“Outstanding. ” He sipped his coffee, winced, and set the cup down. “While we’re gone, maybe you can pick up some garlic oil, and anything else you can think of. I’m sure Saul can arrange for us to use one of the rooms here as a staging area. ”

“Anything you need,” Weinstock agreed.

Ferro looked at his watch. “Should take us about six hours. We should try to get some sleep…but I don’t know how that’s going to happen. We’ll pick up No-Doz or something on the way. ” He leaned back in his chair and looked at Val. “In the morgue…that was, well…that was bad. We were there to protect you and we let you down. That won’t happen again, I give you my word. ”

Val nodded but said nothing.

“I’m sorry for what you had to go through and what you had to do. You’re an incredible woman, Val, and I’m proud to know you. ”

“Thank you, Frank. ”

To Crow he said, “I hope you’ll be ready when we get back because I want to saddle up, get down to Dark Hollow, and see if we can finish this. ”

“Frank…we don’t know if Ruger’s even down there, or if he’s even alive. We don’t know if we’ll find anything down there. ”

Ferro stared at him for a long moment. “He’s out there. I know it. You know it. ”

Crow just looked at him.

“If he’s not down at Griswold’s house, if he’s not in Dark Hollow, then we have to hunt him down and kill him no matter where he is, no matter where he’s hiding. We have to. The alternative is just too…”

He stopped, shook his head, and and left.

2

They gave Weinstock a sedative, which he grumbled about taking, and he drifted off. Crow looked at his watch. “I’d better get moving, baby. If I’m going to be ready when they get back I’ve got to get a bunch of things done. ”

“I wish I was going with you today,” Val said as Crow fished his car keys out of the plastic bag that held his clothes. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. I know I’m pregnant, I know I’m too delicate. ” She hooked quotation marks around that last word and her tone was mocking.

“Honey,” Crow said, straightening, “believe me when I tell you that if you weren’t pregnant with Crow Junior I’d want you riding shotgun…and I mean that exactly. ”

“Why do you always think our baby is going to be a boy?”

“Because you’re going to want another guy you can boss around. ”

She stuck out her tongue. “You will pay for that remark. ”

“Vince, Frank, and I can handle this part of it. By the way, I called Newt, but Jonatha answered his cell. She said he was asleep. ”

Val arched an eyebrow. “Asleep? With her?”

“I didn’t ask for details. I told her the plan and she said that she and Newt would try and meet us back here before first light to help us get ready. She sounded pretty rocky. Not everyone’s as tough as you, baby,” Crow said. “Look…I’d better go. ”

“God,” she said, “this is never going to be over. I can feel it. ”

“No! We’re going to end it today. ” He kissed her, long and sweetly, and then knelt and kissed her stomach. Rising, he hitched up as confident a smile as he could manage. “Trust me, Val. We’re going to win. ”

“I trust you,” she said softly.

He kissed her again and left.

3

Crow drove out to Val’s farm, pulled up to the big tool-shed near the barn, trained the high beams on the door, and got out of his car holding Ferro’s shotgun. It still held four shells doctored with garlic and he approached the shed cautiously until he was sure it was safe. He unlocked the shed and removed four yellow 4. 6-gallon backpack-style sprayer tanks that were used for liquid fertilizer; they were exactly where Val said he’d find them. He poured out their contents and wiped each one down.

He filled them at the farm gas pump and tested the sprayers; each one worked fine.

“Hope the gas doesn’t melt these puppies,” he murmured as he stowed them in his car.

Tags: Jonathan Maberry Pine Deep Horror
Source: readsnovelonline.net