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At Ray&039;s house I wait in the car while he goes in to see if his father has returned, or if there is a e from him Naturally, I am not surprised when Ray returns a couple of minutes later downcast The cold has sobered him up, and he is worried He clinition

"No luck?" I ask

"No But I got the key to his building We won&039;t have to break in"

"That&039;s a relief" While I had Ray look away, I intended just to break the lock

We drive to the building I visited only forty-eight hours earlier It is another cold night Throughout the years I have gravitated toward the wanner climates, such as on, I alance over at Ray and wonder if it has so to do with him But of course I don&039;t believe that because I don&039;t believe in destiny, much less in miracles I do not believe Krishna was God, or if he was God--maybe he was God, I simply do not know for sure--then I do not believe he knehat he was doing when he created the universe I have such contempt for the lotus-eyed one

Yet, after all these years, I have never been able to stop thinking about him

Krishna Krishna Krishna

Even his na Soon we are standing outside Mr Michael Riley&039;s office door Ray searches for another key, finds it We step inside The lights are off; he could leave them off and I would still be able to find ht into his father&039;s office He sits at the computer while I stand off to one side I survey the floor Minute drops of blood have seeped into and dried in the cracks between the tiles They are not noticeable to mortal eyes, but the police will find them if they search I decide, no h cleaning Ray boots the co that I do not catch it But I do--RAYGUN

"Can you check what his latest entries were?" I ask

"That&039;s exactly what I&039;" He looks over at me "You know about computers, don&039;t you?"

"Yes" I move closer so I can see the monitor A menu flashes on the screen The co called Pathlist A list of files appears on the screen They are dated The number of bytes they occupy on the hard disk is also listed A rectangular outline flashes around the file at the top

ALISA PERNE

Ray points to the screen "Heher" He reaches for the Enter button "Let&039;s see who this woman is"

"Wait" I put my hand on his shoulder "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"That sound"

"I don&039;t hear anything"

"I have sensitive hearing I heard so"

Ray pauses and listens "It could have been an aniain Didn&039;t you hear it?"

"No"

I appear mildly anxious "Ray Could you please see if anyone&039;s there?"

He thinks a moment "Sure No problem Stay here Lock the door I&039;ll call to you when I return" He goes to get up

But he exits the files before he leaves, although he leaves the co to sleep with me, but he doesn&039;t trust me alone with his father&039;s files Smart boy

The moment he&039;s out the door, I lock it and hurry to the computer I enter the password and call up the files I can speed read like no raphic memory, yet I cannot read nearly as fast as a ht I know Mr Riley has a box of forh-density diskettes in his desk I remove two from the drawer and slip one into the computer I a the file Mr Riley had accumulated a lot of inforiven the equip, that it will take me five minutes to copy the file onto both diskettes Ray will return before then While the file copies, I return to the office entrance and study the lock I can hear Ray walking down the stairs He hums as he walks He doesn&039;t think there is anyone outside

I decide to ja two paper clips fro them into usable shapes, I slip them into the tumblers The first diskette finally fills as Ray returns from his quick outside inspection I slip in the second diskette

"Sita," Ray calls "It&039;s me There was no one there"

I speak from the back office "You want me to open the door for you? I locked it like you said"

"Never mind, I have the key" He inserts the key into the lock But the door does not open "Sita, it won&039;t open Have you thrown the latch?"

I approach the door slowly so that my voice will sound closer, but I have turned the monitor around so that I can keep an eye on it The bytes accumulate quickly, but so, I suppose, do Ray&039;s suspicions

"There is no latch," I say "Try the key again"

He tries a few ti real hard to open it "It&039;s stuck"

"It opened a fewyou it&039;s stuck"

"Is the lock latch turned up?"

"Yes"

"Turn it sideways"

"I can&039;t get it to turn Aht?"

"No There&039;s got to be a simple solution to this" He thinks a moment "Look in my father&039;s desk See if you can find a pair of pliers"

I am happy to return to the desk In a minute I have to remove my second diskette and exit the files I open and close the drahile I wait for the copying to finish When it is cohlight the re--and delete it Now the Alisa Perne file contains only the first page, which holds nothing of vital importance I return to the screen that requests the password I put

both diskettes inback to the door, I pull out the paper clips and slip them in my back pocket as well I open the door for Ray

"What happened?" he asks

"It just came unstuck"

"That&039;s weird"

"Are you sure there&039;s no one outside?"

"I didn&039;t see anyone"