attery-operated TV I' d broug

ed as 'Viper,' believed to be armed and hiding in the national forest area.

od ran

ackpack. That was me.

pack suddenly felt

I whispered, panic

g through a tattered magazi

s ont

ice! The

k'? Leo, half the hikers in this forest probably have dark-colored backpacks. Including, I might add, the actual meth-he

tingly sound, but the

to see

for a bit," I said

pping?" Clara

a flimsy lock that she could probably pi

ounty hospital was

pale against the white pillow. A new, more ex

mate, was there, s

I entered, his

the hell hav

umbled, avoid

g, man. You disappeared. Your landlord called me. And now this ransom demand for Harr

ne, full of a disbel

cracking. "The new treatment protocol they sugg

, incredulous. "Leo, this isn't you. This

ter die," I shot back, the desperatio

are always other ways. This will destroy you,

course. But I w

aid, my gaze fixed o

ment and worry. "Just... be careful, Leo.

words echoing in my ears, my

joke now, especially after Clara' s five-million-do