The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove

that there really is a sea monster on that ranch?"
    "What reason would you have to lie?" said Howard. "It would seem that Mr. Fish is an eyewitness as well."
    "Jefferson," Catfish said."CatfishJefferson."
    "Shut up, you chickenshit," Mavis spat. "You could have helped Theo when he asked you. What's that boy think he's doing following that sheriff out to the ranch anyway? It's not like he can do anything."
    Gabe said, "We don't know. He just left and told us to come here and wait for his call."
    "Ya'll some heartless souls," Catfish said. "I lost me a good woman because of all this."
    "She's smarter than she looks," Mavis said.
    "Theo has my Mercedes," Val added, feeling out of place even as she said it. Suddenly she felt more ashamed of looking down on these people than she did about all of her professional indiscretions.
    "I'm getting worried," said Gabe. "It's been over an hour."
    "I don't suppose you thought about calling him?" Mavis asked.
    "You have his cell phone number?" Gabe asked.
    "He's the constable. It's not like he's unlisted."
    "I suppose I should have thought of that," said Howard.
    Mavis shook her head and one of her false eyelashes sprung up like a snare trap. "What, you three got thirty years of college between you and not enough smarts to dial a phone without a blueprint?"
    "Astute observation," Howard said.
    "I ain't gotno college," Catfish said.
    "Well, cheers to you for being just naturally stupid," Mavis said, picking up the phone.
    The daytime regulars at the end of the bar had snapped out of their malaise to have a laugh at Catfish.
    There's nothing quiteso satisfying to the desperate as having someone to look down on.
    Theo The gun barrel was pushed so hard into the spot behind Theo's ear that he thought he could hear bone cracking.Burton reached around and took the.357 and tossed it aside,then he took the automatic from Theo's waistband and did the same.
    "On the ground, facedown."Burtonkicked Theo's feet out from under him, then put his knee in the constable's back and handcuffed him. Theo could taste blood where his lip had split hitting the rock. He turned his head to the side, raking his cheek on some lichen. He was terrified. Every muscle in his body ached with the need to run.
    Burtonsmacked him across the back of the head with his pistol, not hard enough to knock him out but when the white-hot light of the blow faded, Theo could feel blood oozing into his right ear.
    "You fuckingstoner. How dare you fuck with my business?"
    "What business?" Theo said,hoping ignorance might buy his life.
    "I saw your car at the lab, Crowe. The last time I talked to Leander he was on his way to see you.
    Now where is he?"
    "I don't know."
    The pistol smacked Theo on the other side of the head.
    "I don't fucking know!" Theo shrieked. "He was at the lab,then he was gone. I didn't see him leave."
    "I don't care if he's alive or dead, Crowe. And it doesn't make any difference to you either. But I need to know. Did you kill him? Did he run? What?"
    "I think he's dead."
    "You think?"
    Theo could feelBurton rearing back to hit him again.
    "No! He's dead. He's dead. I know it."
    "What happened?"
    Theo tried to think of a plausible explanation, something that would buy him a minute, a few more seconds even, but he couldn't clear his head. "I'm not sure," he said. "I – I heard gunfire. I was in the shed. When I came out, he was gone.
    "Then how do you know he's dead?"
    Theo couldn't see any advantage to tellingBurton that Molly had told him.Burton would track her down and put her in the same shallow grave that he was going to end up in.
    "Fuck you," Theo said. "Figure it out."
    The pistol whipped across the back of Theo's head and he nearly passed out this time. He heard a ringing in his ears, but a second later he realized that it wasn't in his ears at all. His cell phone was ringing in his shirt pocket.Burton rolled him over and put the barrel of the gun on Theo's right eyelid.
    "We're going to answer this, Crowe. And if you fuck up, the calling party is going to hear a very loud disconnect." The sheriff bent down until his face was almost touching Theo's and reached for the phone.
    Suddenly a series of deafening explosions went off a few feet away and bullets whined off the rocks like angry wasps.Burton rolled off Theo and into a shallow crevice just below them. Theo felt someone grab his collar and pull him to his feet. Before he could see who it was, a dozen hands closed on him and dragged him out of the