âDarling?â
She looked up at Bradleigh. âHeâs coming out of it.â
âIâm freezing to death. Look at meâgoose bumps.â
âGet him a blanket.â Bradleigh sent the cop away. âYou with us now, Fred?â
âI think so. Funny, itâs like Inch Å n. Artillery flashesâitâs lit up here and there but I canât make the picture stand still. Give me another shot of that stuff.â
The cop brought a blanket and Bradleigh swapped the empty glass for it. âRefill.â
His teeth were chattering. He clutched the blanket around him like a Sioux. âBeen a long time since I got shot at. But I wouldnât have thought Iâd have gone all to pieces like this.â
âYou want a cigarette?â Bradleigh shook out his pack.
âI quit six years ago.â
âThat was six years ago.â
âIâd only burn holes in this blanket.â
The cop gave him the refilled glass and he drank it straight down. It burned. Bourbon, he realized.
Bradleigh took the empty glass. âThatâs probably enough. You donât want to get schnockered.â
âAll right, Iâm mostly here. Tell me what the hell happened.â
Jan looked up at Bradleigh and caught his nod. She said, âWe were all here in Roger and Amyâs house. We heard the blast. Then a lot of sirens, and somebody phoned Roger and told him our house had exploded. We all went up there.â
Bradleigh said, âA few people heard the car going away fast but only a couple of people saw it. There havenât been any descriptions we could use. One of your neighbors had phoned the police and they got up there fast, if it matters. The way weâve reconstructed it, the car came down from the top of the canyon, at least two men in itâa driver and the guy who threw the bomb. Are you all right?â
âIâm just peachy. For Godâs sake.â
âLook, at least nobody got hurt.â
âGo on, then.â
âI donât know what else to tell you. Frank Pastor was awarded parole today. Heâll be out in a day or two. How does that grab you, Goddamnit?â
Jan burst into abrupt laughter. Mathieson reached out and she sagged against him, burying her face against his chest, the laughter going into sobs.
âYouâre alive,â Bradleigh said in his stern monotone.
âAre we supposed to be grateful about that?â
âYou will be when youâve had time to think about it.â
âWhat about right now? How are we supposed to feel right now?â
âThey donât make rules about it.â
âI just want this to be a bad dream.â
2
By midnight Amy Gilfillan was in bed, drugged to sleep, and the house had emptied out but there were still cops outside standing guard. The TV trucks and lights were gone. Ronny dozed on the couch; most of the lights were off; Roger had taken Billy back to put him to bed; Jan sat half drunk on the ottoman.
Mathieson went to the bar. Anger made his hands shake and Bradleigh shouldered him aside. âIâll do it. What are you having?â
âMight as well stick with bourbon. Rocks.â
He waited without patience and finally took the glass from Bradleigh; he turned. âWhat now?â
âWeâll have to get you out of here. Theyâll try again.â Bradleigh closed the refrigerator door. He was drinking orange juice. âIt was my job to prevent this.â
âDonât get maudlin, Glenn. Youâre not responsible. You didnât sling any bombs.â
The phone rang and Bradleigh took it; Mathieson couldnât hear what he said but afterward Bradleigh came across the room and stood beside him. âLooks like theyâve slipped the net. If we were going to collar them locally weâd have had them by now. Either weâll get a tip from a CI or weâll have to go at it from another
Heather Gunter, Raelene Green