Nowhere to Run

He said nothing for a long time. Then: “I’ll tell you something I have trouble putting into words. I’m scared to go back up there. I’ve been scared a lot in the past. But this one is different somehow. I don’t think I can beat them.”

She reached out and touched his cheek. She spoke softly, “Eventually, those brothers will get caught or turn themselves in. And who knows—maybe those women are up there on their own accord. Not all women have brains in their heads, Joe. Some are actually attracted by men like that, which sickens me. But for once, why not let the system work? You don’t need to be the one driving it this time.”

She said, “For God’s sake, they aren’t even in your district anymore. You’ve been reassigned, so they’re someone else’s problem now. We both know the governor wants you to stay out of it. And the sheriff down there probably never wants to see you again. If you went after them, it would be purely personal, and that’s not good.”

“Still,” he said.

“Look,” she said, propping herself up on an elbow. His arm that had been draped over her fell away from her movement. “You’ve been gone a long time. You see the situation here. April is like a stick of dynamite walking around in a room filled with candles. She’s just going to go off if we aren’t there to help and guide her. Sheridan’s got a year left before she goes to college, Joe. To college! She’s in a situation right now where she goes to practice every night and that hysterical coach of hers mistreats her because she won’t suck up to him. She doesn’t say much about it. She’s miserable—but she won’t quit. Who does that remind you of?”

Joe grunted.

She said, “I don’t sleep well when any of my children are unhappy, even if I can’t do anything about it. And there’s Lucy. I don’t want her to think she’s been forgotten amidst all this drama.”

He reached out and stroked her naked shoulder.

“I’ve never asked this before,” she said, “But I’m asking now: promise me you won’t go after them.”

Joe sighed and rubbed his eyes hard.

“I know it’s against your nature,” she said. “I know you think your advantage is your inability to simply let things go. But something happened up there. They got into your head and under your skin and they stole a part of you. You can’t get it back, Joe. You’ve just got to heal. And you’ve got to be home to heal. Where I need you right now. I need some help here, Joe.”

He said, “You’re serious, aren’t you?”

“Yes.”

“Okay,” he said. “I promise.”

He was shocked how relieved he was when he said it, how a tremendous downward pressure on him seemed to release and dissipate. He felt lighter and slightly ashamed of himself.

The truth was, he needed her permission not to go after the Grim Brothers. Because from what he’d experienced, they’d likely beat him again. And this time, he doubted they’d let the job go unfinished.

“Come here,” he said, pulling her to him.

She came.

18

DAVE FARKUS RODE IN THE DARK WITH HIS LEFT ARM UP IN front of his face in case the fat horse walked under a branch. He couldn’t see a thing, and he was terrified. He was also severely chilled, because the temperature had dropped once the sun went down behind the clouds.

“I’m freezing,” Farkus said.

Ahead of him, Smith turned and said, “Shut up, Dave.”

Smith, like the other three, had put on night vision goggles to ride by. Where Smith’s eyes should have been, there were dark holes. Only when one of the other riders looked directly at him could Farkus see a dull ball of red deep inside the lenses, which unnerved him. It was as if the twin eyepieces were drilled into their brains. Occasionally, if the riders adjusted their goggles or briefly removed them, he could see their faces bathed in an eerie green.

Farkus said, “I feel like I’m in a goddamned zombie movie.”

EARLIER, PARNELL HAD ORDERED them all to put on body armor and night-vision goggles—except for Farkus, of course. Smith and Campbell had dismounted and dug in the panniers and handed out the bulletproof vests. Farkus could hear the soft clink of ceramic plating as the vests were strapped on. Then, in the last few minutes of dusk, he watched them check lithium batteries and adjust the straps of the goggles in a well-practiced way. Campbell and Smith debated the merits of their goggles, and Farkus listened carefully.

“I was hoping for generation fours instead of these ATN gen threes,” Campbell told Smith. “There’s hardly any moon at all and the gen fours will reach out a thousand yards in these conditions.”

Smith said, “But we’re still talking one hundred fifty to four hundred yards with these babies at two grand a pop. Not too bad.”

Farkus said to them both, “Obviously, this ain’t your first rodeo.”

Campbell began to say more—he was obviously a gear geek—but after Farkus spoke he caught himself.

But Farkus learned plenty from the short exchange, if little to do with night vision goggles. The expedition was well financed by a third party, and the men were well trained even if they were seeing some of the equipment for the first time. Which meant, as he’d suspected, that the men were mercenaries—hired hands. So it wasn’t personal with either them or their target. That could work in his favor, he thought. He’d have to play it cool, but he was used to that. Avoiding hard work meant learning the motivation and proclivities of those around you. It’s what he did.

OCCASIONALLY, FARKUS was brushed by a pine bough on his head or leg and he cursed his fat horse. But she could see better than he and there was no choice but to simply hold on and hope she didn’t walk under an overhanging branch that would knock him out of his saddle or poke his eye out.