The Cove

body, he'd want to dance, maybe even play his saxophone. He'd like to call Ms. Lilly, maybe even tell Marvin the Bouncer a joke. He realized his mind wasn't quite on track. He had to remember to ask Fuzz the Bartender to get some decent white wine in stock for Sally.

    "Why is that, Mr. Quinlan?" the nurse asked.

    "Why is what?"

    "Why are you going to get even braver?"

    He frowned, then smiled as he remembered. He said, his voice as proud and happy as a man's could ever get, "I'm going to marry Sally."

    He turned his head and gave her the silliest smile she'd ever seen. "We're going to spend our honeymoon at my cabin in Delaware. On Louise Lynn Lake. It's a beautiful place, with smells that make your senses melt and-''

    He was out.

    "Good," Dr. Wiggs said. "He needs lots of sleep. Don't worry, Ms. Brainerd. He'll be fine. I was a bit worried for a while in surgery, but he's strong and young and he's got a will to survive that's rare.

    "Now, let me just check him over. Why don't you go outside? Mr. Shredder and Ms. Harper are in the waiting room. Oh, yes, there's a Mr. Marvin Brammer there too and a man who's sitting on the sofa with a computer on his lap."

    "Mr. Brammer is James's boss. He's an assistant deputy director of the FBI. The guy with the computer-''

    "The sexy one."

    "Yes, that's Dillon Savich. He's also FBI."

    "Mr. Brammer's got quite a twinkle in those eyes of his," Dr. Wiggs said. "As for Mr. Savich, no matter how gorgeous he is, I don't know if he's even aware of where he is. I heard him say, to no one in particular, 'Eureka!' but nothing else. Go out now, Ms. Brainerd, and leave me alone with my patient."

    The waiting room was just down the hall. Sally ran into Marvin Brammer's arms. "He's all right," she said over and over. "He'll be just fine. He's already complaining. He was talking about his Boy Scout leader telling him that men never whine or moan except when they're alone. He'll be just fine. We're going to get married, and I'll make sure he never gets shot again."

    "Good," Marvin Brammer said, hugged her tightly, then turned her over to Dillon, who gave her a distracted hug and kiss on the cheek. "I've found them, Sally," he said. "I've found that damned jerk who isn't your father."

    Marvin Brammer said, "Eureka?" "That's it. I've got to get to the FBI office in Seattle. They're at Sea Tac Airport. Yeah, the stupid bugger bought two tickets to Budapest, via New York. He used a phony credit card and a phony passport."

    "Then how the hell did you get him?'' Thomas Shredder said, walking over. His arm was in a sling. He had good color in his cheeks again. He was no longer in shock. "He doesn't look like Amory St. John anymore." "Not hard," Dillon said, patting his laptop. "Me and MAX here and our modem can do anything. Sally's aunt used her own passport. Ain't that a kick? She had to, I guess. I suppose they just prayed that she'd get through. They should have laid low until they'd gotten a phony one for her too. Corey, you and Thomas must have scared the shit out of them. They couldn't wait to get out of the country."

    "So," Sally said slowly, as Dillon phoned the Seattle FBI office. "It's nearly over. What's going to happen to the town, Mr. Brammer?"

    "Agents are all over the cemetery. Like the old folk said, they buried all the people they murdered with their identification, so there's been no problem determining who anybody is.

    "Mass murder, nothing else to call it, all by a bunch of senior citizens." He shook his head. "I thought I'd seen just about everything, but this takes the cake.

    "Evil," he added, stroking his chin. "Evil can sprout up just about anyplace. None of the seniors is saying a word. They're loyal to each other, I'll say that for them, even though it doesn't matter. That Martha Crittlan, she'll pull through, although I'll bet she'll wish she hadn't. Just imagine, that seemingly sweet old lady was the brains and resolution behind the town."

    "She's the most wonderful cook," Corey Harper said and sighed. "That last dinner was the most delicious meal I've ever eaten in my life."

    "Yeah," Thomas Shredder said, "and it could have been our last meal, since she drugged us."

    "You'll survive," Marvin Brammer said. "Oh, yes, one of the agents found a diary that old Thelma Nettro kept throughout ail her time in The Cove."

    "Oh, yes," Sally said. "She always had it with her. Do you know that she had a black circle on her tongue from licking the end of the