Cold Moon Rising Part 3

A red barn pa.s.sed under us, but without grain silos. Then a pair of silos, but no barn. Then three silos and a white barn. And all appeared to have plenty of room to land a plane. "You sure about the directions? Lots of barns, lots of silos, but no matches so far and we're just about out of town." I could see now where the water tower had been, owing to the ma.s.sive crane parked next to the remains of the supports. Okay, maybe it was a big deal that she killed the tower. There wasn't a stream or lake to be seen for miles, and close to a dozen buildings were rubble. "You can force this earl to train her, though, right?"

The old white wolf chuckled and tilted the wings a bit to head toward a spot of red on the horizon. "I'd have about as much luck forcing your pack leader to tap dance in a tutu. It could be done, but it wouldn't be pretty."

Yeah, Nikoli might not be as powerful as some, but boy is he stubborn! "Ah, got it. And thar she blows." I pointed out the window just as Lucas spotted the same thing-two silos and a red barn. Right next to the barn was an old bi-wing crop duster that had seen better days. But it was parked on a tidy, smooth runway that looked easier to land on than a country road. I've done that, and it's not much fun. "There's our target. We got some way to get from point A to point B, or is this the Kendall farm?"

He shook his head and lowered the flaps to slow down. "This is the Sampson farm. Fringe relatives to one of the Boulder pack members. The Kendalls live in town and Ralph Sampson is going to let us borrow a car for a few days . . . if it takes that long. I want to have a look at the site before I visit the family."

Lucas landed the plane with nary a bounce of the wheels. I suppose if I'd had a hundred or so years to practice, I'd be pretty good too. "So what's my purpose here? I can't imagine you need an enforcer for one badger. Or am I the bad cop to your good cop?"

The whine of the prop spinning down was replaced by the sound of a tractor far out in the field. It was a good thing Lucas was damping the moon's effects, because right now I'd be screaming if not for it. Ever filled up a water balloon until it was so heavy it could break with each new drop from the faucet? Now imagine you're inside the balloon, waiting for it to break. That's what it felt like under the shield Lucas had over me. It was a lot different than Will's coc.o.o.n-not quite as stifling, but more ominous.

"I need your second sight, mostly, to tell me if she's exhibiting any feral qualities."

"And I do that, how? What does feral look like in the aura stream?" I've seen lots of different auras on shifters, and they all had a sort of personality. It's like a woman going to find hair dye that's "brown."

Which brown? Chestnut, or honey or auburn or a hundred shades in between?

"According to my former second in command, it's really easy to tell-like spotting meat that's spoiled even through cellophane where you can't smell it. You'll know it when you see it and it'll be unmistakable." He paused before opening the plane door. "But the cop thing isn't a bad idea. The Kendall girl has, as her father phrased it, anger management issues. Most badgers do, and Nigel still can make even your old enforcer in Chicago seem like a fluffy bunny."

Ah. Considering said enforcer had once shredded my back until you could see ribs and organs, I decided to steer clear of old Nigel.

Lucas slid off his headset and gave a small wave to the lanky man in grimy coveralls who was walking our way. The old white frame house behind him had probably been a stage stop a century before. The light that shone out through the windows was fading as the sun rose. A cat jumped lightly onto the railing of the wraparound porch. Reminded me of Sue's old house, back when I met her.

Thinking of her threw open the door in my mind without even intending to. There was a gasp inside my mind and then a stab of pain that felt like an ice pick drilling through my temple. I've never felt like I had to be particularly gentle or careful with Sue, so now I felt really strange, wanting to apologize for a simple mind brush.

You don't need to apologize. It was amazing how good it felt to hear her voice, however tired.

I won't stay, but Amber said my contact with you is hurting you. Is that true? Has it been happening for long? I felt a twinge in my shoulder, like a shrug. Sue can do that sometimes . . . make my muscles move when she moves.

A month or so, I guess. I don't remember the exact day it started. But you've been so busy, I didn't want to worry you. I . . . thought I could handle it.

