His misshapen hand opened right before her face.

Her eyes widened.

She gulped.

In Natter's queer palm lay a baggie full of cocaine.

Twenty-Three.

"Jesus Christ, man," Eagle observed. His eyes looked peeled open. "The guy's been skinned."

"It's a tough piece of work," Phil said.

"s.h.i.t, who knows how much we missed 'em by."

"We didn't miss the guys who did this; they're miles away by now, Eagle. Ain't no way they did this here."

"How do you know?"

"Take a look, man."

The corpse lay sprawled, scarcely even resembling a human. It was the same job they'd done on Rhodes. The thing at their feet appeared coated with clotted blood, its complete surface showing sinuous crimson muscle. Flies, hordes of them, pecked over the corpse.

"There's no blood," Phil told him. "If they'd done this here, there'd be a lake of blood on the floor. There's almost nothing here. The guys who did this, they did it somewhere else, then brought Blackjack's body back here and dumped it."

Eagle straightened out; he looked confused. "But that don't make no sense. Why go to the trouble? Why didn't they just bury him somewhere, or dump him in the woods where he'd never be found?"

"Why do you think? They want him to be found," Phil said.

"Why?"

"To send a message out, man. The people you're dealing against know what you're doing. They left this here so you would see it, and get the gist quick."

"To lay off," Eagle said.

"That's right. They want you off their turf, and they left this little reminder here to give you good reason."

"Christ, man." Eagle backed out of the kitchen, dizzied by the sight. "This ain't my ballpark. I'm just a small-time dust runner; I ain't into this s.h.i.t. I mean, look what they did to Blackjack. They f.u.c.kin' skinned him."

"Yeah," Phil agreed. "And we're next. We're in a stew pot of s.h.i.t, and it's just about to start boiling. What are we gonna do?"

"Boogie," Eagle offered. "That's what we're gonna do. Look, I was just trying to make a living, but this... f.u.c.k it. It ain't worth it."

"Why don't we hit back?" Phil tried to egg him on.

Eagle looked at him as though he'd just been told that the Pope was Jewish. "Are you f.u.c.kin' crazy, man? Hit back? These people mean big-time business, Phil, or can't you see that? We try to hit back on them, we die."

Don't chicken out on me now, Phil thought. He needed Eagle to be p.i.s.sed, to want to strike back. That was the only way Phil would ever find out the location of Natter's lab.

"And I guarantee they did the same thing to Paul," Phil lied. "You want to take this s.h.i.t? We gotta fight back. We gotta hit your compet.i.tor harder than he just hit you."

"Hey, they didn't hit me, they hit Blackjack, and that's hard enough. I'm out of this business, as of right now."

"Come on, man. Who's the other supplier?" Phil dared to ask. "Let's show them who they're f.u.c.king with."

Eagle laughed incredulously. "f.u.c.k you, man. Like I said, I'm just in this for the bread. I'd rather pump gas than have to deal with guys who'd do something like this. Come on. We're out of here."

G.o.d-d.a.m.n! Phil thought. Each time he got close, it shot out of reach. If he didn't push Eagle, he'd never find the location of Natter's lab, but if he pushed too hard, Eagle would smell cop in two seconds.

Guess I'll just have to work on him some more, Phil concluded. Give it more time. Plus, there was always Sullivan. Perhaps by now the county detention center was loosening up his mouth.

"All right. Let's book."

The hideous buzzing of the flies faded behind them as they tracked back through the house. It sounded unreal. Phil tried to shake off the after-image of the corpse. It was hard to fathom that the thing in there had once been a man.

Phil's mind wandered, over the sheer grotesquerie.

No man deserved to die like that, not even a dust dealer, not even the world's worst sc.u.m. Phil tried to technically contemplate the task. One of Natter's Creekers, perhaps even Natter himself, had actually sat down with a blade to flense away all of Blackjack's skin. How long had the job taken? Had the skin made a sound while being cut away? How long had the man been dead?

How could someone do such a thing?

The empty bungalow echoed their footsteps. Eagle opened the front door to leave, then- "s.h.i.t!"

-ducked just in time to miss the swoosh! of a small sickle. "Look out!" Phil yelled, then came another swoosh!

A big Creeker kid, late-teens and probably six-five, had been waiting for them just outside the front door. "Holy f.u.c.king s.h.i.t, man!" Eagle screamed and ducked yet again. A third swipe of the sickle missed Eagle's scalp by a fraction of an inch, whereupon the sharpened tool's point- crack!

-sunk into the wall.

Phil was already down on one knee, shucking the Beretta from his wallet holster. "Get out of the way!" he shouted at Eagle, who was bungling backward in total shock. "I got him!"

The kid, trying to tug the sickle from the wall, gaped back dumbly. Then- pop!

His cleft head whipped back. Red eyes crossed as blood squirted from the shiny new hole in his bulbous brow. Then he collapsed.

Phil rose, lowering his pistol.

"Man, where'd you get that?" Eagle asked, astonished.

"It's my good luck charm. Now quit jabbering and let's get out of here."

"Yeah, yeah. Out of here," Eagle frantically repeated, and scrambled for the front door.

"Not that way!" Phil shouted and suddenly lunged. "The back!"

Eagle turned. "Whuh-"

From outside, a muzzleflash erupted like a split-second of daylight, then a great shotgun blast exploded through the room. A ragged hole the size of a dinner plate tore into the back wall.

Phil had pulled Eagle out of the doorway just in time. "Come on, come on!" They pounded toward the bedroom, while rounds from a pump shotgun tore up chunks of the floor behind them.

