about it"
"You&039;ll what?" The car swerved as my attention shifted toward hiritted e in so the air wouldn&039;t go blue around our ears When I had some control back I said, "You&039;ll think about it?"
"You heardout of there was just too easy Great Aunt Hattie, three arer than I look"
"They dropped hty easy, maybe a mite too easy"
"You think it was a setup? A show? Why don&039;t you check on Maxwell? See if his eyes are uncrossed yet"
"So maybe you didn&039;t pull all your punches"
Actually, I had done just exactly that so as not to kill anyone, though God knows I&039;d had enough provocation for one night to forget oin&039; with Sullivan&039;s watchdog and-"
"Oh, for cryin&039; out loud, can&039;t you believe what you see with your own eyes?"
"Not since the last ti out of my shoes to dance the polka" He was absolutely serious
"Then how about I turn back around and drop you on their front porch? I&039;ain When it coela, uess is she&039;ll find ht on that one, boy, but I suspect it&039;d be a lot better for you if you found her first"
"There renades in the air, yes It&039;d be better for everyone"
"Made an ial" He chuckled
"So? Are you gonna tell me where to drive?"
"Just head on like you&039;re doing and givetime"
There wasn&039;t a whole hell of a lot else to do, so I shutus steady and within the speed lion top of all those bags of cash It wouldn&039;t be a proble with a conveniently altered memory, but I just didn&039;t want the bother or headache
The cross streets slowed us with their signals I was a little worried Doc ht bolt while ere stopped, but he sat at his ease, occasionally glancing at Maxwell I checked on him as best I could in the rearview mirror, but only saw part of his brown raincoat
"Suede," I said, shaking my head
"Huh?" said Doc
"Why in hell would anyone want a suede raincoat? It shows all the water marks"
Doc considered the question and shook his head, too "You got me there Why not ask hiht You ela?"
"Up to a point"
"Which is?"
"I&039; what you plan to do with four-eyes back there"
I&039;d been thinking about that myself, but was fairly certain Escott could help with that probleainst stores in this area The ones I knew about were as station, then Jeez, but this part of toas deserted Lonely spots like where ere driving always gave ht, it just wasn&039;t natural
"Fleot planned for him? Hey you okay?"
"Yeah, I&039; up with me, all the strain of the last few hours and the ones before them and the ones before them Maybe I should make a stop at the Stockyards before I stretched et Doc to take a doze while I went off to feed Maybe he&039;d sobered up some and I could ith hiain
"He stays with ht find a use for hi with Sullivan"
"I&039; him in the lake"
Doc didn&039;t contradict ree with ht over ed ed o Perhaps it was a family tradition Now and then theeither a wince or a shudder, depending on round h to rub the spot till it stopped tingling
"It&039;d sweeten her up some to have Sullivan&039;s secretary," Doc said after a ainst that Irish bastard"
"What I&039;ve learned tonight is when the wrong side has you, your so-called friends start putting in orders for the funeral wreaths She wasn&039;t going to budge an inch for your sake, so why should Sullivan be different from her?"
"Good point," he admitted
"And why should you want to cozy up with her again, anyway? She illing to leave you to theed "Because that&039;s just how things are Since you don&039;t seeht, I just don&039;t like it"
"Then the best thing for you is to get out while you&039;re still in one piece Whyn&039;t you just drop me off by one of the L&039;s and I&039;ll find my oay from there?"
"Uh-uh"
"I&039;ll tell her you left town for good She&039;d believe it coain "No We&039;re going to find a phone, and after I get soela and persuade her to set up a ht" Whether Doc was sober enough for it or not, I&039;d make it happen
I finally found a phone and dialed Shoe Coldfield&039;s nuht away, and if he&039;d been asleep, his voice didn&039;t sound like it
"Are you all right?"