I growled then in frustration and worry, and Lucas noticed from outside the plane. He turned and his eyes started to glow slightly. The bubble increased in strength and Sue became a whisper I had to struggle to hear. I realized I hadn't even gotten out of my seat yet and I doubted Lucas would be pleased at what I was doing. Can you tell Amber what you're feeling? She's trying to help.

I know, and I want to help her. But I can't talk. My brain's not connecting to my body right now. But I was doing research last week, and I think there's a ritual that might help. Tell Amber to look at page seventy-four in the old book her sister brought her. They're not numbered so I started counting from the first page, even though it's blank.

A ritual? What kind of ritual? I'm not sure I like this idea.

It's . . . complicated. There's . . . there's . . . a . . . way to make- Her voice was fading fast and sounding tight with pain. I didn't want to wear her out or make her any worse. Never mind. Rest now. I'll call Amber.

I felt her smile in my mind like a ray of sunshine through clouds, even though her voice was fading to the barest whisper. I like it that you worry. That's . . . selfish of me, huh? But I do like it. And no . . . no matter what, I love you.

She meant it too, and that amazes me to this day. Wolf, hit man and all, and she really does love me. Weird. Love you too. Get some sleep.

I pushed shut the door between our minds with some effort and a lot of trepidation. I really didn't like how her voice sounded at the end-way too slow and slurry.

Work. I definitely needed to get back to work and get my mind off this. There was well and truly nothing I could do from here. But first I pulled out my cell phone. Of course, no signal here in the boonies. I'd have to borrow one or find a landline to get Amber started at that end.

GETTING INVITED IN for coffee had been a good thing, both because I really needed coffee, and I needed a bathroom. Plus, they were happy to let me make a call to the clinic to talk to Amber. Well, they weren't happy. They smelled scared as h.e.l.l. Sampson's wife kept hovering near the staircase, and her eyes and scent told me she would fight to her own death if we even thought of heading upstairs to where, I presume, her children slept. But the scent of fear made my stomach clench, so it was good that I found a quiet spot in the living room, away from people, to make the call.

Amber wasn't pleased that Sue and I had been in contact, but she promised to check on the page in the book Sue mentioned. Once the call was done, I just sat back and enjoyed coffee with real cream from the cows in the barn, and stared out the window at the rising sun. It was coming up with that rich gold color that said it was going to be clear and hot. The sun forced back the pull of the moon until it was just background noise, instead of a steady pulse against my skin . . . and my stomach.

As we were getting in the old pickup that would make us blend in nicely, I realized my stomach was growling again, but this time not because of the scent of fear. This was the plain ole "haven't eaten since dinner yesterday" variety. "Let's see about finding a cafe in town. I could use a steak and eggs about now."

Lucas nodded. "Not a bad idea. I'd like us to pose as contractors looking to put in a bid on the water tower rebuild. That should open up some mouths and a local restaurant is a great place to find out the gossip to see if there's anything Kendall didn't mention. You know anything about water towers?"

I pursed my lips and tipped my head with a twitch of my shoulder. "Enough to get by. I've found it's better to be personable but vague to lull suspicions. I notice you brought along a clipboard and measuring tape. Pick one and I'll man the other. It's probably good it's Sat.u.r.day. Then we can't get the answer of, 'Go talk to someone at city hall' when we start asking stupid questions."

"That was my plan."

I rolled down the window to let in the cool morning breeze. I'd gotten used to cracks from Sue about being her favorite puppy with his nose out the window, but I couldn't deny that the scents and motion from pa.s.sing air were invigorating. I also noticed Lucas wasn't complaining.

