Chapter 51

He set the bottle of brandy that Randy kept on hand for visitors on the coffee table, followed it with two glasses, a bottle of pain medication, and a pair of scissors. The bandage and the towel were dropped on the carpet and, after shoving the coffee table back a few feet, Vaughn sat beside them.

“Planning on some surgery?” Randy asked, only half-joking.

Vaughn grabbed Randy’s right ankle and tugged off Randy’s boot, then did the same with the left. “The scissors are for your jeans,” Vaughn said. “Just in case they don’t want to come past that knee.”

Randy lifted his head off the couch and glared. “You’re going to cutmy pants?” He looked down at his jeans, back up at Vaughn, then down and up again. “I don’t think so!”

“Well…” Vaughn let the word hang for a second and then shook his head. “I guess that might depend on which way you let me get into them.”

Randy tilted his head. “I have no idea what you mean.”