They drove in dead silence. The truck’s wheels occasionally drifted and veered off the road and rode hard on the berm. The Chevy shook and rattled everything inside the cab. Sokowski was in a fucked-up mood and didn’t feel like talking. He glanced at Carl out of the corner of his eye. The guy was a dumb-ass, but he knew better than to try to talk Sokowski out of anything. Carl didn’t say anything, just sat there like a big, stupid bump. Quiet as a goddamned church mouse. He had Carl trained right. Just like a dog. If they shit in your house, you’ve got to keep shoving their nose in the mess and give them a good whupping until they get it. Carl was his dog, and Sokowski had him trained pretty well.

“Man’s best friend,” Sokowski mumbled under his breath, and chuckled a little.

Carl gave him a sideways look. “Huh?”

“Nothing. Just thinking about my dog.”

As they flew through a stop sign, the way back to town zipped past them. They weren’t far now. Sokowski spotted a white-tailed doe up ahead along the side of the road. The animal’s eyes glowed white from the headlights, and it stood frozen at the sight of the approaching truck, then bounded the wrong way and into the path of the vehicle. Sokowski didn’t slow down one bit. He kept his foot jammed to the pedal, fed it a little more gas, not giving a shit about the deer or his truck.

“Fuck, man . . .” Carl held on tight to his beer and pressed his free hand onto the dashboard and prepared for the collision that was about to happen. The left front fender of the truck clipped the hindquarters of the bounding animal and sent it flying into the ditch. The Chevy shuddered for a moment, swerved from the jarring impact, but didn’t slow down. Carl whipped his head around and peered out the back window. The deer flailed in a flurry of hooves alongside the bank of snow before the truck turned the corner of the road.

“Fuck it. Roadkill now,” Sokowski muttered under his breath. His bloodshot eyes stayed focused on the road. His destination was up ahead a quarter mile.

The truck finally slowed and pulled up a gravel driveway and skidded to an abrupt stop behind a blue Volkswagen Rabbit. The VW Rabbit had a few stickers of flowers and peace signs on the back window. Sokowski cut the ignition, and the truck’s engine ticked angrily. He swung his door open, then turned and looked at Carl over his shoulder.

“You coming?”

“Shit, Mike—I don’t think this is such a good idea.”

Carl swished his near-empty beer can. “Why don’t we just head to my house? I got half a case of Schlitz.”

“Fuck that. Mindy’s got beer.”

“You really think she wants to see you? It’s late, and you’re pretty messed up.”

“Don’t really care if the bitch wants to see me or not.” Sokowski stepped out of the truck and slammed the door hard. Carl watched him weave his way toward the front porch. The path was icy, and Sokowski lost his footing and landed hard on his ass. Carl heard Sokowski cuss to himself and stand back up again. Sokowski took the steps two at a time and started to pound on the front door like there was a fire.

“Shit.” Carl shook the last few drops of beer into his mouth, tossed the empty can to the floor, and stepped out of the truck.