Ghost Road Blues (Pine Deep 1)

“Tell you the truth, I really don’t think anyone is really going to try too hard to arrest this Ruger character. I think this has gone all the way over into a ‘shoot on sight’ kind of thing. Or, rather, shoot to kill. ”

Crow grunted. “Maybe they should drive a stake through his heart, too. ”

“Maybe. ” Terry rubbed his eyes again and sighed.

“You know, man, you look about as bad as I do. ”

Terry smiled weakly. “Well, aside from the fact that I haven’t had a good night’s sleep in weeks, the crop blight, Halloween, and Karl Ruger…I’m just peachy. ”

“Yeah. ” Crow studied Terry’s face. “Any troubles with you and Sarah?”

“Hm? Oh, heck no, nothing like that. Sarah’s the best. No, it’s just that I’ve been having really bad dreams lately. I told you about it yesterday. Very vivid, very intense. ”

Crow frowned. “Hunh. ”

“Whyfore the ‘hunh’?”

“I’ve been having nightmares, too. Real corkers. ”

They looked at each other for a moment, and just as Terry was about to say something, the door opened and a nurse came in. Crow glanced at her. She did look like Steve Buscemi, but not as pretty. The nurse pointed a finger at Terry and said, “Out. ”

Terry blinked in surprise. “Me?”

“You. Vamoose. ”

“You do realize,” he said, “that I’m the mayor of this town. ”

“I’ll faint later, but for right now get out. ” She turned and glared at Crow. “It is time for your vitals. ”

“But I—”

She gave him a stern glance, fiercer than anything Crow had seen on Ruger’s face. Terry and Crow exchanged a brief, helpless look, and Terry got up. Behind the nurse’s back, he raised his right hand and mouthed, “Sieg heil!” and then crept out. When Crow opened his mouth to say good-?bye to his friend, the nurse stuck a thermometer in it.

4

No one laughed at the joke, so Dixie MacVey tried it again. “I said…you guys look like a police lineup. ” He chuckled for them, hoping it would encourage them. It didn’t. The gathered officers just stared at him, unamused and unmoved. They all stood in a relatively straight line, their assorted uniforms a mix of local gray, big-?city blue, and state-?police black. “Get it? A police lineup. ”

“We get it,” Officer Shanks said tiredly.

“Jeez, you guys got no sense of humor. ”

Officer Jerry Head snorted. “You’re right, we all ought to be laughing our asses off. Everything is so carefree and funny. ”

“Hoo-?ha,” added Toombes. “I better watch so I don’t bust a gut. ”

“Okay,” called Ferro as he rose from behind Gus Bernhardt’s desk, “knock it off and listen up. ” The officers straightened up and MacVey, sulking, joined the line.

“Sorry we don’t have enough chairs for everyone,” Bernhardt said from where he sat by the door. The uniformed officers stood in their lineup, hands at their sides or clasped behind them in the manner of parade rest. Polk and MacVey sat on folding chairs and LaMastra sat on the ledge of the window bay. Ferro looked down the row, recognizing some of the faces from last night, but seeing plenty of new faces as well, more new ones than old ones.

“Okay, ladies and gentlemen, I want to thank you all for being here. I know some of you are not actively working in the law enforcement field, but the fact that you were willing to be reactivated as part-?time officers is commendable. Again, thanks. ” The eighteen new recruits nodded. “All right, well, here’s the scoop. We were able to borrow some patrol cars from neighboring towns, so that means that most of you will be able to go right out and join in the search. After I take roll, you folks will get your unit assignments. I had a crate of Kevlar vests brought up from Philly, and I think there are enough to go around. Everyone who goes out wears one, is that clear? Good. Every officer is to have his or her sidearm cleaned and loaded. No mistakes, no heroics, and no sloppy police work. We are all professionals, and we don’t often have to prove how really good we can be. This, however, is one of those times. This is a very dangerous man. This man has killed without hesitation or remorse. He has gunned down innocent citizens, as well as law officers. Don’t take any chances. I don’t want you to investigate a cat up a tree without backup. Is that understood? Good. We have one officer down right now, as well as one reactivated officer. We’ve already seen what Karl Ruger is capable of doing to one of his own gang—imagine what he would be willing to do to one of you. ”

The speech was more for the locals but Ferro’s hard stare ranged slowly over every face in the lineup, meeting each set of eyes in turn. The officers he’d brought with him from Philly each met his gaze, Head even nodded to him. Most of the local officers could only meet that glare for a few seconds before their eyes faltered and found something less intense to look at. One of the reactivated men, a big blond bruiser with a broad, almost simian face and long muscular arms, did meet his eyes, and returned intensity for intensity. Ferro thought he looked tough and clear-?headed, and wondered if he’d been military, perhaps even M. P. “Any questions?”

No one moved for a few seconds; then the big blond officer held up his hand. “I have a question, sir. ”

“Your name?”

“Edward Oswald, reactivated volunteer, sir. ”