Part 3: Mac

Saturday night was packed at Packy’s. Some people said that’s why they called it Packy’s. And that’s true enough as you might suppose. True to her word, Marilyn Marplethorp had not returned since that Tuesday night several weeks before. Anelia Gerkins, a hard-faced veteran of the mean streets, filled Marilyn’s slot in Buck’s stable. Unlike Marilyn, Anelia was nobody’s sweetheart. Business is business, Buck’s kind of girl.

Buck was sitting at the bar on his usual stool, third from the right, talking to Mac the bartender when Anelia Gerkins pushed her way through the crowd. "Buck!" she yelled. Again, "Buck!"

"Whatcha got, babe?"

"Got a customer with a complaint. Wants to see the boss. Says our prices are out of line."

Blood rose in Buck’s face. He didn’t like trouble, especially from some cheap suburbanite on a boys night out.

"Where’s the punk?"

"Right here, chump."

Buck and Mac both looked over to see a squirmy little guy coming through the crowd. Mac saw the flash of the pistol just before hearing the blast. He was thinking lousy shot, then there was nothing. Next, Mac noticed that he was on the floor without knowing how he got there. He tried lifting his head, but could only manage an inch or two before falling back and smacking the back of his head against the wood slats of the bartender’s walkway. There was no pain where the bullet had entered which made him curious, so he brought his hand to his chest, touching the warm, wet stuff. Then everything went black.

Mac opened his eyes one more time and saw a fuzzy-faced cop staring at him, pulling a strap tight on the gurney. A medic was on the other side of the gurney doing something blurry with Mac’s arm. Mac blinked a few times and the fuzz fell away from the local beat cop's face. "Hey, Officer Donleavy, what’s up?"

"You ain’t, Mac. Just take it easy. We’ll get you to the hospital fast."

"It’s ok, Officer Donleavy. Despite everything, God still loves you. Here, I've got something for you."

"What?" As Officer Donleavy spoke, he glanced into Mac’s eyes and was pulled into an angelic stare. Never had he experienced such love. The stare seemed to last a long time, broken only when the medics pulled the gurney away. Officer Donleavy felt something in his hand. He looked down and saw a folded dollar bill with a small, wet blood stain in one corner. "What the..."