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My vision shifted as it had that , into a sort of hyperfocus I could see every stitch in the black knitted ski ray and black ca Quietly as I could, I turned the key in the lock of the door in front of me and reached down to lift the brace bar that served as a second lock, blocking the door’s ed at the softWith the bar out of the way, I hit the latch and slid the glass door gently aside, never taking un onto the floor of the deck beside him and drarench from inside a black backpack An un with the gas line

I needed out of here Now

I clicked the safety back on, thrusting the gun into the waistband of ht now I could hear the hiss of gas escaping I burst through the door and ran forward, kicking his gun off of the deck and out of reach before sla down the wooden stairs to the hard concrete sidewalk below

He started to swear, and we rolled together, struggling for supreot to er But he was a match for me, not just in power but also in skill and pure, unrelieved viciousness He went for s, and reenish white and cast an eerie light over the shadowed corner we’d rolled into That made hih I put everything I had into a punch to his jaw, just as spotlights carounds and David shouted from the main house that he’d called the police

The le that practically screaly in his neck He’d be co back around soon By then I wanted to be far away froe andtoward us, holding a shotgun with the authority of a h he’d never seen me before And, in a way, he hadn’t I didn’t doubt that Dawna had told David and Inez aboutthe reality are two cos

I spoke, and happily, it was as leak"

He started swearing but backed away Not just froht, Celia? The cops are on the way"

It was a loaded question I knew it But he needed some comfort now, too "I’m fine" Actually, I wasn’t I hurt like hell where blows had landed I’d lost Bob’s gun so the way Butbeneath a small mole on the man’s throat, where the ski mask had pulled away to expose bare skin

I could shter, casting harsh shadows My stoer, as if a wild ani to claw its way out

I forceda little

My attackerpossum, because he chose that instant to strike Themoved with a blur of speed, aiht

I went doith a screah toposition, grabbing for his pack

I e, unable to do ony

I couldn’t catch hi padded strap of the canvas pack He let it go, running full out in the direction of the beach David started to take a shot, then thought better of it Thank God The last thing we needed was a gas explosion

Sirens and lights were co closer on both of the cross-streets The cops would be here any second I dropped the bag, then lihten the valve again Unfortunately, he’d done et the gas coet out of here, Celia If the cops see you …"

David was right They’d see a ly Later, they’d be very sorry about the ht"

"I’ll turn off the power until they get the gas fixed" He un at his side

"Call et the all clear," I called out as I lih the French doors as quickly as I could The sas was intense I didn’t dare stay more than a minute or two Even so, I took a second to stash the Crock-Pot back in the fridge before grabbingto the car

14

I went to the office It was the wee hours of theNormally one of the bail bondsmen would be in, but there were no cars in the lot Still, the place ell lit, the carefully placed security lights ensuring that there were no deep shadohere uys could hide

I pulled intohurt It was healing I could feel that But it hurt, da the manual transmission hadn’t helped