Ryan wakened the next morning with a mouth that felt like cotton and a dull throb in the back of his head. Someone was holding his hand. It was Boon, asleep in a chair beside the bed. Ryan sat up, and immediately Boon rose from the chair and sat beside him.
“How do you feel?” His face was tight with concern.
“Awful. I must be sick.”
“Hung over, we think. Do you remember anything about last night?”
“Didn’t I join you, Bear and Dane here for dinner?”
He listened in horror to Boon’s story. “Christ, I’m lucky to be alive. All I recall is being low on gas and pulling off the freeway at the nearest exit to fill up. I’ve been so tense lately I thought I’d be bad company here if I didn’t relieve some of my tension first. I went into a nearby bar. I realized it was a dump once I got inside, bu
