[Little Girl Lost] Pete and Meggan
Jul. 9th, 2005 12:17 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsWay the fuck backdated to June 9th, the story of how Meggan got home, and what happened afterward...
Pete put the phone down, and ran his hands through his hair. Not this. Not now. He lit up, and paced up and down his office, lost in thought. After a while he stopped and just stared out of the window at the manhattan skyline.
No time to get hold of Alison. If he was lucky, maybe 12 hours before Selene heard about who the little fuck was selling.
He knew what he ought to do. This was one kid, and it shouldn't matter where she came from. If Patches or one of the other bottom feeders had heard about her sooner, somehow bought her off those bastards in Germany before Amanda had found her, she'd be just another kid he couldn't save. Another one to mourn, another reason to put Selene and Shaw in the ground. He should stay clear, get the job done. Not risk blowing it on one fucking kid.
Hell, what he ought to do was tip Selene off.
No. Bollocks to that.
He ground the cigarette out and picked up the phone.
---
Patches was feeling good about himself. It'd taken him bloody long enough to get hold the brat, and he'd been bitten a few times in the process, but in the end Jim and he'd got her tied up with a bag on her head to stop her from causing any trouble. She was in the next room, and now he had two lads from the Hellfire Club standing in front of him, offering enough to make him a very wealthy man. Jim'd patted them down and taken their guns from them, was standing behind him his arms folded. After all, this was the Hellfire Club. It'd be lovely to have them owing him a few favours, but he didn't want them thinking he couldn't hold his own, did he?
Yes, life was definitely starting to turn back in his direction again. In fact,something had just occured to him that might make him even *more* money.
"Now I know what we agreed as a price, but sure it occurs to me that it's mostly the wee thing's blood that's valuable, and I'm thinking that maybe I'll just hang on to her. Sell her blood by the pint to lots of people, yeh know? Maybe a limb or two to the highest bidders, for those really special occaisions?"
The two men exchanged glances.
"Now, I can guess what the pair've yez are thinkin', but my friend already had your guns off yeh, and I don't think either one've yeh wants to be the first one to take a bullet, so."
"Well--" one of them began, when there was a crashing sound from behind them as the main door was kicked in, and the sudden report of a silenced pistol. Patches felt lumps of something something warm and wet spray across his face, and he scraped at it, trying to get the stuff out of his eyes. This couldn't be happening, couldn't be, not now.
"But I thou-" was all the other man said before Patches heard the pistol fire again. Behind him, Jim was shouting something unintelligble, some threat or other, and the pistol sounded again, and suddenly Patches was alone in an eerie silence, trying to scrape bits of brain out of his eyes with his one good hand.
He managed to clear his vision enough to open one eye, just in time to see the cloth being lowered against his face, and he caught a whiff of chloroform before it all went dark.
---
The door creaked as Pete opened it, and the shaft of light picked out Meggan's small form tied up in the middle of the storeroom. He stepped over, and crouched down near her, not touching her yet, and speaking in a low, calm voice, affecting reasonable stab at a mid-western American accent.
"Meggan? I've come to take you back to the school. I'm going to untie your feet so you can come with me. I'll untie your hands as well, but you have to make me a promise first. You have to promise me that you won't take the bag off until I tell you that you can. That's very, very important. You understand?"
Meggan uncurled a bit, reaching out as best she could to sense his emotions, as he touched her ankles while untying them. He was scared, she sensed, but angry too, and there was the indefinable rrrrrrrr of racing adrenaline that wasn't quite an emotion, but was close enough to one to sense. And... protectiveness. The feeling she picked up most strongly from Manda, but had gotten from other people, too. So she thought maybe she could trust him, because he definitely didn't want her to get hurt. "Bag OFF!" she said plaintively. "Want air!" It was hard to breath in the bag...
Pete paused a seconds as he worked at the knot. Normally, he'd just sure his powers on this sort of thing, so it was taking him a bit longer than it should have through lack of practice.
"I can untie it, so you can have more air, but you've got to promise not to take it off, sunshine. It's dangerous for both of us if you see what I look like. There are bad people
who won't like me helping you, so you'll be safer if you don't see me. You promise not to look?"
"Promise. No peeking," Meggan agreed. Her ankles were released and she stretched out her legs, wincing under the bag. "I'm all stiff."