We were still several miles from Hansen on a narrow county road. The barrow ditches were so tall with weeds and volunteer wheat that we had to poke the b.u.mper nearly into the oncoming lane to see at each intersection. It told me that either the county didn't have enough of a tax base for a road maintenance budget, or n.o.body cared enough to complain. It's amazing how much you can learn about a town and the residents by just driving around a little. Carrying that air of blindness to your surroundings is critical to blending in. Too many tourists fail at it because they carry along with them what's "normal" from where they left, instead of adapting to where they are. If n.o.body else notices a particularly nasty scent, then a smart tourist doesn't either. If locals flock to a hole-in-the-wall restaurant that looks like a dive over a fancy, shiny eatery, it's wise to follow if you want to stay healthy.

So when we hit the edge of town, I started scoping out who was hanging out where. The little building with a sixties pole sign reading, CUPPAJOE'S was our best bet. Probably half the town's vehicles were in the lot with more arriving every minute. "Let's make a swing through the site while everyone's busy."

Lucas didn't reply. He just drove past the restaurant casually, keeping the speedometer a shade under the posted limit and hanging his arm out the window like he belonged. The people exiting the restaurant didn't even look up, meaning he's apparently done this before.

We had to go slow around the wreckage of the water tower and swerved once or twice to avoid some particularly large potholes that were dug into the pavement from where the unyielding steel met the ground. Lucas was taking everything in as he drove, his eyes flicking back and forth while appearing not to. I started making notes in my head to put on my "expert" persona and tried to spot where there might have been a big burrow dug into the sand. It was mostly sand in town-the fine, nearly powdery kind that would compact really well, but would probably require shoring during the excavation. I added that piece of information to my mental list as we pa.s.sed by an old adobe motel that had seen better days, on our way around the block to head back to the cafe.

"And he swears it was Tony the Nose?"

My head and upper body snapped around so fast that the seat belt thought it was an accident and jerked me back. But it was too late. I couldn't see who the speaker had been. "Turn around!" I ordered, fast and low. "Go back past that motel. But don't make it obvious."

He twisted his head as he flipped on the blinker at the corner. "What's up?"

The doubts started to set in as Lucas increased his speed slightly on his way to the next corner. Maybe I heard wrong. After all, what would someone who knows the stupid name they gave me in the mob be doing in a small Kansas town? I shrugged and tapped my fingers on my knee. "Could be nothing. I could have sworn I heard a guy with a Jersey accent say 'Tony the Nose.' That was the idiotic nickname my friend John Corbin gave me when we were kids, and it stuck through the whole time I was in the family."

Lucas suddenly started to take it seriously and stomped on the gas after we rounded the next corner, sending a spray of dust into the air. The Sazi, for some unknown reason I couldn't fathom, had expended a lot of time and energy to make me "dead" to my old life and welcome me onto the Wolven force. I'd asked repeatedly, but n.o.body would tell me why. Occasionally, it was against my will, but I was settling in to the role. It was good money and used my talents well. Now, I'd changed my appearance and had taken pains during this past year to stay out of areas I knew could be a problem, but I was starting to worry that I'd missed something-gotten so involved in an a.s.signment that I hadn't noticed someone noticing me. His voice interrupted my walking through each of my last few a.s.signments, searching my memory for something I'd missed. "Do you think Leone would spill the beans?"

The guffaw that erupted from me nearly made me choke. "It would take even more torture than the Sazi snakes are capable of to make Carmine Leone spill the beans. A couple of the guys saw me during the spider attack in Chicago, but they were all made guys. I'd be very surprised if they'd squeal if Carmine told them not to-and he would. And even if they told someone in my old hometown, no way in h.e.l.l would they tell anyone in Jersey about Carmine's ace in the hole."

That raised Lucas's eyebrows. I started to kick myself, because it didn't come out like I'd planned. "Are you Carmine's ace in the hole? You been moonlighting on me?"

