Page 96 of Three-Inch Teeth

“Shut up,” Soledad commanded. “I mean it.” He reached over and gripped the back of her neck and squeezed it until she squealed. Cates did nothing to stop him and she continued to weep, but more quietly.

Soledad looked up and saw Cates’s face filling his rearview mirror. “What were you thinking?”

“I was thinking that I’d hit whoever opened the door first.”

“What if Romanowski was inside?”

“Then I would have shot him when he ran up to check on her,” Cates said. “I was ready for that. We could have messed his body up so bad with the bat afterward that it looked like a double bear attack.”

“And you’re just telling me this now?” Soledad said.

“That was his lady,” Cates said from the back. “She was on my list, too. And in some ways, this is even better. This will tear him up when he finds out. He’ll know what it’s like to lose a member of his family, just like I did.”

“That’s not what I’m concerned about,” Soledad said. “I’m afraid it’ll make him go nuclear.”

“Nuclear and sloppy,” Cates said with a short laugh. “That’s okay with me. He’ll be more vulnerable if he’s reckless.”

Cates caught Soledad rolling his eyes. It was disconcerting. Was Soledad really questioning his judgment now? Was the man losing his grip and threatening to break their pact?

Instead of acknowledging the gesture, Cates said, “You know how to get to that game warden’s house, right? This is his new one I’m talking about. I burned down his old one.”

“I know where it is.”

“Then go-go-go,” Cates said. “Fucking floor it, man. The tanks will be charged by the time we get there. We can do this quickly now that we’ve got the timing and distance down.”

Soledad said, “What about that SUV we saw on the way from the compound? I didn’t view the driver clearly, but I know the silhouettes of hooded raptors in the back when I see them.”

“Let’s just get out of here,” Johnson wailed. “Let’s get the hell out of this place.”

“Bobbi, be quiet,” Cates said. “Please. We’ve got a job to finish.”

“That poor woman,” Johnson said. “That poor mama …”

“Jesus,” Soledad said with disgust to no one and to everyone.

“Okay,” LOR announced. “We’ve reached maximum capacity.”

Cates glanced at the air pressure gauge. It was at two thousand PSI.

“Okay, go,” he ordered Soledad.

Five minutes later, through the windshield, Cates could see as the headlights swept across a brown wooden sign that read GAME WARDEN STATION. Next to it was a turnoff that led into heavy timber and eventually to the Twelve Sleep River and the house next to it.

He was surprised when Soledad eased off the accelerator and let the pickup roll to a stop, but also grateful that the man hadn’t slammed on the brakes and thrown Cates and LOR around the back like rag dolls.

“What are you doing?” Cates asked through the slider.

“I’m getting out,” Soledad said while checking the loads on the shotgun he’d pilfered from the old Cates place. Cates knew Soledad also had a handgun tucked into his waistband, as well as the long blade concealed inside his crutches.

“Getting out?” Cates asked. “Why?”

“Nate Romanowski will be coming after us,” Soledad said. “That girl in the SUV will give him a description of our truck. I’m going to hide here in the trees and take him out when he gets here. I’ll find the best place to ambush him.”

Cates thought it over for a moment. Was Soledad bugging out on him or volunteering to take on Romanowski by himself? He wasn’t sure. But if nothing else, creating a confrontation with the falconer two miles from the target house would at least slow the man down. And if Romanowski got the best of Soledad, another problem was solved. It was to Cates’s advantage, however it went.

“Thanks for watching our back,” Cates said.

Soledad nodded and slipped out the door and slammed it shut. Cates watched the man clamp the shotgun under his right arm, mount his crutches, and glide away into the gloom.

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