She'd tried to keep herself occupied, in the long hours unable to see or breathe properly, running over all the words she'd ever heard. She'd worked out some more meanings, and somehow things had moved around in her head a little and she'd seen how to make the long strings of words fit together properly, instead of just talking in a collection of single words. At least she'd be able to talk to whoever was rescuing her.
Pete finised untying her feet, and loosened the bag as fast as he could, before untying her hands.
"I'm not surprised you're stiff, tied up like that. Do you know how long you've been in here? Have they given you anything to eat or drink?"
"No, an' no." She sat up, wiggling her toes and stretching out her stiff back. "I bited them. Manda says biting bad, but they 'served it. Then they put bag on my head."
Pete snorted with amusement.
"I don't think Amanda would mind, this once. Yes, they did deserve it, and they won't be doing that to anyone again."
He finished the last of the knots.
"Right then, let's get you back to Amanda. I've got some juice you can have in my car, on the way." He paused a second.
"It'll be easier if I carry you out of here. Will you make sure the bag doesn't fall off while I do?"
"I hold on," Meggan agreed, taking hold of the bag with one hand, and holding the other arm up to be picked up. She wasn't sure she could walk by herself - her legs HURT - and the new Strange Man seemed much nicer than the others. He'd been careful not to pull her fur when he untied her, and he felt worried about her.
"Good girl."
Pete picked her up easily enough taking a minute to make sure she was settled comfortably against him the headed for the car, giving momentary thanks that the area was quiet, and that the car had tinted windows - explaining why he had a small mutant child with a bag on her head with him to anyone else might be little tricky.
He got her settled in to the passenger seat, the took a carton of apple juice out the glove compartment where he'd stashed it, and set the straw in it, before putting it in her hand.
"I hope you like apple juice - it was all I had time to get. Drink it slowly - just take small drinks, or you might make yourself sick."
Meggan took the little carton, working the straw up under the bag. "Little sips," she agreed, remembering what Manda had told her when her stomach was getting used to proper food again. "Thank you for rescue," she added politely. "And juice." It was nice to say thank you when someone gave you something, and a rescue was definitely a big gift. Only Manda had done it better. She reached out blindly, finding the man's arm and giving it an approving pat.
"You're very welcome, Meggan." Pete marvelled at how resilient she seemed as put the car in gear, and pulled away. He'd expected to have to deal with all sorts of hysteria as he got her out of there.
He drove carefully, and kept an eye on his speed - as much as he was screaming with the need to get her back to Xaviers as fast as possible, it'd be much worse if he were to be stopped right now.
Meggan sipped the juice slowly, letting it soothe her dry throat. "I don't like getting stole," she said decidedly. "Worse than cage. Want to go back to Manda." She felt a brief flicker of sadness and worry when she mentioned Manda. Whoever the stranger was, he liked her a lot and missed her. "Who you?"
Pete'd already had time to think of his answer to that one.
"My name's Paul. I used to know Amanda, a long time ago. She won't remember me, but I was sorry I couldn't help her back then. I knew the man that stole you, too. I've had to stop him hurting other people before, so when I found out he had you, I thought I'd better get you back to Amanda. Won't be too much longer now."
Just truth enough to keep them looking in all the wrong places, with any luck.
"Paul." Meggan filed that away. "An' you know my name." She sipped the juice again, pulling her legs up against her chest and wrapping her arm around them. "Manda be worried," she said, a little worried herself. "An' looking for me. Hope she not too scared."
She probably will be. So you're going to have to do something for her, Meggan. You're going to have to keep telling her it wasn't her fault until she understands, because she'll probably think it was. Tell the other grown ups at the school to do the same thing, too."
Pete drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a second.
"And you tell her I said I'll make sure Patches won't ever come near either of you ever you again."
And with any luck, Romany would be able to confirm the truth of that in a day or two...
"Tell Manda no more Patches," Meggan agreed. "An' NOT her fault. My fault." She sighed. "Shouldn't eat candy unless Manda says I can. I forgot." Well, she hadn't forgotten, exactly.. she never forgot anything. But she hadn't remembered about it until afterwards, which was more or less the same thing.
So that's how he'd managed it. There really was something faintly unreal about this kid. "No, you shouldn't. But it was Patches fault, not yours. You trusted someone you shouldn't have, but it's much worse that he pretended that candy was OK to eat. So don't you blame yourself too much - save most of the blame for him."