I knew what he was really asking. Was I continuing to a.s.sa.s.sinate humans, risking arrest and revealing the secret of the Sazi? That's an automatic, instantaneous death sentence, because humans have no idea we exist. I shook my head wearily. "No, I'm not still working for Carmine. h.e.l.l, I haven't even been in contact with him or Linda since Christmas. And the last time I saw Babs, she was spun up in a spider coc.o.o.n. But Joey, Sal, and Louis all saw me that one time visiting with Bobby." I still remember the look on Joey the Snake's face when he came walking up to me in the bas.e.m.e.nt hideout Carmine had dug underneath his estate. The grin he'd worn as he approached me turned into something more serious. The simple words of, 'Thought you were dead, man' had been echoed by the faces of those around him, and was about as emotional as guys like them get. I'd been flattered, at least until I learned Joey'd been undermining my replacement. Sadly, that left two seats open at the poker table each month, because Carmine wasn't pleased to the point that Joey wound up at the bottom of a deep lake.

"Would they talk?"

I shrugged. They never had before, but who knew what had changed in the last year? "I'd be shocked, but I've been shocked before. Joey's dead, and Louis and Sal have always been Carmine's top two lieutenants. But anything's possible, I guess. A better bet, in my mind, is that I did something stupid and got noticed by someone who was in a place I didn't expect. The 'out of context, out of mind' thing."

"We need to check into this motel." He flipped on his right blinker to turn into the motel parking lot, causing my heart to do a drum solo.

I started scanning the lot, looking for pairs of eyes staring. "Are you nuts? You trying to make certain they spot me?"

Now he smiled in the corner of my vision, and it was filled with the same amus.e.m.e.nt he always wore when I'd forgotten about his abilities. "Then we need to make sure you don't look like you." When I turned to look at him, gone was the stocky Latino with the silvering hair. In his place was a taller Caucasian with wavy dark hair and a hometown, outdoorsy tan who would fit in perfectly in this town.

I recognized the man. I'd seen him once before in an airport in Indiana on another near-full moon. I'd only figured out it was an illusion because he'd gotten angry and his aura changed colors. It was back to what it had been that night, a thin gold band instead of blue-white, and he now smelled of lemon-limesoaked cardboard instead of the sweet smell of ripe cactus fruit.

"Ah. It's Greg Hamilton-football hero, today, is it?"

He offered an open, friendly smile that I knew was all mask. "Not quite. Greg is dead and is known in some law-enforcement circles. They do look similar, but I'm modeled after a young man named Josh Sampson. He's the nephew of the man we're visiting. I dropped by their house in Boulder last night. The plane's rented in his name with his pilot's license. Josh is going underground for a few days-an allexpenses-paid trip to a remote island with no electrical service, where the staff waits on you hand and foot. He can use it. He's a pilot and is on leave for burnout. I was a little surprised how subtle the difference is, but the slope of the nose is different and the hair is a touch darker. No reason not to use the scent, though. And don't forget to check the mirror . . . Joe."

I flipped down the visor on the pa.s.senger side, but it wasn't a deluxe model that had a vanity mirror. So I rolled down the window farther and stuck my head fully out to see myself in the rearview. My brows shot up because it was so totally not me staring at me. I blinked and so did the reflection. I bared my teeth in a kind of smile and so did my double.

My dark hair was now golden and tight against my head. The eyes, once the cold blue-gray of gunmetal were closer to sapphire. The face was more narrow, with high cheekbones, a slightly roman nose, and a weak chin. It was an odd mix of nationalities-Native America meets Scandinavia, via England. "Where in the world did you come up with this face? Do I actually look like a real person you know?"

"Knew. Guy named John Spence. He was a good guy, just doing his job protecting a makeshift fort, during the War of Northern Aggression. He was killed by a stray bullet not even aimed his way, and left a young wife he'd only married a few weeks before. Pity. He was tolerant. That was rare in the day."

My lips pursed. I knew that Lucas was as old as dirt, but it's weird when someone talks about events from nearly a hundred fifty years ago as though they happened last week. Bobby does that too, and it's always strange.

"So, I look like a Civil War victim. You have personas picked out for us?" I knew he did. He's always a step or two ahead. It was mere courtesy to ask what it was.

"Like I said, I'm Josh Sampson, Ralph's brother's youngest son from Colorado. You're Joe . . . Davis. How does that sound?"

