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"Don&039;t worry! Are you crazy?"
"Try to go back to sleep"
"Sleep! Jake, you&039;ve lost yourFroe point somewhere deep in the shrubs in front of the house, Ozzie saw hi casually down the street from the direction opposite the square He had in his hand a small box or case of some sort When he o houses away, he left the street and cut through the front lawns of the neighbors Ozzie pulled his revolver and nightstick and watched the man walk directly toward him Jake had him in the scope of his deer rifle Pirtle crawled like a snake across the porch and into the shrubs, ready to strike
Suddenly, the figure darted across the front lawn next door and to the side of Jake&039;s house He carefully laid the small suitcase under Jake&039;s bedroohtstick crashed across the side of his head, ripping his right ear in two places, each barely hanging to his head He screaot him!" Ozzie yelled Pirtle and Nesbit sprinted to the side of the house Jake calmly walked down the stairs
"I&039;ll be back in a rabbed the suspect by the neck and sat him next to the house He was conscious but dazed The suitcase was inches away
"What&039;s your name?" Ozzie demanded
He
"I asked you a question," Ozzie said as he hovered over his suspect Pirtle and Nesbit stood nearby, guns drawn, too frightened to speak or move Jake stared at the suitcase
"I ain&039;t sayin&039;," cah over his head and drove it solidly against the
He howled and grabbed his leg Ozzie kicked him in the face He fell backward and his head sroaned in pain
Jake knelt above the suitcase and put his ear next to it He ju," he said weakly
Ozzie bent over the suspect and laid the nightstick softly against his nose "I&039;ve got one more question before I break ever bone in your body What&039;s in the box?"
No answer
Ozzie recoiled the nightstick and broke the other ankle "What&039;s in the box!" he shouted
"Dynauished reply
Pirtle dropped his gun Nesbit&039;s blood pressure shot through his cap and he leaned on the house Jake turned white and his knees vibrated He ran through the front door yelling at Carla "Get the car keys! Get the car keys!"
"What for?" she asked nervously
"Just do as I say Get the car keys and get in the car"
He lifted Hanna and carried her through the kitchen, into the carport, and laid her in the back seat of Carla&039;s Cutlass He took Carla by the arm and helped her into the car "Leave, and don&039;t cooing on?" she demanded
"I&039;ll tell you later There&039;s no time now Just leave Go drive around for thirty minutes Stay away from this street"
"But why, Jake? What have you found?"
"Dynamite"
She backed out of the driveway and disappeared
When Jake returned to the side of the house, the suspect&039;s left hand had been handcuffed to the gasOzzie carefully lifted the suitcase by the handle and sat it neatly between the suspect&039;s broken legs Ozzie kicked both legs to spread theroaned louder Ozzie, the deputies, and Jake backed away slowly and watched hian to cry
"I don&039;t kno to defuse it," he said through clenched teeth
"You&039;d better learn fast," Jake said, his voice soer
The suspect closed his eyes and lowered his head He bit his lip and breathed loudly and rapidly Sweat dripped fro like a falling leaf "Give ht
"I need both hands," he said
"Try it with one," Ozzie said
He placed his fingers gently on the latch and closed his eyes
"Let&039;s get outta here," Ozzie said They ran around the corner of the house and into the carport, as far away as possible
"Where&039;s your fanize him?"
"Nope," said Ozzie
"I never seen him," said Nesbit
Pirtle shook his head
Ozzie called the dispatcher, who called Deputy Riley, the self-trained explosives man for the county
"What if he passes out and the boot insurance, don&039;t you, Jake?" asked Nesbit
"That&039;s not funny"
"We&039;ll give hio check on him," said Ozzie
"Why o"
"I think Jake should go," said Nesbit "It&039;s his house"
"Very funny," said Jake
They waited and chatted nervously Nesbit made another stupid re"
They froze Seconds later the suspect yelled again They ran back across the front yard, then slowly turned the corner The empty suitcase had been tossed a few feet away Next to the man was a neat pile of a dozen sticks of dynae, round-faced clock ires bound together with silver electrical tape
"Is it defused?" Ozzie asked anxiously
"Yeah," he replied between heavy, rapid breaths
Ozzie knelt before him and removed the clock and the wires He did not touch the dynamite "Where are your buddies?"