Meggan nodded. "Patches BAD," she agreed very firmly. Her paws felt cold, and she tucked them in between her tummy and her
legs. She felt funny... kind of cold and wobbly, but very calm. "He gone now?"
"He's never going to bother you again. He's gone." Pete pulled the car off the freeway, heading onto the quieter backroads toward the school. It'd take a little longer, but there was less chance of anyone seeing them.
"OK, we'll be there soon, but I can't take you all the way up to the front door. So what we'll do is we'll stop outside the front gate, and I'll let you out of the car. When you hear me close the car door, you can take the bag off your head, and press on the bell at the gate, OK?"
Meggan nodded. "I can do," she agreed. She pulled the bag away from her neck a tiny bit, just enough to allow a little light in, so her eyes could start adjusting. "Won't peek," she reassured him. "An' can walk to house from gate."
Pete raised an eyebrow. "If you think that's best, you do that." Maybe the kid was more like Amanda than she seemed. "You've been a very brave girl, Meggan - thank you. It was nice to meet you."
"Glad to meet you," Meggan agreed, since she'd been VERY happy that he'd been there to rescue her. "I try be brave. Manda says I am." She swallowed hard. She hadn't cried, at least not when anyone was there to see. She would wait until she was safe at home. "Been bad place, before Manda found me. Used to it."
Pete's jaw tightened for a moment, and his hands gripped the wheel even tighter. Whatever it took...
"Well, that's my job, now. I try and make sure that what happened to people like you and Amanda won't happen to other people, when I can."
Meggan felt the sudden misery that welled up inside him, and reached out to find a shoulder and pat it gently. "Don't be sad," she told him seriously. "You good. Saved me." She leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder for a moment. That always made Manda feel better. "Want me to tell you a story? Always make me feel better, when Manda tell me a story."
Despite himself, Pete smiled. It'd keep her talking, and avoid any other awkward questions. And it'd give him a good story to tell himself, one day...
"That'd be good. Thank you."
He drove on, as Megggan started her story.
---
Pete pulled off the road, and drove a short way out into the field, around the edge of the wooded area, where the car would be hidded from the road. It was a good half hour's walk to the nearest town, and he'd be back in New York by morning, well before his absence was discovered.
As he killed the engine, he was aware of a thumping and yelling coming from the boot of the car. Patches had obviously woken up at some point during the drive, after he'd gone back to clean up. He'd got the dose about right, then.
He got out of the car, and walked round to the boot. Glancing at the tinted windows as he did. He'd never been so glad of them in his life - if anyone had seen the passengers he'd had with him on any part of the afteroon's driving....
He opened the boot.
"I'll have yeh hounded--"
"Shut up."
Patches went ashen. "I didn't - yeh said Amanda, not- I thought-"
"You thought wrong, cunt."
Patches struggled against the ropes that kept his arms and legs pinned and useless.
"Please, don't, I'll do anything yeh ask..."
"Oh, for god's sake shut up. You've nothing I want, and killing you isn't going to make anyone any more scared of me. It's not going to keep people away from Amanda or Meggan, because no-one's going to know I did it. I can do without having to listen to you whine."
Patches relaxed a little.
"Oh thank christ. So what is it yeh want?"
Pete leant forward over patches Patches, and used his powers to put a few neat holes through the right parts of the boot.
"From you? Fuck all, old son. Fuck all."
Patches looked puzzled.
"Are yeh going to let me go?"
"What? Oh, no. Not a fucking hope." Pete turned and did the same to the lid. "See, I told you what would happen the very next time you or anyone like you fucked with me and mine. So it's not going to do me a bit of damn good, but you've fucked me off for the last time. I'm just making the best of this I can."
He finished what he as doing and slammed the boot lid back down. He could still hear Patches muffled screams from inside. "Yeh bastard, I'll get out of here, and I'll make yeh wish yeh'd never been..."
Pete walked calmly away from the car, taking care to tread on grassy patches, rather than any exposed mud that might leave prints. When he judged that he was a safe distance away, he turned back toward the car, and shot a single hotknife at it.
The fuel tank caught quite satisfyingly. They tended not to explode like in the movies, but you could certainly get a good blaze going. Pete stood and watched for a while, the firelight warm on his face. When Patches stopped screaming, he turned away and started walking for town. It'd be a few days before anyone found the car, out here...
