Free Sudden Prey by John Sandford Page A

stare that was purely sexual.
    ''We're gonna do it,'' LaChaise said. He had a half-glass of bourbon in his hand. ''We've been talking for years. Talk talk talk. Now with Candy and Georgie shot to pieces, we're gonna do it.''
    ''Gonna be the end of us,'' Martin said. His beard was coppery red in the lamplight.
    ''Could be,'' LaChaise agreed. He scratched his own beard, nipped at the bourbon. ''Do you care?''
    Martin worked for another minute, then said, ''Nah. I'm getting crowded. I'm ready.''
    ''You could go up north, up in the Yukon.''
    ''Been there,'' Martin said. ''The goddamn Canadians is a bunch of Communists. Even Alaska's better.''
    ''Mexico . . .''
    ''I'm a goddamn American.''
    LaChaise nodded and said, ''How about you, Ansel?'' Butters said, ''I just want to get it over with.''
    ''Well, we got to take our time, figure this out . . .''
    ''I mean, everything over with,'' Butters said. ''I can take my time with this .''
    LaChaise nodded again. ''It's the end for me, for sure. But I swear to God, I'm taking a bunch of these sonsofbitches with me.''
    Martin looked at him uncertainly, then nodded, and looked away. They worked together, comfortable but intent, like they did in hunting camps, thinking about it all, drinking a little, letting the feeling of the hunt flow through them, the camaraderie as they got the gear ready.
    They checked the actions on their weapons for the twentieth time, loading and unloading the pistols, dry-firing at the TV; the good smell of Hoppe's solvent and gun oil, the talk of old times and old rides and the people they remembered, lots of them dead, now.
    ''If I lived,'' LaChaise continued, ''I'd do nothing but sit in cells for the rest of my life anyhow. Besides . . .''
    ''Besides what?'' Martin asked, looking up.
    ''Ah, nothin','' LaChaise said, but he thought, Mexico . He'd always planned to go, and hadn't ever been.
    ''It cranks me up, thinking about it,'' Butters said. His face was flushed with alcohol.
    SANDY HAD BLOWN UP WHEN SHE'D COME BACK FROM her ride, and Elmore had told her about the truck. She jumped in her van and went after them, but they were gone. She gotto the St. Croix, realized the futility of the chase, slowed, turned around and went back.
    ''What were you thinking about?'' she shouted at Elmore. ''You shoulda swallowed the keys.''
    That night, Elmore was in the kitchen making a pot of Rice-a-Roni with venison chunks, and she could smell the chemical odor of the stuff as she sat in front of the TV. She heard the rattling of the dishes, and finally, Elmore stood in the hallway behind her. She pretended to watch the sports.
    He said, ''We oughta talk to the cops.''
    ''What?'' She pushed herself out of her chair. She hadn't expected this.
    Elmore's voice rose to a nervous warble: ''If we stick with this, only two things can happen. We get killed, or we go to jail for murder. That's it: them two things.''
    ''Too late,'' she said. ''We gotta sit tight.''
    Tears came to his eyes, and one dribbled down a cheek, and Sandy suddenly didn't know what to do. She'd seen Elmore frightened, she'd seen him cower, she'd seen him avoid any serious responsibility, but she'd never seen him weep. ''Are you okay?''
    He turned his head toward her, the tears still running down her cheeks: ''How'd this happen?'' he said.
    She'd thought about that: ''My sister,'' she said. ''The whole of this is because of Candy. And because of your dad's trailer. It's because of nothing that means anything . . .''
    ''We've got to go to the police.''
    ''But what do we tell them? And why would they believe us?''
    ''Maybe they won't,'' he rasped. ''But you saw all those guns and all that other shit that Martin had. How're they going to Mexico with all that shit? How are they gonna get across the border with it? And if they do get across, what arethey going to use for money? They ain't going to Mexico. They're gonna pull some crazy stunt.''
    ''No--no,'' she said, shaking her head. ''They're out of here. Dick LaChaise