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Gandy’s friend was back.
“I’m freezing,” Michelle muttered.
Gandy smiled. “You can sit right in front of the heater in the van if you want.”
“I want. The coldest I’ve ever been was skiing in Colorado. And you can head back to the lodge anytime. This’s a little different.”
They plunged along another path, steeply downhill. The camper was in a crumbling parking lot. An old building being reclaimed by the forest was nearby.
They were fifty feet from the lot when Bry
“What is it, Bry
Gandy took a step forward, paused, sca
Bry
The man crouched and studied the trees.
Bry
The young woman froze. Then nodded.
“When I tell you, run for it. Run like hell. Keep that with you.” Glancing at the spear.
“But-”
Bry
“No.”
Bry
“What’re you doing?”
“Now, Michelle, run!”
The man stepped back, but stopped as Bry
“Run!” she cried. “I’ll meet you where I said.”
Michelle hesitated only a moment, then fled back up the path. She melted into the night.
“What the hell’s going on here?” Gandy stopped, eyes wide in confusion.
“Get down on your knees, hands on your head.”
“This is bullshit.”
“Now, who’s in-” Her words were cut off as a hand grabbed her collar from behind and tugged hard. Off balance, she stumbled backward. A large woman with straight hair and fury in her eyes stepped in front of her and swung a fish-killing club into her belly. Bry
“The fuck is she?” the woman muttered.
Gandy strode forward and pulled Bry
Bry
The woman aimed the rifle at her and growled, “That’s it, honey.”
Bry
“You okay?” the woman asked Gandy.
“Do I look okay?” he spat out. He peered up the path. “Was another one. She got away.”
“Who is she? They with Fletcher?”
He grabbed Bry
She didn’t tell him that the distinctive smell of cooking methamphetamine-propane, chlorine and ammonia-had wafted to her on the damp night air.
The camper was a portable lab.
“Let’s get inside,” the woman said, looking around. “We’ve gotta tell Rudy. He’s not go
Gandy dragged Bry
“You’re the one screamed,” she couldn’t resist saying. And was rewarded with another fist in her face.
THE CAMPER WAS filthy, filled with plates of old food and discarded beer cans and clothing and other trash.
And it was hot. A half dozen metal pots sat on two propane stoves. Canisters of anhydrous ammonia lined one wall; a workstation for cutting apart lithium batteries was in the corner. There were also huge piles of matches.
Gandy pushed Bry
“Who’s she?” said a scrawny, twitchy young man in an Aerosmith T-shirt and filthy jeans. He hadn’t shaved in some time or washed his hair. His fingernails were black crescents. A heavier man in overalls, with curly red hair, looked Bry
The overweight woman who’d slugged her with the club said to a little girl, about nine or ten, in a shabby T-shirt and stained denim skirt, “Keep going. You’re not through yet.” The girl-Amy, the stepdaughter, Bry
The ski
“Shhh,” the heavy one snapped. “What’s the story?”
Gandy grimaced. “She’s a deputy, Rudy.”
“Bullshit. Dressed like that? And she’s a fucking mess. Look at her… She’s from Fletcher’s crew.”
“I saw her ID.”
Rudy was looking Bry
Bry
“Shut up,” Gandy said, though lethargically, as if it would take too much effort to hit her again.
The ski
“Mommy…”
The woman slapped her own thigh twice. Apparently a command meaning: Be quiet. Amy instantly stopped speaking. This infuriated Bry
The woman’s fingers were stained yellow. Though she probably wasn’t a tweaker herself, she clearly wanted a cigarette. But lighting up in a meth lab would be like using a match to find a gas pocket in a coal mine.
Rudy asked, “Was she alone?”
“No. Somebody was with her. She got away. They claim a couple of guys’re after them. I saw ’em. But I don’t know what’s going on. Something about a break-in in Lake Mondac. It’s about five miles-”
“I know where it is.” Rudy walked close. Examined Bry
Gandy said, “I don’t know. How the hell could he find us here? We covered all the tracks.”
Rudy’s eyes went mad for a moment and he leaned into Bry
Bry
When she said nothing he screamed, “Who are you?” He pulled a pistol from his taut waistband and pushed it against her neck.
“No,” Bry
The woman dropped the club on the counter. “Oh, no…”
But Gandy was laughing. “No way. She had a fucking spear. She was on the run from some assholes broke into a house around here. What she told me’s the truth. No police, no troopers. Oh, and no choppers in the county. She told me they don’t use them around here for tactical work. Only medical. That answers one of our questions.” He smiled at Bry