Mad River

forehead.
    Carew asked, “What’s going on?”
    “Probably nothing,” Virgil said. “I’m trying to chase down some kids who’ve gotten themselves in a lot of trouble. . . . Killed some people over in Bigham and Shinder.”
    “We saw it on TV,” Carew said. There was wonder in his voice. This didn’t happen. Not here.
    “The thing is, one of them worked at a McDonald’s over here, and they’re kinda dumb, and it’s remotely possible . . .
remotely possible
 . . . that they’re targeting people that they think can give them money or a new ride. The McClatchys are fine, and I just want to make sure the Boxes are okay.”
    “Haven’t seen them today,” Vivian Carew said, her fingertips going to her mouth. “But it was kind of chilly. They might not have been out when we were.”
    “You haven’t seen a silver pickup around . . .”
    The Carews looked at each other, and then Carew said, “Virgil, there was a silver pickup in their driveway this morning. An old Chevy . . . kinda crappy-looking. Broke-down. It was there when I got up this morning. It was gone by lunchtime.”
    Virgil said, “Ah, man.”
    “What does that mean?” Vivian asked.
    “It means I need more cops. A whole lot of cops,” Virgil said.
    •   •   •
    MARSHALL DIDN’T HAVE a whole lot of cops, but more than enough—maybe eighteen or twenty city officers, and ten or twelve sheriff’s deputies. Virgil walked back to his car, after warning the Carews to stay inside, called the law enforcement center, got the duty officer, and filled him in as he drove over.
    When he got there, a city patrol car was pulling into the parking lot, just behind a sheriff’s deputy’s car. Virgil got out, said hello to the two cops, realized that he vaguely knew one of them, who said, “I’ve read about you in the newspapers, Virg. Goddamn, can I get a job like yours?”
    “You’d have to fuck up first,” Virgil said, and they all went inside, where they were joined by the duty officer, who said, “I called everybody. We’ll have ten people here in a couple of minutes.”
    •   •   •
    THE TEN MINUTES seemed to take forever, but in something like six or seven minutes, the sheriff walked in, and Virgil decided to start: they all gathered around a computer and Virgil pulled up Google Maps and got an aerial view of the Box house; all of the city cops and all but two of the sheriff’s deputies knew the street pretty well. Virgil said, “We need to block it off.”
    As he detailed the blocking action on the computer monitor, two more officers showed up; they were members of the drug task force, trained in SWAT-type entries, and the sheriff designated them to enter the house, with Virgil. Virgil didn’t have full SWAT equipment, so he’d go in last.
    Virgil finished and said, “We need more planning, but we just don’t have the time. If they’re in there, and they don’t know we’re around, they could kill the Boxes anytime.”
    “If they haven’t already done it,” the sheriff said.
    “That’s right,” Virgil said. “We’ll block the place, then we’ll call. If they answer, I’ll take it from there. If there’s no answer, then we’ll approach the front door, and if we still get nothing, we’ll enter.”
    “Better not have messed with my cheeseburger man,” one of the drug guys said, as he slapped the Velcros on his vest.
    “You know him?” Virgil asked.
    The drug guy said, “Sort of. By sight.”
    “Anybody know him well?” Virgil asked. “Anybody know any of their relatives?”
    “I don’t think they went to school here,” somebody said. “When they opened the other McDonald’s, I think I heard they came up from Worthington.”
    “All right . . . so we’ll have to do it cold,” Virgil said. He told the duty officer to hold any late arrivals at the law enforcement center. “We don’t know how it’s going to break. We might possibly need people with cars. So keep them loose.”
    Half the cars went to an elementary school south of the Box house, and the rest went to Horizon, north of Parkside. They coordinated with handsets and cell phones, crossing backyards in the dark, until they had the target house surrounded.
    Virgil called from his cell phone. The Box phone rang four times, then kicked over to an answering machine—but they’d gotten lucky: an answering machine, and not the phone company answering service. He said, “Mr. Box, this is the Marshall Fire