The Bodies Left Behind

the cold. She recalled how terrible she’d felt but couldn’t summon up the sensation, as intense as it had been.
    She studied the room, the sports memorabilia, the liquor bottles, the family pictures, the rack of pool cues, the balls aligned in their triangular nest on the table, then began rummaging through drawers at the bottom of the bookshelves.
    No weapons, no phones.
    “Let’s see if we can find a map.”
    They began to scour the shelves and stacks of papers. Brynn was looking through a bookcase when Michelle gave a cry.
    Brynn gasped and spun around.
    “Look! Somebody’s coming!”
    The women dropped to their knees by the window. Brynn could see, several hundred yards away, headlights moving slowly down Lake View Drive toward the county highway.
    “Are there any other houses past the Feldmans’?” Brynn asked. She seemed to recall that there were only three residences here.
    “I don’t know. Maybe it’s a neighbor. Or the police! Maybe a police car came to look for you and we missed them. If we run we can stop them! Let’s go!” Michelle rose and in a frantic, limping rush started for the door.
    “Wait,” Brynn said in a harsh whisper.
    “But they’ll be gone in a few minutes!” Her voice was angry. “We can’t wait! Don’t be crazy!”
    Brynn held up a hand. “Michelle, no. Look.”
    The moon was higher now, bright enough for them to make out the car. It was the killers’ Ford.
    “Oh, no,” the young woman said through set teeth. “How can they drive it with the flat tires?”
    “You shot out two, they put the spare on the front and they’ll let the other one rim. It’s front-wheel drive; they’ll just drag the rear. Look, see the dust.”
    “Can they get very far?”
    “Miles, yeah, if they don’t go fast.”
    The taillights cast a ghostly red aura in the dust kicked up by the dragging wheel. The Ford eased around the snaky road and toward the county highway. The lights were soon obscured by a tangle of jack pine, yew and elegant willow. The car vanished.
    Michelle hugged herself. She sighed with relief. “So they’re gone. . . . It’ll be okay, right? We can just wait here. We can put the heat on now, can’t we? Please.”
    “Sure,” Brynn said, staring after the car. “Let’s put the heat on.”

LEWIS PILOTED THE limping Ford along Lake View Drive, past the house at Number 2 and then turned and continued along the winding road toward the county highway.
    Hart said, “Was a good shot you made with that scattergun, hitting her car all that distance.”
    Lewis offered a dismissive sneer but Hart saw that the words hit home; the punk was pleased. “I wanted to take her out. That’s why I was aiming high. Compensatedfor the wind too. Didn’t want to hit the tires. I didn’t hit ’em, you see?”
    “I did.”
    “But I led her just right, didn’t I? About four feet. And high. Didn’t think she’d go out of control.”
    “Who’d guess that?”
    A moment or two passed. Lewis said, “Hey, Hart?”
    Looking at the woods around him. “Yeah?”
    “Okay, what it is . . . I shouldn’t’ve said anything. About the keys.”
    “Keys?”
    “In the house. With the woman cop. I gave it away . . . you were right. I got excited. My brother always said I do things or say something before I think. I gotta watch that.”
    “Who’d’ve thought, a cop?” Hart nodded at him. “Can’t stay on top of everything. But you did some fine shooting.”
    The car was filled with the smell of hot rubber and metal from the self-destructing tire.
    It was then that Hart glanced back. “Shit!” he whispered.
    “What? Whatta you see?”
    “I think it’s her. Yeah, it is! The cop.”
    “What? She got out of the water? Fuck. Where is she?”
    “In that other house. The one we just passed. Number Two. The cop.”
    “No shit. You’re sure?”
    “In the window. Yeah. I saw her plain as day.”
    “I can’t even see the house.”
    “Was a break in the trees. She probably saw us gopast and stood up. Thinking we were gone. Man, that was stupid of her.”
    “They both there?”
    “I don’t know. All I saw was the cop.” Hart was silent a moment. Lewis kept driving. Hart continued, “I don’t know what to do. We’re doing pretty good with the tire.”
    “She’s holding up,” Lewis agreed.
    “And we’ll be at the highway in ten minutes. I’d love to get the fuck out of here.”
    “Amen.”
    “’Course, then we miss the chance for some payback. Jesus, that