Pete put the phone down, and ran his hands through his hair. Not this. Not now. He lit up, and paced up and down his office, lost in thought. After a while he stopped and just stared out of the window at the manhattan skyline.
No time to get hold of Alison. If he was lucky, maybe 12 hours before Selene heard about who the little fuck was selling.
He knew what he ought to do. This was one kid, and it shouldn't matter where she came from. If Patches or one of the other bottom feeders had heard about her sooner, somehow bought her off those bastards in Germany before Amanda had found her, she'd be just another kid he couldn't save. Another one to mourn, another reason to put Selene and Shaw in the ground. He should stay clear, get the job done. Not risk blowing it on one fucking kid.
Hell, what he ought to do was tip Selene off.
No. Bollocks to that.
He ground the cigarette out and picked up the phone.
---
Patches was feeling good about himself. It'd taken him bloody long enough to get hold the brat, and he'd been bitten a few times in the process, but in the end Jim and he'd got her tied up with a bag on her head to stop her from causing any trouble. She was in the next room, and now he had two lads from the Hellfire Club standing in front of him, offering enough to make him a very wealthy man. Jim'd patted them down and taken their guns from them, was standing behind him his arms folded. After all, this was the Hellfire Club. It'd be lovely to have them owing him a few favours, but he didn't want them thinking he couldn't hold his own, did he?
Yes, life was definitely starting to turn back in his direction again. In fact,something had just occured to him that might make him even *more* money.
"Now I know what we agreed as a price, but sure it occurs to me that it's mostly the wee thing's blood that's valuable, and I'm thinking that maybe I'll just hang on to her. Sell her blood by the pint to lots of people, yeh know? Maybe a limb or two to the highest bidders, for those really special occaisions?"
The two men exchanged glances.
"Now, I can guess what the pair've yez are thinkin', but my friend already had your guns off yeh, and I don't think either one've yeh wants to be the first one to take a bullet, so."
"Well--" one of them began, when there was a crashing sound from behind them as the main door was kicked in, and the sudden report of a silenced pistol. Patches felt lumps of something something warm and wet spray across his face, and he scraped at it, trying to get the stuff out of his eyes. This couldn't be happening, couldn't be, not now.
"But I thou-" was all the other man said before Patches heard the pistol fire again. Behind him, Jim was shouting something unintelligble, some threat or other, and the pistol sounded again, and suddenly Patches was alone in an eerie silence, trying to scrape bits of brain out of his eyes with his one good hand.
He managed to clear his vision enough to open one eye, just in time to see the cloth being lowered against his face, and he caught a whiff of chloroform before it all went dark.
---
The door creaked as Pete opened it, and the shaft of light picked out Meggan's small form tied up in the middle of the storeroom. He stepped over, and crouched down near her, not touching her yet, and speaking in a low, calm voice, affecting reasonable stab at a mid-western American accent.
"Meggan? I've come to take you back to the school. I'm going to untie your feet so you can come with me. I'll untie your hands as well, but you have to make me a promise first. You have to promise me that you won't take the bag off until I tell you that you can. That's very, very important. You understand?"
Meggan uncurled a bit, reaching out as best she could to sense his emotions, as he touched her ankles while untying them. He was scared, she sensed, but angry too, and there was the indefinable rrrrrrrr of racing adrenaline that wasn't quite an emotion, but was close enough to one to sense. And... protectiveness. The feeling she picked up most strongly from Manda, but had gotten from other people, too. So she thought maybe she could trust him, because he definitely didn't want her to get hurt. "Bag OFF!" she said plaintively. "Want air!" It was hard to breath in the bag...
Pete paused a seconds as he worked at the knot. Normally, he'd just sure his powers on this sort of thing, so it was taking him a bit longer than it should have through lack of practice.
"I can untie it, so you can have more air, but you've got to promise not to take it off, sunshine. It's dangerous for both of us if you see what I look like. There are bad people
who won't like me helping you, so you'll be safer if you don't see me. You promise not to look?"
"Promise. No peeking," Meggan agreed. Her ankles were released and she stretched out her legs, wincing under the bag. "I'm all stiff."
