The Cold Six Thousand Read Online Free PDF Page B

up.
    Say what
?
    Who
that
?
    Mama
, that you
?
    Moore aimed. Moore fired. Moore caught three men low. He sprayed their legs. He diced their blanket. He chopped their money up.
    Muzzle boom—twelve-gauge roar—high decibels in tight.
    It knocked Wayne flat. Wayne went deaf. Wayne went powder blind. Moore shot a trashcan. The sucker
flew
.
    Wayne rubbed his eyes. Wayne got partial sight. Dice men screamed. Dice men scattered. Wendell Durfee ran.
    Moore aimed high. Moore sprayed a wall. Pellets bounced and whizzed. They caught Durfee’s hat. They sliced the band. They blew the feather up.
    Durfee ran. Wayne ran.
    He aimed his piece up and out. Durfee backward-aimed his. They fired. Blips lit the alley. Shots cut the walls.
    Wayne
saw
it. Wayne
felt
it. Wayne didn’t
hear
shit.
    He fired. He missed. Durfee fired. Durfee missed. Barrel flames. Sound waves. No
real
sound worth shit.
    They ran. They stopped. They fired. They sprinted full-out.
    Wayne popped six shots—one full cylinder. Durfee popped eight shots—one full-load clip.
    The flares stopped. No light. No directional signs—
    Wayne stumbled.
    He slid. He fell. He hit gravel. He ate alley grit. He smelled cordite. He licked cigar butts and dirt.
    He rolled over. He saw roof lights. He saw cherry lights twirl. Two prowl cars—
behind
him—DPD Fords.
    He caught some sounds. He stood up. He caught his breath. He walked back. His feet scraped. He heard it.
    Moore stood there. Cops stood there. The dice men lay prone. They were cuffed/shackled/fucked.
    Shredded pants. Pellet burns and gouges—cuts to white bone.
    They thrashed. Wayne heard partial screams.
    Moore walked over. Moore said something. Moore yelled.
    Wayne caught “Bowers.” His ears popped. He caught whole sounds.
    Moore flashed his sandwich bag. Moore spread the flaps. Wayne saw blood and gristle. Wayne saw a man’s thumb.

5
    (Dallas, 11/23/63)
    W indow wreaths / flags / ledge displays. 8:00 a.m.—one day later—the Glenwood Apartments loves Jack.
    Two floors. Twelve front windows. Flowers and JFK toys.
    Littell leaned on his car. The facade expanded. He got the sun. He got Arden Smith’s car. He got her U-Haul.
    He borrowed a Bureau car. He ran Arden Smith. She came back clean. He got her vehicle stats. He nailed her Chevy.
    She felt dirty. She saw the hit. She ran from the PD. That U-Haul said
RUNNER
.
    She lived in 2-D. He’d checked the courtyard. Her windows faced in—no flags/no trinkets/no shrine.
    He worked to midnight. He cleared an office space. Floor 3 was bedlam. Cops grilled Oswald. Camera crews roamed.
    His bum ploy worked. Rogers walked. The bums escaped clean. He saw Guy B. He told him to brace Lee Bowers.
    He read the wit statements. He read the DPD notes. They played ambiguous. Mr. Hoover would issue a mandate. Agents would secure it. Single-shooter evidence would cohere.
    Lee Oswald was trouble. Guy said so. Guy called him “nuts.”
    Lee didn’t shoot. The pro shooter did. Said pro shot from Lee’s floor perch. Rogers shot from the fence.
    Lee knew Guy’s cutout. Cops and Feds worked him all night. He named no names. Guy said he knew why.
    The kid craved attention. The kid was fucked-up. The kid craved the solo limelight.
    Littell checked his watch—8:16 a.m.—sun and low clouds.
    He counted flags. He counted wreaths. The Glenwood loved Jack. He knew why. He used to love Jack. He used to love Bobby.
    He never met Jack. He met Bobby once.
    He tried to join them. Kemper Boyd pushed his case. Bobby disdained his credentials. Boyd spread his loyalty. Boyd worked for Jack and Bobby. Boyd worked for the CIA.
    Boyd got Littell a job. Ward, meet Carlos Marcello.
    Carlos hated Jack and Bobby. Jack and Bobby spurned Littell. He built his own hate. He fine-tuned the aesthetic.
    He hated Jack. He
knew
Jack. Scrutiny undermined image. Jack was glib. Jack had pizzazz. Jack had no rectitude.
    Bobby defined rectitude. Bobby
lived
rectitude. Bobby punished bad men. He hated Bobby now.