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“Who was that?” Benny asked, sipping at his soda.

I answered honestly, and vaguely. “A cousin of mine. I’ve been doing some research for him. Long story. ”

“Oh. Cool. ”

“So you’re working tonight,” I changed the subject. “What time do you get off?”

“Midnight-ish. And don’t you dare go out to the battlefield without me. ”

“I won’t, I won’t. Don’t worry. ” I stuffed my cell phone back into my purse, then wadded up the top of the brown bag of film and mashed that in there too. “I’ll have to sweet-talk Dave into loaning me one of his cameras first anyway. If I ask for it and then run off at midnight, I think he might twig onto the fact that I don’t want it for bird-watching. ”

“Bat-watching. ”

“Oh, let it go. You’re going to have to be a bit less crazy if I’m going to use you as an excuse. Maybe I should just use Jamie as an excuse instead anyway. He’s been bugging me to take headshots of him. ”

“Why?”

“He wants to release an album of spoken word pieces. He plans to burn a few CDs and carry them around with him to slams—sell them to the crowd and try to cover a few expenses that way. He wanted a headshot for the back of the sleeve. ”

“Are you sure? He seems more the kind of guy who’d put his picture on the front. ”

“Point taken. I don’t know. But he knows Dave’s got lots of equipment, and he was asking me about it a few weeks ago. This may be the perfect excuse to nab a camera. ”

Benny took another fizzy swig. “Do you even know how to use a camera?”

“Yes. ” I scowled, then pulled my own drink close. “Of course I do. Back in high school I went through a phase where I thought photography might be the thing for me. ”

“Was it?”

“Not exactly. I’m not bad, but I’m no Dave. ”

Our waitress walked by, and we both looked up hoping that she bore a tray. She did, but it wasn’t for us.

“What did you take pictures of?” Benny asked, still eyeing the grill behind the counter.

“Cats, mostly. ”

“Cats?”

“Cats. I like cats. I think they’re pretty. I also did a lot of the typical crap—you know, close-ups of roses and things. I lost interest in it after a few months, but I can still work a shutter when the chips are down. ”

“I could go for some chips right now. ”

“Be patient,” I told him, but the longer we sat there, the hungrier I got too. The place smelled great, and a cheeseburger was sounding better by the minute.

Before long we were rescued by two steaming plates loaded with our orders. Between greedy bites, we worked out a plan.

It would be best to wait a few nights before going back out to the battlefield, considering that the Marshalls were going to be on high guard. Having a crew member take a bullet would set a group on edge, I imagined; and Benny’s none-too-subtle fan-boy display was only going to reinforce the sense that they weren’t alone out there.

With

this in mind, we agreed to meet up again Friday afternoon, sometime before sunset. We’d grab Jamie and take him too, since he still knew the area better than either of us did, and he still seemed interested in accompanying us. Together we would select a vantage point near Dyer’s field. I’d bring the camera, a small tripod, and a remote.

“I’ll bring some camo gear,” Benny offered.

“What for?”

“You want to just leave all that expensive equipment lying around in the woods, for anyone to find and steal? We can build an improvised blind, somewhere in the woods along the edge of the field. We’ll need a relatively clear view through the trees, though, so we won’t be able to hide too deep. ”