After changing the tire and getting the Caddy back on the road, Eddie tuned in Braintree Radio and caught a talk show. The female caller was furious at one Joe Coxswain, and ended her chat with "Lock that pervert up!"
"I know Coxswain. Councilman and pillar of the community," Eddie said. "Seen him undress people with his eyes, so . . . no surprise here."
"Thing about pillars is, if trouble strikes they crumble," Bryce replied.
"Ha! That's the truth."
The next caller, Tina, said that Coxswain needed a castration drug and the third, Phil, said a blade, without anesthetic, would be much faster and more suitable. Eddie seemed to be relaxed as he listened and drove, and Bryce could guess what he was thinking. If everyone was talking about a sex scandal rather than sickness, that might be a good sign.
But Bryce remembered that lump on Brentwood's neck, and the sudden onset of his nasal symptoms. And he remembered why Eddie was driving to Braintree — to investigate the rapid spread of sickness at his HFS store there and find out more about that anthrax story.
Bryce knew a little about anthrax from the stories Stu had told about his work at Braintree's stockyards. It was a threat to livestock, especially cattle, and people could catch it too. It produced horrible black sores, gave you a fever, and poisoned your whole body. It was very obviously different from a cold, which was what those HFS workers seemed to have.
Minutes passed as Eddie let the Caddy cruise. The talk show droned on, Coxswain, Coxswain, Coxswain. As Braintree's tallest landmarks (a couple of church steeples) came in sight about two miles ahead, another caller — Michael — said that Coxswain ought to be tortured in ways that wouldn't show, maybe by squirting an irritant up his nostrils.
Tingles played over Bryce. He pointed to the radio and said, "That guy was on before, as Phil! Wanted a nutsack emptied."
Eddie pulled the Caddy over and stopped. He looked at Bryce, his expression calm but Bryce sensed an act. Eddie picked up the handset of his car phone and punched a number. Bryce could hear the rings from the receiver. After four or five he doubted that anyone would answer. Eddie let it ring a dozen times before putting the handset back in its cradle.
He waved a hand at the radio and said, "Stuck on one subject, one caller pretending to be two, soldiers with respirators, and my store doesn't answer. Bryce my man, I see deep deep shit ahead."
"So what's the next move?"
A siren warbled from behind and an ambulance raced past them toward Braintree.
"Put on your wading boots, cuz we're goin' in."
Eddie put the Caddy in gear and let it surge healthily in the ambulance's path.