She'd tried to keep herself occupied, in the long hours unable to see or breathe properly, running over all the words she'd ever heard. She'd worked out some more meanings, and somehow things had moved around in her head a little and she'd seen how to make the long strings of words fit together properly, instead of just talking in a collection of single words. At least she'd be able to talk to whoever was rescuing her.
Pete finised untying her feet, and loosened the bag as fast as he could, before untying her hands.
"I'm not surprised you're stiff, tied up like that. Do you know how long you've been in here? Have they given you anything to eat or drink?"
"No, an' no." She sat up, wiggling her toes and stretching out her stiff back. "I bited them. Manda says biting bad, but they 'served it. Then they put bag on my head."
Pete snorted with amusement.
"I don't think Amanda would mind, this once. Yes, they did deserve it, and they won't be doing that to anyone again."
He finished the last of the knots.
"Right then, let's get you back to Amanda. I've got some juice you can have in my car, on the way." He paused a second.
"It'll be easier if I carry you out of here. Will you make sure the bag doesn't fall off while I do?"
"I hold on," Meggan agreed, taking hold of the bag with one hand, and holding the other arm up to be picked up. She wasn't sure she could walk by herself - her legs HURT - and the new Strange Man seemed much nicer than the others. He'd been careful not to pull her fur when he untied her, and he felt worried about her.
"Good girl."
Pete picked her up easily enough taking a minute to make sure she was settled comfortably against him the headed for the car, giving momentary thanks that the area was quiet, and that the car had tinted windows - explaining why he had a small mutant child with a bag on her head with him to anyone else might be little tricky.
He got her settled in to the passenger seat, the took a carton of apple juice out the glove compartment where he'd stashed it, and set the straw in it, before putting it in her hand.
"I hope you like apple juice - it was all I had time to get. Drink it slowly - just take small drinks, or you might make yourself sick."
Meggan took the little carton, working the straw up under the bag. "Little sips," she agreed, remembering what Manda had told her when her stomach was getting used to proper food again. "Thank you for rescue," she added politely. "And juice." It was nice to say thank you when someone gave you something, and a rescue was definitely a big gift. Only Manda had done it better. She reached out blindly, finding the man's arm and giving it an approving pat.
"You're very welcome, Meggan." Pete marvelled at how resilient she seemed as put the car in gear, and pulled away. He'd expected to have to deal with all sorts of hysteria as he got her out of there.
He drove carefully, and kept an eye on his speed - as much as he was screaming with the need to get her back to Xaviers as fast as possible, it'd be much worse if he were to be stopped right now.
Meggan sipped the juice slowly, letting it soothe her dry throat. "I don't like getting stole," she said decidedly. "Worse than cage. Want to go back to Manda." She felt a brief flicker of sadness and worry when she mentioned Manda. Whoever the stranger was, he liked her a lot and missed her. "Who you?"
Pete'd already had time to think of his answer to that one.
"My name's Paul. I used to know Amanda, a long time ago. She won't remember me, but I was sorry I couldn't help her back then. I knew the man that stole you, too. I've had to stop him hurting other people before, so when I found out he had you, I thought I'd better get you back to Amanda. Won't be too much longer now."
Just truth enough to keep them looking in all the wrong places, with any luck.
"Paul." Meggan filed that away. "An' you know my name." She sipped the juice again, pulling her legs up against her chest and wrapping her arm around them. "Manda be worried," she said, a little worried herself. "An' looking for me. Hope she not too scared."
She probably will be. So you're going to have to do something for her, Meggan. You're going to have to keep telling her it wasn't her fault until she understands, because she'll probably think it was. Tell the other grown ups at the school to do the same thing, too."
Pete drummed his fingers on the steering wheel for a second.
"And you tell her I said I'll make sure Patches won't ever come near either of you ever you again."
And with any luck, Romany would be able to confirm the truth of that in a day or two...
"Tell Manda no more Patches," Meggan agreed. "An' NOT her fault. My fault." She sighed. "Shouldn't eat candy unless Manda says I can. I forgot." Well, she hadn't forgotten, exactly.. she never forgot anything. But she hadn't remembered about it until afterwards, which was more or less the same thing.
So that's how he'd managed it. There really was something faintly unreal about this kid. "No, you shouldn't. But it was Patches fault, not yours. You trusted someone you shouldn't have, but it's much worse that he pretended that candy was OK to eat. So don't you blame yourself too much - save most of the blame for him."
