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"They should be arrested!"

"Who should be arrested? I couldn’t tell who did it"

She just lay there, gasping for breath, staring up Joe Joe was there, hunkered down by her side She tried to s the platforive her so unifor down by Joe

She tried to rise up on her elbows, looking at Joe for help, wondering how in hell he had ht I’ht"

"Sit tight," Joe said He had the strangest expression on his face "Did you break anything? Are you in pain?"

She didn’t have a chance to answer, because just then there was a break in the crowd, and two young paramedics, a man and a woman, made their way to her side

Joe and the officer backed off as the para her She explained as best she could that she was all right, that she was just bruised and the as knocked out of her In a few seconds they determined that she had no broken bones, her back wasn’t injured, and she could be

"What happened?" the second officer asked when it becaency

"I don’t know It was really crowded down here," she said

He looked fiercely concerned "Were you pushed?"

"Well, of course I was pushed But--"

"So you didn’t…you didn’t junantly

"Did you see anyone who looked like they wanted to hurt you? Did you see any gang members down here? Anyone out of the ordinary?"

She stared back blankly "I don’t co members I think the platfory and worried about getting on a train when it did come Look--"

"Take it easy, Leslie," Joe said

Then, while the pararilled Joe, who produced his ID and said that he’d known she was at the library, and that he’d come to find her, he hadn’t just happened to be on the platforhtmare

And despite her protests, she was put into an ambulance to be taken to the hospital, where a doctor would officially ascertain the nature of her injuries And though Joe rode in the a down her statement

They both left her while the doctor on duty ordered X-rays and went through a long checklist of syh physical exam She had to explain that the little bump on her head was left over from an earlier accident That seemed to concern him, which disturbed her Did the man think she was suicidal?

Robert Adair showed up with Ken Dryer Leslie was ready to pull her hair out She wanted nothing more than to be alone, to try to remember those fateful seconds in the subway, to remember them exactly, to understand what had happened

The voice

Had it been Joe’s voice? Had he been there, down on the platform, with her?

She didn’t know All she re for her, pulling her up off the track

"You sure do like to create a lot of excite in once she was dressed and the doctor had ht behind him, looked both irritated and anxious "Are you sure you’re all right?"

"No I have a bruise onbad? No Please, I’et out of here," she said

"What happened?" Ken asked

"It was crowded in the subway People push and shove I should have been more careful I should have stayed farther back It was an accident"

Even as she said the word, she thought it sounded hollow

An accident?

The blast at Hastings House had been an accident

The ceiling giving way in the crypt had been an accident

Move!

Who had whispered the word to her? Had Matt soer, or had she seen Joe’s face in the crowd and irave to help her?

Joe pushed past the others to get to her where she lay on the hospital bed "You should stay here"

"Why?"

"Because I have work to do," he said ruefully

She stared at the drawn, but still striking, contours of his face and longed to touch him "How did you happen to be there?" she marveled

"I was afraid for you"

"Why?"