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I wasn&039;t sure what I expected to find at the Lake Bluff Co quietly in an e at her hands

"Where&039;s the fire?" I asked

She glanced up "He&039;s gone"

"He, who?"

"Ryan Freestone" At my blank expression she elaborated "The tourist as attacked by the wolf"

"So?"

"Gone as in disappeared and can&039;t find a trace of him anywhere"

I sat, too "You&039;d better start fro"

Grace spread her hands In one she held the swastika-marred slice of wood "I caone No one&039;s seen hiht"

"He got sick of the place and left I knoould"

"He didn&039;t return to his hotel His car&039;s still in the lot"

"He&039;s enjoying the festival"

"Maybe I havean eye out But so far no one&039;s seen hi the wood over and over in her hand like a worry stone

"What&039;s the matter with you?"

"I watched the security tape"

A prickle of unease washed over me "And?"

She picked up the controller for the VCR and pointed it at the television mounted on the wall opposite the bed A low thunk and flickering ies appeared

A dimly lit hall The tiny clock in the corner of the tape read 3:23 am A door opened and a man stepped out

A completely naked man

"That hiown"

Grace didn&039;t bother to co back when the ie of a nurse moved to and fro behind the desk He turned toward the cali eyes that brought to mind a zealot or a crazy person Because the filuish the color of his hair beyond lighter than black, nor the color of his eyes beyond lighter than dark

"Not the uy in the world," Ito the nurses He was saying all sorts of weird things"

On the tape, Freestone caught sight of an openHe sprinted toward it with an odd, loping shuffle, then sprang onto the sill and went through

"We&039;re on the second floor," I said

"No moss on you"

"What did you find under that ?"

"Footprints leading into the woods"

"Usually a fever makes you weak"

"Usually" Grace hit the off button, then pressed rewind, waiting several seconds before choosing pause

"Take a look" She lifted a pile of white tape from the bed and held it out to me

I made a face "Do I have to?"

She quirked a brow, and I took the offering gingerly The tape and gauze rinkled and torn, but there was no blood - or anything else I didn&039;t want to see

"I don&039;t understand" I handed them back to her

"Freestone had extreme throat trauma Defensive wounds on the hands and arain Freestone creeping out of this rooe

He&039;d lifted his hands to smooth his hair out of his face There wasn&039;t aat his suy?"

"Yep"

"What did the doctor say?"

"He didn&039;t have a clue Since I couldn&039;t find the wolf, they were going to start rabies shots today"

"Those are painful, right?"

"Better than they used to be, but I doubt treat you want to do if you don&039;t have to"

"You think that&039;s why Freestone pulled a Houdini?"

"Maybe" Grace ejected the tape "Hell, I don&039;t knohat to think anyht now," she , Grace and her minions had their hands full Even with the rent-a-cops she&039;d hired - retired officers fro areas - they had to be swaot to find hiot rabies and he doesn&039;t receive the shots?"

"You don&039;t want to know"

"I don&039;t want to, but I think I have to"

She tilted her head, studied me, then nodded "Pretty much what you&039;ve seen in theat the mouth, inclination to bite everyone you uy loping down Center Street at the height of the festival That would kill the fun for everyone

"The incubation period in humans is one to three months," Grace continued

"Oh" A trickle of relief flowed throughas he doesn&039;t leave town or disappear into theto his faood one Been known to stay in the wilderness for weeks on his own He knows the out-of-doors"

"Crap" The guy could survive indefinitely

"There&039;s also the chance that the virus has mutated"

"Which would mean?"

"A much faster incubation period"