Katie, now out of the Caddy, stood defiantly over the man, fists on hips, arms spread out like wings, and yelled back, “Yeah, well, fuck you, too, asshole!”

Bruce dropped to his knees, sticking a hand into Kyle’s jacket, hunting for the gun. Once he had it, he fell back and away from Kyle, pushing himself along the pavement on his butt, putting distance between them. He put the gun gently on the pavement while he caught his breath.

“You okay?” Katie asked him.

He nodded several times, too winded for a verbal reply.

Kyle curled up on his side in a fetal position, moaning softly. His eyelids fluttered as he tried to clear his vision. He managed to focus on Katie as she looked down on him.

“Bitch,” he said.

She rolled her eyes. “Whoa, burn.”

Bruce picked up the gun as he got back onto two feet, took a couple of steps closer to the shoulder of the road, then threw it overhand deep into the woods. He went back to Kyle, stood over him, and said, “Your wallet.”

“What?” Kyle said.

“I want to see some ID. I want to know who you really are.”

Kyle waited a beat, realized it was pointless to refuse, and reached around to take his wallet from the back pocket of his slacks. He tossed it toward Bruce, making the older man bend over to scoop it off the pavement. He dug out a driver’s license that carried an unflattering photo.

“Brandon Kyle,” Bruce said.

Kyle said nothing.

“Why does that ring a bell?”

Kyle remained speechless.

“Oh well,” Bruce said, pocketing the license and tossing the wallet back to Kyle. As it hit the pavement, several credit cards spilled out. Kyle collected them, returned them to the wallet sleeves, and slipped it back into his pocket.

“Let’s go find your brother,” Bruce said to Katie.

“Wait, what?” said Kyle. “You’re not going to just leave me here.”

“Yeah, that’s exactly what I’m gonna do,” Bruce said. “Let me give you a word of advice. Stay off the road.”

Kyle, still sitting on the pavement, watched as Bruce got behind the wheel of the Caddy and Katie jumped in beside him.

Katie said, “Shouldn’t we call the police about him or something?”

Bruce shrugged. “We’ll report him. Got his license. When all this blows over, we’ll tell the cops about him.”

Bruce glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Kyle slowly get to his feet as they drove off. The engine roared as the car accelerated. Katie put a hand to her chest and let out a long breath.

“Wow,” she said. “I’m just starting to come down from all that.”

“Adrenaline,” Bruce said.

“Yeah,” she said. A smile crossed her face. “You were totally badass.”

He grinned. “You weren’t so bad with that spray can.”