Free The Midnight Road by Tom Piccirilli Page B

want a bullet in the face?”
    Sierra let out the laugh that he always dreaded. “As a matter of fact, I’ve already had two,” she told him, which put him back on his heels. You never could get over on Sierra by talking that kind of shit.
    He let it go by and asked, “How are Kelly and Nuddin doing with you?”
    “Kelly was fine until we told her about her mother. It was such a shock that hearing about her father being shot hardly made a ripple. I haven’t mentioned he’s in a coma yet, and she hasn’t asked. I dropped Bragg’s name to her but she showed no recognition. Either he’s just Grandpa to her or she never met him or she doesn’t remember him. She’s withdrawn and a little sullen, but she never broke down and still hasn’t cried.”
    “When it hits, it’ll hit hard.”
    “You got that right. Hopefully it’ll happen soon, and she won’t keep it pent up until she’s thirty. As for Nuddin, he’s playful and loves being with the other kids. He’s good for Kelly, watches over her. He likes television even though he doesn’t know what’s going on. If there’s a laugh track, he laughs along. Whenever the kids play ball, he sits on the sidelines and cheers.”
    “No moodiness? Anger or resentment?”
    “None. He doesn’t sleep well and sometimes I find him sitting alone in the dark or walking around in the kitchen. That’s normal enough. Despite having the mentality of a child, he is a grown man and probably doesn’t much like going to bed at nine o’clock. He sits a lot with my oldest kid, Trevor, and watches him play video games. Trevor, he’s sixteen, a juvie with both parents in prison for selling cocaine. He’s very responsible, helps out with the younger ones a lot. There’s abuse in his history and I think he’s picking up on Nuddin’s damage as well. He’s a little more taciturn than I expected, but not everyone takes to the mentally challenged, you know? Nuddin looks a little weird, it’s bound to strike a chord in some people, especially teens who think they look and feel a little peculiar themselves.”
    “Is it going to be a problem?”
    “Nothing I can’t handle.”
    “Who watches him during the day, when the kids are at school?”
    “Trevor dropped out. He got his GED and wants to go to college, but for the time being I pay him to watch over the others, and he takes online courses. It works to everyone’s benefit. Anyway, don’t you have enough troubles of your own without worrying about my house?”
    “You’d think so, wouldn’t you? Can I see Kelly yet?”
    “No,” Sierra told him, hitting him with that fed-up tone the way his mother used to do. “After she vents she’ll begin to heal. Sometime after that you can come around, although I don’t know why you would want to.”
    “Yes, you do.”
    She let out a raw sigh. “Yeah, I suppose I do. How are you holding up?”
    “Fair,” he said.
    He almost told her about Zero but couldn’t quite commit to doing so. She was already giving him enough attitude, he didn’t need more.
    She said, “If I found out all this, about Bragg, then so did the cops. That Raidin is playing a loaded hand with you. Keeping you out on the street as bait. He should have you in protective custody.”
    “It’s only a theory so far, and I’m still too iffy at this point. Raidin thinks I’m directly involved somehow and not telling him the whole truth.” The police car tailing him had moved around the corner and was parked on the opposite side of the street now. He could see the cops talking in a bored fashion. He imagined they were discussing whether they should run out and nab a slice of Ray’s pizza. “So they’re gonna keep watching me.”
    “Your phone might be tapped then.”
    “What do I care?”
    Flynn scanned the surrounding rooftops and fire escapes, trying to catch a glimpse of Bragg up there with a high-powered rifle, maybe with a telescopic sight centered on Flynn’s right eye. What would be going through the