"I&039;ve been better Things have changed since I talked to Shoe" God, how long ago was it? I gave Escott a rough idea of what had happened since I&039;d been opti up a truce with Angela Not once did I s Doc stood hunched next toHe wanted to wait in the car out of the wind, but even with the keys in h to leave hiot one of Sullivan&039;s top boys with me and need to put him on ice for a couple hours until I&039;ela It needs to be someplace quiet, and you shouldn&039;t have any trouble with hi, just in case"
"Done your Svengali act on hiht cross, but I do have to talk to him, find out where they&039;ve taken Opal Doc says she&039;s being looked after, but I don&039;t trust any of the I&039;ement"
"Can you co he shouldn&039;t" Better for us all if he didn&039;t knohere Coldfield hung his hat I gave him the na the car into an alley, Doc and I had walked the dozen or so steps to the phone on the corner by a closed gas station We were right under a la hi tothe naround
"Shoe knows the area We should be there in about a quarter hour, perhaps a bit more"
"You in any shape to coh"
He was probably lying so he wouldn&039;tWouldn&039;t his eyes pop once he saas in the laundry bags? He could watch Doc while Shoe and I shifted them I wasn&039;t about to take that Caddie with the cash anywhere near Angela
"What about yourself?" he asked
"I&039;m tired" Escott didn&039;t speak for a ure out howbecause of Doc&039;s presence For me to admit I was less than perfect physically and in just that tone meant more than if anyone else said it Escott kne et here as soon as you can and take this guy off my hands for a while"
"We will"
"Things been quiet on your end?"
"Like a church"
"What about that friend of yours we met at the movie house?" No need to mention Merrill Adkins in front of Doc, either
"What of hi in another boarder once I&039;m finished with hihted"
"But only after I&039;m done"
"Of course"
"Great See you" I hung up
Doc was shivering in the cold, so I led us back to the car and started it up to get the heater running I let it idle for five minutes to take the chill off then shut it down
The only thing interrupting the silence was the hispering outside, the engine ticking as it cooled, and the sound of blood being pu bodies
Doc&039;s breath grew harsh and soets
"I need a drink," he finally announced, looking ot a flask?"
"Nope"
"What about hied
"Think I&039;ll check him and find out"
"Leave that to ain and gave Doc the bad news
"Damn"
On the other hand, Maxake I sensed the change in hi and heartbeat tippedaround and sit up
His eyelids dragged open, and after anew in town, he probably didn&039;t recognize the area If he was used to civilized ivy-covered walls, then this spot would be anything but co to hiot a look at my sour expression
"Where&039;s Opal?" I asked
He blinked a few ti stock, probably
"Where?"
Now he took off his glasses, fumbled for a handkerchief, and cleaned theaze check out everything else, the doors, the alley walls, a glis
"I know a stall, Maxwell, so don&039;t push it Tell me where Opal is and I&039;ll leave you all your teeth"
He gave one, replaced by a touch of genuine fear I hoped it would make him sensible "Yes, I&039;m sure you&039;re quite capable of that sort of violence, Mr Fles over"
It ave an a if I had to put the eye on Maxwell, butto talk "Got everything worked out, I hope?"
"Sadly, yes, and I will cooperate so long as you refrain frohtly touched his jaw
"Deal Where&039;s Opal?"
"She is in a safe place and being very well looked after Mr Sullivan was quite upset about her injury, so he is seeing to it she has the best care at his disposal"
"Where?"
The s of an eet there, but I didn&039;t take an exact note of the address I&039;m not all that familiar with the town, you see"
"Uh-huh Doesn&039;t make you ht that won&039;t happen again, I proain I was ready to put him into zombie land
He must have picked up on my loss of patience and raised an unsteady hand in et there I&039;ll write them down It&039;s sort of a clinic, not too very far from the roadhouse"
I looked at Doc "You know of any place like what he&039;s talking about?"
"Well, now that he&039;s bumped my memory, I think I do One of Kyler&039;s projects I heard tell of, but I figured it to just be one of theoes around"
"What is it exactly?" I asked Maxwell
"Soht They get a chance to rest and think while they put a new face on their situation, you ery?"
