UnSouled

Can’t think about that now. He reaches the top and drops down so close to a huge German shepherd mix, the dog is taken aback. It barks its head off, but its brief hesitation gives Lev the advantage. He bolts down the side yard, through an easy latched gate, and to a front yard, where the owner opted for low-maintenance river stones instead of grass. This is Cypress Street, where more traffic flows than would usually be the case when the main drag isn’t closed for construction. Lev can see the police car accelerating down the street toward him. The only thing between him and the street is a dense hedge, just high enough to be a problem, and he thinks how stupid if, after everything, he’s screwed because of some lousy bush. He hurdles the hedge, but all that adrenaline-pumped momentum takes him too far, and there are no sidewalks on these streets. He lands on the asphalt of Cypress Street, right in the path of the approaching police car.

10 • Co

“Of all the freaking days to have roadwork!” Co

“It’s not just today,” Grace tells him. “They been diggin’ up that sewer pipe for weeks. Stinks to high heaven too.”

Co

Then suddenly some kid leaps into the road in front of him, and he immediately flashes back to the damnable ostrich—but if there’s roadkill today, it will be a lot worse than a dead bird. Co

“Ooh, this is bad, Argie!” Grace says, probably not even realizing she just called Co

Co

The figure lying sprawled on the road is groaning. Co

Lev’s face is a grimace of pain. “It is you,” Lev says. “I knew it.”

Speechless doesn’t even begin to describe Co

“Is he dead?” Grace asks, stepping out of the car and covering her eyes. “I don’t wa

“No, but . . .” Instead of saying anything more, he lifts Lev up, and Lev releases a helpless wail. Only now does Co

“It’s him?” says Grace, having uncovered her eyes. “What’s he doing here? Did you plan this? It wasn’t a very good plan, if you did.”

On porches around them, people have come out to observe the little drama. Co

“Hospital’s up on Baxter,” Grace says.

“Can’t,” Co

Grace leans closer to Lev, looking at his shoulder. “Dislocated,” she says. “Happened to Argent once. Playing Ping-Pong. Rammed his shoulder into a wall. Blamed me for it, a’ course, since I sent him chasing the ball. Won the point too.” She puts both her hands on Lev’s shoulder. “This is go

Lev releases a siren wail of pain that makes Co

“Like diving into a cold pool,” Grace says. “Gotta do it quick before you start thinkin’ on it.”

Even in his pain, Lev has the presence of mind to actually thank her for fixing his shoulder, but there must be more going on inside that they can’t see, because Lev grimaces in pain every time he shifts position.

Following Grace’s plan, they pull into the supermarket parking lot and leave the squad car there, along with the keys and the deputy’s gun—because a missing gun will beg too many questions. Leave the man his car and his gun, and he might just keep quiet to save himself from humiliation.

Co

“It’ll get worse before it gets better,” Grace says, stating the obvious, and Co

At the last stop light before the interstate, Co

“Why do you want him to do that?” asks Grace.

“Because there’s something I need to see.”

Lev lifts his shirt, and Co

“Lordy, lordy, lordy,” Grace says, her voice shaky. “You shouldn’t a’ hit him! You shouldn’t a’ hit him!”

“Okay,” Co

“What do we know?” warbles Grace in a panic. “We don’t know nothin’!”

“You know my deep dark secret,” Lev says lazily. “I’m turning into an eggplant.” He tries to laugh at his own joke, but the laugh is aborted because it causes him too much pain.

Risa would know what to do, Co

He glances at the glove compartment. People sometimes keep ibuprofen or Aspirin in there, although he doesn’t expect that much luck, considering how his luck has been ru