stood in the broad daylight darkness within her mobile home, watching Cole and the woman pound on his trailer. This wasn't the same woman who had come to Cole's house, but she carried herself like a cop. She strutted.
They knew. It was clear to Frederick that they had identified him. He watched them stand on either side of his door as they knocked, and knew they intended to kill him.
If Cole had come alone, Frederick would have thrown open the door and cut loose with the shotgun. At this range, it would have been easy. But now Frederick hesitated. Taking two of them would be more difficult. He could get one for sure, but two…
As much as Frederick wanted to kill Cole, he hoped they would get into their cars and leave. If they left, he might still get away in Juanita's old Dodge, just get in that baby and ease down the hill, and head up to Bakersfield. Live to fight another day. Live to hunt down Cole on a better day.
Frederick heard Payne said, "That's my boy."
Payne had been a good father.
Cole and the woman turned away from Frederick 's mobile home, and Frederick thought he was home free, but then they started toward Juanita's. Frederick held the shotgun so tightly that his forearms cramped.
Cole stepped around Juanita's Dodge and came toward the broken door.
Cole
The Dodge sedan was silted with a thin layer of undisturbed dust. It probably hadn't been driven in at least a week, but for all I knew it hadn't been driven in years. If Conrad's neighbors used a second vehicle, they probably weren't even home.
I went up to the door and knocked.
"Hello?"
Diaz stood well to the side.
I knocked again, then turned to see if anyone had come out of the other trailers. I turned back to the door, and knocked again.
Diaz said, "I'll check the next trailer."
She moved away, and I knocked again at the door.
"I'm giving away money."
Humor.
Diaz said, "Hey, Cole."
I glanced over. She pursed her lips, then wet them, and I thought she was sad.
"I'm sorry."
I nodded.
The door's handle was bent and wilted. The entire mobile home looked wilted.
"Last chance."
I knocked for the last time.
Frederick
A thin edge of light lay across Frederick 's face like a scar as he held his breath. He stood to the side of the door, watching Cole and the woman through a break in the drapes. He heard Cole say her name. Diaz?
Her name rang a bell, but Frederick didn't have time to think about it; she told Cole she was going to check the next trailer, and then she turned away. They were separating, and now he could kill Cole!
Frederick flicked off the shotgun's safety, then eased forward, reaching for the handle.
She was walking away as Cole hammered at the door.
Thank you, Juanita.
Frederick touched the bent and broken handle with his fingertips, then heard the approaching sirens-
Cole
Diaz and I heard the sirens at the same time. I turned away from the mobile home and took eight steps toward my car so that I could better see the street. Exactly eight; then I stopped.
Diaz said, "Goddamnit-that must be Pardy."
"I told you he was taking it to O'Loughlin."
Her face was creased with disgust when she turned back toward me, and I saw the moment when her eyes focused on something behind and beyond me.
I wish I could have been everything the articles made me out to be, and leaped into action to save us, but true crime and true cops are never that good. I didn't hear anything. I didn't see it coming. The blast kicked me down as if I had been broadsided by a car. I went down, and looked up, and saw Diaz with a perfect clarity as if my eyesight had grown inhumanly sharp. Her hand was under her jacket, reaching for her gun when she suddenly snapped backward against the old Dodge. A cluster of black grapes appeared below her breasts. Diaz staggered, but the vest had saved her and the Dodge held her up. She was still on her feet.
A man I did not know ran forward from the open door of the trailer. He was heavily built, but he moved quickly. He ran past me with a short black shotgun to his shoulder. Diaz brought up her gun, but the shotgun went off as she fired, and Diaz was knocked away.
The heavy man staggered sideways, looked down at himself, then looked at me. A red heart grew on his chest. He