I said, 'Which one of you wants to tell Joe that you were there when his kid got killed in the woods?'
'There's four of us, Spenser,' Maishe said.
'How many did you start with?' I said.
No one spoke. Pearl continued to sniff carefully at the pillowcase, bending her neck and moving her feet a little to get a careful smell survey of the contents from every angle. The guy holding the pillowcase didn't look at her. His eyes were fixed on me.
'Where's Richie?' Maishe said.
Close to me I could hear Gerry's breath, wheezing through his throat as if there were very little room for it.
'Listen,' I said. 'Here's the deal. You four beat it. Gerry and I walk out of here alone, and when we get to the Mass Pike, I let him go.'
'That's it?' Maishe said.
I nodded.
'And if we don't?'
'Then I drop Gerry like a stone and take my chances with you.'
'How many rounds you got left?' Maishe said.
I didn't say anything.
Maishe looked at Anthony. Anthony had nothing to say.
'You drop Gerry and you got nothing left to bargain with,' Maishe said.
I didn't say anything. Pearl had given up on the pillowcase and walked over to sniff at the tracker on the ground behind the granite. He reached back absently and scratched her ear with his free hand. Her tail wagged. Maishe shifted his feet a little. He looked at Gerry.
'What do you want, Gerry?' he said.
I spoke softly to Gerry, my mouth two inches from his left ear, the pressure of the Browning steady in his right one.
'I would like to kill you, Gerry. It would be a good thing for civilization. And it would be fun. I'll keep you alive if it gets me out of here. But you know that if the show starts, your brains will be floating in the water.'
'How do I know you'll let me go?' His voice was little more than a hiss.
'Because I said I would.'
Gerry was silent. Maishe spoke again.
'What do you want us to do, Gerry?'
'If I knew you'd let me go…' Gerry whispered.
I didn't say anything. Pearl left the tracker and moseyed happily down to the stream edge and drank noisily and long. Ripe woodchuck will give you a thirst.
Gerry raised his voice. 'Do what he says.'
'You want we should leave you?' Maishe said.
Gerry's voice was shrill with the effort of squeezing it out.
'Do what he says. I believe him. He'll let me go later.'
What Gerry really believed was that I'd kill him now. We all knew that.
Maishe shrugged. The tracker got to his feet. He still had the big revolver out but he let it slide down at his side. The guy with the pillowcase eased out of his crouch.
'Go back the way you came,' I said. 'Cross downstream. Keep going. If I see you or even hear you in the woods I will blow his brains out. And then you can explain to Joe how you let that happen, and who was in charge, and how four of you let one guy do it. Joe will be interested.'
Nobody moved for a moment. Then Maishe said, 'Fuck it,' and the four of them began to drift back toward the stream, twenty yards or so down from where Gerry and I stood. I turned slowly as they went, keeping Gerry between us.
The tracker entered the streambed last. As he walked into the water he said to me, 'Your dog?'
'Yeah.'
'Nice dog.'
'Thanks.'
'Mass Pike's about three miles.' He jerked his head. 'Back that way. Stay on the ridgeline.'
I nodded again. Then he was out of the stream.
'Maybe we'll see you down the road,' he said.
I didn't answer and he was into the woods, and in a minute he was out of sight.
CHAPTER 27
