Under the Dome

“They will never take this town from me,” Big Jim whispered.

“Course they won’t,” Carter said. “Without you, we’re sunk.”

This relaxed Big Jim to some degree. He reached for the telephone, then remembered Randolph had gone home to bed. The new Chief had gotten precious little rack-time since the crisis began, and had told Carter that he intended to sleep until at least noon. And that was okay. The man was useless, anyway.

“Carter, make a note. Show it to Morrison, if he’s running things at the PD this morning, then leave it on Randolph’s desk. After that, come right back here.” He paused to consider for a moment, frowning. “And see if Junior’s headed there. He went out while I was talking to Colonel Do-What-I-Want on the telephone. Don’t go looking for him if he’s not, but if he is, make sure he’s all right.”

“Sure. What’s the message?”

“ ‘Dear Chief Randolph: Jacqueline Wettington is to be severed from the Chester’s Mill PD immediately.’”

“Does that mean fired?”

“Yes indeed.”

Carter was scribbling in his book, and Big Jim gave him time to catch up. He was okay again. Better than okay. He was feeling it. “Add, ‘Dear Officer Morrison: When Wettington comes in today, please inform her she is relieved of duty and tell her to clean out her locker. If she asks you for cause, tell her we are reorganizing the department and her services will no longer be required.’”

“Does required have a c in it, Mr. Rennie?”

“The spelling doesn’t matter. The message matters.”

“Okay. Right.”

“If she has further questions, she can see me.”

“Got it. Is that all?”

“No. Tell whichever one sees her first to take her badge and gun. If she gets poopy and says the gun’s her personal property, they can give her a receipt and tell her it will either be returned or she’ll be reimbursed when this crisis is over.”

Carter scribbled some more, then looked up. “What do you think is wrong with Junes, Mr. Rennie?”

“I don’t know. Just megrims, I imagine. Whatever it is, I don’t have time to deal with it right now. There are more pressing matters at hand.” He pointed at the notebook. “Bring me that.”

Carter did. His handwriting was the looping scrawl of a third-grader, but everything was there. Rennie signed it.

9

Carter took the fruits of his secretarial labor to the PD. Henry Morrison greeted them with an incredulity that fell just short of mutiny. Carter also looked around for Junior, but Junior wasn’t there, and no one had seen him. He asked Henry to keep an eye out.

Then, on impulse, he went downstairs to visit Barbie, who was lying on his bunk with his hands behind his head.

“Your boss called,” he said. “That guy Cox. Mr. Rennie calls him Colonel Do-What-I-Want.”

“I’ll bet he does,” Barbie said.

“Mr. Rennie gave him the big fuck you. And you know what? Your Army pal had to eat it and smile. What do you think of that?”

“I’m not surprised.” Barbie kept looking at the ceiling. He sounded calm. It was irritating. “Carter, have you thought about where all this is going? Have you tried taking the long view?”

“There isn’t any long view, Baaarbie. Not anymore.”

Barbie just kept looking at the ceiling with a little smile dimpling the corners of his mouth. As if he knew something Carter did not. It made Carter want to unlock the cell door and punch the shitlicker’s lights out. Then he remembered what had happened in Dipper’s parking lot. Let Barbara see if he could fight a firing squad with his dirty tricks. Let him try that.

“I’ll see you around, Baaaarbie. ”

“I’m sure,” Barbie said, still not bothering to look at him. “It’s a small town, son, and we all support the team.”

10

When the parsonage doorbell rang, Piper Libby was still in the Bruins tee-shirt and shorts that served as her nightwear. She opened the door, assuming her visitor would be Helen Roux, an hour early for her ten o’clock appointment to discuss Georgia’s funeral and burial arrangements. But it was Jackie Wettington. She was wearing her uniform, but there was no badge over her left breast and no gun on her hip. She looked stunned.

“Jackie? What’s wrong?”

“I’ve been fired. That bastard has had it in for me since the PD Christmas party, when he tried to cop a feel and I slapped his hand, but I doubt if that was all of it, or even most of it—”

“Come in,” Piper said. “I found a little gas-operated hotplate—from the last minister, I think—in one of the pantry cupboards, and for a wonder, it still works. Doesn’t a cup of hot tea sound good?”

“Wonderful,” Jackie said. Tears welled in her eyes and over-spilled. She wiped them off her cheeks almost angrily.

Piper led her into the kitchen and lit the single-burner Brinkman camp-grill on the counter. “Now tell me everything.”

Jackie did, not failing to include Henry Morrison’s condolences, which had been clumsy but sincere. “He whispered that part,” she said, taking the cup Piper gave her. “It’s like the goddam Gestapo over there now. Excuse my language.”

Piper waved this away.

“Henry says that if I protest at the town meeting tomorrow, I’ll only make things worse—Rennie’ll whip out a bunch of trumped-up incompetency charges. He’s probably right. But the biggest incompetent in the department this morning is the one running the place. As for Rennie… he’s packing the PD with officers who’ll be loyal to him in case of any organized protest to the way he’s doing things.”

“Of course he is,” Piper said.

“Most of the new hires are too young to buy a legal beer, but they’re carrying guns. I thought of telling Henry he’d be the next to go—he’s said things about the way Randolph’s running the department, and of course the bootlickers will have passed his comments on—but I could see by his face that he already knows it.”

“Do you want me to go see Rennie?”

“It wouldn’t do any good. I’m actually not sorry to be out, I just hate to be fired. The big problem is that I’ll look very good for what’s going to happen tomorrow night. I may have to disappear with Barbie. Always assuming we can find a place to disappear to. ”

“I don’t understand what you’re talking about.”

“I know, but I’m going to tell you. And this is where the risks start. If you don’t keep this to yourself, I’ll wind up in the Coop myself. Maybe even standing next to Barbara when Rennie lines up his firing squad.”

Piper regarded her gravely. “I’ve got forty-five minutes before Georgia Roux’s mother shows up. Is that time enough for you to say what you have to say?”

“Plenty.”

Jackie began with the examination of the bodies at the funeral home. Described the stitch marks on Coggins’s face and the golden baseball Rusty had seen. She took a deep breath and next spoke of her plan to break Barbie out during the special town meeting the following night. “Although I have no idea where we can put him if we do get him out.” She sipped her tea. “So what do you think?”