She looked at the fat man rushing into the houseboat, saw the big gun in his hand and instinctively leapt in front of the storeroom where Courtney was asleep. Rune pulled the door shut, standing defiantly in front of it. Staring back at the man she knew without a bit of doubt had killed Lance Hopper and Bennett Frost.
This was Jimmy.
Boggs stood up fast, knocking over the beer, which chugged onto the floor.
The big man stopped then closed the front door slowly, calmly, as if he'd been invited in.
He stood with his arms hanging awkwardly at his side. Cautious, but confident, squinting, checking out the room and its inhabitants. Nothing he saw scared him.
Randy Boggs, his eyes wide with shock, faced the man. The way Boggs stood made him look like a soldier. No, more like a boxer – one foot forward, turned sideways. Which was crazy because even without the gun, no way could he have taken this fat guy, who outweighed him by a hundred pounds and looked like a ball-kicker and eye-gouger. A dirty fighter.
"What do you want?" Rune whispered.
He ignored her and stepped right up to Boggs. Five seconds of complete silence passed as the men seemed locked in a staring contest.
No one moved.
It was Randy Boggs who grinned first, then said, "Jack, you son of a bitch! Wasn't expecting you for a couple of days or so."
The fat man laughed and let out a whoop. He slipped the gun into his belt and the two men embraced like long-lost cossack brothers suddenly reunited.
25
The one question on her mind: could Courtney swim?
Rune could – about as well as any Midwest girl who never saw a body of water with waves until she was ten.
Hell, she could just hold on to Courtney – picturing her now, screaming and waving her arms in panic -and kick to the far pier. How many yards was that? Maybe thirty or forty?
And, God, the Hudson was gross and yucky…
But that didn't matter. If they didn't get out now they'd be dead in three minutes.
She tore the door to the storeroom open and lunged, vaguely aware of a sudden rush of activity behind her in the living room. Footsteps, voices. She slammed the door and turned the skeleton key lock. "Court, wake up."
The little girl didn't stir.
Rune pressed her back against the thick wood and began to untie her boots, which were laced up tight through dozens of eyelets. She knew she'd drown if she didn't get them off. She shouted, "Courtney."
"Juice," a weak voice said.
"Wake up!"
Maybe some of the toys would float. There was an anemic balloon tied onto the wall. Rune grabbed it and looped it around the girl's wrist. "I'm sleepy," Courtney said.
Rune had one boot off. She started on the second.
With a huge snap of cracking wood the door crashed inward, catching Rune on the shoulder. She flew into the far wall and lay still. Jack Nestor stepped into the room, narrowing his eyes against the darkness. He looked around and walked toward Rune.
When he got to her she sprung.
It wasn't much of an assault. The only damage: Her shoulder caught him in the cheek, and he jerked back, blinking in surprise, as a tooth cut into his tongue or the flesh of his mouth. "Little shit!" he muttered. She pounded him with her hands, knotted into small fists. But he was resilient as hard rubber. And strong too. He just picked her up, stuffed her under his arm and carried her out into the living room.
She screamed and twisted and kicked.
Nestor was laughing hard. "Whoa, this one's a hell-cat." He dropped her into a wrought-iron butterfly chair. She kicked him in the thigh. Flinching, he said angrily, "Settle down."
"You son of a bitch!" She leapt out of the chair, making for Boggs. Nestor roared, "Settle down!" He grabbed her like a receiver snagging a sixty-yard bomb and tossed her into the chair again. She bounced once, the breath knocked out of her. She wiped at her tears. "You bastard." Looking into Randy Boggs's evasive eyes.
Boggs said to Nestor, "You got yourself wheels?"
"Sure do. Some kind of Hertz shit. But it'll do. Damn, you look good, for somebody who ain't seen but prison sunlight for three years."
Boggs said, "You look ugly as you ever did."
Nestor laughed and the men did a little good-natured sparring. Boggs landed a left hook on Nestor's chest and the fat man said, "You prick, you always were fast. You hit like a pussy but you're fast."
"You'll see a bruise the shape of my knuckles there, come morning."
Nestor looked around. "We gotta blow this joint."
"I'll vote for that."
Rune said to Boggs, "You did it? You really did it?"
Nestor was speaking to Boggs. "Let's take care of business and get on our way." He pulled the gun out of his waistband and glanced at Rune.
The smile left Boggs's face. "Whatcha aiming to do?"
Nestor shrugged. "Pretty clear, wouldn't you say? Don't see we have much choice."
Boggs was looking down, avoiding both their eyes. "Well, Jack, you know, I wouldn't be too happy, you did that."
Rune stared at the gun, afraid to look into Nestor's face. He seemed to be the sort who would kill you sooner if you looked him in the eye.
"Randy, we gotta. She knows everything."
"I know, but, hell, I wouldn't want that to happen. It just wouldn't be right, you know?"
"'Right'?"
Her hands were shaking. Sweat popped out on her forehead, and she felt a trickle run from under her arms to her waist.
Boggs said, "The thing is, she's got a kid. A little girl"
Nestor's face darkened. "A baby?"
"This little kid."
"In there?" Nestor looked at the storeroom. "I didn't see her."
"You can't do the kid, Jack. I won't let you do that."
Meaning it's okay if he shootsme! Rune began to cry more seriously. Nestor was saying, "I wouldn't do a kid anyway. You know me better than that, Randy. After all we've been through, I hope you do."
"And what's the kid going to do without a mother? She'd starve to death, or something."
"She's pretty young to be a mother."
From somewhere Rune found the voice to say, "Please, don't hurt her. If you… do anything to me, please call the police or somebody and tell them that she's here. Please."
Nestor was debating.
Boggs said, "I really gotta ask this one, Jack. I really gotta ask you to let her be."
Nestor sighed. He nodded and put the gun into his belt. "Shit, that's the way it is, that's the way it is. Okay. I'll do it for you, Randy. I don't think it's a good idea, I just want to go on the record and say that, but I owe you so I'll do it. But…" He walked to the chair and took Rune's face in his onion-scented fingers. "You listen up good. I know who you are and where you live. If you say anything to anybody about us I'll come back. I get to New York all the time. I'll come back and I'll kill you."
Rune nodded. She was crying – in pure fear, in pure relief.
And from the worst pain of all – betrayal.
Youbelieve him? Piper Sutton had asked Rune such a long time ago, as if she was talking to a chid. Youbelieve him when he says he's innocent?
Nestor said brutally, "You hear me?"
She couldn't speak. She nodded her head.
They used lamp cord and tied her into the chair and gagged her with an old wool scarf.
Boggs knelt down and tested the wires. He smiled shyly. "I suspect you're right upset and I don't blame you. You helped me out and I repay you this way. But sometimes in life you've gotta do things just for yourself. You know, for your own survival. I'm sorry it worked out this way but you saved my life. I'll always be thankful for that."
She wanted to sayFuck you! orGo to hell! orJudas! A thousand other things. But the gag was tight and, besides, no words could convey the undiluted anger she was feeling for this man. So she stared into his eyes, not blinking, not wavering a millimeter, forcing him to see how much hate welled up and overflowed between them. How she wished Prometheus was still chained to rock, being eaten by birds.