Big trouble

Henry grabbed Roger by the collar and lifted him off Leonard. This did not cause Roger any physical discomfort, as Roger was basically a large fur-covered muscle controlled by a brain the size of a Raisinet. In fact, Roger was delighted: Another person was here! Maybe this one had food!

"Get down, dammit," said Henry, trying to push the dog away, wondering if maybe he would have to shoot it. Suddenly, Roger's head snapped up. He had detected something that Henry and Leonard could not hear at this distance: the intercom buzzer! Roger knew that sound; it meant somebody was here. And whoever it was might have food. As suddenly as he had appeared, Roger went rocketing back toward the house.

Henry said, "I'm go

Eddie, wrapping the phone cord around Matt's wrists, had tied one knot — he thought it was a square, but it was actually a gra

Everybody looked at Snake. The intercom buzzed again, longer this time.

"OK," said Snake, grabbing A

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Miami Police," said a male voice.

"Shit," whispered Snake.

The intercom voice said, "This is Officer Kramitz and Officer Ramirez. Can we come in, please?"

A

"What do you want?" A

"We need to talk to Je

Snake whispered, "Tell 'em she ain't here."

"She's not here," said A

There was a pause, then the voice said, "Well, can we come in and speak to you for a moment, ma'am?"

A

"I'm opening the gate," said A

"Sounded to me like somebody was telling her what to say," said Walter, as the gate slid open.

"Yeah, I heard that, too," said Monica. "I'm wondering if it was the husband."

"He's the asshole, right?" said Walter.

"That's him," said Monica. "I'm wondering if Je

"They don't wa

"Right," said Monica.

"Well," said Walter, stopping the cruiser in the Herk driveway, "they're go

He and Monica got out of the car and went to the front door. Walter knocked and said, "It's the police."

The door opened just wide enough for A

"Yes, officers?" she said. "Can I help you?"

Her jaw was clenched; her eyes were too wide. Even Walter could tell there was something wrong.

Both he and Monica assumed that the asshole husband had told her what to say, and was listening to her.

"Mrs. Herk," said Monica, "we want to talk to Je

"I told you Je

"Mrs. Herk," said Monica, "Do you mind if we come in for a minute?"

"I… I… No," A

"Mrs. Herk, is something wrong?" asked Monica.

"No," said A

Monica and Walter looked at each other. They both knew that, without a warrant, they could not legally enter this house by force.

"OK, then, Mrs. Herk," said Monica. "I'm go

"Yes," said A

"Do you think you could go a little faster?" Eliot asked the cab driver. The driver looked up into the rearview and studied Eliot for a few seconds, which was not really a dangerous maneuver, because he was going only about eight miles per hour. Over the years, Eliot had noticed that in Miami, in contrast to other cities, where cab drivers tended to go faster than everybody else, they generally traveled at the speed of diseased livestock. Eliot suspected that this driver was stoned on something.

"What's the big hurry?" the driver asked, still looking at Eliot, as opposed to the road.

"This is an emergency," said Eliot.

"Huh," said the driver, not going any faster. In fact, he appeared to actually slow down, while he thought about it.

After a few seconds, he said, "Which one is Caramba Street?"

"It's not Caramba Street," said Eliot. "It's Garbanzo Street. Garbanzo."

This new information caused the cab driver to slow still more.

"I thought you tole me Caramba Street," he said.

"No," said Eliot, starting to lose it, "Garbanzo."

The cab driver thought about that. They were now going slower than Eliot normally walked.

'Tell you the truth," said the cab driver, "I never even heard of no Caramba Street."

"Look," said Eliot, "could you just…»

"I ain't sayin' there ain't no Caramba Street," said the driver. "I'm just sayin' I never heard of it."

"Could you please go to Garbanzo as fast as possible?" said Eliot.

"What's the big hurry?" asked the driver.

"THIS IS A FUCKING EMERGENCY," said Eliot.

"OK, OK, OK," said the driver, taking both hands off the wheel and holding them in front of him, palms out, to indicate that, sheesh, enough already. "You don't gotta yell."

When Monica shoved her way through the front door of the Herk home, A

Two steps behind, Walter, surprised by Monica's decision to force her way in, was saying, "Jesus, Monica, what're you… " Then he stopped, too, because he saw what Monica was seeing: Snake, standing just beyond A

"I'll kill you both," Snake said. "Swear to God, you gimme one excuse, I'll fuckin' kill you both right now."

Monica said, "We're not go

"Shut up!" said Snake. "Just shut up an' put up them hands. Eddie! Get in here."

Eddie came around the corner and saw the two police officers, with their hands up.

"Oh Jesus, Snake," he said.

"Shut up, goddammit," said Snake. "Just do like I say. Close the door and get their guns and bring 'em here."

Eddie closed the door, then went to Monica, unsnapped her belt holster, and took the Clock 40. It felt heavy in his hand. Next he got Walter's gun. Walter, his arms in the air, tensed his biceps and gave Eddie a hard-ass stare, but Eddie didn't meet his eyes.

Eddie, carrying the cops' Clocks as though they were rabid weasels, brought them over to Snake, who stuck one in each of his pockets. He was feeling very confident now; he had three magic wands. The cops had been a surprise, but he'd handled it, hadn't he? He had a new plan now, and he was feeling good about it, seeing in his mind the moves he would make.

Snake waved A

"You're making a mistake," said Monica.

"Only mistake will be if you open your fuckin' mouth again, lady cop," said Snake. "Lady cops bleed just as good as man cops." He liked the way that came out. It sounded like something a kingpin would say.