Ghost Road Blues (Pine Deep 1)

Ruger wheeled on Val, his hand raised, but she quickly added, “Please. ”

He considered her for a moment and then lowered his hand. “Yeah, whatever. Too much shit to do anyway. ”

Guthrie said, “Is someone hurt?” When Ruger just looked at him, he added, “You wanted a stretcher. Is someone hurt?”

“As a matter of fact, yes. My—how should I put it?—my…‘associate’ is a trifle banged up. He’s out in the cornfield and I think he’d like to come in now. ”

Val stared at him. “You left an injured man out in the field?”

“Yes, isn’t it shocking? On the other hand, what the fuck do you care?”

“He’s hurt…. ”

“So what? If I was hurt, would you give a shit?”

“Of course I would. ”

Ruger laughed. “Oh, I’m sure!”

Val’s dark eyes glittered. “I’d help any animal that was hurt. Even a skunk or a rabid dog. ”

Ruger shook his head ruefully. “Man oh man, you are something!” For a moment, it seemed as if he were about to say something more, but then the front door opened.

Nobody had even heard the car drive up, which was not surprising with the wind and the soft moist dirt of the road, but they all heard the click as the knob turned and the lock sprang open.

Val turned and screamed: “Crow! No! Run!”

Anything else she might have said was drowned ou

t by the ear-?shattering blast of the pistol as Ruger spun around and fired two shots through the door.

Chapter 12

1

The man in the road had a huge butcher’s knife driven into his chest and his white T-?shirt was a mass of blood that bloomed a bright crimson in the glare of the headlights. Crow slowed to a halt and leaned out of the window.

“How’s tricks, Barney?”

Grinning through bloody teeth, the impaled man leaned his forearms on the open window frame of the Chevy and peered inside. “There’s a game tonight at the college, so it’s been kinda slow. How’s with you? Hey, is that Mike?”

“What’s up, Barney?”

“How’s it hanging, Mike?”

“I’m cool. ”

Barney Murphy scratched his chest where the adhesive bound the fake knife to his skin. The handle wobbled. “Whatcha doing out here, man?” he asked Crow.

“Look, Barney, there’s some stuff going on in town, and we have to shut the place down. ”

“Shut it down? You mean…for good?”

“No, just for the night. Where’s Coop?”

“He’s out with a bunch of customers in number four. ” The hayride had four tractors that pulled stake-?bed trailers full of tourists. Number two was at Shanahan’s for a cracked axle. The other three rotated, each pulling out with a load of kids about every twenty minutes.

“How many and how long?”