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It ar, then The quiet kind that you notice only as an i coffee or in the evening relaxing, after work Bold black letters ive soe, where they lived and died, and that the police were following so leads Most of the ti or not Life raphs on other casualties appear in the paper New, but with a dreary similarity to all the others, as in any war

In hn Kyler&039;s enemies tended to simply disappear Without an inconvenient body to trip over, the cops couldn&039;t be expected to htly to control the tremors in my hands and took a second look in the rearview h to make it obvious that the men inside wanted me to know about it The side ere sh the windshield, though little else Maybe one of them was Kyler but that wasn&039;t very likely The wide streets of Chicago, even at night, were far too public for hiust he&039;d taken control of the Paco gang, and since Frank Paco himself was confined to a lunatic ward and his brothers and cousins wereand probably dead, no one was around to object In six s and spread the profits around so his position was that ainst any threats to his authority, which, unfortunately, included myself

In no uncertain terms he&039;d ordered me to leave town or die His attitude at the time indicated that he didn&039;t really care about ht I suppose frocareful Sooner or later he could overstep things enough so that the cops would no longer ignore the situation and be forced to officially notice hiht&039;s ht out of ht of alternatives On the other hand, he&039;d had a long full day to recover fro and decide what to do abouthad to be part of it

Iblack car echoed h power under that hood toet aith a whole skin, it would have to be with brains and not speed I just wished that I felt smart instead of scared Kyler had that effect on me

They didn&039;t seeure that they&039;d planned out what to do and were only waiting fore up ood idea on their part; a nervousIt would have been far better to tail me at a discreet distance until I&039;d arrived at the Top Hat Club and then pick hten ainst letting his boys have soht occurred,I drew a short breath, releasing it as a brief, taut laugh that flushed away ue fears I suddenly knew exactly how to handle theht spot for it

The setup was important I&039;d have to let the into the right lane, I cut a sharp turn at the next corner and put h in it to accelerate away at a good clip, and I left them behind for a few hopeful seconds

Traffic was light in the area, which was just as well since I didn&039;t want any bystanders or cops getting in the way I hadn&039;t seen a patrol car yet, not that I was re the law over this If the men in the Caddy ran to type they&039;d have no qualet to o&039;s finest out of the immediate line of fire and take care of these clowns myself

I continued the illusion of a chase for several long blocks At one point I thought I&039;d genuinely lost the into view again and caught up Losing the fancy would have been just fine, but that kind of luck wasn&039;t working for ht, the wheels squawking until they bit the pavement with a quick lurch The Cadillac easily kept pace

The corner co up was to be my last one Sooner or later I&039;d have to run into a traffic stop that I couldn&039;t beat through, and this was it The driving lane ahead was blocked with cars waiting for the next signal change The curb was lined with parked vehicles Onco a U-turn, so I stood on the brake and stopped just short of the guy in front of me For effect, I tapped the horn, but no one bothered tothe impression of a nerved-up and franticdesperate I cut the ht-hand side, sparing only one glance back at the Caddy They&039;d been ready for that uys in dark coats bowled out after me

I slipped between the parked cars and darted a dozen yards along the sidewalk

The street ell lighted, but that didn&039;t ht for a few seconds I ducked around the corner of a building and vanished Period

My forward movement slowed, stopped, and reversed, but by then they&039;d pounded past and were just starting to wonder what had happened to , so I whipped back the way I&039;d co for guidance I couldn&039;t see at all, which uess It worked out

When I re-forain I enty feet behind their car and in a position to dowas one of my more convenient talents-acquired, not inherent-

though at first it had taken soht I&039;m one of the Un-Dead-a nosferatu-a vah to the truth, but I tend to ignore them all because of the dramatically bad press associated with such words In reat in others, but not sohtly overlooked

I wouldn&039;t show in their rearview ht rear tire The cold wind blew the exhaust right in my face, but I don&039;t breatheout my pocketknife, I buried the sharp point into the side of the tire with one strong jab It deflated in athe iuy in the backseat rolled down histo see what had happened

He wasn&039;t Kyler, though it would have been nice I popped his unfaht without a sound The driver said soain and poured through the openinto the car Just as he turned around to check on his fallen buddy I went solid There was an even chance that he never knehat hit hih so as not to break his jaw

The car started to drift forward and I had to scraine, yanked the key, and tossed it out the rearinto a pile of gutter trash

