"Sheriff Charles Hartman."
Rafferty watched his blood draining from his arm into the blood bag.
Rafferty and Ginny waited outside the emergency room. Ginny was a nervous wreck. Nora came out.
Ginny was almost in tears. "Can I see him now?"
Exhausted, Nora shook her head, just as Sheriff Hartman re-entered the room. He saw Nora, they both looked away, and then the Sheriff left without saying a word. Then Nora left.
Rafferty said, "They're in-laws?"
Ginny said, "They used to be in-laws." She couldn’t stop worrying. "God, I hate this waiting."
Rafferty put his arm around Ginny who rested her head on his shoulder.
Henry and his grandson Tomo were under a porch light behind their mobile home, drinking and talking about the future. Suddenly the thunder of approaching helicopters startled them.
Tomo heard them first. "Helicopters!"
Henry took up his shotgun. "Run for it!"
Night became noon, as spotlights came angling down on the mobile home. Henry fired both barrels at the night sky, blowing out one of the spotlights. Flashing police lights and police sirens filled the darkness. Henry and Tomo ran off into what remained of the darkness. Patrol cars came sweeping up the drive and the helicopters began landing. Men and their weapons lept from their vehicles and fanned out like commandos taking a town.
Sheriff Hartman stood forth as leader of the operation.
Within moments, the raid was over. Some deputies brought a handcuffed Henry Oteas to Sheriff Hartman.
Henry growled at them, "I'm a senior citizen, dammit. Take it easy!"
"Hello, Henry," said the sheriff.
"Hello, Sheriff," Henry said.
A deputy approached carrying Henry's shotgun.
The deputy said, "He's the one who fired the shot at us, Sheriff."
"I was defending myself," Henry said.
Hartman said, "Henry, you're under arrest for assault with a deadly weapon and for interfering with a police officer."
"What's that gonna cost me, Sheriff?" Henry asked.
Hartman shrugged. "A thousand dollars bail. You can be arraigned in the morning and be home by noon."
Henry was relieved. "Oh, that's not bad."
Another deputy came up with various stolen property, including a color television and power tools. He told the Sheriff, "Serial numbers match some stolen items."
Hartman was impressed. He told Henry, "Henry, you're under arrest for theft charges, too."
Henry was outraged. "What!"
Hartman amended that. "Receiving stolen property."
Henry was hardly mollified. Still, he said, "Thank you, Sheriff."
Hartman agreed. "Henry, I can't picture you sneaking through somebody's house in the dead of night carrying off their television."
Deputies looked through the mobile home and found marijuana for personal use, some cocaine, a fifty pound bale of dried marijuana, weapons and ammunition, firecrackers and food stamps.
"Only the food stamps are mine, " Henry said.
"Book him with receiving stolen property, cultivation and possession with intent to sell, and unlicensed guns, too," Hartman said.
"Damn!" Henry told himself.
Lester drove back from the beach, drinking bourbon right from the bottle and eating an orange without peeling it, taking bites from it as if it were an apple.
He saw a mass of red and white lights up ahead and slowed his truck to gawk. The Sheriff's department had the Oteas driveway blocked off. Various deputies wandered around.
A truck behind Lester's van blew its horn because Lester had slowed.
Lester, outraged, slammed on his brakes.
The truck almost slammed into Lester's red brake lights.
Forsaking his other duties, one of the deputies approached Lester's van.
Lester watched as the deputy approached, and had his shotgun cradled in his lap. Lester cocked both barrels and raised it towards the window.
The deputy didn't look inside the truck. He told Lester, waving him on,
"Move along!"
The deputy turned away before Lester had to shoot him. Lester slammed the gear lever down and drove off.
One light was on at the Quint house.
Jeremiah Quint was playing gospel spirituals on a church piano in the family room, while his wife Audrey stood in a doorway, her arms folded, a bathrobe wrapped around her.
Audrey Quint said, "Are you staying up all night?"
She moved closer, as Jeremiah never stopped playing his piano.
Jeremiah said, "They're going to bust me tomorrow, Audrey."