“We’re injured,” protested Vin, who was,true enough, bleeding profusely from a cut on his scalp.
“All the more reason to lie down and stopmoving around. Help is on the way.”
He’d already picked up the distant wail ofsirens through the wash of rain. “Where’s Pop?” he asked Grant.
Grant, holding a Bowie knife as long as hisforearm, said, “Pop’s not even here. Cousin Dennis is hiding in thesafe room.”
“What happened?”
“Nothing. They drove up and started firingat the house.”
“That’s not exactly nothing.”
“I mean, nothing happened to start it,”Grant said. “They pulled up and started shooting.”
“What the hell is the matter with you?” Willasked Tobe. Tobe screwed his face up and spat at him. Given hisposition and the direction of the wind, it was a strategicerror.
Will shook his head and turned his attentionback to Grant. “How much damage did they do?”
“Probably took ten years off Cousin Dennis’slife.” Grant grinned. “They knocked out some windows and that globelamp that belonged to Grandma Mills. That’s about it. They turnedtail the minute I started firing back.”
Will studied the men lying in the mud. Theywere using their clasped hands to shelter their sodden heads fromthe rain. Three more bedraggled and miserable specimens he’d rarelyseen. Tobe, Hal — who had somehow managed to hang onto hissunglasses — and Vin. No Jem.
“Where’s Jem?” Will asked. “Did he put youup to this?” The three men stared at him sullenly.
“You do realize you crossed a line, right?You don’t get off this time with a fine or community service?”
They stared back at him with silentloathing. Maybe stupidity wasn’t a crime, but it sure played a rolein plenty of crimes. The scary thought was that Jem was — hadalways been — the brains of this outfit.
“Fine. You want to share the rap with yourbrother, go right ahead. But Jem is going straight back to prisonfor this. Maybe you can share a cell. Wouldn’t that be cozy?”
Tobe snarled, “No it wouldn’t and no Jemain’t. ‘Coz he’s gone.”
“What do you mean, he’s gone?”
“What I said. He’s gone.”
“Where did he go?”
“Wherever he wanted to.”
Hal lifted his head. His sunglasses wereaskew. He said, “Jem left last week. That’s how much you know aboutanything.”
“He can’t leave the area without violatinghis parole.”
Hal shrugged, then winced, rubbing at hisshoulder.
“If he left last week, what was all this?”Will asked. “All this driving around, raising hell, claiming Jemwas coming for revenge?”
Hal and Tobe stared sullenly at him. Vinstared down at the mud.
Will gave a disbelieving laugh. “You’resaying this was all your idea?”
Well, idea was probably anexaggeration.
Taylor whistled sharply from up the hill,and Will turned at once. “Grant, if any one of them moves, shoothim,” he instructed, and switchbacked up the road at a briskjog.
“My pleasure,” Grant called from behind him,which started the Dooleys snarling and swearing again.
Will topped the hill and looked down thegully. The driver of the red Corolla leaned against the side of hiscar, talking to Taylor. Taylor turned as Will approached.
“Look who it is,” Taylor told him.
“Who?” As far as Will knew, the driver, abig man in a black leather jacket, was a stranger to him. He wastaller than himself or Taylor. Beefy but well-groomed with one ofthose geometrically precise beards that nobody besides actors andmale models bothered with. There was a cut above his eye where theairbag must have caught him, but otherwise he seemed unhurt.
“I keep telling you, I didn’t have anythingto do with this,” he said as Will reached them. Will’s bootsskidded a little on the wet weeds. He steadied himself on the hoodof the car.
“You do,” Taylor agreed. “But you’ve yet toconvince me.”
“Who the hell are you?” Will asked.
Brown eyes met Will’s briefly. “I was parkedin the trees over there when that truckload of rednecks arrived andstarted shooting up the place.”
“That doesn’t answer my question. And thosetrees where you were parked are private property. So who are youand what were you doing parked over there?”
“Nothing. I was taking a little reststop.”
“Resting on your way to where?”
“Look, I don’t know why you’re hassling me.I had nothing to do with anything that happened here. Thosehillbillies opened fire and I tried to leave the area as quickly aspossible. You almost crashed into me.”
“You didn’t think about maybe calling forhelp?” Will asked. “Your only thought was to flee the scene?”
“I figured help was on the way.”
“That’s convenient.”
“What happened to the Porsche?” Taylorasked.
The man blinked. He looked from Will toTaylor. His expression changed. “Hey, wait a minute. It’s not whatyou think,” he said quickly.
Taylor said, “I think you’re a PI by thename of Stuart Schwierskott and you’ve been hired to runsurveillance on us.”
Rain pattered down on the ground aroundthem.
“Okay, it is what you think,” Schwierskottadmitted. “But listen, you can read my reports. I don’t haveanything on you. I’m no threat to you.”
No threat to them? Did he think they weregoing to shoot him? Who did he think they were?
“What is it you think there would be to haveon us?” Will asked.
“I don’t understand the question.”
“You understand my question. Whohired you?” Taylor asked.
“I don’t know,” Schwierskott said, a littledesperately. “That’s the truth. I don’t know who hired our firm,and I don’t know what they hoped to uncover.”
“There isn’t anything to uncover.”
“I want to see these reports,” Taylorsaid.
“Go ahead. Be my guest. My notes are in mybriefcase on the front seat.”
Taylor yanked open the car door, lifted outthe briefcase, and set it on the hood of the car. He shuffledthrough the sheets of notes, glancing over the reports,frowning.
“Well?” Will asked.
Taylor rifled through the papers again. Heraised his head and stared at Schwierskott in disbelief. “Are yousupposed to be for real? People are paying you for this? Listen tothis, Brandt. Due to extremely poor visibility and dangerousdriving conditions, Investigator was forced to suspend mobilesurveillance. This is last night when Grant and I went on ourbeer run.” He turned to Schwierskott. “You got lost, didn’tyou?”
Schwierskott looked uncomfortable. He didn’tanswer.
“I don’t think he was even here for half thestuff he’s reporting.”
Taylor looked at Will, and
