Jesse released Beaumont from the bolt in the floor while I unlocked the camper. The wind had died, and the night was hot and still.

“You sure you want to take this sonofabitch with you afterward?” Jesse asked me when he brought Beaumont back. “We’re done with him, can dust him right now.”

“I don’t want any of this,” I said. “But I need him.”

Edgar was sitting at the table in the camper. We locked Beaumont in the crate, and Jesse pulled the guns out of the duffel bag. He handed me Czarnecki’s .45 and the holster.

“You seem to know how to use this,” he said.

He gave me the revolver from Beaumont’s, too, and took the shotgun and automatic for himself. I strapped on the holster and buckled the knife to my shin. The revolver and extra rounds went into the pocket of my jacket. I grabbed an ice pick and tossed another to Jesse.

“Do you need to pray?” he asked.

I told him I guessed it was too late for that.

We climbed out of the camper. Jesse locked the door and kept the keys.

“I’ll come from the front,” he said. “You go around back and set yourself up to catch anyone who tries to run when the shooting starts.”

He took off down the road, sticking to the brush on the shoulder. I walked a hundred yards into the desert before turning toward the motel. The moon and stars gave enough light to navigate by, and the neon arrow served as a beacon. I drew the .45 and felt less scared with it in my hand.

The motel was dark when I got close. I paused every few steps to listen for anybody moving around. A burned-out trailer sat at the rear of the property and seemed a perfect spot to take cover. Whatever it was that scurried across the floor when I stepped inside stopped me for a second, but I made my way to an empty window frame with a view of the back doors of the cabins and the three motorcycles parked behind them.

My heart banged against my ribs, and fear gummed my mouth so that it was hard to swallow. I rested the elbow of my gun arm on the sill to brace it. Squinting down the barrel of the .45, I swung it from cabin to cabin, alert for any movement. It was like waiting for a bomb to go off.