“No, my wife killed those two men.”
“I thought you said your wife was dead.”
“She is.”
“She killed them before she died, then?”
“After. Don’t ask.”
She reached up a hand and flicked her hair from her forehead.
They pulled up on Main Street, outside the Buck Stops Here. The sign over the window showed a surprised-looking stag standing on its hind legs holding a glass of beer. Shadow grabbed the bag with the book in it and got out.
“Why would they have a war?” asked Sam. “It seems kind of redundant. What is there to win?”
“I don’t know,” admitted Shadow.
“It’s easier to believe in aliens than in gods,” said Sam. “Maybe Mister Town and Mister Whatever were Men in Black, only the alien kind.”
They were standing on the sidewalk outside the Buck Stops Here and Sam stopped. She looked up at Shadow, and her breath hung on the night air like a faint cloud. She said, “Just tell me you’re one of the good guys.”
“I can’t,” said Shadow. “I wish I could. But I’m doing my best.”
She looked up at him, and bit her lower lip. Then she nodded. “Good enough,” she said. “I won’t turn you in. You can buy me a beer.”
Shadow pushed the door open for her, and they were hit by a blast of heat and music. They went inside.
Sam waved at some friends. Shadow nodded to a handful of people whose faces—although not their names—he remembered from the day he had spent searching for Alison McGovern, or who he had met in Mabel’s in the morning. Chad Mulligan was standing at the bar, with his arm around the shoulders of a small red-haired woman—the kissing cousin, Shadow figured. He wondered what she looked like, but she had her back to him. Chad’s hand raised in a mock salute when he saw Shadow. Shadow grinned, and waved back at him. Shadow looked around for Hinzelmann, but the old man did not seem to be there this evening. He spied a free table at the back and started walking toward it.
Then somebody began to scream.
It was a bad scream, a full-throated, seen-a-ghost hysterical scream, which silenced all conversation. Shadow looked around, certain somebody was being murdered, and then he realized that all the faces in the bar were turning toward him. Even the black cat, who slept in the window during the day, was standing up on top of the jukebox with its tail high and its back arched and was staring at Shadow.
Time slowed.
“Get him!” shouted a woman’s voice, parked on the verge of hysteria. “Oh for God’s sake, somebody stop him! Don’t let him get away! Please!” It was a voice he knew.
Nobody moved. They stared at Shadow. He stared back at them.
Chad Mulligan stepped forward, walking through the people. The small woman walked behind him warily, her eyes wide, as if she was preparing to start screaming once more. Shadow knew her. Of course he knew her.
Chad was still holding his beer, which he put down on a nearby table. He said, “Mike.”
Shadow said, “Chad.”
Audrey Burton took hold of Chad’s sleeve. Her face was white, and there were tears in her eyes. “Shadow,” she said. “You bastard. You murderous evil bastard.”
“Are you sure that you know this man, hon?” said Chad. He looked uncomfortable.
Audrey Burton looked at him incredulously. “Are you crazy? He worked for Robbie for years. His slutty wife was my best friend. He’s wanted for murder. I had to answer questions. He’s an escaped convict.” She was way over the top, her voice trembling with suppressed hysteria, sobbing out her words like a soap actress going for a daytime Emmy. Kissing cousins, thought Shadow, unimpressed.
Nobody in the bar said a word. Chad Mulligan looked up at Shadow. “It’s probably a mistake. I’m sure we can sort this all out,” he said. Then he said, to the bar, “It’s all fine. Nothing to worry about. We can sort this out. Everything’s fine.” Then, to Shadow, “Let’s step outside, Mike.” Quiet competence. Shadow was impressed.
“Sure,” said Shadow.
He felt a hand touch his hand, and he turned to see Sam staring at him. He smiled down at her as reassuringly as he could.
Sam looked at Shadow, then she looked around the bar at the faces staring at them. She said to Audrey Burton, “I don’t know who you are. But. You. Are such. A cunt.” Then she went up on tiptoes and pulled Shadow down to her, and kissed him hard on the lips, pushing her mouth against his for what felt to Shadow like several minutes, and might have been as long as five seconds in real, clock-ticking time.