“Nice shooting,” Keller croaked, his throat raw and burning from the gasoline fumes.
“Some skills never leave you,” she said, slipping an arm around Angela to support her. They started down the steps. Keller heard a noise behind him. He turned.
Raymond Oxendine was in the doorway. He had dragged himself to his knees. He held the cigarette lighter in his hand.
Keller turned to Marie and Angela. “Run!” he yelled. There was an enormous sound, like God himself sighing in pain as all the air in the immediate area was sucked into the vortex of igniting gasoline fumes. The light of the rising sun was momentarily reduced to insignificance by the flash of the explosion. The pressure wave knocked Keller and Sanchez forward onto their faces. The air was filled with flying debris, the wood and brick of the house transformed into deadly shrapnel as the house disintegrated. Keller didn’t look back for fear of catching a fragment in his face, but he could hear the crackling roar of the flames behind them.
“Come on,” Keller grunted. “We’ve got to get away.”
“I can’t run,” Sanchez groaned. “Leave me.”
“No, goddamnit,” Keller grunted. “Not this time. This time, everybody gets out.” He hoisted Sanchez onto his shoulder. He stumbled down the steep driveway, falling several times but always rising up with Sanchez beside him. Suddenly his burden felt lightened. Marie was on the other side, supporting Sanchez on her shoulder. Together, the three of them reached the car.
They looked back at the house. The flames had already almost consumed the structure. There was another huge explosion from inside the house and a chunk of roofing blew off, arcing through the sky like a magic carpet. They could hear sirens in the distance.
“I don’t know how safe it is here, even with Oxendine dead,” Keller said. “He said some of the cops reported to him. We need to get out of here.”
“Only if I get to ride up front this time,” Marie said. “That damn trunk gets pretty cramped, air holes or no air holes.”
“You made her ride in the trunk?” Angela said, arching an eyebrow at Keller.
“Well, not the whole way,” Keller protested.
“And he did re-connect the trunk release so I could let myself out,” Marie said.
“He’s a fun date, isn’t he?” Angela said to Marie.
“He’s never boring, that’s for sure,” Marie agreed.
“If you ladies are done discussing me,” Keller said, “we really need to go.”
“Is he always this grumpy in the morning?” Marie asked.
“Pretty much,” Angela replied. “But he’s been getting better.” She opened the back door. “Saddle up, cowboy,” she said. “Time to ride off into the sunset.”
“Sunrise,” Keller said, climbing into the driver’s side.
“Whatever.”
The sun was rising over the desert, heat waves and dust devils swirling and shuddering in the rising wind. Keller stood by the burned-out, blackened hulk of the Bradley. He reached out a hand to touch the beast’s metal skin. It was cold to the touch. He looked in through the blown- out hatchways. The fighting vehicle was empty. He turned away and began walking into the desert, towards the light of the sun.
Keller opened his eyes. He rolled over and looked at the clock. 4:00 A.M. He looked over at Marie’s sleeping form under the blanket next to him. He reached over and wrapped his arms around her. He slept without dreams for the rest of the night.
THE END
Table of Contents
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Jack Keller - 01 - The Devil's Right Hand Page 23
