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“I can’t believe it was Blanche and her goons all along. Guess we should have seen it?” Curtis shook his head. “It’s kinda obvious now. She’s one messed up bitch. Always been a mean one. ”

Travis sighed and rubbed his face again. “Yeah, I suppose. But everyone just thought she was a spoiled bitch. . . not a dangerous one. ”

With a nod of his head, Curtis agreed. “What are we going to do with her and Brewster? And Ray if we find him?”

“I have no fucking clue,” Travis answered.

One of the older black women, who’s name eluded Travis, stepped out of the makeshift clinic and motioned for the next person in line. They were using a lot of blood donors to try to save Juan.

The crowd parted automatically for Nerit as she moved toward Travis. He noted her slight limp, but knew better than to ask about it. Nerit’s yellowish white hair was in a tight bun on her head and she looked fierce.

“No sign of Ray. I suspect he went over the wall. Dixon says he swore he heard a car start up in the distance. I have a feeling this little group had some contingency plans. ”

“Dammit,” Travis murmured.

“We should send out patrols then! Round his ass back up. ” Curtis looked fierce and very bloodthirsty. His hands were clutched tightly at his side and he kept pivoting back and forth on the balls of his feet with agitation.

“Won’t do us any good, will it?” Nerit’s gaze was cold. “We’ll just set his ass back outside the wall again. ”

“But we need answers! A confession!”

“We have Blanche and Brewster. I think that is sufficient. ”

Travis looked over at the Reverend and his prayer group. “Nothing is sufficient anymore,” he said bitterly.

“We gotta go after him and find out what was going on!”

“Curtis, it’s obvious what was going on. Blanche wanted her damn Hummer back. ” Travis shook his head. “And she was stupid and crazy enough to kill for it. ”

“It was more than that, Travis,” Nerit said in a low voice. “It was a grandiose move on her part to make a point. ”

“And what was her damn point, Nerit? That the Hummer was hers?”

Travis glared at Nerit, trying not to direct his anger at her and failing.

Nerit shrugged. “She is clearly not sane. And how can we anticipate or understand the actions of the insane?”

Travis rubbed his face with both hands, growling with frustration. “I should have given them the damn Hummer!”

“It may not have satisfied her, Travis. Maybe this is all about revenge for not treating her as she believed she should be. ”

“She was just a freaking beauty queen,” Curtis exclaimed. “Who happened to marry a rich guy! She weren’t no damn Queen of England. ”

“All this arguing is pointless. Juan is dying. Ray is missing. Calhoun is nowhere to be found. There are two dead men in the garage. And that bitch is unconscious. And none of this makes a bit of freakin’ sense!”

Travis whirled on his heel and stalked off. He didn’t want to talk about any of this anymore. He didn’t even want to deal with it anymore, but he had to. For Juan’s sake.

He walked into the room where Jenni sat trembling, sobbing, and whispering to Rosie in Spanish. Katie stood up and came to him. He allowed himself a brief moment of comfort in her arms.

“We can’t find, Ray,” Travis told her. “Or Calhoun. ”

Katie frowned. “Calhoun? I don’t--”

“Ken thinks Blanche did away with him. Maybe she did. I don’t know.

This is so fucked up. ”

Jenni looked up, her lips trembling. “Is Juan. . . is he. . . ”