"Sounds white-bread, middle cla.s.s, and completely forgettable. Should be perfect. And we're here to put in a bid on the water tower?"

"You are. I'm just delivering you and visiting family. Fewer people ask questions when you're family . . . even shoestring relatives. I know enough about the Sampsons that I can pull it off."

We opened our doors at the same moment one of the room doors opened. I twitched almost visibly as two men came outside. I recognized them both and it was a struggle to ignore them as though I didn't.

I knew the older of the two as Stuart Prezza. He was the spitting image of his daddy, Vito. Square and short, with dark hair in a buzz cut and hazel eyes. They both hailed from the New Jersey mob. I'd killed Stuart's younger brother, Jeffrey, at Carmine's order-but it was before I even knew the Sazi existed, so I'd already been excused from that job by the council. But I hadn't come close enough since turning wolf to notice his scent, which my head immediately attached to an image of the algae that grows on carpeting left too long in the rain. The younger man I knew by reputation and photographs. He had a metallic scent covered with dirt . . . sort of like a big mound of buried coins. Ricky Mario was slender and tall, his thin sandy hair just brushing his shoulders. From the way he had it parted, I was betting he was going to be a candidate for early pattern baldness in a year or two. He was an up-and-comer hitter when I started freelancing and we occasionally bid on the same jobs. I was a little surprised that Vito had sent him out this far, unless they expected to take me by surprise.

Of course, that led me back to the same questions-what were they doing here in a p.i.s.sant little town in Kansas, and why would they be expecting me?

The longer I thought, the longer I apparently stared at them, because Stuart noticed me noticing. That's never good. He flipped me off with a slap of his palm to his forearm. Normally, that's enough in the big city to get the curious to find other things to look at. It gave me an out without confrontation, so I did as expected and shifted my gaze, trying to look cowed. That particular set of facial motions isn't all that easy for me, since I'm either too good or too stupid to admit I should be cowed.

What do you mean, he isn't here? He was expecting me to arrive and knew I had little time.

The inside of the clinic in Boulder was suddenly superimposed over the Kansas parking lot and Stuart's ugly mug. But I wasn't in Sue's head. I could tell that because whoever I was in was taller than Amber, so she had to look up to lock eyes.

"Oh, please, Ahmad. Why are you so surprised? They had a Wolven emergency in Kansas and had to leave. It happens. You weren't supposed to arrive until this evening, so don't give me the little time c.r.a.p. I expect they'll be here by then, so you might as well just sit down and wait. Charles is on his way too, so you'll have to make time even if you don't have it."

I could feel the snake king's brows furrow as he considered what she said. I still couldn't figure out for the life of me why I was attaching to his head right now-and if anyone said anything about having mating ties with that guy, they'd get decked.

"Why is Charles coming? He was scheduled to be in Germany for another week."

Amber sighed and stripped off the blue nitrile gloves she was wearing. I only know what they are because I prefer them over latex or vinyl. "It's Angelique. Something happened to her down there. I'm not sure she's ever going to be the same. Decisions need to be made."

A sensation like being punched in the stomach made me let out a whoosh of air. Turned out it was something punching me in the stomach . . . my duffel bag. "You still with me there, Joe?"

Stuart and Ricky were long gone, the car a black dot down the highway. Lucas was inches away from my face, his eyes glowing bright as he struggled to shield me against whatever was happening to me. But it wasn't that easy. He was holding a key with a tag in his hand, saying that he'd already checked in while I was stuck out of body. This wasn't a moon thing, because I wasn't in Ahmad's head long enough for all that to have happened. Or, at least I didn't think I'd been. "Yeah. Sort of. Got another flash of snake king. He's in Boulder and p.i.s.sed we aren't."

It was obvious that floored him. He reared back and was actually surprised, not just pretending. I could even smell a shock of something in the air. Surprise isn't quite an emotion, so it's really hard to match it to a particular scent. It's just a poof of scent that's sort of like the gust that hits you as you enter a superstore. "Just now? With me shielding you, you got sucked inside a hindsight?"