Meggan nodded. "Patches BAD," she agreed very firmly. Her paws felt cold, and she tucked them in between her tummy and her
legs. She felt funny... kind of cold and wobbly, but very calm. "He gone now?"
"He's never going to bother you again. He's gone." Pete pulled the car off the freeway, heading onto the quieter backroads toward the school. It'd take a little longer, but there was less chance of anyone seeing them.
"OK, we'll be there soon, but I can't take you all the way up to the front door. So what we'll do is we'll stop outside the front gate, and I'll let you out of the car. When you hear me close the car door, you can take the bag off your head, and press on the bell at the gate, OK?"
Meggan nodded. "I can do," she agreed. She pulled the bag away from her neck a tiny bit, just enough to allow a little light in, so her eyes could start adjusting. "Won't peek," she reassured him. "An' can walk to house from gate."
Pete raised an eyebrow. "If you think that's best, you do that." Maybe the kid was more like Amanda than she seemed. "You've been a very brave girl, Meggan - thank you. It was nice to meet you."
"Glad to meet you," Meggan agreed, since she'd been VERY happy that he'd been there to rescue her. "I try be brave. Manda says I am." She swallowed hard. She hadn't cried, at least not when anyone was there to see. She would wait until she was safe at home. "Been bad place, before Manda found me. Used to it."
Pete's jaw tightened for a moment, and his hands gripped the wheel even tighter. Whatever it took...
"Well, that's my job, now. I try and make sure that what happened to people like you and Amanda won't happen to other people, when I can."
Meggan felt the sudden misery that welled up inside him, and reached out to find a shoulder and pat it gently. "Don't be sad," she told him seriously. "You good. Saved me." She leaned over to rest her head on his shoulder for a moment. That always made Manda feel better. "Want me to tell you a story? Always make me feel better, when Manda tell me a story."
Despite himself, Pete smiled. It'd keep her talking, and avoid any other awkward questions. And it'd give him a good story to tell himself, one day...
"That'd be good. Thank you."
He drove on, as Megggan started her story.
---
Pete pulled off the road, and drove a short way out into the field, around the edge of the wooded area, where the car would be hidded from the road. It was a good half hour's walk to the nearest town, and he'd be back in New York by morning, well before his absence was discovered.
As he killed the engine, he was aware of a thumping and yelling coming from the boot of the car. Patches had obviously woken up at some point during the drive, after he'd gone back to clean up. He'd got the dose about right, then.
He got out of the car, and walked round to the boot. Glancing at the tinted windows as he did. He'd never been so glad of them in his life - if anyone had seen the passengers he'd had with him on any part of the afteroon's driving....
He opened the boot.
"I'll have yeh hounded--"
"Shut up."
Patches went ashen. "I didn't - yeh said Amanda, not- I thought-"
"You thought wrong, cunt."
Patches struggled against the ropes that kept his arms and legs pinned and useless.
"Please, don't, I'll do anything yeh ask..."
"Oh, for god's sake shut up. You've nothing I want, and killing you isn't going to make anyone any more scared of me. It's not going to keep people away from Amanda or Meggan, because no-one's going to know I did it. I can do without having to listen to you whine."
Patches relaxed a little.
"Oh thank christ. So what is it yeh want?"
Pete leant forward over patches Patches, and used his powers to put a few neat holes through the right parts of the boot.
"From you? Fuck all, old son. Fuck all."
Patches looked puzzled.
"Are yeh going to let me go?"
"What? Oh, no. Not a fucking hope." Pete turned and did the same to the lid. "See, I told you what would happen the very next time you or anyone like you fucked with me and mine. So it's not going to do me a bit of damn good, but you've fucked me off for the last time. I'm just making the best of this I can."
He finished what he as doing and slammed the boot lid back down. He could still hear Patches muffled screams from inside. "Yeh bastard, I'll get out of here, and I'll make yeh wish yeh'd never been..."
Pete walked calmly away from the car, taking care to tread on grassy patches, rather than any exposed mud that might leave prints. When he judged that he was a safe distance away, he turned back toward the car, and shot a single hotknife at it.
The fuel tank caught quite satisfyingly. They tended not to explode like in the movies, but you could certainly get a good blaze going. Pete stood and watched for a while, the firelight warm on his face. When Patches stopped screaming, he turned away and started walking for town. It'd be a few days before anyone found the car, out here...
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