Secret Prey

‘‘She’s hit. Get an ambulance out here.’’
    ‘‘Put her down on the driveway, Lucas,’’ Sherrill said. ‘‘Let’s get her flat. One of you guys, you got a blanket in your car? She’ll be going into shock . . .’’
    A cop got a blanket, spread it on the driveway, and Lucas put Audrey on it. She seemed only semiconscious, though her eyes were open. He stood up. ‘‘Damn,’’ he said. ‘‘That was a little too close.’’
    Audrey said something. Sherrill heard it, said, ‘‘What?’’
    She said something again. Sherrill said, ‘‘What?’’ and bent over the other woman.
    And as she put her head close to the other woman’s face, Audrey lifted her hand, and despite her awkward position, hit Sherrill in the eye with her fist, knocking Sherrill flat on her butt.
    ‘‘Knock that shit off,’’ one of the uniformed cops yelled at Audrey, stepping over her, and she unballed her fist and turned her head away, her eyes softly closing. Sherrill had crawled away, one hand to her eye. ‘‘Aw, man, that hurts.’’
    Lucas looked at it: ‘‘You’re gonna have a mouse. And a hell of a black eye.’’
    Audrey mumbled again. They both turned to look at her, eight feet away, flat on her back, and her cobra eyes caught Lucas. And suddenly she smiled, a big, toothy smile with bloody teeth.
    Lucas felt the hair rise on the back of his neck. He turned back to Sherrill, who looked up at him and shook her head once: ‘‘Fuckin’ nuts,’’ she said.

THIRTY-FOUR

    SHERRILL SAID, ‘‘SO KRAUSE THINKS MAYBE SHE DELIBERATELY let the lineman see her so we wouldn’t suspect Wilson. And then she called to tell us about the lineman, because we were digging at Wilson.’’
    ‘‘Smart woman,’’ Lucas said.
    ‘‘Nasty,’’ said James T. Bone, who was just settling into Lucas’s visitor’s chair.
    ‘‘I gotta go,’’ Sherrill said. She stood on her tiptoes, black eye nearly gone, kissed Lucas on the lips, said, ‘‘See you tonight,’’ and, ‘‘Bye, Mr. Bone.’’
    When Sherrill closed the door, Bone looked sleepy-eyed at Lucas and said, ‘‘White fuzzy sweater and chrome revolver in a shoulder holster. My heart almost stopped.’’
    ‘‘Wearing my ass out,’’ Lucas said comfortably.
    ‘‘I know how that goes,’’ Bone said.
    BONE SAID, ‘‘AUDREY . . . IS SHE GONNAFIGHT IT?’’
    ‘‘Her attorney’s a friend of mine,’’ Lucas said. ‘‘He says she’s crazy as a loon. Maybe she is. She even denies buying or firing the shotgun, even though we had four witnesses, the receipt in the car, and the gun shop guy identifying her. He says she’s having trouble remembering anything after the death of her husband. A shrink’s looking at her now.’’
    ‘‘Is she faking?’’
    Lucas shrugged. ‘‘I don’t know. She’s smart, that’s pretty clear. But her whole life has been a nightmare. I think it’s possible that she never did know the difference between right and wrong.’’
    ‘‘And if the court decides she’s nuts?’’
    ‘‘She’ll go off to the state hospital.’’
    ‘‘What if she’s not nuts?’’
    ‘‘Then we have a trial, and we’ve got her.’’
    ‘‘Huh.’’ Bone looked out the window at the street. The weather had turned gray, and small flecks of snow bounced off the window. Although it was only three in the afternoon, most of the passing cars had their headlights on. A week after the fight in the garage, the world was beginning to settle down again. ‘‘I’d feel a lot better if I knew she was going away for a long time; like forever. I’d hate to see her get out of a hospital in a couple of years.’’
    Lucas nodded: ‘‘So would I.’’
    BONE HAD THE BANK: OF THE TOP FIVE POLARIS EXECUTIVES in October, only two had made it to the end of November, Bone and Robles. ‘‘I’ve got my assistant winding up O’Dell’s affairs here. I talked to her father—he’s having trouble dealing with her death.’’
    ‘‘Death of a child,’’ Lucas said. ‘‘Just ’cause they’re grown up, doesn’t make it any easier.’’
    ‘‘No, I don’t expect it does,’’ Bone said. Then, ‘‘Have you seen Damascus Isley lately?’’
    ‘‘Not since we had lunch together a while back.’’
    ‘‘I saw him at the bank. We talked a little basketball . . . He’s on a strange diet, a Big Mac every day with popcorn.’’
    ‘‘He told me he was thinking about it,’’ Lucas said. ‘‘I hope he can stick it