Michael Malone - Weebly

After the artificial coolness of the bar, the heat
outside felt briefly pleasant. Barnum could see Henry
with his dog; the man walked slowly, almost as if he
limped, and the two had not yet reached the end of the
block. When he passed them, the large shepherd darted
out at the motorcycle. Barnum kicked out at it as he
sped away toward his house on Glover's Lane. There,
stumbling through the small, dark rooms, he ran to his
bedroom, felt under the bed, and pulled out his
revolver. He fitted it carefully into his jacket pocket. If
asked why, he would have explained, and believed, that
the man now on his way to her house was a criminal.
Everyone said he was violent, unmanageable, one of
those whose mind had been lost in Vietnam, something
that sounded like a rabid animal. Barnum believed that
he was hurrying to see if Mrs. Haig needed to be saved.
He was thinking that if he brought Henry in to Hawk
Haig, it would foster a friendship between him and the
police chief. Haig had a lot of political influence locally
and it would be helpful to have the man in his debt. He
was thinking that Henry might get out of line and have to
be shot, and that if he saved her life by killing a criminal,