When Kenny came to, he was lying in the back of a car with the sirens blaring. He attempted to lift his head to get a look at the driver, but stopped when he felt a sharp pain spread across his rib cage.
Using the rearview mirror, Friar peeked at the injured closeout king, while he guided the cruiser in and out of traffic “You stirring?”
Kenny coughed and wheezed in pain. “Barely.”
“You’re alive. Come out luckier than others back there.”
Kenny heard someone moaning from the passenger seat. Cringing, he asked, “Who’s that?”
“State fella,” Friar said with a laugh. “Got his nose blown sideways.”
“Where’s…Step?”
“Back yonder. He stayed behind with Dani and that state police lady.”
“The girl…Sarah?”
“Randle’s got her. Taking her home to her momma.”
“Where you taking me? Jail?”
“Jail? Hell no. Taking you to the nearest hospital. Get you patched up. The state boy, too. Can’t say I got much faith they’ll be able to do nothing for him but rip his nose the rest of the way off.”
Armstrong’s partner groaned out a “Fuck you.”
“Damn, man,” Friar said. “I thought you was asleep.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to sleep? My fucking face is on fire.”
“Boss…” Kenny gasped and coughed, which sent waves of pain through his entire body.
“Burnt to a crisp. Ain’t nobody doing shit for him.”
A smile crept across Kenny’s face. “You in good with Dani?”
“Savage?”
“That’d be the one.”
“I don’t know if I’m in good with her. I know’d her a good while. Why?”
Kenny barked in pain as he shifted in the backseat. “I need someone to talk me up with her.”
“Wha’cha mean, talk you up?”
Kenny let out a short rattled pant. “Romantically.”
Friar hesitated. “Well, no offense, but I don’t know nothing about you, romantically speaking or otherwise for that matter.”
“No,” Kenny started but stopped when the pain was too much. He gritted his teeth.
“But you can talk your own self up. She said she’d be coming to the hospital once she gets done what she needs to get done.”
“She did?”
“Hell yeah, son. She called you a hero.”
“She did?”
Friar chuckled. “I don’t know you well enough to lie to you.”
Kenny leaned up and looked at the deputy’s pale face in the rearview mirror to see if he could detect any deception in his eyes. When he was satisfied there was none to be found, he eased back down in the seat, finding it a little easier to deal with the pain.