Bryce was making strange, squeaking noises in Doofus Two's grasp. Was Two trying to hug Bryce to death?

Wilder moved forward, short controlled steps, and Thin Man slashed the blade across his front, more a threatening preparation for attack than an attempt to actually cut, which meant Thin Man knew nothing about real fighting. Wilder went low, his left arm blocking the knife arm up and out of the way as he side kicked right into the front of Thin Man's closest knee.

The sound of the knee snapping backward froze everyone in the bar. Thin Man's scream cut through the silence as he collapsed, but Wilder had already turned. He hit Doofus Two, who had not yet registered that he was now the Lone Ranger, a bare-knuckle shot in the temple.

Wilder had to give Doofus Two credit: He let go of Bryce, who staggered back to the bar, but he didn't collapse. He slowly turned toward Wilder, rage competing with near unconsciousness on his face.

Drop, Wilder thought.

Doofus Two raised his huge arms and took a step toward Wilder. Was that the only move he knew? Wilder wondered. He backed up a step and Doofus Two came forward a step.

Drop, asshole.

He didn't.

Bryce jumped on Doofus Two's back, his arm snaking around his shoulders, trying to get a chokehold, except his arms were too short and Doofus Two was too wide. Bryce was doing it all wrong, but damn, he was doing it.

Wilder went in for his wingman. He hit Doofus Two with the knife edge of his left hand right across the throat, holding back the blow so he wouldn't crush the larynx and make him drown in his own blood, but hard enough to cause extreme pain and make him think about other things for a while.

Doofus Two went to his knees, his gasping mixed with the muted screams coming from Thin Man, who was curled in a ball, hands wrapped around his destroyed knee. Bryce let go and staggered back, as shocked as everyone else.

Wilder checked out the bar, now stunned into silence. The bartender had not moved. He had not brought a weapon out from under the bar. He was watching, eyes dead. Wilder nodded at him and tilted his head toward the door. The bartender nodded in return and tilted his head also. Wilder peeled another hundred off his roll and slapped it on the bar.

"Let's go." Wilder didn't wait for Bryce to acknowledge, just grabbed his arm and hustled him out the door, grateful the Glock was still in its holster and all its bullets were still in the magazine, including the one in the chamber. Men. Fucking assholes. Over nothing. Nothing.

"That was un-freaking-believable," Bryce gushed on an adrenaline high as Wilder pushed him toward the Porsche. "Did you see that guy go down?"

I put him down, Wilder thought as he unlocked the car doors. Of course I saw him.

"I mean, what was the move you did?" Bryce asked. "Could you-"

"Shut up." Wilder held a hand up to emphasize the two words while he put the other on the car roof to steady himself.

Even Bryce could see that the hand in front of his face was shaking. "You all right?"

No. Wilder closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Yeah."

"You don't look okay. I didn't even see you get hit."

"I didn't get hit. I maimed a guy for life."

"But he-"

"I know he was an asshole, and I know they started it, but it doesn't change what I did." Wilder opened his eyes, took his hand off the car roof, and handed the keys to Bryce. "You drive. And don't tell anyone what happened."

"I'm going to have to tell Lucy," Bryce said, raising a hand to his face.

"No, you are not-" Wilder broke off as he saw Bryce's face, the entire right side red from being mashed into Doofus Two's chest.

"I'm sorry," Bryce said.

"Get in the car," Wilder said. "Just get in the car."

When they stopped shooting for second meal that night, Lucy took the shuttle back to her camper and collapsed into one of the blue swivel chairs, exhausted from wrangling people into shooting stupid scenes while keeping an eye on Daisy so she wouldn't pop any pills. Pepper's Wonder Woman loot was spread out on the table, the Kingdom Come action figure standing in the middle of it all, looking determined, rope in hand. Lasso of Truth. That would be good. She could think of several people she'd like to tie up and ask a few pointed questions. Connor. Daisy. Finnegan.

Wilder.

Captain Wilder, did you have a good time with Althea last night? Ha. Of course, he'd had a good time. Althea practically had good time tattooed on her forehead.

Okay, that was just depressing. She punched the iPod on and hit Kirsty again, looking for anything cheery, and ended up with "Treachery." Not a good time for songs about wanting someone at night, she decided. And definitely no Bonnie Tyler.

Kirsty sang, "Treachery made a monster out of me," and Lucy thought, Maybe I overreacted. Wilder didn't owe her anything. He was, as Gloom said, a free agent. Jealousy was ridiculous in this situation. Completely inappropriate. He could do whatever he wanted. He could do whomever he wanted.

The son of a bitch.

Two more days and he's gone out of your life, she thought, and then the camper door opened and Pepper said, "Aunt Lucy, look!" and Lucy swiveled her chair to see Pepper in her WonderWear, now modified by the wardrobe department to fit her: red cami and blue-and-white-starred shorts topped with a piece of blue material safety-pinned to the straps of the cami as a cape. She'd painted white stripes on her red rain boots, picked up some gold-painted rope somewhere, and wrapped aluminum foil around her wrists, now secured with silver duct tape.

"Wow,'' Lucy.said.

"Connor gave me the rope and put the duct tape on for me," Pepper said, her fists on her hips. "I don't have a crown though."

"That was good of Connor," Lucy said. ''You look great, baby."

Pepper sat down in the swivel chair across from Lucy. "So can we have a Wonder Woman party now?"

"Now?" Lucy said and then remembered her promise in the comics store. "Oh, Pepper, I forgot." Pepper's face fell and Lucy added hastily, "Tell you what, let's do it tomorrow night, and we'll get a Wonder Woman cake and ice cream, too. How about that?"

Pepper nodded, woebegone.

"And maybe a video," Lucy said, desperate. "Do they have Wonder Woman videos?"

Pepper shrugged.

"Oh, baby, I'm sorry." Lucy opened her arms and Pepper climbed onto her lap. "I really am," she said into Pepper's hair as she held her close. "It was a bad day and I was really busy, it just slipped my mind. But it will be a better party tomorrow, I swear. Hey, we should have root beer and cheese sticks. Let's-"

Pepper pulled back to look into her face. "Did you find the mole?"

"The mole." Lucy blinked. "No, I haven't had a chance to look, sweetie. He's probably run off by now. Don't worry about him."

"Did he go into the forest?" Pepper said.

"Yes," Lucy said. "And he's very happy there. Moles love forests. Forget about him. So how about some root-"

"Will you have to look for him tomorrow?"

"Pepper, I swear, we will have the part}' tomorrow night, mole or no mole. And I'll wear my WonderWear, too. I promise."

"And Mom?"

"She'll wear hers, too," Lucy said, condemning Daisy to Wonder-Wear whether she liked it or not. Hell, looking that ridiculous might cheer her up. "And there'll be a cake, I'll find a Wonder Woman cake." Gloom will find a Wonder Woman cake. "And maybe I can find a crown."

"A crown," Pepper said, perking up. "That would be so cool."

"A crown it is," Lucy said, praying that Estelle in wardrobe would be able to make a crown. "It'll be tun. You'll see."

"I can't wait. We can all have crowns!" Pepper squinted at the Kingdom Come action figure. "She doesn't look like she has a crown. She looks like she has a gold headband."