He stepped out of the room, shut the door, and went to retrieve the bottle.

He tucked it under his jacket on the way outside, where his bike was parked in the pelting rain.

CHAPTER 13

ELRAY, just to be safe, we’re gonna put you in charge of the shotgun.”

Elray grunted and tipped a bag of corn nuts into his mouth.

“Manny, are you crazy?” Booker said. “You wanna put Elray on the gun detail?”

“Elray can hit a gnat’s ass from a hundred yards in high wind. I’ve seen him do it.”

“Yeah, but . . .”

“Bro, don’t worry about Elray, he’s family.”

Booker peered down the length of the rain-swept bridge in both directions. He turned a full circle in place, scanning the surrounding hills. Lightning lit up the sky across both sides of the ravine. “Let’s go through this one more time, Manny. Where are you gonna be again?”

“I gotta set the barricade across the road once the bus passes by. You know, to block other cars from following. We gotta make sure no one sees nothin’ until we’re done with our business.” Manny checked his watch. “Where the hell are the rest of the guys?”

“Don’t worry, they’ll be here,” Booker said. “The whole team is coming. Now, you talked to Tommy Larkin, right?”

“Yeah, Tommy’s all squared away.” Manny pointed out headlights approaching up the road. “Car’s coming.”

Booker turned. “That Tommy?”

“No. Looks too small. We better take cover.”

The three of them sprinted off the bridge and cowered on the embankment underneath until the car passed overhead.

When they returned topside Booker cinched the collar of his letterman jacket around his neck to keep the rain off his chest. It was coming down harder by the minute. He felt cold and anxious, and with a fresh dose of Hombre Muchacho coursing through his veins, he was starting to get irritable. He just wanted this to be over with soon so he could go looking for Nina, maybe charm his way into a hand job.

Manny handed the shotgun over to Elray, who took it greedily and tucked it under his orange slicker.

“Elray, you better be damn sure you don’t shoot that thing at nothing that don’t need to be shot at, you hear me?” Booker said.

Elray grunted and smiled around a mouthful of chomped-up corn nuts.

Manny lit a joint between cupped hands, then knelt to examine the chain they had stretched across the width of the bridge.

“You sure it’ll do the trick?” Booker asked.

“This is the strongest chain on the market. They hang ship anchors from these fuckers. Trust me, it’ll do the trick.”

“And the truck?”

“Tommy is bringing his old man’s Ford four-wheel-drive King Ranch Dooley. The sumbitch has three twenty-five under the hood. That enough muscle to set your mind at ease, bro?”

“So everything’s set?”