I handed the registration back to Crane, and he handed it out the open window to Brian again.

Brian read over it again, as if he might have missed something the first time around.

"Fleming," he said, as if thinking. He gave Crane and I a look. "What did Daniel say her name was? When he first brought her

home-"

"When he first introduced her-" Crane said, and they both tried to remember, looking thoughtful.

"Clark," I said, after a couple of moments. It had taken me that long to remember the name myself. The name Daniel had used to

introduce her to us.

"Yeah. Clark," Brian said, in agreement. "That was it."

"What do you make of it?" Crane asked.

"I dunno," Brian said. He stepped over and put the slip of paper back on the clip of the truck's sun visor.

"Let's take a look inside," Brian said, nodding towards the bar.

Crane nodded, and got out of the truck. I made a move to scramble out after him, out the driver's door, when Crane had no

more than gotten out himself.

"Hold up," Brian told me, holding up his hand to stop me. I came to a halt, one foot out of the truck and one still in.

"You can stay here, in the truck. It won't take us long to see if they're in there or they're not," he said.

"But you guys don't know what they look like," I pointed out, with perfect logic, I thought.

"You've described them," Brian reminded me. "And, if Jill's with them, it won't be hard to figure out."

Disappointed, I sank back against the truck seat, behind the steering wheel.

The two of them went off towards the building, disappearing around to the front. I sat and waited, tapping my fingers on the

steering wheel. I heard voices coming from the opposite direction, down the alley. Once I caught a small glimpse, I took a dive to

the seat of the truck to get out of sight.

There was only one of the men. And Jill. The big one she'd called Chess wasn't with them.

I hoped they didn't come too near, or they would see me laying there, in the truck seat. I could feel my heart pounding so

hard.

"Where's Chess gotten to?" the other guy said.

"You know where. In the nearest bar," Jill said.

"Where's that?" he asked her.

"Right there," Jill said, and I imagined she was pointing to the bar that Crane and Brian had just gone into.

There was the sound of a truck door opening, squeaking a bit, and I tried to quiet my breathing. "I've got somethin' here, under

the seat," the guy said. He laughed. "We can have us a drink of our own." For a few moments there was silence, and

I thought they must be drinking from a bottle. I heard walking on the gravel, and then I caught the glimpse of Jill's dark hair.

"That looks like one of the trucks from over there, at that ranch," the guy said, and I felt my heart pound harder. I'd forgotten that our truck

might be recognized-

"It looks like it," Jill said, then. "But all the ranchers around here drive the same old sort of trucks. Dents and rust. That's the

sort around here."

At first I was angry at her tone of derision, but then I thought that there was no way, none, that Jill wouldn't know that it

was our ranch truck. She'd seen it, day in and day out, and she'd ridden in it, and she'd recognize the glass cowboy boot that hung from the rear view mirror. At least

if she was paying attention like that.

So, if she knew that-and was making that comment, I thought she must know that I was hiding there. She must have seen me.

"Let's see what we can find in the truck," the man said. "May be a few bucks in there."

"Don't," Jill said, and I realized that she was trying to deter the guy from coming over to our truck.

"Why not?" he demanded. "Stupid hillbillies-they leave their windows down like that-they're practically begging to

get stuff stolen."

"You left the window down-" Jill said. "Does that make you and Chess stupid hillbillies?" And, then, she laughed.

The guy started to argue with her, saying that he still thought he should look thru our truck, but Jill interrupted him to say, "Give me another drink, Leo."

Leo? The tattooed guy did not look like a Leo.

Any minute now, Crane and Brian would be back. That's what I told myself. It was getting harder to stay crunched down, out of sight.

A comment from Leo had me on high alert again.

"When are you gonna be ready to leave Hillbillyville?" Leo said, with sarcasm.

"Oh, this little town isn't so bad," Jill said.

"You never shoulda taken off like you did," Leo said.

"When you're in love, sometimes you do things out of your comfort zone," Jill said.

Now I knew, for absolute certainty, that Jill knew I was there. Where I could hear. I didn't understand just what was going on,

between her and this guy, but I knew she was aware of my presence.

"You're not in love with that farm boy," Leo said, with derision. I was then more angry than scared. How dare he-

"Daniel's got a lot going for him," Jill said.

'Damn right he does!' I thought, in defense of Daniel.

