And for some damned reason that made everyone, Felix and Crow included, break up into laughter.
And then they kept laughing and kept laughing and they couldn't stop and Felix, tears running down his eyes and wondering what in the world was so goddamned funny, turned and caught Davette's eyes and her laughter was so pure and healthy and warm...
"I guess we have our moments," murmured Annabelle a few seconds later.
And Felix looked at her and thought: I guess you do.
An hour later they were on the road to Dallas, backed up in heavy interstate traffic snarled by a Texas thunderstorm leaning in from the north.
Part Three Chapter 23
The motorhome and Blazer were parked side by side at the cul-de-sac at the end of Davette's beautifully sculptured street by three that afternoon. But without headlights, they couldn't see one from the other.
"Look at it comin' down!" whispered the deputy in amazement.
Felix, sitting beside him at the far end of the motorhome, nodded and put out his newly lit cigarette. It was too damn smoky in there already. But every time they tried to open the door to get some fresh air, the bloody thunderstorm about drowned them.
Felix shook his head disgustedly. Midsummer, three o'clock in the afternoon, and it was probably no more than fifty degrees out there. And the damned sky was green!
Ker-plap! went another bolt of lightning, and everyone in the motorhome - which was everyone they had - jumped another foot.
"I do wish they'd stop doing that!" muttered Cat airily.
Nobody laughed.
"Well, hell," said Jack at last. "I guess there goes today."
"Yeah," agreed Carl, staring out at the storm. "Funny thing is: we could've blown the whole damn mansion up in this stuff and I don't think even the next-door neighbors would have heard it." He looked at Davette and smiled. "As 'next-door' as this neighborhood gets, I mean," be added.
Davette didn't smile. She just looked at the floor between her feet and continued hugging her elbows, her face drawn and tight.
She doesn't like being here, thought Felix.
And he wanted to go to her and do something or say something, but...
But he didn't. Too many people around and... and what was he going to say, anyway? They were going to do this one way or another, no matter how she felt. She was the reason they were here, if anything.
"Dammit!" sputtered Jack Crow. "I would like to know if they're here, at least. Joplin! Turn that thing on."
"It won't work," replied Carl.
"Why not? Are they busted?"
"You're trying to read the house, right?"
"Right."
"It won't reach."
"Because of the storm? It's only a couple of hundred feet."
Carl shook his head. "It's not the storm. It's the location. I could read the house from here if I had a sensor in the house. But you gotta have a sensor on-site."
"You mean already at the house."
Carl nodded. "Or in it."
"Now there's a happy thought," offered Cat.
Jack looked at him. "You up to it?"
Cat shrugged. "I wish I had a shower cap," he said and began stripping off his chain mail.
"What do you think you're doing?" Carl asked him.
"Don't worry. I'm not going in. An outside wall would be close enough, wouldn't it?"
Felix thought this was crazy. But he only said, "Are you sure this is a good idea?"
"Well, I'm sure," declared Joplin. "It's a shitty idea." He looked square at Cat. "It's also even stupider than your usual."
"Look, Carl," urged Jack. "It's just a matter of him taking it up there and stashing it in the bushes or somewhere."
"Yeah," agreed Cat. "Just Catting it in and Catting it out."
And he smiled.
And Carl Joplin all but erupted. "Bullshit!" he bellowed. "Bullshit! It's been dark for what? Two hours already."
"Yeah, but - " Cat tried.
"'Yeah, but - ' shit! You sit your butt back down or I'll dribble you from one end of this trailer to the other!"
And he stood over Cat, huffing and puffing, his arms out like a hungry linebacker, and it got very quiet until Cat spoke, in a small voice: "Okay, Carl," he said, shrugging.
Carl nodded firmly. "Okay," he confirmed, still heaving.
Then he noticed everyone watching him. He blinked, hesitated, then seemed to get more angry.
"We meeting at Felix's bar, that Antwar place?"
Jack nodded.
Carl turned to Felix. "You sure you got enough room?"
"I'm sure."
"Fine!" barked Carl. He looked around at the others. "Fine," he repeated. "I'll meet you there. I'm gonna get some more bullets for the Gunman and a suit for the