Phantoms

excessive amount of firepower for a town like Snowfield. Two high-powered rifles with sniper scopes. Two semiautomatic shotguns. Two nonlethal riot guns, which were specially modified shotguns that fired only soft plastic pellets. Two flare guns. Two rifles that fired tear gas grenades. Three handguns: a pair of .38s and a big Smith & Wesson .357 Magnum.
    As the lieutenant piled boxes of ammunition on the table, Jenny gave the Magnum a close inspection. “This is a real monster, isn’t it?”
    “Yeah. You could stop a Brahman bull with that one.”
    “Looks as if Paul kept everything in first-rate condition.”
    “You handle guns like you know all about them,” the lieutenant said, putting more ammunition on the table.
    “Always hated guns. Never thought I’d own one,” she said. “But after I’d been living up here three months, we started having trouble with a motorcycle gang that decided to set up a sort of summer retreat on some land out along the Mount Larson Road.”
    “The Demon Chrome.”
    “That’s them,” Jenny said. “Rough-looking crowd.”
    “That’s putting it kindly.”
    “A couple of times, when I was making a house call at night, over to Mount Larson or Pineville, I got an unwanted motorcycle escort. They rode on each side of the car, too close for safety, grinning in the side windows at me, shouting at me, waving, being foolish. They didn’t actually try anything, but it sure was…”
    “Threatening.”
    “You said it. So I bought a gun, learned how to shoot it, and got a permit to carry.”
    The lieutenant began to open the boxes of ammunition. “Ever have occasion to use it?”
    “Well,” she said, “I never had to shoot anyone, thank God. But I did have to show it once. It was just after dark. I was on my way to Mount Larson, and the Demons gave me another escort, but this time it was different. Four of them boxed me in, and they all started slowing down, forcing me to slow down, too. Finally, they brought me to a complete stop in the middle of the road.”
    “That must’ve given your heart a good workout.”
    “Did it ever! One of the Demons got off his bike. He was big, maybe six feet three or four, with long curly hair and a beard. He wore a bandanna around his head. And one gold earring. He looked like a pirate.”
    “Did he have a red and yellow eye tattooed on the palm of each hand?”
    “Yes! Well, at least on the palm he put against the car window when he was looking in at me.”
    The lieutenant leaned against the table on which they had placed the guns. “His name’s Gene Terr. He’s the leader of the Demon Chrome. They don’t come much meaner. He’s been in the slammer two or three times but never for anything serious and never for long. Whenever it looks as if Jester’s going to have to do hard time, one of his people takes the blame for all the charges. He has an incredible hold on his followers. They’ll do anything he wants; it’s almost as if they worship him. Even after they’re in jail, Jeeter takes care of them, smuggling money and drugs in to them, and they stay faithful to him. He knows we can’t touch him, so he’s always infuriatingly polite and helpful to us, pretending to be an upstanding citizen; it’s a big joke to him. Anyway, Jeeter came over to your car and looked in at you?”
    “Yes. He wanted me to get out, and I wouldn’t. He said I should at least roll down the window, so we wouldn’t have to shout to hear each other. I said I didn’t mind shouting a little. He threatened to smash the window if I didn’t roll it down. I knew if I did, he’d reach right inside and unlock the door, so I figured it was better to get out of the car willingly. I told him I’d come out if he’d back off a little. He stepped away from the door, and I snatched the gun from under the seat. As soon as I opened the door and got out, he tried to move in on me. I jammed the muzzle into his belly. The hammer was pulled back, fully cocked; he saw that right away.”
    “God, I wish I’d seen the look on his face!” Lieutenant Whitman said, grinning.
    “I was scared to death,” Jenny said, remembering. “I mean, I was scared of him, of course, but, I was also scared I might have to pull the trigger. I wasn’t even sure I could pull the trigger. But I knew I couldn’t let Jeeter see I had any doubts.”
    “If he’d seen, he’d have eaten you alive.”
    “That’s what I thought. So I was very cold, very firm. I told him that I was a