Then I realized that Jill hadn't contradicted Leo's comment about her not being in love with Daniel-

Suddenly more furious than frightened, I sat up so fast it nearly made me dizzy. Leo was in the middle of taking another

swig of whiskey or whatever was in the bottle, but Jill saw me right off.

She showed no surprise, of course, because she'd known I was there. She shook her head at me just slightly. I wondered

what that was about.

I pushed the truck door open with my foot, and Leo paused in his swallowing of alcohol, wiping his mouth, and took in the

sight of me. I wasn't scared, then. I was mad. Leo didn't see overly concerned at seeing me pop up like a jack-in-the-box.

He sort of pointed his finger at me and said, "I know you. You're the little chick from the house."

Little Chick?

Leo shifted himself off of the truck tail gate where he'd been sitting, and ambled over towards me.

"You're a bad bunch of bitches," he said, narrowing his eyes at me. "Takin' me and Chess on, lined up on that

porch like you all were-"

"Leave her alone, Leo," Jill said.

"Leave her alone, Leo," Leo mocked, in a high-pitched tone, which I suppose he meant to sound like Jill.

"You're not scared of me, are you, Little Chick?" he asked, mockingly.

Jill came over closer and sort of stood in the small space between where Leo stood, and where I sat, still in the truck seat, with

one of my feet on the ground.

"Go on somewhere, Leo," she said, putting a hand in the middle of his chest, and pushing a bit.

"What for?"

"Because, I want to talk to her. Go find Chess, or something."

Leo gave me a long look, up and down, sort of like Frank. Kristen's step-father does. Creepy. I felt a chill go down my back.

Then he laughed, and shook his head. He gave a fake bow to Jill, and said, "Fine. I'll go locate Chess."

"Go look in the bar," Jill said.

As Leo began to amble off, obediently, towards the front of the bar, in the same direction that Crane and Brian had gone, Jill turned

her gaze on me.

To my shock, she looked aggravated.

"What are you doing, Harlie?" she demanded.

"What are you doing, Jill?" I countered, with a fierce glare.

"You shouldn't have popped up like that," she said. "It'd be best if Leo hadn't seen you."

I glared at her and she sighed.

"Who are you in town with?" she asked, then. "I know they didn't let you out by yourself."

I brought my other foot down out of the truck, and stood almost nose to nose with Jill. "What's that supposed to mean?!"

"Relax," she said, waving a hand at me. "I'm not insulting your family. But, I know how your brothers think. They wouldn't let you

be tooling around Murphys by yourself on the same day as Chess and Leo made their big appearance."

So close to the truth, she was. "Crane and Brian are in the bar," I admitted.

"And they left you out here?" she asked, and now she was insulting.

"They're looking for your stupid friends, and for you," I said, so angry that I felt like my head was gonna blow off.

"Of course they are," Jill muttered, as if annoyed.

"And you should be glad!" I yelled.

"Chill down, Harlie," Jill said.

"You're such a bitch!" I screamed.

If Jill had been amused a moment before, she wasn't now. "That's exactly right," she said, flatly. She stepped even closer, until

there was hardly an inch between our faces.

"Let me tell you something, Harlie. I am a bitch. Because I've had to be. I didn't have some cushy life, with love and support, and

practically a full baseball team of brothers, who would do anything, anything, to protect their sister! Like you!"

She had somewhat of a point, and I knew it-still-

"You've got Daniel, though," I pointed out. "And-the rest of the guys would be there for you, too, if you'd just seem as

though you were-" I hesitated, searching for the right word.

"Human?" Jill suggested, sarcastically. "Decent? Worth a single crap?"

"Crane and Brian are in there," I said, pointing towards the decrepit paint-peeling bar building. "Looking for you, cause they're

worried about you!"

"They're doing it for Daniel, not for me," Jill denied, but I thought I saw something pass over her face. A doubt, or a thought.

She turned, and looked towards the bar. "I'd better get in there, make sure there's no ruckus between them and Leo."

Jill started stalking towards the bar, and there was no way that I was gonna just sit there now, so I moved fast, and caught up with

her.

"Brian can fight," I said. "Or he used to be able to-but that Chess is a huge guy-"

Jill snorted, still walking fast. "Chess might be big, but he's not the one you need to worry about. That would be Leo."

Seven