Rafferty stumbled outside, tried waving after the helicopter. But the helicopter kept on going.
Rafferty was desperate. He could barely stand up. Too much blood had been taken from him.
Rafferty looked out across the valley and saw a red plume of dust from Lester's approaching truck and the helicopter rapidly receding. His heart fell.
Rafferty rummaged through Mad Dog's pockets and found a book of matches. Rafferty staggered into the drying house. He found and spilled a can of kerosene all over the floor. He used the book of matches to set afire a marijuana stalk. A giant flame shot up instantly. Then the room that was filled with marijuana stalks exploded into flame.
Rafferty barely escaped from the drying house. Within seconds, the drying house was ablaze.
Lester was in his truck roaring up the road towards the drying house when he saw the flames shooting up from the drying house. He sped up. He was screaming incoherently.
Rafferty grabbed Mad Dog's fungo bat and the wire prong and hid in the bushes behind the portajohn. He was wild eyed and desperate.
Lester Rahler raced from his truck towards the drying house just before it exploded into a blazing bonfire, which sent him reeling.
Lester saw his father's corpse in the dirt and ran to it. He cradled his dead father and wept.
Rafferty was lying in fear in the brush behind the portajohn.
Outraged and with murderous eyes, Lester took his shotgun from his truck and stalked after Rafferty. Lester shotgunned the bushes.
"I'm gonna kill you!"
Lester blasted a hole in the portajohn which then collapsed.
"I'll track you down and kill you!"
As the portajohn collapsed, Rafferty hid his face in the dirt, too weak to fight. He peered around remains of the portajohn and watched Lester reloading. Then they both heard the sound of the helicopter returning.
When Lester saw the Sheriff's helicopter approaching, he stayed long enough to trade a few shots with Sheriff Hartman. Then he ran off to his truck, which he fled in.
The helicopter landed by the burning house. Sheriff Hartman and Alice Taylor climbed out and found that Mad Dog was dead. They spotted Rafferty as he half-crawled, half-stumbled to the helicopter. Sheriff Hartman and Alice helped Rafferty to the helicopter.
Rafferty said weakly, "They took my blood."
Sheriff Hartman and Alice were outraged and horrified.
A minute later the Sheriff's helicopter flew towards a blood-red sunset.
Sheriff Hartman stood beside Rafferty's hospital bed, staring squeamishly at the bag of blood that hung down and ran into Rafferty's arm. Rafferty looked terrible, was bruised and battered, but was improving.
Rafferty felt very weak. "Does he have any family?"
Hartman said, "In Oklahoma City. A wife and three kids."
"I misjudged him," Rafferty said. "Jack Draper was a hero. He died trying to save my life."
A nurse came in and began replacing the blood bag with a new one.
Rafferty asked, "Any word about Lester?"
Hartman said, "None. How much blood have they given you?"
"That's the third one already," Rafferty said.
Hartman bunched his shoulders and shivered.
Later Rafferty was alone in his hospital room. The door opened and Ginny Hong entered with Eddie Ka’aina who sat in a wheelchair, with much of his lower neck wrapped in bandages.
Ginny said, "Can we come in?"
Rafferty said, "Ginny ... "
As Ginny hugged Rafferty, Rafferty realized Eddie Ka’aina was behind her. But Eddie brushed jealousy aside. He was grateful and contrite.
He told Rafferty, "I want to thank you for helping save my life."
Rafferty said, "Someday maybe you'll do the same for me."
Eddie asked, "When are they cutting you free?"
"The doctors say tomorrow," Rafferty said. "After I get my strength back."
"How 'bout I buy you a steak dinner?"
Rafferty said, "And then I'll buy you one."
They shook hands as friends.
At twilight Rafferty was alone in his hospital room when Alice Taylor popped in with a big bouquet of flowers, which she placed on Rafferty's lap.
"How you doing, beautiful?"
Rafferty smiled. "Better and better."
"Have you ever made love atop a volcano?"
Rafferty was amused and skeptical.
"Is it dormant or active?"
Alice reached under his blanket.
"It's not dormant," Alice said.
"Oh, I wish I could do more."
"Then I’ll do it."
Exhausted, Sheriff Hartman was trudging through the hospital and met one of his deputies interviewing one of the doctors.
"What are you doing here?" Hartman asked.
The deputy said, "Some medical supplies are missing from the hospital."
Sheriff Hartman found this very interesting.
At that same hour of night Paula Grayson answered her back door and found Jimmy Quint outside. Paula was concerned. "Jimmy! Where've you been?"
"Mauka. I had some problems I had to get straightened out."
Paula coaxed Jimmy into the kitchen. There she set some instant coffee in front of them. He pushed away the cookies she offered.
Jimmy asked, "Do you know about the money?"
Paula nodded. "Do you know where it's hidden?"
Jimmy nodded. "Paula, I'm going to use it as bait. If it's okay with you."
"To get the killers?"
"They're going to come back, and I'll be waiting for them."
"They were there last night," Paula said.
"But they didn't find it." He was defiant. "And you can't stop me or talk me out of it."
"I'm wondering if maybe I shouldn't join you. I've got about the same hatred that you have."
Jimmy said with difficulty, "This isn't hatred. This is ... my duty, maybe. Maybe the first step in how I come back from where I've been."
"Rafferty wants to see you again."
Jimmy was surprised. "What’s he up to these days?’
Rafferty awoke in his hospital room in the middle of the night and found Jimmy Quint fingering and poking the blood bag hanging down into Rafferty's arm. Jimmy saw Rafferty awake and with a guilty look stopped poking the bag of blood.
"Hi, Terry, it's me."
Rafferty was bleary-eyed. "Jimmy?"
As Rafferty turned on the bedside light, Jimmy jumped back and now sat in the chair by the bed.
Jimmy said, "How are you?"
"I'll be fine by morning," Rafferty said.
"That's what Paula told me. I can't stay long. I got to get back up to my brother's place."
"You can't go back up there, Jimmy. It's no good brooding like you're doing."
Jimmy was surprised. "Oh, I'm on my way back from all that."
Rafferty said, "Jimmy, you're in trouble with the law. You took a potshot at me in the kitchen, then you disappeared into the woods. Then you took a potshot at the deputies at your brother's garden. Resisting arrest, too."
Jimmy was defensive. "I can explain -- "
"You have to explain it to the Sheriff."
"First I got to get their killers."
"You know who they were?"
Jimmy shook his head. "I got there too late. But I know why."
"The eight hundred thousand dollars Jeremiah got for selling his crop."
"Terry, they were after the money. They didn't get it. That's why they'll come back for it. Oh. Who told you?" With haunted eyes, Jimmy added, "Well, they'll have to pay for it."
"Are you going to try to kill them?"
"Terry, I came to this island because I lost the love of my life." Jimmy left his chair. "And since then I've lost the only other people I've ever loved."