"Oh. That's beautiful." Clare waded into the water. "And it's good, because you're not supposed to leave people to die. You two are beautiful. You wanna get married? 'Cause I can marry you. Legal and all."
There was another boom. The Humvee trying to batter its way into the barn. The sound sobered Clare for a moment. "What's going on over there?"
"Donald. And Neil. They figgured if they could get to the stuff underneath that hadn't burned yet, they could save some. They been hiding it ever since they stole it. 'Sworth a lot of money. There's a lot in there."
Clare filled her lungs. "I can tell." She laughed. "Okay, this is serious. We brought a four-wheel-drive up here. Come with me. Let's all get in and get the hell away from here."
"You said hell." Isabel tugged at Amado's sleeve. He smiled amiably and followed her, dragging Bruce Christie's limp form behind him.
"Yeah. I used to swear a lot. I had to give it up when I became a priest." Clare ducked beneath the water, drenching herself, then led the happy pair toward where she thought the Aztek was parked.
She found it, after several more deep breaths of smoke. She helped Amado wrestle Bruce inside. Isabel clambered over the two men.
Clare looked around the interior. It was a lot smaller with three people in the back. "I dunno how we're going to fit your other brothers in here."
"Oh, let 'em burn and die," Isabel said cheerfully. "Burn and die, burn and die."
"Be nice, now," Clare said. "Okay, I'm going to find Kevin and Hadley." She turned on the Aztek's engine and cranked the AC and blowers on high. "I'll be right back."
She slammed the door shut and staggered toward the downslope side of the barn. "Hadley! Kevin!" A flash in the corner of her eye made her turn so quickly she staggered and fell down. A wall of flame had exploded at the edge of the field, clawing up into the trees, racing along the grass. Toward the narrow mountain road. "Lord a-mercy. That's not good."
There was another boom. She stumbled toward the sound. "Hadley! Kevin!"
"Here! Over here!" She followed Hadley's voice, to find the woman tugging on Kevin's arm. "Come on, Flynn. You aren't going to stop them."
"I can do it," he said. "I'm a good shot. I'm a really good shot." He swayed.
"He wants to shoot their tires out," Hadley said. "Like the kid in the movie. 'You'll shoot your eye out!' " She giggled.
As Clare watched, the Humvee backed up for another run at the barn. She had to hand it to them; those things were built like tanks. Then Kevin brought his gun up and dropped into a shooting stance. Which would have been more impressive if he wasn't listing like a sinking ship.
"No!" Hadley yelled.
Clare rammed her shoulder into Kevin's arms as he squeezed the trigger. His shot went off overhead. He staggered upright and looked at Clare reproachfully. His eyes were dilated black. "You shouldn't have done that."
"Kevin, you can't aim. You're stoned. You're under the influence of illegal drugs."
"Am not!"
"Are so."
"You guys." Hadley shook her head, trying to stop laughing. "The whole damn mountain's going to go up in a minute."
The Humvee roared forward. Flames shot out from beneath the hood. It hit the barn. Cracked stone crumbled, battered beams fell, and bale after bale of shrink-wrapped marijuana tumbled out of the broken wall, like the payout from an enormous slot machine.
"Whoa," Kevin said.
The Humvee blew up.
The pressure wave knocked Clare and the officers to the ground. A fireball shot into the sky, chewing and charring the remains of the barn, and an irregular skirt of fire ripped across the grass from the inferno of twisted metal and glass.
"Holy shit." Hadley pushed up from the ground. "C'mon. Let's get out of here."
They ran for the Aztek. Kevin scrambled into the driver's seat, while Clare and Hadley wedged into the passenger side.
"You sure you can drive?" Hadley said.
" 'Course I can," Kevin said, throwing his SUV into gear. "I'm a good driver. I'm a very good driver."
"Nobody's a good driver when they're high."
"I'm not high! I've never gotten high in my life." He hit the gas.
"God, Flynn. I don't think anyone could be more vanilla unless they were Amish. I'm sorry I debauched you, now."
"Okay, everybody? Hold on. We have to drive really really fast through this fire here." He accelerated toward a wall of flame.
Isabel screamed. "No!" Clare shouted. "You idiot!" Hadley yelled. Then they were in it, and then they were through, jouncing and plunging, careening down the narrow road, bouncing like popcorn kernels inside the SUV.
"We're gonna die," Isabel said tearfully. "We're gonna die." Amado recited something over and over. Clare thought it was the Hail Mary. She dug her hands into the sides of the seat and hung on for dear life.
"That wasn't debauchery. That was love." Kevin's voice softened, although his foot was as heavy as ever. "Love, love, love," he sang.
"Aw, Flynn. I'm sorry. I was harshin' you. You're a good man. You're too good for me."
Clare felt tears welling up in her eyes. "You guys are beautiful. You wanna get married? I can do it, you know. Just say the word."
XXX
Lyle MacAuley rolled his cruiser to a stop between Flynn's Aztek and the crumpled remains of Clare Fergusson's car. Beside him, one of the responding EMT crews worked to extricate someone from the upside-down wreck. Christly hell. If he had to tell Russ she was-he wouldn't do it. He'd go home, get his things together, and leave for Florida.
He got out of his unit. Behind him, the last of the Millers Kill Volunteer Fire Department trucks screamed uphill toward the mountain road. The Corinth and Lake Luzerne departments were on the way.
"Whaddaya got?"
"One guy. Broken collarbone, two broken legs. Concussion, probably." The EMT leaned back so Lyle could get a glimpse. "Know him?"
Lyle looked at the studs and tattoos. "Not as well as I'm going to." He straightened. "Was there a woman inside?"
"Nope."
Thank God for that. So where the hell was she? And where were Kevin and Hadley? He heard a noise. Circled, slowly, trying to pinpoint it. Coming from Kevin's Aztek. He walked closer. It was… what the hell?… voices. A bunch of 'em. Singing "All You Need Is Love."