Bad Men

But when Maria

Now Bo

“Where’s Da

Bo

She took the steps two at a time, Bo

“Aw, hell,” said Bo

Maria

“I need to get Da

“But Richie is out there.”

“He’s always out there, Bon. I need to get Da

“Why? Have I done something wrong?”

“Bo

Bo

Maria

“No, no police. I did something bad a few years ago. I had to do it. I had to get Da

Bo

“Bo

“Honey, you can’t get off the island. It’s snowing hard, in case you haven’t noticed. They’ve taken all the boats off the water. It was on the news. No taxi is going to come all the way out here now, and nobody on the island is going to take a boat out in this weather. It’s too risky.”

Maria

“Bo

Tell stared down the barrel of the gun at Willard. The sound of the hammer clicking emptily still seemed to hang in the air. Tell felt it echoing through his brain. Looking into Willard’s eyes, he knew that it sounded his death knell as surely as if it were he that was looking into the muzzle of the gun and the weapon was about to discharge a shot straight into his brain. He swallowed, then swiped the barrel wildly at Willard. Willard dodged it easily and something flashed in his hand. Tell experienced a fierce pain in his belly as the blade entered. Willard rose, forcing the blade up as he did so, and the tearing began. Tell could smell Willard’s breath against his face. It smelled sweet, like cheap perfume.

“I could see it in your eyes,” Willard whispered. “I could smell what you were pla

Tell shuddered against the blade, his hands clutching tightly at Willard’s shoulders.

“He told you to do this, didn’t he? He told you to kill me.”

Tell tried to speak, but only blood came from his mouth.

“Good-bye,” said Willard as Tell died against him.

Maria

God, Da

As soon as Maria

She was worried about Maria

She walked into the hallway, picked up the phone, and began to dial, then stopped. There was no dial tone. She replaced the receiver and tried again, but it remained silent.

No, not quite silent. She could hear faint noises. It was like holding a shell to one’s ear and hearing, if only ever so faintly, the sound of the sea.

Then she heard Richie’s voice.

Momma! Momma! Bad men. Badmenbadmenbadmenbadmenbad-

“Richie!” she called.

A high-pitched wailing tone, a kind of electronic scream, almost shredded her eardrum and she thrust the phone away. When it had receded, she brought the receiver back to her ear.

“Richie?” She was crying now, and felt the certainty of his loss like a great darkness that covered her, wrapping itself around her body and head, suffocating her in its depths. Then the darkness became real as the lights went out and the TV died and the buzz of the refrigerator stopped, like the life of an insect suddenly cut short.

And in the midst of her sorrow and pain, she heard a sound like a sudden exhalation of breath, as though a great many souls had found at last the release that they had sought for so long.

Maria

“No!” she cried. “Not now.”

She tried to start it again, but the car was dead. She could go back to Bo