Last Call

Chapter 48

You need to go after him!" said Redden.

Moses didn't budge. The two men were still inside the barn, standing in one of the empty stalls. The top half of the dutch door was open just enough for Moses to see out into the pasture.

"He'll be back," said Moses.

"I think you're wrong. He's got his uncle, he's got Lance's car. 'e's gone. Redden was pacing now, his nerves fraying. Moses was a picture of calm. "Shut up," said Moses.

Redden stopped dead in his tracks. "But you're letting him get away."

Moses glanced out through the opening, then back at Redden. "Have you ever met Theo Knight?"

"No."

"Well, I have. Not for a long time, but I can read people pretty quick. Trust me. Right this minute, he's on his way back here to take care of us."

Redden started pacing again. "I don't see how you can be so sure."

"I was right so far, wasn't I? Didn't I tell you that Gilford's phone call was a setup? Didn't I warn you that if you or me stepped one foot outside this barn to meet Gilford, Knight would shoot us dead?"

"You also said that when Knight saw his uncle he'd do something stupid. You were supposed to take him out."

Moses looked toward the pasture again. "Give him a little time. I can feel it. He's gonna do something real stupid."

A shot rang out from somewhere by the lake. Then another. Redden froze.

Moses smiled to himself. "Told you."

THEO KEPT RUNNING TOWARD the barn. Darkness was his friend, but for maximum cover he moved from tree to tree across the pasture. Much of the forest had been cleared with the development of the farm, but the biggest oaks remained. Theo stopped about fifty yards from the stable entrance, crouched beneath century-old limbs.

Theo didn't know much about Redden, other than that he'd raped his mother. Studying the enemy before the attack was always a good idea, but somehow a fifty-something frat boy didn't seem that scary.

Moses was another story.

The fit between Redden and Moses didn't strike Theo as natural. Throw Isaac Reems into the mix, and that was one odd-shaped triangle. Crime, as the saying goes, makes for strange bedfellows. Theo supposed that was especially true when the rape of a black teenager in an all-white fraternity was caught on film.

Theo peered out from around the tree trunk and looked toward the barn. He couldn't be certain that Redden and Moses were still there, but two cars had been parked outside the stable earlier. Both were still there. Gilford's body was still lying in the driveway, too. Theo took those as good signs.

He plotted out his next several moves – tree to fence to stable – and began his final approach.

He was halfway to the fence when a gunshot pierced the silence. A tiny volcano of dirt exploded at his feet, and then another. He dove for cover behind a watering trough and took a moment to make sure he hadn't been hit. He hadn't. But one thing was certain.

Someone was still in that barn.

"IDIOT" SAID MOSES.

Redden was standing at the dutch door in the empty stall, his gun shaking in his hand. "I thought I could hit him."

"You panicked, moron. Another two minutes and I'd have had a shot I couldn't miss. Now he knows we're waiting for him."

"Then let's get out of here."

"We're not going anywhere," said Moses.

"You were supposed to take care of Knight, not me. I want out of here."

"It's too late," said Moses. "So here's the deal. Find yourself a stall and stay put. Do not move. If Knight sticks his nose inside, you blow his head off."

Redden started that nervous, frenetic pacing again. "No. Absolutely not."

"Who you tellin’ ‘no'?"

"I need to get out of here."

Moses considered it, then said, "All right. Go."

Redden stopped cold, his face alight. "You mean it?"

"Yeah. You can go. Take the car. I'll cover for you."

He breathed out something between a sigh of relief and giddy laughter. "Okay," he said, giving Moses what most white men thought was the black man's handshake. "You're cool, dude."

"I know. Now get outta here."

Redden opened the interior gate, turned to give Moses a mock salute, and then started running up the stable's center aisle.

He was fifteen feet away when Moses shot him in the back of the head.

Redden fell facedown to the concrete.

Some people would call it cowardice to shoot a man from behind. Others might regard it as cruel. But Redden had disintegrated into a liability that was bound to get them both killed. So Moses saw it not only as a smart move, but as an act of kindness.

Fernando Redden died a happy man. In the HAPP-Y Stable.

One down, Moses told himself, one to go.