The other tould be counned it to life, andlane

Happily, no one got inin too ain to see if Escott was still alive

We were partners, sort of; he had a sent, which meant that he didn&039;t do divorce work, and I helped him out whenever he needed it

The last case had involved a search for a diarand that sparked off three, almost four murders Escott and I still had the bracelet We couldn&039;t return it to its oithout i ourselves in two of the deaths Escott was innocent; I wasn&039;t, but he waswhat he could to protect me

In essence, Kyler was at the botto things to hi to use the bracelet in soive him the chance As far as Kyler was concerned the bracelet and the ed to hiet in the way

There&039;s a deep cold well inside all of us where we keep our blackest fears

Mine had cracked open and was pouring stuff out like Niagara as I turned onto the last street and sain of the Cadillac I&039;d disabled parked in the alley behind our house This was a quiet little hborhood where such cars are dreaood to be true The smoked s confirmed its ownership and the threat it represented

I left my car on the street and tore around the empty Caddy to the back of the house The narrow yard was silent The garage was closed tight, but the roof of the Nash was visible through a sideEscott had been hoh the crack at the bottom of the back door and assumed a more or less vertical position just inside the kitchen

Unable to see, I concentrated on listening, but heard nothing in the immediate area I swept the room once to make sure it was empty and cautiously re-formed

Nobody stared back at me

The place recked Every drawer and cabinet was open, their contents du or it erator was open and hu to keep its stripped insides cold I shut the door very quietly, e, not fear

A variety of indistinct sounds were co froround floor and two others upstairs Nobody talkedaround the edge of the door, I could look through the dining roo to his radio He wasn&039;t in sight, but I did catch ato either of us I dropped back

The bedrooe was to take the high ground first Any other tiain and rose straight up through the ceiling The room I materialized in was my own I was prepared for a mess and they hadn&039;t disappointed me The barely used bed was torn apart, one It was justwho&039;d done the tearing was still there

With sorabbed hi hi He was too surprised to cry out, and then he didn&039;t have the chance to as I slammed him face first into the nearest wall

The first tiain, and oncemean He left a bloody smear on the faded paper as he slid to the floor, a bundle of loose bones held together by his clothes

It had h noise to draw the attention of his partner, whom I could hear in the bathroom next door

"Arnold, what the hell was that?"

Arnold, being in no condition to answer, said nothing The ed cautiously into the hall He could see Arnold&039;s fallen body from there I waited behind the bedroouy was too wise to try that one He crossed the hall to the top of the stairs and called down

"Chaven, so"

Chaven&039;s voice, familiar to me, answered, "Like what?"

"I dunno, but Arnold&039;s out cold The boss said to watch for anything weird and this is it"

I expected a derisive reply but was disappointed "Okay, come down"

"But what about Arnold?"

"Come down, now"

He did

Shit

It ood for me

Their conversation drifted up from the foot of the stairs

"What happened, Tinny?" Chaven asked

"I dunno I hear a thu on the floor there"

"Out or croaked?"

"Jeez, I dunno I din&039; like the feel of things so I stayed out"

"All right, we&039;ll check on it together You two stay back and cover us"

There was so followed by floorboard creaks as Chaven and Tinny slowly ca the what had happened to Escott left me with a need to force the issue

"Stop there, Chaven," I called from my rooun I abruptly realized I did, since Arnold was sure to be carrying one

The floor creaks ended "Fle?" Chaven&039;s tone held equal amounts of caution and doubt

"Yeah, and I&039;ve got your boy, so let&039;s talk" I dug at Arnold&039;s inert body, looking for the kind of arguainst these jerks

Chaven used those few seconds to regain his balance, recovering too fast for my peace of mind "Okay by me Come out where I can see you"

"Sure" Maybe the ready answer surprised hietting his head blown off But I finally e the unconscious Arnold in front of et shot, so I was only taking sensible precautions I was also holding the gun I&039;d just salvaged

Unimpressed, Chaven steadied his revolver on me, eye level The sharp lines of his body and the set of his thin, hard face told me he was more than ready to use it From ten feet away he wasn&039;t about to o ahead and let hiet them off my back for a while

Of course, Escott would then be stuck with theotten to hione off in the last five seconds but that could change if I even blinked wrong I kept still and kept quiet By letting Chaven be the first to speak it would give his

Tinny spoiled it by trying to be helpful "I can get him from here" He was on the stair just behind Chaven

"So can I Lay off" Chaven never once looked away "The bracelet," he said to me in the same annoyed tone

"It&039;s not here," I lied

"Go get it"

"When you and your boys leave"

He had a sense of huet the bracelet"

"What do I get?"

