Spencerville

neither, so he must’ve gone up to his place, then come back here.” He said, “You can call ahead. He’s in the book. Tell him I sent you. We do business now and then.”
    “Thanks. Maybe I’ll call on the way back. Meantime, I got to make a call home. Mind if I use your phone?”
    “No, go right ahead. Over there by the cash register.”
    Keith walked over to the cash register, found the phone, and dialed. Billy was making conversation with Neil, talking guns and hunting.
    Terry answered, “Hello?”
    “Terry, it’s me.”
    “Keith! Where are you?”
    “I’m here. Listen, your phone is tapped.”
    “
My
phone?”
    “Yes, but not by the Spencerville P.D. By the federal government.”
    “
What?
Why—?”
    “It doesn’t matter. Call your lawyer in the morning and get the tap taken off. More important, I know he’s up here, so we have to assume she’s here, too.” He added, to make her feel better, “I’m sure she’s alive.”
    “Oh, thank God… what are you going to do?”
    “I’ve spoken to the local police, and they’re very cooperative. I just want to remind you and Larry again not to do anything that might jeopardize the situation. Don’t say anything to your parents over the phone, either. Okay?”
    “Yes.”
    “Terry, trust me.”
    “I do.”
    “I’ll have her back tomorrow.”
    “Do you mean that?”
    “Yes.”
    “And him? Will they arrest him?”
    “I can’t say. I suppose, if she swears out a complaint, they will.”
    “She won’t do that. She just wants to be rid of him.”
    “Well, first things first. The police here want to wait until morning, and that’s all right. I’ll call you tomorrow with good news.”
    “All right… can I reach you tonight?”
    “I’ll get a motel and call you only if I have new information.”
    “Okay. Be careful.”
    “I will. And now a message to the people recording this conversation: ‘Hello, Charlie—I got here without your help, but thanks again. Billy helped me, and if I’m inconvenienced later, you take care of him. Okay? Meantime, one more dragon. See you around.’” Keith said, “Terry, sit tight. Regards to Larry.”
    “Okay.”
    Keith hung up. He, Billy, and Neil went back to the pickup truck, and Keith said, “See you next week on the way back.”
    “Good luck.”
    Keith and Billy got in the truck and pulled out onto the road. Billy said, “Hey, you hear that? Baxter’s at Grey Lake.”
    “Indeed he is.” Keith felt much better.
    “We got him!” He looked at Keith. “You knew he was there, didn’t you?”
    Keith didn’t reply.
    Billy thought awhile, then asked, “You think he knows you’re lookin’ for him?”
    “I’m sure he knows I’m looking for him.”
    “Yeah… but you think he knows you knew where to find him?”
    “That is the question.”
    Billy examined the crossbow. He raised it and sighted out the front window through the small telescopic sight. “Aims like a rifle. But I don’t know about that drop.”
    Billy examined the tip of the arrow, a razor-sharp, open-bladed broadhead made of high-quality steel. “Jesus, this tip is over an inch across. That’ll put a big slice in the meat.” He asked Keith, “You sure we got to kill the dogs?”
    “You tell me when we get there.”
    “Okay… hey, maybe we can get Baxter with this thing.”
    “Maybe.” Whether he killed the man with his M-16 at a hundred yards or a crossbow at forty yards, the man was just as dead as if Keith had severed his femoral artery with his knife. There was a difference, however, in the after-action report, so to speak. He mulled this over awhile, taking into account the fact that Annie was going to be right there when it happened. Keith also considered not killing Baxter at all. Much of what was going to happen before dawn was not in his power to control, but he felt he should at least think about life after death—that is,
his
life after the other guy’s death. He always did this, though rarely did it work out the way he wanted it to. Mostly you just tried to avoid shooting a guy in the back or the balls. Beyond those minor concessions to chivalry, anything was permitted. Yet Baxter was a special case, and Keith really wanted to be close enough to smell the man, to make eye contact, to say, “Hi, Cliff, remember me?”
    Billy asked, “You tuned out?”
    “I guess. Did I miss a turn?”
    “No, but you turn here. Take the left fork.”
    “Okay.” Keith veered off to the left, and they headed