I shook my head hard and fast, trying to clear the cotton candy that was fuzzing up my thoughts. "Not hindsight. It's the present, like right this second. I'm still partly there." I held out my hand like I could touch the wall that should be there, but met only air. "I can see the waiting room. He and Amber are talking about Angelique, but I can't hear what they're saying. That part seems to come and go. In the jungle, I was getting his thoughts too, stuff that wasn't spoken. Memories of his father and of the woman who was. .h.i.tting Angelique. He knew her. They'd been lovers as teenagers." I readjusted the duffel so it didn't fall out from under my arm, and threw the strap over my shoulder.

Lucas mulled for a moment and then sighed. "Well, we don't have time to deal with that now. I'll do what I can to keep it from happening, but you'll have to tell me when it is happening. You're still coming into your seer powers, so who knows?"

I didn't respond, not because there wasn't anything to say, but because I didn't want to even acknowledge that possibility to air. Weird things happen when magic's involved, and I don't care if it's just the moon reaching out to touch someone, or a wand turning someone into a frog. The rule is: keep your mouth shut if you don't want to experience what you speak.

THE TRIP BACK to the restaurant was silent, with each of us thinking our own thoughts. Actually, I wasn't thinking so much as listening, because I just couldn't seem to shake the conversation between Ahmad and Amber out of my head and since it involved me and Sue, it seemed prudent to eavesdrop.

"I can't remember seeing anything like this before." Ahmad wasn't fibbing. He was trying to compare Sue's condition to everything he'd experienced in his life, and that was a lot of stuff. Seeing her through his eyes wasn't something I enjoyed, because his next words were, "Waste no more time. Let her die."

She was human, and should be beneath the notice of their kind. Worse, she was mated to a three-day who should have been put down the moment he turned.

Knowing what I do now, I had a difficult time disagreeing with the concept. But I'm somewhat rabid about the object, so I came close to muttering f.u.c.k you right in the cab of the truck. I wondered if he would hear me. Fortunately, Amber's tone conveyed the same message, so I didn't have to try. "Saving a life isn't wasting time, Ahmad. I'd be very careful voicing that opinion when my husband gets here. He nearly dispatched Sargon for that same belief." There was a rather enjoyable moment as Lucas turned the truck into the cafe parking lot. Ahmad felt taken aback at the same moment the grill of a semi drove right through where his face would be. Made me smile, and the bright rainbow of color that filled my vision for a second said that Sue was inheriting my dark sense of humor.

"Can you hang with me long enough to do this, or should I go in alone?" Lucas was looking relatively concerned and had a worried scent that rode over the emotional blackout of the cologne-a tangy, sharp smell not dissimilar to hot vinegar. He was watching me with the same attention he should be using to investigate the scene, so I understood the question.

And it was a good question, because I was going to be useless for anything if I didn't get a handle on this. "Let me try something first and I'll let you know."

I closed my eyes and reached into my mind, imagining the kitchen door that Aspen had helped me develop. It was a mental trick we'd worked on to let Sue and me disconnect from each other during trouble. The trouble came from my side of the joining 99 percent of the time, so I had to find a way to keep her from experiencing stuff she didn't want to know about. Aspen had talked about building a wall of bricks, but the kitchen door motif worked better for me. It was an old-fashioned one with a dutch half, so I could close it completely or open one half or the other.

Now I started to morph the door I could see. It grew wider and taller. The wood turned to polished steel with a big wheel on the front. But when I pulled on it, the door still moved like a house door-too easily, so I added weight . . . layer upon layer of solid metal until it felt like a vault door should. Now when I pulled, the tug sang through my muscles from the effort, but it moved smoothly on oiled hinges.

A breeze hit my face as I swung the door and the image in the clinic became clearer, the small sounds of machines and the light squeak of rubber on polished linoleum as Amber and what I presumed were her nurses scurried with quiet efficiency. With some effort, I braced my hands on the door and pushed hard. It resisted at first and tension caught the muscles in my lower back, making me grunt. But then it gave way and caused a satisfying clunk as it settled into the frame.