"Man, you said they weren't here!" Eagle screamed. "You said they were miles away!"

"Well, I guess I was f.u.c.king wrong!"

They dove into the bedroom, slamming the door behind them. More shots rang out, punching through the door panels.

"Holy s.h.i.t, man!" Eagle was babbling hysterically. "Holy ever-lovin' motherf.u.c.kin' s.h.i.t!"

Phil slapped him in the face. "Shut up! Get a hold of yourself!"

"What the h.e.l.l are we doin' holing ourselves up back here?"

Phil slapped him again. "You said Blackjack had guns-help me find them!"

They turned the little room upside down. Rapid footfalls could be heard entering the house. "Hurry!" Phil kept his gun trained on the door while he yanked drawers out of the dresser with his free hand. His heart felt like it was skipping beats.

Eagle tipped the bed mattress off the box spring, then slid off a sheet of plywood. "Here, man!"

The motherlode! Phil thought.

The box spring had been cut out, like a hollowed book. Inside lay a cache of guns-pistols, shotguns, rifles, and even a couple of sub-guns-plus ammunition.

"Dig in!" Phil commanded. "Just grab something and start shooting!"

Eagle picked up a 9mm Browning. "It don't work!" he screamed when he pointed it at the door and squeezed the trigger. Phil took it from him, c.o.c.ked it, and threw it back.

"Now it works!"

Eagle, with grit teeth and closed eyes, discharged the weapon at the closed bedroom door. The gun coughed out fourteen rounds, to the extent that Phil's ears were ringing.

"How do like that, ya f.u.c.kers!" Eagle celebrated.

Then a single ma.s.sive shotgun blast blew the door out of its frame.

"How you like-uh dat, white trash boys?" an unearthly voice queried in response.

Then three more shotgun blasts ripped into the room, pulverizing the plasterboard behind them.

We're definitely in some s.h.i.t, Phil thought. He tossed his Beretta .25 to Eagle, who squeezed off its remaining four shots at the hole in the door. The shots sounded miniscule compared to the shotgun, and Creeker laughter rose from the outer room. When they laugh at your gun, you know you're in big trouble, Phil realized. "Come on, man, come on!" Eagle prompted, his hands shaking. "They're coming down the hall, I can see 'em!"

Meanwhile Phil was busying himself with a MAC-10 machine-pistol. The 30-round clip felt loaded; he snapped it in the mag well, then fumbled for the charging handle.

"Come on, man! Don't you know what you're doin'?"

"Can I help it I ain't Gun Digest!" Phil cracked back. He wasn't very familiar with the weapon, but finally he was able to snap the charging handle back. Then- "s.h.i.t, I can't find the f.u.c.kin' safety!"

"Oh, man, hurry!"

Eagle ducked. Two more shotgun blasts vollied into the room, backed by what sounded like pistol fire. The room vibrated.

Then two Creekers barged in.

"Oh, man, oh, man!" Eagle whimpered.

Both had great bulbed heads, enlarged jaws, canted teeth. The one with the shotgun held the weapon with hands that were but thumb and index finger. The other one, who quickly reloaded a Smith revolver, had what appeared to be two knees on his left leg and a right shoulder which dipped down nearly to his waist.

And through s.h.a.gs of coal-black hair, their crimson eyes burned at Eagle.

"Hey-uh, blondie," one mouthed. "Where yer buddy?"

"We gonna's f.u.c.ks you whens yer dead," the other enlightened. "f.u.c.ks ya sumpin' fierce, white-trash boy."

"An' eat-cha's then."

The Creeker with the shotgun was lowering his weapon to Eagle's head when Phil sprang out from behind the other side of the bed. Amid a terrifying sound like a lawnmower, Phil squeezed the MACs trigger.

The sub-gun vibrated in a way that was almost eloquent. The burst of .45 bullets caught the Creeker in the belly, then literally picked him up off his feet and pushed him back out into the hall, lines of blood swirling in the air.

Phil jerked his wrist, then squeezed off another short burst at the other Creeker. He danced jerking as big, meaty holes restiched his chest.

"Phil!" Eagle shouted. "Behind you!"

Gla.s.s shattered; two shots whizzed by Phil's head. A third Creeker was climbing in through the window.

The MAC buzzed again, and blew the Creeker right back out. "Grab that piece!" Phil ordered, pointing to the revolver on the floor. "Follow me!"

Eagle foundered for the dead Creeker's pistol, then he and Phil tumbled out the window into waist-high gra.s.s. "Quiet, quiet," Phil whispered, holding the MAC at the ready. He quick-peeked around the side of the cottage. "It looks clear. I think maybe we got them all. Come on, f.u.c.kin' run like f.u.c.kin' h.e.l.l to the truck and get the f.u.c.k out of here."

The front yard was wide open, which was good-less concealment-but the moon shined bright, which was bad-it highlighted them as targets. Their feet beat down the tall gra.s.s as they tramped forward, each step dispersing swarms of gnats and other insects.

When they arrived winded at Eagle's truck, Phil checked the perimeter. Nothing. But- "Awwww, s.h.i.t-"

"What's wrong?" Phil snapped. "Get in and start this thing so we can get out of here."

"Awwwwwww, s.h.i.t," Eagle moaned. He stood stockstill, staring. The hood of the truck stood partly open. Wires hung out like entrails.

"They trashed the truck, man..."

We're f.u.c.ked, Phil came to the delightful conclusion. "All right, so we gotta run out on foot. Let's g-"