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I try to say something, but my mouth doesn’t work anymore.

Candy takes my hand, but I pull it away and drag the Colt from my waistband. It’s so heavy I can barely lift the thing.

“Stop it,” says Candy.

I drag it up my body so I can get it as close to my head as possible.

“Stark?”

It takes a lot of effort, but I pull back the hammer.

“I’ll never forgive you.”

Someone grabs my arm and snatches away the Colt.

Alessa squats on her heels with my gun in her hand.

“I already cleaned up your mess once,” she says. “If Candy wants you to live, you’re going to live.”

Carlos and Kasabian come and stand behind her.

Carlos says, “What the fuck was that? Was he going to shoot himself?”

“He’s not thinking straight. Is it ready?” says Candy.

“We’re still working on the bonfire,” says Kasabian.

“We’re not the outdoorsy type,” says Carlos.

“Please hurry,” says Candy.

“You two are ridiculous,” says Sally, looking at Carlos and Kasabian. She says, “This is how you start a fire.”

With a plastic gasoline can in her hand, she gets a few yards closer to the pitiful flames lapping up from the wood and tosses the can overhead. It makes a perfect arc through the air and lands on the pile. A second later, it explodes in a beautiful, rolling orange ball that lights up the entire theater. The wood is now a roaring pile of burning timbers.

The others run back to us.

“Is everyone all right?” says Brigitte.

Flicker leans down in front of me. She’s wearing a set of dirty workman’s overalls.

“Who is that?”

“Sally,” says Candy.

Flicker looks again.

“Mustang Sally? Damn, Stark. You do have interesting friends.”

Candy looks at Vidocq and Ray. “This all sounded like such a good idea a little while ago. Now I’m not so sure.”

“There isn’t any choice, I’m afraid,” says Vidocq. “Look at him. How close to death he is.”

Ray says, “Vidocq is right. I can’t give you any guarantees tonight except one: he’s going to die if we don’t do something. And by the look of him, we need to do it now.”

Candy brushes my hair back. Some of it comes off in her hand.

As the rigor tightens me I want to say, I don’t care anymore. Do whatever it is you’re going to do. But Kasabian does it for me.