Epilogophilia -- The Yankee Clipper
A childhood friend of McCormick's, Bill Bauer, is declared dead after being MIA in Vietnam for ten years and Mark is asked to handle the funeral. Three other old friends attend – Patrick Burke, Jeff Steffan, and Peter Trigg. McCormick is amazed when Bauer appears shortly after the funeral and explains that he has smuggled an enormous amount of cash from Army accounting into the U.S. by way of "his" casket. Someone is aware of his scheme, however, and is trying to kill him to get the money. Hardcastle and McCormick discover that a group of terrorists, led by Peter Trigg, is behind the plot. The gang is rounded up and Bauer is set to be taken into custody when he escapes in the Coyote.
Epilogue -- by Owlcroft
"Hey, you wanna watch the speed limit?" Hardcastle shifted uneasily in the passenger seat of the truck. "The Coyote'll still be there. It's in the hands of the Vegas cops now."
"Yeah, yeah," muttered McCormick, easing the pressure on the accelerator slightly. "I wasn't going much over eighty anyway." He didn't have many reasons to like Las Vegas in the first place, and Bauer abandoning the Coyote there just added to the list.
There was silence in the truck for a few moments, then the judge spoke again. "I know how ya feel. It hurts."
McCormick glanced at him quickly, then back at the freeway in front of him.
"I mean, being betrayed by a friend. I know what that feels like, it's a kinda empty feeling; kinda sad, kinda mad, but a real big hurt." Hardcastle sniffed and swiped a hand under his nose.
"Clarence," said Mark quietly.
"Yep. Those guys were killers, too. We all know somebody who let us down in a big way sometime or other. I dunno. Maybe it's human nature or something." The judge leaned over to peek at the speedometer again, then nodded and re-settled himself. "Or maybe not. Maybe some people just give in to what's easy or lose sight of what's right." He sighed. "Who knows?"
McCormick snorted. "Not me, that's for damn sure." He relaxed his fingers a bit on the steering wheel, then sighed himself. "I know what you're saying. It's just . . . I thought I knew these guys and one of them's a thief and a con man and the other's a murderer." He frowned and checked his rear-view mirror, then gently pushed the needle up over eighty again. "It just seems like there's nobody you can trust anymore. Nobody you can depend on to do what you expect them to do."
Hardcastle grunted unemotionally.
"Well, okay," added Mark, "with one notable exception." He threw a fleeting look at the judge. "I always know what you're gonna do."
"And I always know what you're gonna do, and I'm not paying your ticket if you get stopped."
Both men smiled at that and the truck sped on toward Las Vegas.
finis