Shotgun Opera

didn?t matter. Enrique Mars could be very persuasive, even with his bare hands.

* * *

Andrew Foley and the girl stood staring at one another for long seconds. She puffed a cigarette. Andrew licked his lips. His mouth was dry, heartbeat still rapid-fire against the inside of his chest. He didn?t see that she had any kind of weapon.

He pulled out his own pack of cigarettes and lit one.

She puffed. He puffed. They continued to stare.

?So what happens now?? Andrew asked.

She shrugged. ?Nothing, I guess. I came to find out if my sister was alive or dead. Now I know.?

Andrew looked at the corpse, then back at the girl. ?I?m sorry.?

?Why would you be sorry? She was trying to murder you, wasn?t she??

Andrew nodded. ?That?s a good point.?

?What happened??

?It wasn?t me,? Andrew said quickly. The girl didn?t seem threatening, but if the body in the chopper was really her sister, then Andrew didn?t want to be on her revenge list. He explained what had happened, the helicopter roaring into the valley, the bullets and grenades ripping everything to shreds and how his uncle stood atop the demolished cabin and machine-gunned the helicopter like a Sam Peckinpaw movie hero.

She nodded as she listened, face blank, taking in the information like it was stereo instructions. ?She was a teacher.?

?What??

?A teacher,? the girl repeated. ?She almost had a whole new life. She?d just about made it. Then this. So fucking stupid.?

Andrew didn?t know what she was talking about, didn?t know how to respond. He flicked away the cigarette butt.

She flicked hers away too, although she hadn?t smoked it down as far. Andrew had seen this before. A friendly rhythm, smokers lighting up, tossing away the butts and lighting up again. Like some kind of ritual between animals. Better than sniffing each other?s asses.

?What are you smoking?? she asked.

?Parliaments. You??

?Camels. Trade??

?Sure.?

He smoked one of hers. She smoked his. Puff puff.

?You don?t seem that upset, considering, well, you know.? He gestured at the helicopter.

?I didn?t like her. But she was my sister. I had to find out.?

?I?m Andrew.?

?I know. I?m Lizzy.?

Thirty yards up the ridge, something crunched dry leaves. Andrew and Lizzy both went stiff, turned their heads to look. Andrew didn?t think he could take any more surprises.

But it wasn?t another assassin. The white tail of a big buck flashed among the trees. He ran twenty feet, stopped, and looked back at them.

Lizzy?s eyebrows arched in surprise. ?Oh. A deer.?