No response
He reonna start breakin&039; ribs one at a time You better start talkin&039; Nohere are your buddies?"
"Kiss my ass"
Ozzie stood and quickly looked around, not at Jake and the deputies, but at the house next door Seeing nothing, he raised the nightstick The suspect&039;s left aras meter, and Ozzie planted the stick just below the left armpit He squealed and jerked to the left Jake almost felt sorry for him
"Where are they?" Ozzie demanded
No response
Jake turned his head as the sheriff landed another blow to the ribs
"Where are they?"
No response
Ozzie raised the nightstick
"Stopplease stop," the suspect begged
"Where are they?"
"Down that way A couple of blocks"
"How many?"
"One"
"What vehicle?"
"Pickup Red GMC"
"Get the patrol cars," Ozzie ordered
Jake waited impatiently under the carport for his wife to return At two-fifteen she drove slowly into the driveway and parked
"Is Hanna asleep?" Jake asked as he opened the door
"Yes"
"Good Leave her there We&039;ll be leaving in a few ?"
"We&039;ll discuss it inside"
Jake poured the coffee and tried to act cal it difficult to act calm He described the bo for the accoton and stay with your parents until after the trial," he said
She stared at the coffee and said nothing
"I&039;ve already called your dad and explained everything
They&039;re scared too, and they insist you stay with the is over"
"And what if I don&039;t want to go?"
"Please, Carla How can you argue at a time like this?"
"What about you?"
"I&039;ll be fine Ozzie will give uard and they&039;ll watch the house around the clock I&039;ll sleep at the office some I&039;ll be safe, I promise"
She was not convinced
"Look, Carla, I&039;ve got a thousand things on as chamber and his trial is ten days away I can&039;t lose it I&039;ll work night and day from now until the twenty-second, and once the trial starts you won&039;t seeI need is to be worried about you and Hanna Please go"
"They were going to kill us, Jake They tried to kill us"
He couldn&039;t deny it
"You proer became real"
"It&039;s out of the question Noose would never allow me to withdraw at this late date"
"I feel as though you&039;ve lied to me"
"That&039;s not fair I think I underesti, and now it&039;s too late"
She walked to the bedroo
"The plane leaves Meh airport at nine-thirty"
"Yes, sir"
Fifteen nored him At five, they ate breakfast in the Merandparents Carla said little She had ue in front of Hanna She ate quietly and sipped her coffee and watched her husband casually read the paper as if nothing had happened
Jake kissed theoodbye and promised to call every day The plane left on time At seven-thirty he was in Ozzie&039;s office
"Who is he?" Jake asked the sheriff
"We have no idea No wallet, no identification, nothin&039; And he ain&039;t talkin&039;"
"Does anybody recognize hiht for a second "Well, Jake, he&039;s kinda hard to recognize right now Got a lot of bandages on his face"
Jake suy?"
"Only when I have to I didn&039;t hear you object"
"No, I wanted to help What about his friend?"
"We found him sleepin&039; in a red GMC &039;bout a half a mile from your house Terrell Grist Local redneck Lives out froe I think he&039;s a friend of the Cobb family"
Jake repeated the name a few times "Never heard of him Where is he?"
"Hospital Same room with the other"
"My God, Ozzie, did you break his legs too?"
"Jake, my friend, he resisted arrest We had to subdue hiate him He didn&039;t want to cooperate"
"What did he say?"
"Not much Don&039;t know nothin&039; I&039;uy with the dynaht in a professional?"
"Could be Riley looked at the firecrackers and tiood work We&039;d have never found you, your wife, your daughter, probably never found your house It was set for two AM Without the tip, you&039;d be dead, Jake So would your family"
Jake felt dizzy and sat on the couch Reaction set in like a hard kick to the groin A case of diarrhea almost et your family off?"
"Yeah," he said weakly
"I&039;n a deputy to you full-time Got a preference?"
"Not really"
"How &039;bout Nesbit?"
"Fine Thanks"
"One other thing I guess you want this kept quiet?"
"If possible Who knows about it?"