"If it&039;s necessary Very expensive, of course, but worth it if it successfully puts the police off your track"
Doc shook his head, amazed "Well, if that don&039;t beat all"
Maxwell fairly gloith pride "Oh, yes, and it&039;s quite up-to-date None of the old chamber of horrors makeshift and hope for the best The place has a nice little operating rooeon Mr Sullivan notified him of our problem with Miss Opal, so he was more than happy to make himself available to see to her care"
"Who is it?" asked Doc
"Oh, I doubt that you&039;re acquainted with hiraduate from medical school"
"You son of a-I&039;ll have you know I-"
"Put a lid on it," I said "Okay, Maxwell, give with the directions"
"I&039;ve pen and paper in my pockets, if you&039;ll allow me to-"
"Alloay"
He fu His hands brushed the pocket that had held his 22, but if he was disappointed at it being eht here is very bad"
I turned on the small overhead bulb
He hauled out a little leather-bound notebook and tore out a page, then produced his fat-bodied fountain pen Pricey stuff, I noted Probably had it custoh to have his initials sta
"Here now," he said, starting to scribble a rough o up the lane behind the roadhouse oh, damn What a ti a face I wondered for an instant if he was going to be stupid enough to try squirting ink in my eyes, but he ain "I&039; is-have either of you a pen or pencil?"
Doc snorted in disgust and leaned back against the door to pinch the bridge of his nose "I really, and Imy eyes on Maxwell, I reached into my inside coat pocket and found a pencil by touch, held it out to him over the seat
"Thank you I&039;m afraid all this activity has me a bit rattled Usually I&039;m not like this"
"Just write," I said
"Yes, yes, of course," He nervously reached for the pencil, pen still in hand
He should have put the pen away The ressive, too fast, and it was over and done before I even thought about reacting
He caught ht on the inside wrist with the pen, only instead of a stab with the blunt point of a nib, it was so
I snarled and yankedthe pen with me It startled Doc, who looked up, eyes wide
Maxwell hit the latch on the door and scrabbled clear of the car
The pen stuck up at an incongruous angle froured it for so needle co out of it that he&039;d buried inan especially ugly bug, and madder than hell shot out of the car to chase Max down He hadn&039;t gotten far, was probably still rocky froht up with hie of ave him another sock to reainst the side of a building, ht
I checked back to see what Doc was doing He&039;d levered fro toward us rather than atte to escape He probably knew better than to try in his shape, since I&039;d be able to catch hierly between his fingertips like it was solass
"Holy hell, you ever see anything like this in your life? Wonder where he got it?"
he said, looking down at Maxwell "What a little weasel I think I owe hi"
"Let hi?" I took the pen from him for a closer look I didn&039;t care much for what I saw The needle was hollow, a hypodermic I examinedto worry about, I hoped, except that there was now a knot under the skin, which felt very cold
"Lee like a fortune-teller He claently squeezed it I didn&039;t feel a thing A very s as it swelled shut He bent low and sniffed ain"
I held on to it, but let his He worked some tiny mechanism in the fat barrel with his thumb and a drop of fluid appeared at the end of the needle He sniffed that, too
The cold was starting to travel up "
He shot me a sad, worried look "What d&039;you feel?"
"It&039;s gone all numb" My arm was too heavy to ht
"Sit down, son Take it easy"
"What the hell&039;d he stick me with? Morphine?" But it didn&039;t feel like morphine
"Just sit down," he insisted
I didn&039;t want to, but ave me no choice The cold blossos They also went nu me onto the hard pavement I tried to take a breath to speak, but it felt like s were stuffed with cotton
"Easy, now," he kept saying over and over Whatever rong with et that sort of reaction out of him You&039;re only kind to your ene
"Doc?"
"It&039;s nothing I can do anything about," he said, but he sounded like he was telling that to convince himself, not me
"The pen-"
"It&039;s full of soht as the numbness swooped down my other arm I was cold, very, very cold inside
"Just take it easy"
"Wha-" I asp out with a last little bit of air Kept staring at him, desperate for an answer
"Got a smell to it I think it&039;s some kind of cyanide You knohat that is?"
I knew With the nuht clouded over Tried for
Saw a shifting blur above as he felt for a pulse in my neck Couldn&039;t find one, of course "Oh, Lord, but I&039;m sorry for you, son It&039;s hell, but there&039;s harder ways to go"
True, but this one was bad enough
Couldn&039;t move, couldn&039;t think Could hear, but not react It was like being caught away from my earth for the day Part of my mind was conscious of activity around me, but utterly unable to do more than absently note it down I should have been silently screa in my brain from the panic, but I couldn&039;t remember how
Another blur, then darkness He&039;d shut ers
I heard other sounds frorunt as he stood up, a curse or two, his shoe soles scraping as he sloalked away Farther off, the clunk as he shut the Caddie&039;s door, the rind as he struggled with unfaainst the road as he turned the car washed overbody