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Sta above me, painted white Escott&039;s worried face eclipsed my view of it

"Charles, let me see" Now Bobbi&039;s face Also worried "Jack?"

I smiled She could always make me smile

Escott murmured "For God&039;s sake don&039;t ask hiht"

She nodded "Jack, what happened to you?"

I went on s, but felt it die It seemed to make them more worried

Worked my lips Had to remember to breathe in to speak Couldn&039;t speak even then

"Jack" She took my hand "Look at me What happened to you?"

Shook s You don&039;t wanna know Wish I didn&039;t"

She bent to kiss my forehead, which was nice She smoothedup in ainst theht now Whatever it is, you&039;re safe"

Wanted to believe her Couldn&039;t A tear leaked out, trailed past my temple and into the pillow Damn She shouldn&039;t see s, stumbled to the washroom, shut the door

"Jack?" Escott just outside

I ran water into my cupped hands Rinsed my face Checked the mirror for results

Oh

Looked around for the spectator guy, but he was gone Very lonely without hih the door "Jack, we&039;ll wait in the office Take your ti over what answer to mumble They shuffled out

Stopped the water, dried, noticed I was cleaner than when I&039;d gone to bed

Pants and socks gone Fresh underwear on I was even shaved How had that happened? When? And those scars long uneven white ridges threaded along my chest and arms Lots of them Too many They felt tender and pulled uncomfortably when I ran ht fade some more Good I didn&039;t like theh the wall Bobbi whispered, "Charles, what&039;s wrong with hi truly awful" He sounded helpless

"This is "

"Bristow made some threats toward him From the evidence I saw at that

that place, I believe he carried them out"

"What kind of threats?"

I turned the water on full so I wouldn&039;t have to hear Left it running as I softly opened the door Crossed the small room to check theDark out Of course Always dark for me Always and ever

Clean clothes on a chair Mine All the necessities, even a bag of n of them Wallet was there Keys How did they ?

Oh He&039;s seen Had been there Knew Knew everything

I dressed Noticed a tang in the air Bloodsainst the white paint, but it looked a little different froh Had aa mess on it A mess all over the place The washroom had been scoured with soap and bleach Escott was a fanatic about neatness, but he&039;d not gotten everything Wish he could scrubas I put on socks and shoes There was a sharp, ugly twinge in my back every time I moved Hurt like well, not like hell I&039;d learned what that was now

How did Escott know about theon without me today

Shut off the water They were quiet in the other rooed Bobbi was in one of the client chairs opposite Escott, as behind the desk She half rose, but I lifted a hand, halting her She sank into place again Escott had me under close, concerned watch I couldn&039;t quite meet their eyes

Made a circuit of the rooh the blinds Sah the otherDark out I really didn&039;t like that Not a da I could ever do about it, either

Bobbi was next to me Hadn&039;t heard her move She cautiously took my hand

"Coht She ledon I didn&039;t like that

Gently disengaged and sat, arms draped loose on my knees

"Are we all sufficiently ill at ease yet?" Escott asked

I breathed out an odd laugh It hurt

"Good Jack Tell us what happened" He clasped his hands on the desktop, leaning forward to listen as though I was one of his customers

Oh, God "Y-you first"

The eyebrow bounce The left one I wondered if he knew he did that "Very well Vivian and I went up to answer the door Brockhurst and Marie Kennard were there-"

"Yeah, I know After"

"I heard a co from the basement and soon ascertained that Bristow and his men were an unwelcome presence on the preave away that she&039;d kidnapped a kidnapper I persuaded her to do nothing, thinking that you would take care of the situation in your oay I kept waiting for you to make a move, and for some reason, you did not"

"I couldn&039;t They hitcarried out and that they&039;d freed Dugan"

"He offered Bristow five Gs So off he went"

"Not wanting to shoot theot as far as the street One of theot Vivian&039;s car froone If I could have-"

" &039;S okay You wouldn&039;t have liked that party"

"They took you to that meat locker ?"

"Bristow promised buckwheats He delivered"

Escott waited for ain, but I leaned away fro up to look out theSa past I watched it narrowly until it was gone froht Relaxed a little Until the next car drove by

"Jack What happened?"

"I got away Came here Your turn"

A pause I could hear their hearts, their lungs, sighing All that life rushing through them, and they couldn&039;t have been aware of it Not likeback to theNo cars Good

Escott continued "I phoned Shoe and asked him to put people out to search likely places for Bristow&039;s dahtcrawler and talked to some very unpleasant sorts ere not very helpful They said Stroone and could not say where Like you, I suspected those two ht have thrown their lot in with Bristow Next I tried to find Brockhurst to see what his involveht be It could not have been a coincidence that he and Miss Kennard turned up at the same time as those brutes"

"You find him?"

"Yes, at his flat He was drunk Seems to have a fatal, unrequited affection for Miss Kennard that keeps him in his cups I learned that after they left Crymsyn, they were pounced upon and questioned by Bristow He put the wind up the that they all had coainst us This also reawakened Miss Kennard&039;s resentan Bristow then let theo to find ht He h me, but he found you first, instead"

I rubbed a hand over ht was still there Hours of it lay ahead until I could be unconscious once ain She was so serious "Jack, talk to me"

Shook aze If I did, the tears ain

She backed aent to stand behind Escott He put a hand on her arh to steady her Or maybe himself He mouthed a word at her I didn&039;t catch

Two cars in the street They passed each other right under theWere they the two I saw earlier or different ones?

