Shadow Prey

somebody in the White House,” the mayor said. “It’s going to be bad, but there arelevels of badness. Maybe I can cut a deal to make it less bad . . . .”
    The AIC argued that the mayor should talk to the president before any announcement; the aide suggested that they had nothing to lose. Daniel pointed out that the discussion they were having could already bring big political trouble: they were talking about a conspiracy to cover up a crime. The politicians began backing away. The AIC still wanted to talk. As tempers got hotter, the night seemed to close in on Lucas, until he felt he might suffocate.
    “I’m going,” he told Daniel. “You don’t need me and I need to sit down somewhere.”
    “All right,” Daniel nodded. “But if you can’t help thinking about it, think about Shadow Love.”
    Sloan was coming in as Lucas left.
    “You okay?” Sloan asked.
    “Yeah,” Lucas said wearily. “Considering.”
    “How’s Wilson?”
    “Dead. They’re selling off his heart and lungs and liver and kidneys and probably his dick . . . .”
    “Jesus fuckin’ Christ,” Sloan blurted, appalled.
    “Belloo’s gonna make it. Might lose one of his balls.”
    “Jesus . . .” Sloan ran a hand through his hair. “You stop to see Lily?”
    “No . . .”
    “Look, man . . .” Sloan started.
    He hesitated, and Lucas said, “What?”
    “Do you feel bad about her now? With her husband here and all?”
    Lucas thought about it for a second before he shook his head. “No,” he said.
    “Good,” said Sloan. “ ’Cause you shouldn’t.”
    “Got my goddamn car shot up,” Lucas said. “My fuckin’ insurance agent is gonna jump out a window when he hears about it.”
    “I got no sympathy for you,” Sloan said. “You’re the luckiest motherfucker on the face of the earth. Cothron said you walked right into the Crows’ guns, like Jesus walking across the water, and never anything happened.”
    “I can’t remember too well,” Lucas said. “It’s just all fucked up in my head.”
    “Yeah. Well, take it easy.”
    “Sure.” Lucas nodded and limped away down the hall.
     
    The Porsche had three bullet holes in it, each in a separate piece of sheet metal. Lucas shook his head and climbed in.
    The night was not quite cold. He ran down through the Loop, in sync with traffic lights, and made it out to the interstate without stopping. He was flying on automatic: east across the river, off at the Cretin Avenue exit, south down Cretin, right to Mississippi River Boulevard, south to home.
    Jennifer was waiting.
    Her car was in the driveway, a light was on in a window of the house. He pulled into the drive and jabbed the transmitter for the garage door opener. As he waited for the door to open, she came to the window and looked out. She had the baby on her arm.
    “I freaked out,” she said simply.
    “I’m all right,” he said. He was limping from the lost heel.
    “How about the other guys?”
    “One dead. One pretty busted up. The Crows are dead.”
    “So it’s over.”
    “Not quite. Shadow Love got away.”
    They were staring at each other across the narrow space of the kitchen, Jennifer unconsciously bouncing the baby on her arm.
    “We’ve got to talk. I can’t just walk away from you. I thought I could, but I can’t,” she said.
    “Man, Jen, I’m fuckin’ crazy right now. I don’t know what’s going on . . . .” He looked around wildly, the peaceful neighborhood hovering around them like a joke. “Come on,” he said. “Come on and talk . . . .”
     
    Shadow Love had heard about the shootout on his radio, and now he waited in a thicket just over the lip of the slope that went down to the river. He’d planned to take Davenport when he got out of the car, but he hadn’t counted on the automatic garage door opener. The door rolled up withDavenport still in the car, waiting. Shadow Love crouched, considered a dash across the street, but Davenport’s house was set too far back from the road. He’d never make it.
    When the door went down, Shadow Love walked fifty feet down the street, into the shadow of a spreading oak, and hurried across the street, through a corner of another yard and into the dark space beside Davenport’s garage. Front doors were usually stout. Back doors, on garages, usually were not, since they didn’t lead directly into the house. Shadow Love slipped around the garage to the back door and tested the knob. Locked.
    The door had two