Matt Hlinak - DoG

Schuler said that she didn’t see the harm in letting him go, but Williams was liable to shoot him if his hands were free. Culann agreed with her.

“Do you think he might shoot me anyway?”

“I don’t think so, but who knows what a man’s capable of doing his last night on Earth.”

“Maybe I should keep my distance. Do you think it would be okay if I slept over at Frank’s place?”

“I don’t care. Which one is Frank’s?”

“The one on the end,” he said, pointing. “There’s some beer left in the refrigerator if you’d like to join me for a nightcap.”

“Drinking with a fugitive in my custody breaks about fifteen different regulations, but I don’t see the harm, under the circumstances. I might as well try to enjoy what’s left of my life.”

The two trudged down the road. Alphonse kept close to Culann while the other dogs orbited around. Culann held the door to the shack open for Schuler and Alphonse before squeezing himself in ahead of the other dogs who all surged forward to join them.

A floppy-eared pitbull and a big collie that looked like Lassie snuck in before Culann could wedge the door shut, but he managed to keep the bulk of the pack from overwhelming them inside. The others howled at the front door for a few minutes before plopping down in a great drowsy mass out front.

Schuler sat on Frank’s couch while Culann grabbed two beers from the refrigerator. He handed one to Schuler with his hands still bound.

“You want those off now?” she asked.

Culann glanced out the window to make sure Williams wasn’t around. When he saw that it was clear, he held his arms out. Schuler drew a small key from her belt and released the handcuffs. Two red lines rang his wrists.

“Free at last,” he said with a smirk.

“For now,” she said. “You know that if me or Williams lives through the night, we’re going to have to take you in. Plus, we didn’t check in like we were supposed to.

They are probably already sending more officers to look for us. It won’t be long before they think to look here.”

“Then they’re going to die, too. How can we stop them from coming?”

“We can’t. There’s a warrant out for your arrest, and this place is your last known whereabouts. The fact that two cops disappeared trying to find you is not exactly going to take the heat off. They’re probably going to send in the FBI or maybe the National Guard.”

“Jesus. I can’t be responsible for that many people dying.”

“You’re awfully worried about other people for a sex offender,” she said with a chuckle.

Culann had had enough of these types of jokes over the last few weeks, so he turned away from Schuler and sipped his beer.

“Lighten up, Mr. Riordan. Can’t you at least humor a dying girl?”

“Okay, fine. Just to be clear, I’m not a child molester and I’m not a pervert. I exercised some bad judgment with a girl who was sixteen.”

“Don’t worry about it. Hell, sixteen-year-olds are legal in Alaska. You should have just done it up here.”

“I suppose you’re right,” he said. “But isn’t Alaska the place you go after you screw up?”

“For some, I suppose. I was born here.”

“Fair enough. What about your parents? Were they running from something?”

“Probably,” she said. “I never met my dad, but I don’t imagine he was particularly law-abiding. He dragged my mom up here and then split about a month after I was born.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

“I got over it a long time ago. At this point, I’m a little more worried about dying.”

“You don’t seem that worried.”

“Now that we’re sitting still, it’s sinking in. It was better when we were hauling carcasses all over the island.”

“Maybe you won’t die. I can’t be the only one who’s immune.”

“Maybe,” she said. “You got any more beer?”

He sprang up and went to the kitchen. The dogs followed him. When he returned with two beers, they lay back down on the floor.

“So what is it about young girls, Mr. Riordan?”

“What?”

“You heard me.”

“It was just one time with one girl,” he said.

“Okay, but is that the only time you ever thought about it?”

“No.”

“So what is it? You got a problem with girls your own age?”

“No, it’s not like that. I’ve dated plenty of women my own age. I don’t think it’s really got anything to do with how old they are. I just seem to have a hard time controlling myself around beautiful women. And some of them just happen to be a little young, that’s all.”

“You having a hard time controlling yourself around me?” she asked with a grin.

“No.”

“So am I ugly then?”

“No, not at all. I was just—”

“I’m just playing with you,” Schuler said, laughing. “It helps me keep my mind off the situation.”

Culann turned and faced her. Schuler was squat and muscular with thick hips; she had a cop’s body. But there was beauty in her wide brown eyes and mischievous smile.

He realized that he may never again get a chance to be with a woman again, and found himself excited by Schuler’s strong femininity. He leaned in to kiss her.

She cuffed him hard across the jaw.

“I think you got the wrong idea, Mr. Riordan.”

“Sorry, I just figured that you might want some companionship, under the circumstances.”

“That’s a very generous offer, but doing it with a sex offender in a dead man’s shack with three smelly hound-dogs staring at me is not exactly every girl’s fantasy.”

“I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “I suppose I should be flattered. How about another beer?”

Culann fetched another couple of beers, and again the dogs followed him. Then the dogs outside began a calamitous barking. Schuler peeked out the windowsill.

“It’s Williams,” she said. “Put these back on.”

She tossed the handcuffs to Culann, who dropped them. He bent down and latched the cuffs on his left wrist. He pressed his right wrist into the other end, which clicked into place just as the door swung open. Williams stood in the doorway, dead drunk, with a nearly-empty Jim Beam bottle in his left hand and his gun in his right.

“Let’s go, Mr. Riordan,” he said. “You’re coming with me.”

Culann marched down Pyrite’s only road with Williams’ gun pressed against his spine. Schuler followed behind, pleading for Williams to put the gun away. The dogs cheerfully cantered along beside as if they were all heading to the park instead of an execution.

Williams led them to the police boat, already laden with corpses. He shoved Culann towards it and motioned for him to climb aboard. Culann took a long step from the dock onto the boat and then stumbled forward onto McGillicuddy.

“If this is where we’re putting the dead bodies,” Williams said, “this is where you’re going.”

“Knock it off,” Schuler said. “This isn’t funny.”

“I’m not joking,” he replied. “If we die tonight, then this sicko gets off scot free. I can’t let that happen.”

“If we die tonight, then it doesn’t matter what happens to him.”

“Of course it matters. There is good and evil in this world. Our job is to protect the good and punish the evil. He must be punished.”

“Not like this,” Schuler said.

Culann kept his mouth shut, afraid that anything he’d say might antagonize Williams beyond the point of no return. He was going to have to let Schuler plead his case for him and hope that she knew her partner well enough to talk him out of this.

“This is the only way,” Williams said.