She would have to give these people something. Not Freddie, but something. A place to go, and they would certainly bring her along. She absolutely would not turn poor Freddie over to the tender mercies of Barney and his friends, but if she took them somewhere and Freddie wasn't there, then what? Wouldn't they get mad? Wouldn't this guy Barney be both meaner and crazier? If she wouldn't be able to stand up to him when he was calm — and she knew she wouldn't — how could she possibly stand up to him when he was upset?
That was when she'd thought of the little town of Dudley, and its he-man police chief. There was a hero for you. He already knew about Freddie, so no long explanations would be needed, and in fact, they'd already explained to him that Freddie was some kind of scientist, she could no longer remember exactly what kind, and that bad guys were chasing him, so here would be the bad guys.
That's the way she'd seen it in her mind's eye, their arrival on the front porch of that big old house on the main street of Dudley, knocking on the door, and Chief Whatsisname answering, and her popping him a wink as she'd say, "These fellas are here looking for Freddie." And let him take over.
Instead of which, the bad guys captured the hero in the first second of play, just like that.
So now, with the bad guys seated around this old-fashioned parlor, and the he-man that failed standing in the middle of the room with Peg beside him, Barney questioned him, and Peg listened to the answers.
His name was Geoff Wheedabyx. He was police chief, and also fire chief and a lot of other stuff in this town, maybe even Indian chief as well. And he said he didn't know where Freddie Noon was. "This is the first I'm hearing his last name," he said. "Thank you for that."
"You know him, though," Barney said. "You know Freddie."
"I've seen him," Geoff Wheedabyx acknowledged, then chuckled sheepishly and said, "I've met him, I mean."
Mordon Leethe, the awful attorney, said, "He knows Freddie, all right."
"So why doesn't he know where he is?" Through his maddening perpetual smile, Barney was beginning to exhibit dangerous signs of frustration.
Leethe said, "Barney, there's another question that comes first."
Barney showed by a raised eyebrow that he didn't think that was possible. "Yeah?"
"This is the fire chief, is that correct?"
"That's what his costume says."
"But he's also the police chief, Barney. Is he armed?"
"No," Geoff Wheedabyx said.
Barney grinned. "You don't mind," he said, "we don't take your word on that. Search him," he told one of the thugs, who rose obediently to his feet.
Spreading his arms, Wheedabyx calmly said, "I don't lie."
The thug patted him down, and said, "No gun, but here's a walkie-talkie."
"No kidding," Barney said. "I wonder who's at the other end of it, do you think. Freddie? Give it to the chief." To Wheedabyx he said, "Say hello into it."
"I'm not in touch with Freddie Noon."
"Say hello into it, Chief."
"I don't see what you hope to—"
"Say hello!"
Obviously reluctant, Wheedabyx lifted the walkie-talkie to his lips. "Hello."
Immediately the room was filled with the staticky broadcast voice saying, "Geoff, everything okay in there? We're out here, man, we're ready. Everything okay?"
"Everything's okay," Barney prompted.
"Everything's okay."
"Come on in, all of you," Barney suggested.
Wheedabyx made a sour mouth, but repeated the words.
"Fine," Barney said. "Take the walkie-talkie away from him. Greet our guests when they come in, and lock them in the basement."
Two thugs left the room, drawing guns from inside their suitcoats. Wheedabyx called after them, "They aren't armed, they're my construction crew."
"No construction today, Chief," Barney said. "Where's Freddie?"
"I don't know."
"And you don't lie," Barney said.
Some noise in the hall; not much, and not for long.
Barney nodded. "I'm beginning to believe you, Chief. The last guy Freddie Noon is gonna hang out with is a straight-arrow police chief from some hick town. He probably dodged you one time, that's how you know about him. Right?"
"Yes," Wheedabyx said.
"There, you see?" Barney said, as pleased as if he'd invented Wheedabyx himself. "The man doesn't lie. But Peg might," he said, and leered at her. "Is that right, Peg? Like you didn't happen to mention this house belongs to the chief of police in this burg. You led us to this place because you figured Captain America here'd come to the rescue, is that it?"
Peg didn't answer, but she felt her face grow red. And when she glanced sidelong at Wheedabyx, his face was red, too. And he wasn't looking at her.
Barney gave an exaggerated shake of the head and said to Wheedabyx, "Sorry to involve you in this, pal. Is there a post office in this town?"
"Other end of Market Street. Why?"
"I got a little package to mail." Heaving himself to his feet, Barney said to Peg, "Let's take care a this in the kitchen, not get stains all over these nice antiques here."
Wheedabyx said, "What's that?" He was looking very alert, and as though he was thinking of doing something stupid and heroic after all.
So Peg gave up. "Okay," she said. "You win."
"Come on, Peg. Kitchen," Barney said.
"Fuck you, Barney," Peg said. "I told you I give up. I'll give you Freddie, dammit to hell, but I won't play your stupid fucking games anymore."
Barney beamed at her. "Peg," he said, "I admire you. You fought the good fight. And as long as you do what I want, you can use every curse word in the book. Is Freddie around here?"
"About ten miles away."
"What town?"
"Not a town, a house in the country."
"What I always dreamed of," Barney said. "We'll take the van, to keep him calm."
"Er," said Wheedabyx.
"No," said Peg.
"Hold it," Barney said to Peg, and to Wheedabyx he said, "Whadaya mean, er?"
Wheedabyx seemed very tired of this whole situation. "I have a man outside," he said, "keeping an eye on the van."
"Well, aren't you full of surprises," Barney said. "A fireman?"
"No."
"Is he armed?"
"He's just a part-time deputy, he's got a gas station out on—"
"So he's armed."
Sounding frightened for his deputy, Wheedabyx said, "Except in the qualifying sessions, he's never fired his weapon."
"Well, he won't start today," Barney promised. "Does he have a radio out there?"
"No."
"How do you get in touch with him, if you want him?"
"I go out on the porch and say, "Hey, Cliff.'"
"Ha ha," said Barney, without mirth. "You stand in the doorway, with these two friends of mine just out of sight, and you say, "Hey, Cliff, come in here a minute.' And if it turns out his name isn't Cliff, and he heads in some other direction, Mr. Wheedabyx, he will never get to fire that weapon of his, we will disqualify him completely."
"His name is Cliff."
"Good." To the thugs, Barney said, "Disarm Cliff, and put him with the construction crew."
Wheedabyx and the two thugs left the room, and Barney turned back to Peg. "You're making a lot of trouble for a lot of people today, Peg," he said, "and I don't know how big the basement is in this house, and it seems to me the last word I heard you say was no. Now, why's that, Peg?"
"We can't go there," Peg said. "Freddie knows you guys are after him. He knows you even had skip-tracers looking for me. So we've got a signal, if I show up in the van, just show up, he'll disappear, he'll know it's not my idea I'm there. I mean, he won't let you find him or talk to him, he won't let me find him. If Freddie decides to disappear, you know, he can really do it."