Extinction Machine

Chapter One Hundred Two

House of Jack Ledger

Near Robinwood, Maryland

Sunday, October, 20, 9:43 p.m.

The meeting broke up.

There were two full bathrooms at Uncle Jack’s, so the showers were in constant use. As was the kitchen. Bunny and Lydia volunteered to “walk the perimeter.” Right. Brick and Birddog were out there, too, but they were actually working, transferring gear from the Mister Softee truck—which was a rolling arsenal—to Black Bess and the Explorer.

I tried to catch a moment alone with Junie, but she slipped away, vanishing upstairs.

Eventually the only ones left in the den were Church, Ghost, and I.

I dragged a chair over and sat next to him.

“How are you?”

He ignored the question. Instead he nodded toward the chair where Junie had sat. “That is a remarkable young woman.”

“Yes,” I said.

“Some people suffer adversity and become victims of it for life,” he said. “It colors everything they do. In a sense it pollutes their potential.”

I said nothing.

“While others refuse to break. They never allow themselves to be defined by their hurt. Those people are rare and they are precious.”

“She’s dying.”

Church shook his head. “She has cancer,” he said. “But I have seldom met someone more truly alive than her.”

I looked at him.

“Unless I am very much mistaken, Captain, you are acutely aware of that.”

He rose and moved over to the couch, kicked off his shoes, laid down, and appeared to go to sleep. Ghost went and sprawled on the floor in front of the couch. When he looked at me for approval, I gave him a wink.