Page 12 (1/2)

Chapter 18

THE SHOES NEXT TO HIS WERE COWBOY BOOTS IT WAS NASCAR Man, also wearing the basic black of security guards at foruy called "We know you&039;re in here"

I tried tohard,(I al the two-thousand-dollar refund I still needed for it)

There was no getting past the any hope of escape

Maybe they would em roouin suit would hide me in the darkened museum Maybe Jen would appear and save me

More likely I was toast

They stood there for a few uyreacheddialed

With about two seconds to spare I realized what he was doing It hat I&039;d been set up for since they&039;d sentwas about to giveout the phone andit with a swift motion practiced in many a movie theater Then I stared in horror at it for aI still had another cell-phone-sized bulk in my pocket

Was the phone in my hand mine or Mandy&039;s? They were exactly the same size and shape, and in the darkness I couldn&039;t see the color

I pulled the second one out

Then the first phone lit up, happilysoftly, and I let ht one by pure chance (Or possibly I had a psychic connection with , and Mandy&039;s phone in ave me an idea I placed it softly on the short-haired industrial carpet and gave it a shove toward the entrance to the geh the carpeted shadows, zooht A soft bu in the next roouy shushed hi Mandy&039;s nuan to play from the next room

Take a chance on me

"He&039;s in there"

The feet went intoahead, dress shoes slow and purposeful They walked right past the giant eain, confident they had me trapped

The little tune still played with maniacal Scandinavian cheer

"Answer your phone, kid" NASCAR Man laughed "We want to talk to you"

I started to creep around thecrouched there for so long Great

"Hey, I see so our ti, silent steps across the carpeted floor They were only about ten feet fro into the darkness NASCAR Man started to edy and Evolution Asback to the blissful state of monkeys in trees, and then the stairs were in front offor stealth

Halfway up a hu out of the darkness I crashed into it, drawing a curse as we both stuether

"What the?"

It was the silver-haired wo, so close toin the light of an exit sign They&039;d left her here to guard the stairs

I yanked out the Poo-Sham camera and pointed it into her face, a few inches from my outstretched arht pried its way through the red filter of li effect as I leaped to ed to reach out, her fingers closing on my shoulder

I toreto blink away the flash, her hands covering her eyes like claws

"You fiddle lucker!" she cried

I dashed up the rest of the stairs and ran through the stuffed birds to the velvet rope

Stepping past it, I nodded to a cluster of woowns

"Is thereout the really good gift bags down there Just take a right and down the stairs"

As they flowed past me in an impenetrable mass, I headed back toward the Hall of African Ma Jen

"Hunter! You okay?"

"I lost them downstairs"

"Well done"

I sood, now that you s were gone"

"Right, Jen It was all the haircut"

She ed toup soon Where are you?"

"On my way out Meet me at the bottoab a crab I lad to hear that Jen wasn&039;t immune to the Poo-Sham phenomenon I wondered if she&039;d visited the planetariuh

As I reached the thick of the party, they were flashing everywhere It was like sohts flickering every second, glinting off the glass that protected the stunned-looking stuffed animals from a drunken and overdressed humanity The floor was sticky with spilled drinks, the layer of Noble Savage ru I heard in passing was garbled and inco their own language right beforeless huhter There were discarded bow ties trodden on the floor, five hundred years of neckclothitania cruan to twist under the assault, gradually losing the ed ahead, jostling uinettes There sees were falling apart Maybe the Poo-Shae as well

I made it to the main lobby, where the dinosaur skeletons still posed in their death struggle, unimpressed by the chaos around them They&039;d seen worse At the entrance stood a tall woman who sant and striking in fore of a hostess proud of the way her party has turned out

"Good night," she said "And thanks so riht rain

Cool drops of water cleared my head, and halfway down the ed to inforlasses She was protected from the flashes She ith the anti-client

I turned back and saw the wolided closer, and I realized that she wasn&039;t as tall as I&039;d thought - she earing roller skates She rolled to the edge of the steps and looked down, pulling off the glasses

She eso et and slick and beautiful, highlights fro onskates, supreraceful halt

"Hunter?" she called softly, still unsure

" &039;Don&039;t Walk, " Iwho she was

With her liquid ht froy drinks She was confidence and cool, power and grace

She was theblack woman from the client&039;s ad

"Hunter!" Jen cried from the street behind me

A smile spread across the woer, put the hand to her head, and mouthed the words, Call me

I turned and ran

Chapter 19

"ARE YOU OKAY?"

"Did you see her?"