He stops and swerves me, out through the back. I chase him through to an enormous country kitchen.
The kitchen leads out to a large courtyard flanked by a stables to the right and an open garage to the left. My boots crunch over light gravel as I give chase towards the stables.
Duffy disappears through the stable door. I realise my rifle is empty and ditch it on the ground.
Treading slow to the door, I ease it open. It creaks. I half expect a bullet or a fist. I didn’t see a gun in Duffy’s jeans, but you’ve got to expect the worst.
Horses whinny and snort inside the gloom of the stables. Unsettled by a stranger.
I bend low and check under each stable door, looking for the presence of human feet. But there’s only a pair of four-legged creatures inside. One white and the other chestnut-
