Last Call

And Theo felt only one thing: the deep desire to get the man who'd killed her.

"Just you and me, Knight."

The voice was booming, and Theo recognized it as Moses. Theo was tempted to say something back – to ask if the dead man was indeed Fernando Redden – but it was to no advantage. He kept silent.

Stay or move? It was time for another decision, perhaps Theo's last. He listened. A horse exhaled and fluttered its lips. Another thumped a hoof. The tin roof rattled lightly in the breeze. Every stable had a chorus of normal sounds. Theo drew on his every power of concentration, and he detected the slow and steady click of leather heels on concrete.

It had to be Moses coming up the center aisle.

Then the clicking ceased. Theo strained to pick up the noise again but couldn't. Either Moses had stopped in his tracks, or he had managed to silence his step and was still advancing. Theo couldn't risk the latter.

He had to move.

"Truce?" said Moses, again in a booming voice. It came from the other side of the barn, nowhere near the place that Theo had calculated as Moses' present position. Moses had seen the stable in the light of day and was more familiar with the layout than Theo was. One more disadvantage.

Moses said, "Just throw your gun out into the aisle. I let your uncle go. I'll let you go, too."

Theo didn't believe him for a second. He dug beneath the bed of straw, pulled up a nice-sized rock, and tossed it across the center aisle. The instant it hit the other stall, a shot rang out and shattered the same piece of wood fencing that Theo's rock had struck.

The horses stirred again, and Theo took advantage of the burst of commotion. He crawled through the fence to the adjacent stall, opened the gate, and sent a startled thoroughbred charging into the dark center aisle. He crawled to the next stall and turned another skittish horse loose, and then another. He continued at breakneck speed until ten powerful and magnificent animals were ru

Theo began working his way back to the original stall, in the direction of what had sounded like the point of discharge of Moses' last shot. He stayed clear of the center aisle and the horses gone wild, instead climbing through the fencing that separated one stall from the next.

Another shot sent Theo diving for cover. He buried himself in a blanket of dirty straw as he returned fire across the center aisle. Moses was in the stall directly opposite him. Confused horses ran to and fro between the gunfighters, screeching and whi

Suddenly, the shooting stopped. Theo tried to listen, but the animals were still too excited for him to hear anything but their hysteria. He was down to his last few rounds of ammunition. He assumed that Moses was reloading, which was perhaps Theo's last chance to make a move. As one of the startled thoroughbreds passed outside the stall, Theo pushed open the gate, grabbed the horse by the mane, and ran alongside it, keeping the animal between himself and Moses.

Moses fired two shots. Theo's horse stumbled to its knees and fell onto its side. Theo fell with the animal and slammed hard against a post. His gun flew from his hand and skidded across the concrete floor, coming to rest somewhere beneath the erratic stampede of the other horses.

Theo thought his horse had been hit by gunfire, but it rose up on its legs and trotted away. Instinct told Theo to seek cover, but he was stu

He fired a shot at Moses' stall.

All was quiet.

Slowly, and with extreme caution, Theo rose up on one knee. He found a rock and threw it in Moses' direction.

Still no response.

Theo sprinted across the aisle and hid behind a post. From there, he could see inside the stall. Moses lay on his back, looking up at the ceiling, his gun at his side. Theo went quickly through the gate and aimed his gun at Moses' chest.

"Don't move," he said.

Moses merely turned his head, apparently lacking the strength to do much more than that. His shirt was pasted to his chest with blood. One of Theo's shots had obviously found its mark.

"Go ahead," said Moses. "Pull the trigger"

Theo stepped closer, kicked Moses' gun aside, and pointed his gun at Moses' head. It would have been so easy to finish him off, and so deserved. Then a footstep in the aisle gave him a start. He turned and saw Andie He

"Drop the gun, Theo," she said.

He kept the gun aimed at Moses. "Where's my uncle?" he asked Andie.

"Right here," said Cy. He was standing about ten feet behind Andie. "Jack's here, too. Those were Andie's headlights we saw coming toward us before you turned off the road."

Theo said, "Y'all can leave now. This is between me and Moses.

Andie raised her weapon. "I said, Drop the gun."

Theo heard her, but he ignored the command.

Jack said, "Listen to her, buddy."

Theo's attention was solely on Moses. "You and Fernando go way back, don't you? Back to his fiat-boy days?"

Moses groaned with pain. "Didn't you hear what the woman said?"

"I don't care what she said," said Theo. "Fernando hired you to slit my momma's throat, didn't he?"

"Theo," said Andie, "this isn't the kind of confession that's going to hold up in any court of law."

"She's right," said Jack.

Theo's focus remained on Moses. "You killed her, and you bragged about it to the wrong guy in prison. To Isaac Reems."

"No way, dude," said Moses.

"Don't lie to me!" said Theo, as he stepped on the wound.

Moses cried out.

"Theo!" Andie shouted.

Theo said, "That's how Isaac found out. It's the only thing that makes sense. No other way for Isaac to be in the picture."

Moses said, "You got it wrong, dude."

Uncle Cy stepped forward. "Theo, stop!"

"Stay out of this," said Theo.

"What're you go

"Your uncle's right," said Andie.

"You go

"You shoot him, I will," said Andie.

Theo knelt down and pressed the barrel between Moses' eyes. "Do you know how bad I want this?" said Theo.

Andie said, "I can't let you shoot him."

"Then you're go

Andie fired a warning shot. "The next one won't miss."

"You're bluffing," said Theo.

"Don't test her!" said Cy.

"I told you to stay out of this," said Theo.

"He ain't worth it," said Cy.

"He deserves to die."

"He's – no, he don't."

"It ain't your call," said Theo.

"Theo, I'm telling you the truth. Moses don't deserve it."

"He deserves worse."

"No, he don't."

"After what he did," said Theo.

"Theo, it wasn't him. Moses didn't do it."

"How do you know?"

"Because I was there."

"What do you mean, you were there?"

"I did it!"

Theo looked at him with disbelief. Jack and Andie looked equally stu

Theo said, "I don't believe you."

Cy took a step closer. "She ruined me with her damn drugs. I had a career, a reputation in this town. Until she hooked me on crack. Lost every single one of my gigs. Pretty soon the only joint that would hire me was a dive like Homeboy's. And the only reason they put up with me is 'cause Portia turned her tricks there and gave the manager a cut."