"Gordy woke up today, Jack," she announced

I&039;d nearly forgotten hio "Oh, yeah?"

"This n"

"That&039;s good, real good" Notmore

Escott cleared his throat "Strome and Derner have nearly taken themselves froht to see Gordy but were of course denied admittance and detained Shoe held theet me there They weren&039;t inclined to speak about you but loudly denounced Bristow as the shooter and played up their part in re his threat

Just to be certain, I think you would be wise to interview thees"

I ly "Did you did you call here last night?"

"Yes, I did Yourfroe It was a great relief, but you were rather odd Do you rerinned out the"I was so drunk"

"Drunk?" Bobbi whispered "But I thought he couldn&039;t-"

Escott held up a warning hand "How did you get drunk?"

"Oh had soe the subject "Gordy&039;s better, you said?"

She grabbed the question like a life preserver "He woke up, talked clear, and took some food Dr Clarson said if there&039;s no infection, he should be just fine, but he has to stay in bed for now Gordy wants to see you"

"Later When he&039;s stronger Okay?"

"Sure No hurry"

"Jack?" Escott He looked real tired "What happened to Dugan? Do you remember?"

"Oh he ran away He cut ot him out, and he ran away and didn&039;t even say thanks I really hate that guy He did an had seen me with the mask off Seen as really inside me Had carried that off with him I couldn&039;t have that

"We all hate hi him down?"

"My God, Charles, he&039;s not ready for-"

"Yeah," I said, coo hunt him down

Where?"

"I&039;ve a spare overcoat in the closet in back You go put it on, and we&039;ll leave"

"Okay" I ed He kept a lot of spare clothes here, souises he found useful in his work It took ht coat

"You can&039;t take hi low

"He needs to do so else besides stare out that damned "

"Yes, but is he safe? With you? With others?"

A pause "I don&039;t know But I suppose we&039;ll learn soon enough"

I returned, coat in hand "I need help with this Putting it on"

They both looked puzzled "Why is that?" Escott asked

"Bristow He nailed me with an ice pick Part of it&039;s still inside That&039;s why I couldn&039;t vanish when he had me I&039;m sorry"

Bobbi hite "Where is it, Jack?"

I gestured vaguely at my back "Just under the skin You can feel it there

Knew guys who had shrapnel the sa out But I think I want to get rid of it"

"Oh, dear God" Escott looked appalled

"Yeah You think you could get Doc Clarson to dig it out so the day I won&039;t feel anything"

"We&039;ll" He sed hard "We&039;ll arrange soood Real good Help me with the coat?"

"Yes Of course"

The fit was pretty good, us having nearly the same build Escott helped Bobbi on with her fur-triloves while he locked up

"Is that new?" I asked, pointing at the doorknob

"Yes, it is," he answered evenly

"I broke the other one, didn&039;t I? I&039;ht"

Down to his car I opened the passenger side for Bobbi, carefully easing in next to her Her leg happened to press againstto be worried about Not too much There was no room to shift away from her touch Just had to endure it

Escott drove around to Brockhurst&039;s neck of the woods, and ent into his building and up Escott knocked loudly, but no one answered, so he broke in using his lockpicks Bobbi hung back while we an

No cousin Gilbert, but Anthony darling was snoring away in bed, the stink of booze thick and sour in the air He wouldn&039;t wake up, so dealing with hih his papers and wastebaskets but found nothing useful, not even origauilt, then Anthony apparently did We left him to finish his nap

I envied him that superb unconsciousness In such a state you didn&039;t have to struggle to keep memories at bay

Marie Kennard lived in the sa

Respectable flats for the well-to-do We walked unchallenged past the lobby&039;s empty reception desk, into an elevator, and up to one of the near-the-top floors

Escott led us to a door, knocking three times, very loudly

Muffled reply within "Yes, who is it?"

He o

"Maintenance You had a plu proble-oh God!" But she was a fraction too late trying to keep hian a full-throated shriek, but he was quicker, clapping a hand over herher in Bobbi and I shot through in their wake and shut the door Walking fast, I searched each roo another sharp twinge when I bent to check under the bed I eed and shookred-faced and desperate Escott needed help

Moving hurt, but I got her ankles Between us, Escott and I lifted her bodily and carried her to a chaise lounge in front of a set of ith a nice view of the lake We put her down and with difficulty kept her in place until she finally got too tired to struggle

Bobbi leaned in close during the pause "Miss Kennard, we&039;re only here to talk

Do you understand?"

Marie&039;s eyes blazed with full, murderous comprehension

Escott looked ather a tad more cooperative?"

"Uh"

"I know it&039;s a great favor, but it will shorten our tierly next to her, still holding her legs She was terrifically on guard, but under her fury was profound fear, and I kne to use that It took soely rusty

After a few entle words, it was safe for Escott to take his hand away, shaking it and flexing his long fingers "Thank heaven she didn&039;t think to bite ht?" asked Bobbi She knew about ot a firsthand look