"Well, well, Mrs. Stephen Carella." She took a step closer to Teddy, and Hawes watched, hatred boiling inside him, and he thought, It was nitra, it isn't nitro, it isn't nitro…. "Aren't you the pretty one, though?"
Virginia said.
"Aren't you the well-fed, well-groomed beauty? You've had your man, .. you~' you ye nan your man, ann you've still got your good looks, haven't you? Pretty, you bitch, look at me!
LOOK AT ME!"
I'll jump her, Teddy thought. Now.
While she's away from the nitro. I'll jump her now, and she'll fire, and the rest will grab her, and it will be all over. Now. Now.
But she did not jump.
Hypnotized as if by a snake, she watched the naked hatred on Virginia Dodge's face.
"I was pretty once," Virginia said, "before they sent Frank away. Do you know how old I am? I'm thirty-two. That's young. That's young, and I look like a hag, don't I, like death one of them said. Me, me, I look like death because your husband robbed me of my Frank. Your husband, you bitch. Oh, I could rip that face of yours apart! I could rip it, rip it for what he's done to me! Do you hear me, you little bitch!"
She stepped closer, and Hawes knew the gun would flash upward in the next moment.
He told himself for the last time, There's no nitro in that bottle, and then he shouted, "Hold it!"
Virginia Dodge turned to face him, moving closer to the desk and the bottle on it, blocking Byrnes and the others from it.
"Get away from her," Hawes said.
"What!" Virginia's tone was one of complete disbelief.
"You heard me. Get away from her. Don't lay a hand on her."
"Are you giving me orders?"
"Yes!" Hawes shouted.
"Yes, I am giving you orders! Now how about that, Mrs.
Dodge? How about it? I am giving you orders! One of the crawly little humans is daring to give God orders. Keep away from that girl. You touch her and..
"And what?" Virginia said. There was a sneer in her voice, supreme confidence in her stance-but the gun in her hand was trembling violently.
"I'll kill you, Mrs. Dodge," Hawes said quietly.
"That's what, Mrs. Dodge. I'll kill you."
He took a step toward her.
"Stand where you are!" Virginia yelled.
I'm not afraid of your wedge any more, your little bottle. You know why? Because there's nothing but water in it, Mrs. Dodge, and I'm not afraid of water. I drink water!
By the gallon, I drink it!"
"Cotton," Byrnes said, "don't be a ..
"Don't take another step!" Virginia said desperately, the gun shaking.
"Why not? You going to shoot me?
Okay, damnit, shoot me! But shoot me a lot because one bullet isn't going to do it!
Shoot me twice and then keep shooting me because I'm coming right at you, Mrs.
Dodge, and I'm going to take that gun away from you with any strength that's left in my hands, and I'm going to stuff it right down your throat! I'm coming, Mrs. Dodge, you hear me?"
"Stop! Stop where you are!" she screamed.
"The intro ..
"There is no nitro!" Hawes said, and he began his advance in earnest, and Virginia turned to face him fully now. To her left, Byrnes gestured to Teddy, who began moving slowly toward the men who stood just inside the gate. Virginia did not seem to notice. Her hand was shaking erratically as she watched Hawes.
"I'm coming, Mrs. Dodge," Hawes said, "so you'd better shoot now if you're going to because ..
And Virginia fired.
The shot stopped Hawes. But only momentarily, and only in the way any sudden sharp noise will stop anyone.
Because the bullet had missed him by a mile, and he began his advance again, moving across the room toward her, watching Byrnes slip Teddy past the railing and practically shove her down the corridor. The others did not move. Shut off from the bottle of nitro, they nonetheless stood rooted in the room, facing an imminent explosion.
"What's the matter" Hawes said.
"Too nervous to shoot straight? Your hand trembling too much?"
Virginia backed toward the desk. This time, he knew she was going to fire. He sidestepped an instant before she squeezed the trigger, and again the slug missed him, and he grinned and shouted, "That does it, Mrs. Dodge!
"The nitro…" she said, backing toward the desk.
"What nitro? There is no nitro!"
"I'll knock it to the..
And Hawes leaped.
The gun went off as he jumped, and this time he heard the rushing whoosh of the bullet as it tore past his head, missing him.
He caught at Virginia's right hand as the swung it toward the desk and the bottle of nitroglycerin. He clung to her wrist tightly because there was animal strength in her arm as she flailed wildly at the bottle, reaching for it.
He pulled her arm up over her head and then slammed it down on the desk top, trying to knock the gun loose, and the bottle slid towards the edge of the desk.
He slammed her hand down again, and again the bottle moved, closer to the edge as Virginia's fingers opened and the gun dropped to the floor.