The clinic disappeared.

Cool.

There was a weight in my head now, similar to sinus pressure, but I was pretty sure I could manage it. Nothing hurt, but I had to blink more than once and I realized I was pressing my hands flat against the front of the dash. The plastic was dented from the effort I'd used. Oops.

Lucas had a road map open over the steering wheel, effectively blocking us from the view of anyone who exited the restaurant.

"Okay, we'll see if that'll hold. I've never tried to block two sources of energy before. Never had to worry about it until now. With the full moon, it'll be . . . interesting." I had to talk over the crinkling of paper as he refolded the road map with apparent ease. I always get the folds wrong and wind up with a lopsided square that doesn't fit the glove box, instead of a neat rectangle. Naturally, Lucas made a neat rectangle. I snorted as he handed it back to me to put away. "Show off."

He didn't reply, but his eyes twinkled just a bit before he turned his head and opened the door.

As we walked toward the entrance, I tried to come up with a good way to bring up the subject of the water tower, but it turned out I didn't have to. A group of men were seated at a round table in the corner. From the litter of plates, cups, and empty sugar packs, it was obvious they'd been there for hours. "I'm not kidding! That Kendall girl is dangerous."

Lucas flicked his eyes my way as he slid into the booth and I nodded to show I heard. It was hard not to hear since the short stocky guy under the John Deere cap had a voice like a television announcer-all midtones and loud.

A tall, thin guy with sleeve tans so dark I was pretty sure he was a farmer or rancher shook his head and leaned back in his chair until it was tipped on two legs. "Oh, come on, Earl. Just because she read that good-for-nothing brother of hers the riot act for the way he's been running the store? You think Paul wouldn't have already tanned his hide if he wasn't still abed? You've seen the place, just like I have. Rats in the grain, bugs in the hay, and half the implements allowed to go to rust."

Earl just snorted, but another of the crew weighed in. "Mike's right. I had to turn away two deliveries of round bales for the herd just last week, and I've cancelled my standing orders until Paul's back in charge. The whole thing was moldy . . . every bale. Now, I don't mind a turn or two of waste. That's normal. But there's no way his daddy would have even thought about delivering bales that bad. I don't want to think about rodents in the grain I accepted, so don't give me the details. Rats give me the w.i.l.l.i.e.s."

A younger guy who might be Earl's son from the resemblance was shaking his head-tiny little movements that said something had really spooked him. "Yeah, but you guys didn't see her. She wasn't like that before she went off to college. Sure, she was always a hothead, but this . . . she didn't throw bottles or nothin' or even scream. But she looked just like those ladies you see on America's Most Wanted before they go off and do something horrible. She had a look in her eye."

The final man at the table, a tall thin codger who didn't have enough teeth to keep his lips from curling under let out a little chuckle. "s.p.u.n.k. That's what little Lizzie's got. Why, if I was twenty years younger- "

The waitress arrived at the table just then with a pot of coffee in one hand. She bopped the old guy on the head with her order pad. "Twenty years? Try fifty, ya old lech. Liz is just a baby, and in my opinion she had every right to go off on Frank. He's a lazy lout who doesn't deserve to inherit that store. Paul really ought to give it to Liz. She'd run it right."

Mike shook his head. "Nah. She's got her fancy new diploma, so she won't be staying around this dump. Already has a job offer back East from what I hear . . . designing landfills and such. Good money in landfills."

Earl gave a grudging grunt even though he didn't uncross his arms from where they were tight across his chest. "Girl has a good eye for dirt. I'll give her that. I never would have thought to check the west section for that special sand they use for telescope gla.s.s if she hadn't walked me out there. Now I've got a lease on it from a German group. The royalties will put Becky through college."

I'd been staring at the menu blindly while listening to the conversation and was so involved that I didn't even notice the waitress until she popped her gum and said, "What'cha have, hon?"