Eugene Cox had the AK-47 resting on both arms of the wheelchair, his fingers near the trigger housing.
It was loaded with a full clip.
"Go find them," he ordered.
"I'll take care of Kerney."
Gatewood hitched up his belt and puffed out his cheeks.
"Are you sure you'll be all right?"
Eugene gave him a scornful look.
"Don't treat me like a cripple. Get going."
As Omar turned for the door, he heard the sound of an engine and tires on gravel.
"No need to," he said as he walked to the window to look out.
"Phil's here."
"That's not Phil's truck," Gene said.
"I know the sound of it."
Two shots shattered the window high up and bits of glass rained down on Gatewood. He ducked beneath the sill and looked over at Eugene.
Kerney lashed out with a foot and kicked the wheelchair. It spun Cox around. Eugene pulled the trigger, and slugs dug into the wall, gouging holes and sending plaster fragments flying about the room.
Omar yanked his sidearm as Kerney swiveled to face him. Before Gatewood could pull off a round, Jim Stiles stepped into view and put two bullets in Omar's head, blowing his face into a bloody mess. Kerney lunged to his feet and made for Stiles, AK-47 rounds tearing up the floor behind him as Eugene spun the chair back, firing with one hand.
The AK-47 stitched Omar as he was falling. Kerney slammed into Stiles as Jim swung the pistol in Gene's direction. He knocked Jim sprawling on his back in the hallway and landed on top of him.
AK-47 rounds blew through the wall above their heads as Jim pulled Kerney down the hallway into the kitchen.
"Get us the fuck out of here," Kerney hissed.
Stiles got Kerney on his feet and ran him out the back door into the yard behind a cord of stacked firewood. Kerney fell awkwardly over a power lawn mower and banged his head against a gasoline can.
"Who is at the front of the house?" Kerney demanded as he untangled himself.
"Edgar Cox."
"What are his orders?"
"Distraction only."
"Do you have a handcuff key?"
"In my wallet."
Kerney turned his back and held out his hands.
"Get these damn things off me."
Jim released him. Kerney rubbed his wrists and shook his hands to get the circulation going. Another burst came from the house. Eugene was firing out the front door. There were two sharp cracks from Edgar's rifle as he answered back.
"Stay here and cover me," Kerney said.
"What are you going to do?"
"Get Gene out of there. Alive, if I can."
"How are you going to do that without a gun?"
Kerney grabbed the gas can, and the liquid sloshed inside. It felt half full. He opened the cap and took a whiff to make sure it was gasoline.
It was.
"That's not very sporting," Stiles said.
"Got a match?"
"No."
"Give me a round from your gun."
Jim ejected the chambered bullet, and Kerney pried the cartridge apart with a penknife.
"You're a good shot, I hope," he said, as he poured the powder into the gas can.
"I hit Gatewood, didn't I?" Jim answered.
"At close range, but remind me to thank you later." Kerney recapped the can and dragged it along as he crawled on his belly to the open back door. He looked at Stiles, who had taken up a good prone position behind the woodpile with the semiautomatic extended and ready.
Jim gave him a thumbs-up sign. Kerney pushed the gas can into the kitchen, crouched low, and ran like hell to the woodpile. He jammed his shoulder on a log as he flung himself next to Jim. Stiles cranked off two rounds, and the can exploded. Kerney took a quick look. Fire ate across the kitchen floor.
Eugene Cox rolled out of the hall into the kitchen and stopped as the fire moved toward him. Kerney pulled his head in. A burst of automatic fire tore into the woodpile.
"Shoot back," he ordered.
Stiles held the pistol over the top of the woodpile and squeezed off" two rounds. The spent cartridges bounced off" Kerney. The AK-47 fell silent.
"Did you hit anything?"
"I doubt that I even hit the fucking house," Jim replied.
The heat of the fire grew. Kerney took another look. The back of the house was engulfed in flames, and Eugene was nowhere to be seen.
"What now?" Jim asked.
The staccato sound of the AK-47 firing at the front of the house came before Kerney could respond. He waited to hear return fire. Two more shots came from Edgar Cox..-›..
"Time to join the party, Hee said..;› "‹ Bent low, they used the picket for concealment and stopped at the corner by the window The porch was empty. Through a window, they could see flames blazing, flash-burning the curtains and peeling off the wallpaper. Thirty yards away," Edgar's truck was parked at an angle to the house, slightly to the rear ofGatewood's police cruiser. The patrol car had taken bursts from Eugene's AK-47 through the hood and front tires.
Kerney couldn't see Edgar, but Cody was running across the open field with Karen hard on his heels.
Molly and Elizabeth stood exposed at the edge of the pasture. All of them were well within range of Eugene's AK.
"Holy shit!" Jim spat as he spotted the women and children.
Ammunition started to blow up inside the burning building. Eugene rolled out on the porch just as it caught fire and flames whipped up to the roof. He jammed in a fresh clip and started firing. Bullets chewed up the ground, sprayed across the police car, and shattered the windshield of the truck.
Jim steadied the semiautomatic to take Eugene down before he hit one of the women or children.
Edgar beat him to it. The muzzle flash came from under the truck, and the bullet took Eugene in the chest. The wheelchair wobbled backward as Gene slumped over and dropped the AK.
Nobody moved until Edgar crawled out from under the truck. He stood rooted to the ground.
Karen covered Cody from danger with her body, and Molly was hunched down with Elizabeth wrapped in her arms. Karen picked up Cody and started running toward Molly and Elizabeth.
Edgar didn't move an inch.
Kerney's eyes followed Karen. She checked Elizabeth to make sure the girl was all right before turning to take another look at the blazing fire. Then she walked with Cody in her arms and Elizabeth and Molly at her side to cut off Doris Cox and her children, who were running full-tilt across the pasture.
With Molly, Karen held Doris back and herded everybody away.
Stiles and Kerney joined Edgar. He said nothing until the porch roof caved in and Eugene's body started to burn. The second story blazed.
Heat stung their eyes and blew hot against their faces.
"I can't believe what I did," Edgar finally said.
"You did the right thing," Kerney replied.
"There were women and children to protect," Edgar said softly.
"I know," Kerney answered.
Edgar's blue eyes snapped back to the burning house. Images sixty years old blended with the sight of his dead brother burning in the fire.
"No, you don't know," he said in a bitter voice.
"You don't know the half of it."
"Maybe I do," Kerney responded.
"Eugene told me a very interesting story."
Edgar stared at Kerney for a long time before he broke eye contact.
"Good. I'm glad. It's time everybody heard that story."
"Mind telling me?" Jim inquired.
"After I talk to my daughter," Edgar replied.
"Fair enough."
Edgar dropped the Winchester, turned on his heel, and walked away.
Jim and Kerney moved back from the intense heat. The structure burned like a massive, billowing bonfire. Small-arms rounds randomly exploded inside the house.
"Where is Phil?" Kerney asked.
"If Edgar's truck still runs, I'll show you."
"What happened to Karen?"
"I'll fill you in on the way."