the ground and rolled over and tore the machine off his head.
She switched off the flashlight and ran through the trees.
Chapter 41
Patty knew running would turn out either smart or dumb, depending on whether Karel caught her or not. Simple as that. At first she was hopeful. She was running well, and she figured he might be slow to get going. He might worry a little about an ambush up ahead, with the beam of light. Like a space movie on Shorty’s TV.
Then, bad news. She heard crashing feet behind her. Getting closer. She darted right and changed direction. Karel was slower to turn. She got ahead of him. He caught up again. He got to where he was just behind her. Up ahead in the bouncing night vision she saw the track. Coming up. Closer and closer. Bright and clear. She was running toward it at an angle. There were crashing feet behind her. She burst out on the track. Karel burst out after her. He planted his feet. He raised his bow.
They were lit up by headlight beams. Amplified twenty thousand times. Like atom bombs. They ducked away. Karel flipped up his tube. Patty tore the whole apparatus off her head. The world went dark, except the car. The black Mercedes. All lit up. Slowing down. Mark at the wheel. He came to a stop. He opened the door. He got out. He stayed away from the headlights. He stepped forward in the shadows.
Karel raised his bow again.
He aimed the arrow at Patty.
But he spoke to Mark.
He said, “What’s on fire up there?”
Mark paused a beat.
“Everything’s on fire,” he said. “We’re in a whole new ball game now.”
“We?”
“You’re kind of involved. Wouldn’t you say? People have died. This is going to be no stone unturned. We should get out. Right this minute. Just you and me. We need to do it, Karel. The pressure will be heavy duty. We might not survive it if we stay.”
“Just you and me?”
“You’re my number one draft pick. The others are useless. They’re a burden. You know that.”
Karel didn’t answer.
Mark said, “We don’t have much time.”
“We have plenty,” Karel said. “The night is still young. We can’t be disturbed. No one can get in.”
“We need to talk about that. Really we need to move your truck right now.”
“Why?”
“A tactical thing. An in-game adjustment.”
“We don’t need a tactical in-game adjustment. Not now. Not anymore. Shorty is wounded, and I got Patty right here. The game is over.”
“OK, shoot her and then let’s get going.”
“I would want to go finish Shorty first.”
“You’re stalling.”
“What?”
“Do you even have the key?”
“What key?”
“The key to the truck,” Mark said. “Where is it?”
“What kind of question is that? My truck is worth a lot of money.”
Mark nodded.
“Exactly,” he said. “I’m your best friend, worried on your behalf. I hope you didn’t leave the key on your nightstand. If you did, you better call a tow truck. For your tow truck. The motel burned down. That was the first thing on fire up there.”
“I got the key right here,” Karel said. “It’s in my pocket.”
“Good to know,” Mark said. He moved the long black gun out from behind his leg, and he shot Karel four times, all in the rib cage under the arm that was holding the bow.
The gunshots were loud but dull.
The long tube on the front was a silencer, Patty thought.
Karel went down on the track, in a sudden buckling heap, with the hiss of nylon, and the clatter of his bow, and the crack of his head on the blacktop.
Mark turned the gun on Patty.
He said, “Go get the key out his pocket.”
Patty paused a beat, and then got right to it. She felt she had done worse, pulling the arrow out of Shorty’s leg. The key was warm. It was no bigger than the Honda’s.
“Throw it over here,” Mark said.
“Then you’ll shoot me,” she said.
“I could shoot you anytime. I could take the key from your cold dead hand. I’m not squeamish.”
She threw the key.
It landed at his feet.
He said, “How bad is Shorty?”
“Pretty bad,” she said.
“Can he move?”
“His leg is broken.”
“I think you and I might be the last two standing,” Mark said. “And I have to say poor old Shorty is shit out of luck with me. I’m certainly not going back to help him. He can stay where he is, as far as I’m concerned.”
Patty said nothing.
“Purely as a matter of interest, how long do you think he would