Charlie Bean climbed out of the van. He looked tired and favored his injured arm and grimaced when he had to move very fast, but he didn’t let any of it stop him. Hubert and Jessie were among them too, still carrying his automatic weapons. And then there was Delbert. He slid out of the van as well, having traded his Magnum-caliber cross for one of more manageable size. It hadn’t been the soldier’s imagination last night—there was definitely a change about him. He’d grown up a lot in one night. Stiles just hoped it wasn’t too fast.

“Well well,” Bean smiled as he came up onto the porch. “It’s nice to see you up and around.” He motioned to the van by the road. “How do you like it?”

“Very nice. Yours?”

“Nope.” The deputy dropped the keys in Stiles’s lap. “Yours is pretty much scrap. It’s the least we could do.”

Stiles looked at them all in surprise and stammered, “You shouldn’t . . . but . . . aw, hell. I don’t know what to say.”

“Nothing to say,” Charlie said with a grin. “So, how’re you doing?”

“Fair to middlin’. How about you—keeping busy?”

“You could say that. I think we got most of them. We’ve covered the whole town once. Another quick swath should pick up the ones we missed. Then we’ll start fanning out to the farms and outlying homes.” He grabbed Delbert as the boy passed and put an arm around his shoulder. “My buddy here is real good. He knows where they’ll be hiding without even looking.”

The boy’s face was impassive. That worried Stiles. “How’re you doing, Cap?”

“You mean about Bart?” Del replied. “I miss him, naturally. But it’s okay, because I know he’s at peace. That’s what matters, right?” His expression changed all of a sudden; the exuberance of an eleven-year-old suddenly returned. He’d seen the cat on Chris’s shoulder. “Hey, where’d you get the neat cat?” He came over, picked it up, and draped it over his own shoulder like burping a baby. To Stiles’s surprise, the feline didn’t react as it had with the children earlier. She cuddled against the boy’s neck, her motor running in high gear.

“She’s not mine,” Stiles shrugged. “In fact, I think she’s up for adoption. Interested?”

The boy’s face lit up. “Are you serious?” He held her up and rubbed noses with her, and Stiles delighted in the sound of his laughter. “Wait till Mom sees this!” He hurried inside with his purring cargo, followed by most of the others present.