Gene Handy. Shotgun ready again. “Jesus, Finn, who would’ve thought?”
“There wasn’t even any money was there?”
“Not in this country, maybe. Don’t worry. Even if there had been, I would’ve screwed you out of it.”
“You killed my wife.”
“Yes.”
“You killed my wife!”
“And I don’t give a fuck!” The man’s laugh, what a terrible thing to hear right before you die. And, goddamn, he couldn’t help but feel sorry for him, either. If what he said about Blagoje murdering his brother was true? For fuck’s sake. Raping those women? Oh God. But he murdered Dee Dee. Bare hands.
The whole thing. Pointless. Revenge. Pointless. Family honor. Pointless.
Bakken. Pointless.
Ferret could feel Gene Handy squeezing the trigger. Knew it was coming. He wanted to watch. He didn’t want to close his eyes, but it was hard to keep them open. Could already feel them blinking in anticipation of the shot.
Someone from the crowd snuck up with something high over his head and brought it down hard on Gene Handy’s skull. So hard, Ferret saw the bastard spasm. The shotgun went off, but the slug blew a hold into the ground in front of Gene Handy. Ferret opened his eyes. Bad Russell—Hunter—stood over Gene Handy and crushed his head, blow by blow, with the driver Ferret had bought from Walmart.
Hunter kept on and on, hobbling on his bad leg, trying to keep weight off it. When he landed each blow, he let loose a cry like pain and relief all at once, straining his throat. Ferret just watched. Didn’t say a word. Hunter had broken through the bone several times now, an arc of blood flying off the driver head each time. Finally, exhausted, unable to stand, he landed on his ass. There was nothing left of Gene Handy’s skull except the face, cracked open and barely recognizable.
Ferret kept staring. The man who had killed his wife, brought down by sporting goods. Brought down by fucking Bad Russell.
The crowd was inching closer. No one willing to step forward and help or any shit like that, but they had started to crowd around the trailer door, peeked inside, then “Oh my God!” and “Shit, that’s horrible!” Someone said, “This one’s alive!” And a handful of people rushed to Slow Bear’s side. Ferret couldn’t see the cop, but knew where he had fallen.
A couple of stoners from the crowd had gotten up enough courage to stand next to Gene Handy’s body and film what was left of him, what Hunter had done to him. Hunter had caught his breath and used the driver, a fucking mess but still in good shape, to haul himself to his feet again. He staggered over to Ferret, still flat on his back. Hunter balanced himself on the golf club, reached his hand down. “You okay?”
Ferret checked himself. His nose, throbbing, probably busted. Blood frozen on his lips and chin. His arm, snapped in two up high. “I’ll be okay.”
But he wouldn’t. He never would be again.
Hunter, still reaching. “Let me help.”
Ferret thought about the past year, about what Russell and Hunter had done for him with the Baptist, about the money he’d made driving meth, about the trailer he’d rented for his family. Dee Dee. Violet. Innocence didn’t matter. People got fucked over bad, and then nobody cared. All back to human nature—wake up, work, eat, shit, fuck, and sleep. Everything else, just distractions. Fuck. Dee Dee, goddamn it, why did you get in that truck?
Ferret was cold. He was in pain. He was in serious trouble.
Hunter, still reaching. “Take my hand.”
Ferret picked up the revolver. “Fuck you.”
He shot Bad Russell right between the eyes.
The two stoners said, “Fuck!”
Ferret dropped the gun when Bad Russell hit the ground. His eyes got wet and he blinked. Fucking tears were going to freeze them shut. Sirens in the air now. Soon, really soon.
He tried to remember how the rest of “Dazed and Confused” went. He was never the biggest Led Zep fan, but it would do for now. It would do just fine.
###
Special Thanks
Special thanks to my mother-in-law, Linda Stearns, for pointing me in the direction of the Bakken. Her support over the years has meant the world to me.
Other novels by Anthony Neil Smith
Once A Warrior (Adem & Mustafa #2)
All The Young Warriors (Adem & Mustafa #1)
The Baddest Ass (Billy Lafitte #3)
Hogdoggin' (Billy Lafitte #2)
Yellow Medicine (Billy Lafitte #1)
Choke On Your Lies
The Drummer
Psychosomatic
Colder Than Hell (Dead Man #16)
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