He thought about it for only a second "Another chance to blon"

"Like hell"

"Take it or die"

"Your boss has already decided that Tell me another one"

"We can "

"You can&039;t do anything to me or you lose the bracelet Does Kyler think rand over?"

"You&039;re worth nothing to hiet the last word in and to think some more "Besides, there&039;s still your partner"

"Except he doesn&039;t knohere it is"

"He&039;ll know, all right He&039;s too careful not to know"

"Then why don&039;t you ask him?"

"With you here I don&039;t have to Now hand it over"

So Escott had et away in ti the place apart if they&039;d had him to question unless they&039;d ht If they had, then none of the this house alive

"Okay, but everybody get back Crowds nal fros retreated down the stairs to the landing I could just see theuns out and pointed in eneral direction

I hefted Arnold a little higher and took a step forward Chaven didn&039;t seeht with one ar me much

He backed off a pace, but to the side, not down the stairs His s, then We locked eyes at the same moment of realization, only I was just an instant faster as I pushed Arnold straight at hiun roared out in the confined space of the upper hall He snarled so the et my feet set and launch toward hi, thick coats, and elbows, then I took a chance opening and clobbered Chaven in the head with the side of Arnold&039;s gun He stoppedI tore the revolver from his hand

Tinny and his two chuut He grabbed at it, dragging me free of Chaven, but lost his balance and fell backward, his arms suddenly wide One chuet out of the way and they all tripped each other and took a partial roll down the stairs By the tiain and looking like Williaun in each fist

I suddenly had their full attention Except forhard and red in the face, some more than others, as they realized I had the"

Tinny kneas talking about his gun without having to ask, which ht boy He did as he was told, and so did the others when it was their turn I kicked everything through the open door into roan and push at Arnold as he calared I expected hi once he took in the altered situation, but nothing came out The look on his face and especially in his cold, stony eyes was eloquent enough We both knee thought of each other

"You stand up slow," I said, and he followed my directions carefully He lifted one hand to check where I&039;d hit hiers came aith a little red on the with some inner voice

I waved a muzzle at Arnold "Get hi clumsily with his uncooperative body Chaven let the others hile he watched

I herded theh the kitchen and out the door They slow-ot in Chaven was the driver; I made him wait until the others were settled

"You can tell Kyler that I got his e about the bracelet"

"I&039;ll do that, Fle"

"You can also say that I want a better deal before I hand it over"

"What kind of deal?"

"I&039;ll talk that over with Kyler Have him call me here The number&039;s in the book"

That was the end of our business for tonight I hoped He got in the car and quietly drove aith the search party He was visibly frustrated and anyone else , but not Chaven He could have been out on a Sunday jaunt with his granny for all the care he took over signals and speed Maybe he wasn&039;t in such a hurry to return to his boss e back to the house, I checked the place from the attic on down It was still a wreck, but unoccupied The last spot I checked, primarily because it was so well hidden, was the walled-off section of the base the day I disappeared, flowed through the familiar pattern of bricks to the alcove beyond, and re-forht vision is excellent except in those rare spots protected froht, like here in my private sanctum I usually left the lamp over my desk on for that reason, but noas off The complete claustrophobic blackness pressed on me as it would anyone else, and I instinctively started to back out again when a low, soft sound stopped me A heartbeat

"Charles?"

"Jack thank God you&039;re all right" It ca with his pent-up breath

With a click, the sht over the desk flashed to life I winced and squinted painfully against the sudden brightness untilin my work chair with my bathrobe draped over his clothes and a relieved expression on his bony face

"You&039;ve been down here the whole ti and put the 38 he was holding back in his pants pocket

"And with no light?"

"Out of necessity, I fear It seeet if they chanced to findbed was a trapdoor, visible on this side, but only a nors on the other It was centered under the old oak dining table and covered by a tacked-down throw rug To unlock it, you had to open one of the cabinet doors back all the way Once lowered, the trap automatically relocked Escott had a penchant for such devices and the talent to design and construct theed the theatrical side of his nature

"You couldn&039;t duck out of the house?" Given the choice of running or hiding in a dead-end bolt hole, I knehatin both doors I was caught in a classic pincers movement