In Too Deep(46)

So I think he breaks up the boredom by going to the doctor. He's got double retirement, he did twenty years in the Navy before doing another twenty five for the State Wildlife Commission, so his insurance and pension cover it all. Actually half the time he's bringing in scrips for placebos. So other than a ten dollar co-pay at the docs, we don't charge him anything. The docs in town just send us a couple of bucks a month to cover the pills. I get them from a medical supply store that provides them for drug companies who are doing double blind studies."

"Is everyone in on the scam?"

"Sure are," Jay said. "Oh, we all make sure that nobody gets themselves in trouble. If Leon actually needs a real prescription done right, he pays the full amount, all that sort of stuff. But if he comes in for just a bottle of sugar pills, none of the paperwork ever gets put anywhere but the trashcan. The docs don't charge Medicare or the insurance companies, the ten bucks splits up half to them for their time and half to us for our time and the pills themselves, and Leon I think knows as well. I don't think any man could take placebos for so damn long without figuring out something about them. It makes him happy though, so I don't worry about it too much."

The shift continued, and I was enjoying it. Other than Mr. Timmons, things went reasonably slow, and Jay was relaxed enough with me now that he didn't mind if I drifted around the store. So instead of being bored off my backside with nothing to do, I cleaned. There was one of those janitor style dry mops in the back, the type that have those wide yarn-like heads that are meant to sweep up dust. Two passes with one of those on an aisle and you're pretty much cleared for the whole thing. It passed the time.

We were just before lunch and the end of my shift when the first police car went screaming by, lights and siren going. I watched it go by, turning toward Jay. "Didn't even know the town police had lights and sirens on their cars."

"Yeah, they're pretty laid back, letting the state guys handle most of the serious stuff. Really most of what they do is coordinate with the DEA and the state police along with the county sheriff," Jay said. When the second car went screaming through the nearby intersection with lights and siren, he set down the magazine he'd been reading and came out from behind his counter. "What the hell?"

We both looked out the window, so intent on what was happening up the street in the direction the cars had gone that we were nearly scared out of our shoes when a third car, this time a county sheriff, went by, an ambulance hot on its bumper.

“Let’s check the TV,” Jay said. The pharmacy did have a small television near the counter, but Jay's policy was not to let it be on unless it was one of those nights where the weather or conditions were keeping everyone away, but the store still had to be open.

We turned on the television, flipping to the local stations. T or C is somewhat caught in between two markets, so it got some of both. The cable company's CBS and Fox stations were from El Paso, while the NBC and ABC stations were from Albuquerque. We tried the NBC station first.

"Breaking news from Truth or Consequences," the anchor said, clearly flustered. "We are still gathering information, but initial reports are coming in of masked gunmen entering the high school. KOB is sending crews by helicopter to try and get reporters on scene. In the meantime . . .”

I stopped listening, my heart catching in my throat and everything going numb. "Cam . . .” I whispered, staggering backwards until my butt bumped into the counter. "Cam."

Jay put his hands on my shoulders, not knowing what else to do. “I’m sure he's fine. There’s no need to panic.”

I thought back to Albertine, and knew that somehow it was connected to that f*cking computer system. I grabbed my bag and keys, heading for the door. "Melina, you can't go, you'll just get in the way!" Jay called after me as I ran out.

I didn't reply, just jumped into my car and drove. I'm sure I surprised the hell out of Jay when, instead of turning left toward the high school, I turned right instead. Driving quickly, I headed home, knowing that if this was about Albertine, then soon enough there'd be an attempt to get it. I couldn't help Cam, but I could make sure that if he was facing danger, if the unthinkable did happen, that he wouldn't be risking it all for nothing.

The house was quiet when I got home, but that didn't mean anything to me. I knew that anything out of the ordinary would be inside the house, not outside it. Hopping out of the car, I wished I had something better than just a shoulder bag with a cell phone and keys.

The front door was still locked, and the house sounded quiet when I entered. Still, I tried to not make any noise as I made my way through to the back bedroom, certain that there was a team of international spies or hit men waiting inside the bedroom already.

When I saw that the office bedroom was empty, I let my breath out in a large whoosh, not realizing until then that I'd been holding my breath. I pulled open the closet door and put my hand on the scanner for the lock. I reflected at how strange it felt that I had access to the safe which contained the most powerful, destructive piece of machinery in the entire world.

I pulled the door open, taking out the three guns inside along with Albertine itself. I didn't want to use it, I had no clue what to do with the damn thing. But I had to keep it safe. Opening my bag, I jammed it inside, then turned my attention to the guns. Other than playing around with some pellet guns as a teenager, I’d never fired a weapon in my life. Sure, I'd grown up around them, Lima was one of those areas where a lot of people had shotguns or rifles that they used for hunting deer or sometimes birds. Finally, I grabbed all three. New Mexico was pretty open about carrying guns in your car, and I could keep them with me in case Cam did get out safely.