Sarah - three minutes later

From last time ...

"Yeah, Ma. These guys are gonna play it fer keeps. Listen, call down to the shop and let Two Feathers know that Sarah is comin' in from the desert side in a Jeep. I know he's a little nervous right about now - he has to be wondering what that explosion was all about and I'm hopin' he doesn't get too trigger happy."

"Sure, Jake - but you listen to me. Don't you go gettin' that girl hurt - or by God I'll be on you like stink on shit."

"Don't worry 'bout Sarah, Ma. She'll be okay.

"She'd better be, that's all I gotta say. She just better be."

Jake stood there for a moment, a wry smile on his face.

"You know Ma, you woulda made one hell of a Marine."

"Kiss my ass."

And now ...

"I swear I'm personally gonna kill that bastard."

Stafford had been silent ever since they'd been run out of Ma's, but everyone in the car knew he was fuming, so there was no effort at starting any kind of conversation.

"And then that asshole THREATENS me!!! Threaten US!! I'd really like to .... oh, shit, I'd better slow down ... there's his mailbox ... there's gotta be cops all over the place ... I wonder what he meant by ... 5 minutes ... HOLY CHRIST!!!

Stafford stomped on the brakes and brought the car to a screeching halt right in the middle of the highway.

"Everybody OUT, NOW!!!! Run you fuckers!! Get away, get away from the car!!!"

They ran from the car and came to a halt about 50 yards away. They stood there, in the road, looking back at the car.

"What the fuck, Stafford? What's wrong with you?"

"He said, 'Less than five minutes to live', right? How long has it been since we left Ma's?"

"I dunno. 'Bout four minutes, I guess. WHY???"

"If I'm right, we're about to find out."

"What are you talkin' about, Stafford? And ... hey! Are those sirens I hear?"

KaBOOOM!! and the trunk lid flew high in the air and the car was enveloped in a ball of flame.

"Jesus Christ!! That could have been US!!!"

"That fucker Bertrett must've put a timebomb the trunk while we was talkin' to Ma. That FUCKER!"

"What are we gonna do, Stafford? The cops are comin'."

"Don't say nuthin'. We don't know nuthin'. We wuz just down to the Diner fer breakfast and we smelled somethin' in the car so we bailed. Then BOOM! That's it."

"You think they'll believe that? Man, I hope they believe that. If I get arrested my wife'll KILL me."

"Just keep your mouth shut. Nobody says nuthin' to the cops 'cept me. Clear?"

"Yeah, Stafford. Loud and clear. Besides, we didn't know there was nuthin' there and the cops ain't got no reason to suspect otherwise. Right?"

"Yeah. That's right."

Ndinombethe.