Stone Junction

‘A couple of times he asked me if I was okay. Yesterday he asked me if there was anything going on that he should know about.’

‘What did you tell him?’

‘I told him we were going through a tense time in our relationship.’

‘Do you think he’s talked to anyone else?’

‘Never happen.’

Shamus paced for a moment, then came over and sat down on the edge of the bed. ‘Daniel’s bright, he’s got heart, he’s loyal, but he’s a kid. I don’t know about kids. You do, and you know him in particular. Any suggestions how to handle this? Or is that why you brought it up?’

‘If you’re absolutely sure about the bomb being safe to transport, I think he should go with me.’

Shamus stared at her. ‘Annalee, if that bomb wasn’t safe, you wouldn’t be carrying it. Do you understand that?’

‘Yes. And I know I can trust Daniel as much as I trust you.’

‘Fine. You work it out with him. But absolutely don’t tell him when it’s going to happen or where until you’re on your way in the car. And don’t tell him what’s involved. Just that we’re going to need his help.’

‘Shamus, he’s been an outlaw his whole life. He forges papers every day. He understands how it is. When the theft hits the news, you think he won’t know who did it, what went down? And be hurt and pissed off he wasn’t trusted enough to be included – especially when he might have to suffer the consequences? You don’t think there’s going to be a shit-rain of heat?’

‘Obviously. But don’t forget, the plutonium is our umbrella. That’s why I have to pull it off. Because without the plutonium, there’s no leverage. They’re gutless, Annalee, not stupid. They won’t fire if they know we can fire back. And they’ll have the whole world watching, because I’m going to make sure it’s on every front page and television set in the world, and the first demand will be amnesty for everyone involved.’

‘And if they call the bluff? Won’t negotiate?’

‘I lose. I’ll surrender myself and the plutonium on the condition that everyone else involved, who I’d duped or forced into doing their tiny, innocent, unconnected parts, be granted amnesty. But even if it comes to that, it will be a success, because I’ll have held up a mirror to their madness, ripped off their masks.’

‘And they’ll lock you up forever as an example, maybe even execute you, and I’ll never see you again.’

‘Annalee,’ Shamus pleaded, ‘it’s beyond us. It cries to be done.’

‘I’ll cry, too,’ Annalee said.

Shamus took her in his arms and embraced her, rocking her as he said, ‘Do you think I won’t?’

When Annalee left for Shamus’s apartment the evening of the fourteenth, she hugged Daniel and said, ‘I’ll bring you a bomb for breakfast.’

‘Are you nervous?’ Daniel asked her.

‘About to fall to pieces. Are you?’

‘Yes. But excited, too.’

‘Right. Which is why you should go to bed early and get plenty of sleep so you’ll be rested and sharp, because tomorrow’s going to take the very best we’ve got. And remember to lock the doors.’

‘I will.’

He didn’t.

Daniel was undressed and in bed when he remembered the back door. He’d locked it earlier, but then, deciding to gather all the equipment together and have it ready for tomorrow, he’d gone out to the garage for the tent and couldn’t recall if he’d relocked it. He was reaching for his nightstand light when a woman’s voice said from the doorway, ‘I’ll look for you in the shadows.’

Carefully, Daniel reached for his pants beside the bed and took out his pocket knife, opened it, and slipped it under the covers. When he set his pants back down on the floor some change in the pockets jingled.

‘I seek you in the dark by the jingle of silver and the sound of your breath.’ He could hear her hand patting along the wall and then the overhead light switched on. The woman standing in the doorway was young, pretty, and, as Daniel quickly judged from her eyes, very stoned.

She peered at him intently. ‘Ha. I found you.’ She smiled at him. ‘But who have I found?’

‘My name’s Daniel,’ he said, too surprised not to answer.

She giggled, ‘Then this must be the lion’s den.’ She walked into the room.

‘Not really. It’s my bedroom. Who are you?’

But she was staring at the poster of the Horsehead Nebula on the wall over the bed. ‘What’s this?’

‘The Horsehead Nebula. It’s what’s called a dark nebula, because it doesn’t contain any bright stars. The dark nebulae block the light of the stars beyond them, so from here they look like dark patches in the sky. They’re like huge interstellar dust clouds. Some astronomers think they’ll eventually collapse into themselves and form new stars.’

She stared at it intently for half a minute. ‘It’s beautiful,’ she said, and began to cry.

‘I feel the same way sometimes,’ Daniel said.

Sniffling, she sat down on the edge of the bed and, head cocked quizzically, looked at him. Though it was a cold