Page 121 of Rest In Pink

This is what he was like in the military,I thought, and I understood why he was so quiet all the time, why he so rarely smiled when we weren’t alone. The way he was in Burney was relaxed compared to this. Very relaxed. Almost giddy, which for him came off as dour.

Oh, God, I thought,we’re going to die.

The barrel of the rifle was moving slowly and deliberately as he went left to right. Then he turned and checked the abandoned trailers behind him. Then the woods on the slope that went up the hill. He was slow and methodical, and I just sat there, praying I’d know what to do when it was my turn because I hadn’t thought about the trailers or the woods.

Finally, he turned back toward the factory and lowered the gun. He motioned for me to lower my window and I powered it down. I waited for the inevitable yelling.

“You’re not going to leave, are you?” His voice was level. He wasn’t looking at me. He was watching the factory.

“I heard what he said. Give me the money, I’ll give it to him, and we’ll all go home,” I said, not really believing that myself.

Before he could answer, his cell rang. He let the rifle hang on its sling. “What?”

He listened, glanced at me, then back at the building. Holding the phone with one hand, he reached back into the Gladiator and retrieved a black metal briefcase and held it up.

“Happy?” he said into the phone.

He waited a few seconds, then glanced at me. “No. I can bring it in.”

We both turned as we heard the faint echo of an explosion from town, followed by a second one. “Fuck you, Mickey,” Vince said.

“What was that?” I said, as I got out of the Camry.

“Your father’s house,” Vince said. “And your mother’s.”

It took me a second to process that. “ML’s house? Molly is staying there!”

Vince muted the phone. “She’s all right. Rain is with her. I warned her.”

He was so calm, so unemotional, and I tried to slow my breathing, to be like him.

“My mother?”

“Just gave me the briefcase at the bank. I saw Day inside the bank.”

“Why was Day there?”

“I told her to have him there.”

He unmuted.

“She’ll bring it in,” he said into the phone. His face got even grimmer as he said, “If you hurt her, or if you’ve hurt Molly or Rain or anyone else, this planet isn’t big enough for you, Pitts. I will come for you.”

He turned his phone off and put it into a pocket on his bulky vest. Then he took a deep breath.

“How do you know Molly is all right?”

“She’s with Rain,” he said, as if that was an acceptable answer, but it was all we had at the moment. He was here with me and I felt safe, even though clearly we weren’t, it made some kind of sense. But then I realized what I was going to have to do as Vince held the briefcase out to me. “Take it in or he’s going to set off another bomb.”

“Where?” If he was going to blow up something ugly, I was okay with that. Burney could use some urban renewal as long as no one got hurt.

Vince said, “I have no idea.”

I tried to take the case of money from his hands.

He held on for a moment and his coldness thawed slightly. “I never wanted this. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” I lied. “It’s my town, too. Let me do this,” and he finally let go.

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