Fat Tuesday(59)

Moaning, Gregory pulled himself back into his seat. He hardly resembled the handsome man who'd started out that day impersonating a priest. His bruised features were distorted with swelling and covered with clotted blood.

By contrast, the blood on the back of Mrs. Duvall's jacket was bright red.

Pinkie opened the passenger door of Wayne Bardo's car before it came to a complete stop. A sheriff's unit had already arrived, he noticed, and that was unfortunate but he would deal with it. He spotted Errol standing against an exterior wall with his shoulders hunched, hands deep in his trouser pockets, looking like he might burst into tears at any moment.

He didn't see Remy anywhere about and hoped that meant she had been given refuge in a private office inside the building. That his wife had been even remotely involved in a barroom brawl was unthinkable.

The newspapers would have a field day.

As he made his way toward Errol, he ordered Bardo to locate Remy and get her to the car."The sooner we're out of here, the better."

Bardo angled off in the direction of the filling-station office, where the sheriff was questioning witnesses. Pinkie confronted Errol.

"What happened?"

"The ... the ... the van broke down. I told him to stop here "

"Told who?"

"Father Kevin. He was the one driving."

Pinkie nodded and urged him to continue. Errol stammered out his story, emphasizing that he never let Mrs. Duvall out of his sight, not even when he used the pay phone to call Roman to come get them.

"You should have called me."

"I suggested it, but Mrs. Duvall said not to bother you. I didn't like it, but she "

"How'd the fight start?"

Pinkie listened with increasing disbelief."This is the priest my wife has received in our home?"

"I told you I thought he was a faggot," Errol said in his own defense.

"You didn't tell me he was likely to make a move on a guy in a public toilet. Jesus!"

"I told you like I saw it, boss."

"Okay, what happened next?"

"These guys start knocking Father Gregory around. I hustled Mrs. Duvall toward the door as soon as the fighting broke out. I brought her over here to the filling station. That's where I called your office from. I was explaining to your secretary when "

"Okay. I can hear the rest later. Let's collect Remy and get the hell out of here."

"Uh, Mr. Duvall ..."

"Pinkie! " Duvall turned toward Bardo's shout. He was running toward him, obviously agitated.

"Your wife's not here. They took her."

"What? Who took her? The sheriff? Where?"

"That's what I ... I didn't have a chance to explain before, sir."

Pinkie came back around to Errol, who looked like a man facing a firing squad."By the time I called back to your office, you were already on your way here. And Bardo doesn't have a cellular, so I couldn't call his car. Your secretary said you didn't take your pager. There was no way " Pinkie grabbed him by the lapels and shook him hard."You've got two seconds to produce my wife."

"I can't, Mr. Duvall," he said, starting to cry."F-F-Father Kevin pulled his gun "

"His gun?"

"Yes, sir. He ... he hit me over the head and carried Mrs. Duvall off in the van."

Pinkie's world turned red, as though an artery had burst directly behind his eyes and bathed them with blood. He pulled out the.38 he always carried in a holster at the small of his back, and crammed the short, stubby barrel of it into the soft pallet of skin beneath Errol's wobbly chin.

The jostling of being lifted from the van roused her. Her back and shoulder felt as though they'd been attacked by a thousand vicious bees.

She was aware of being carried. She opened her eyes.

It was dark, there were stars overhead. Millions of them. More than she had ever seen. Their brilliance amazed her. Wherever she was, it wasn't near the city. The sky wasn't muddied by manmade lights. The air was cold, but moisture laden.

"Dredd! Dredd!"

She recognized the voice as Father Kevin's. She also heard rapid footfalls on hollow-sounding boards and realized that he was carrying her across what she supposed was a bridge or a pier.

At the end of it was a strange-looking structure, which was actually several buildings that had been seemingly tacked together with no previous planning as to their final form.

Standing behind a screened door was an even stranger-looking man.

He was holding a shotgun at waist level, aimed at them.

"Who's that?"

"I need your help, Dredd."

"Jeer Louise." By this time they were within a circle of pale yellow light coming from a fixture mounted high on a pole and illuminating the galerie. Apparently the man called Dredd recognized Father Kevin because he set aside the shotgun and pushed open the screened door.

"What in tarnation are you doing way out here? What happened to her?"

"Gunshot."

"Dead?"

"No."

'"How bad?"

"Bad enough. Where should I put her?"

'"I only got one bed, and you know where it's at."

They went past Dredd on their way inside, and she caught a whiff of smoke. His beard seemed to be smoldering. Of course she was hallucinating. She saw animals and reptiles jutting from the walls with fangs bared. Jars of cloudy solutions crowded shelves.