?Forget it. He was going to kill us.? He touched Mars?s throat, looking for a pulse. Mike was surprised that his hand shook. ?Dead.?
Linda said, ?He wanted Andrew.? A question in her eyes.
?It?s a long story.? Mike was breathing easier now. He sat up straight in the chair, blinked his eyes. The ache in his balls had receded slightly, but he still had one fuzzy eye.
The front door burst open. Andrew stood there, Keone right behind him.
?What?s going on? We heard screams and?? He noticed the squashed spider. ?Ew, gross.? Then his head turned. His gaze landed on the dead man in the purple suit. ?Oh, hell.?
19
?That?s your killer,? Mike told his nephew.
The kid blinked. Mike interpreted the disbelief on his face. His nephew hadn?t fully believed someone was gunning for him. Sure, somebody had warned him, told him there was danger. But it had been an abstract concept. Now, reality sat slumped against a wall with half its gold teeth knocked out. A dead man in the living room. If things had gone just a little differently, it would have been Andrew who was dead.
Mike had some hard questions for Andrew, but now wasn?t the time. Linda looked like she was about to lose it. Mike took a few deep breaths and stood up. His balls still hurt, but he could move around. He hoped he wouldn?t piss blood later.
?Linda, are you going to be okay??
She was sitting now, still trembling, sipping a glass of water. ?I guess we need to call the police.?
Mike shrugged.
?Don?t we?? Linda looked up from her water glass, eyes misty. ?The guy?s dead, isn?t he??
?It might just cause trouble,? Mike said.
?Yeah,? Andrew jumped in. He?d probably just realized the police would ask a lot of awkward questions. ?Maybe it?s a bad idea.?
She looked at Andrew, then back at Mike. ?You?re kidding, right? We have to call the police. Don?t we??
?It looks pretty bad.?
?It was self-defense.?
?Yes, it was. But look what we?ve got here,? Mike said. ?The guy?s had the hell beat out of him with a stick. It?s going to seem excessive.?
?I?? Her voice caught. She sipped water. ?I was so mad. Rage. I couldn?t believe this guy was going to burn me, then kill us. I was
?That?s what kept us alive,? Mike said. ?Your rage. That was some kind of survival thing kicking in. It saved us all. And a defense attorney would say the same thing. You?d get off, but they might cuff you first, take you in as a matter of routine. You might spend some time in jail until it came to trial. Think about it. Your husband was a cop. How did he do things? Arrest everyone and sort it all out later, right?? Mike was pouring it on a little thick, but he didn?t want the police. He wanted to frighten Linda just enough so she?d let him handle the situation his way.
?I don?t know. I mean? what if?? She shook her head. ?What do we do??
?Let me and Andrew take the body down the hill, bury it, and cover it over with rocks. That will be the end of it.?
She looked down at her water glass a long time. Finally, she nodded. ?Okay.? The word slipped out, barely a whisper.
Keone squatted next to the dead body. Poked it with the axe handle.
?Keone!? Mike barked. ?Go home. Don?t tell anyone about this.?
?Okay, boss.? He dropped the axe handle, skipped out the front door and into the night.
