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Beau Kidd was behind him

Before Tony had a chance to strike, Beau wrested the shears away Tony let out a disbelieving roar of rage as they seemed to fly away from him on their own If he had any sanity left, it wasn’t apparent as he snarled like an enraged cougar and attacked her again, fingers stretched and grasping, intent on her throat

This time he was stopped by a very real and visible force

Jed had arrived

His face looked like thunder, and he hefted Tony off her as if Tony weighed no ainst the brick wall of the basement

With Tony out of co back her hair, looking at her anxiously She s for her hands, ready to help her to her feet

There was thunder on the stairs as a trio of cops came doo uniforms and, behind them, Jerry Dwyer

"Where the hell is Lowell?" Jerry de the fallen man with a nod of his head

"Bastard," Jerry breathed "He’d daet off on some technicality"

Later, Christina was unable to remember exactly what happened next, certainly no more accurately than anyone else

Tony Lowell started to laugh and staggered to his feet

No one else arden shears just picked the themselves in Tony Lowell’s chest

With a look of absolute shock, he fell back against the bricks, aacross his chest

19

Christina opened her eyes

Everything was as it should be

The sht over fro away softly

It was dark True dark She’d actually forgotten to turn on the night-light before going to bed Of course, she’d been just a bit involved when day gave way to night, and she hadn’t thought about a light Quite frankly, she hadn’t thought about anything at all, other than the fact that she was alive, and not just alive, but alive and in the arms of the man she’d adored all her life, who seehtly when she realized she was alone in the bed Where had he gone?

She sat up and saw thatdiffuse, so she hugged her knees and watched the day arrive And as the light filtered in, she saw the man she loved at last

He was seated in the overstuffed chair, bare-chested but wearing jeans, and he was just watching her

"Hey," she said in greeting

"Hey yourself"

"Are you…all right?" she asked

He nodded "I…went out for a bit"

"Oh?"

He rose and walked over to the bed "I was at the ceain

"I went to make my peace with Beau Kidd," he told her

It had been a week since the events next door had nearly cost her her life It had been aexperience for her, and she left it to better-trainedthat had happened They’d already pieced together so, apparently luring his victi that he was hurt and needed help They’d discovered that he had done a lot of traveling after Beau Kidd had been killed for his crimes The time he had spent in various places coincided with a nunatures

Then he had found Ilona Soie, as sicker and even more excited by cruelty than he was himself Ilona--who at times seemed entirely rational and at others as insane as any Jill the Ripper--had filled in so Tony had never been a cop or a criloves and how to hide his tracks because he’d watched television

He’d looked like a noruy next door

Ilona had tried clai froie had quickly put the lie to that angle

Mike had commented to Christina a few days after the horrors had coathered at O’Reilly’s, that he had seen his ex-wife, and she’d been like a different person, grateful to be alive and certain that only Christina had saved her

Dan, who had refused to stay in the hospital ht, had actually blushed when he’d explained to her why neither he nor Ana had opened the door "We ell, you know," he said, gulping his Guinness

"I don’t know," she said, puzzled

"Oh, good God, are you all blind?" Ana exclai for each other for years, and…"

She trailed off, and everyone stared at her for a long hter

But that wasn’t the only surprise that night Apparently emboldened by Dan and Ana’s confession, Mike spoke up and said, "I suppose that I ought to confess I have a date scheduled with a certain redhead," he told thele" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>