High Noon

Johnson. We’ll run ballistics.”
    “Okay. This is good.” Phoebe looked back into Opal’s eyes. “This is very good. I’ll need you to help me with this, Mrs. Johnson. The person who shot your son, who shot Charlie’s brother, is under arrest. He’s going to be punished. We need to convince Charlie that it’s enough, for now it’s enough, and he should come out. All right, now.”
    She called the liquor store. There was more fatigue than defiance in his voice now. Another good sign. “Razz, I have some good news.”
    “My brother wake up?”
    “Your bother’s condition hasn’t changed and that means he hasn’t gotten worse. He’s strong, isn’t he?”
    “Nobody stronger.”
    “So that’s good. I want to tell you that Clip’s been taken into custody.”
    “You got that rat bastard motherfucker?”
    “Don’t you use that language to this lady!” Opal snapped the words. “Don’t you speak that filth, you hear me.”
    “He put bullets in T-Bone. I’ll call him what he is, to anybody.”
    Phoebe held up a hand, easing it downward before Opal could speak again. “Your mother’s very upset, Razz. She’s worried about you and T-Bone now. But I think we have a way to make this all right, for everyone. The police have charged Clip, and he’s in jail right now. He—”
    “You bring that sumbitch to me! ”
    “I know you want to see him. I can arrange that. If you put the gun down and come out, I’m going to arrange to have you taken to where he’s being held. So you can see him behind bars.”
    “I want to see him in the ground. Gonna put him there.”
    “You sound tired, Razz. It’s been a long day, for everyone. I want to tell you that they found a gun with Clip, the same kind of gun that shot your brother. They’re running tests right now. If the tests show it was the one used to hurt your brother, they’ll be charging him with attempted murder. Do you know how long he could be behind those bars? For years and years. Maybe the rest of his life. If my brother’d been hurt like this, I’d want the person responsible to pay for a long time. A very long time.”
    “He’ll burn in hell.”
    “I think Georgia State’s a kind of hell, too. Razz, they told me he was hiding. Hiding. I wonder what his gang will think when they find out he was hiding away.”
    “You fucking with me?”
    “I told you not to use that language! She’s telling you the pure truth. I was right here, wasn’t I right here when they came in and told her? That boy who shot your brother’s in jail. Now come out of there, you hear?” Opal began to weep again. “Come out of there because I can’t watch another boy of mine bleeding.”
    “Don’t cry, Mama. I want to make him bleed, like T-Bone’s bleeding.”
    “Prison’s worse than bleeding,” Phoebe said. “For a man like Clip? And now he’s got no face left, no rep. Proved himself a coward. A coward who’ll spend years paying for what he did. Your mother needs you, Razz. She needs you to put down the gun and come out. To show you’re not a coward. You’ve got the balls to walk out of there.”
    “You’ll take me to see that bastard? See him in the cage? That’s a solid?”
    “It is. My word on it.”
    “I’m going to jail, same as him. That’s not right.”
    “Not the same as him, not the same at all. You haven’t hurt anyone yet, Razz. Not a single soul. That makes all the difference. If you come out, just the way I tell you, that’s going to make a difference, too.”
    “How do I come out?”
    “You put the gun down.” Phoebe gave the signal, making certain the surrender was relayed to Tactical. “You don’t want to have a gun on you when you come out. All right?”
    “You got guns out there?”
    “Yeah, there are going to be guns out here. I don’t want you to worry. You’ll put your hands up, where everyone can see, and you walk straight out the front door. You come out by yourself, you’re no coward, right? You come straight out the front, with your hands high in the air. Will you do that?”
    “All right. I’m coming out. I’m hanging up.”
    “I’ll see you outside, Razz.”
    Phoebe cut off the phone, stood. “Let’s go get your boy.” She took Opal’s arm and led her toward the door of the diner. “Listen now, they’re going to have guns on him when he comes out. They’re going to move on him, get him on the ground and cuff him. That has to be.”
    Phoebe scanned some of the windows and rooftops, spotted