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I fired again, ain In the movies they nevershot at, in which case they miss from five feet Si

He did He plucked a fresh azine from the utility belt He was practiced, swift, and calm

With the pistol I had taken frouards I had expended two Only two left

From about thirty feet, I squeezed off a third shot

Varner took the hit in his left shoulder, but it didn’t drop hiazine into the rifle

Jittering, thrashing with excitement, scores of bodachs swarmed around me, around Varner They were solid to me, invisible to him; they obstructed my view of him but not his view of ht be crazy Issue settled I ah bodachs as opaque as black satin but as insubstantial as shadows, pistol held out stiff-armed in front of me, determined not to wasteup, and I knew that he would cut me down, but I waited one er point-blank

Whatever grotesque transformation occurred in his face, the ski mask concealed it, but the mask couldn’t entirely contain the spray

He went down as hard as the Prince of Darkness himself had been cast out of Heaven, into Hell The weapon clattered out of his hand

I kicked the assault rifle a few feet away from him, out of his reach When I stooped to examine him, there was no question that he was carrion POD was DOA

Nevertheless, I returned to the rifle and kicked it even farther froain

The pistol in my hand was useless I threw it aside

As if I were suddenly standing on high ground, as if they were black water, the bodachs floay fro victie of the koi pond and dropped to ht to have turned e, but as I got to my feet, I started to cry

Inside the stores, beyond the shot-out s, people dared to raise their heads

We are destined to be together forever We have a card that says so Gypsy Mu tears from my eyes with the backs of my hands, half sick with an expectation of unbearable loss, I started toward Burke &Bailey’s

People had risen to their feet froan toto the proht have fled back to the storeroo started

Suddenly I was overwhelmed by the need to move, move, move I turned away from Burke & Bailey’s and took several steps toward the

department store at the south end of the ht I ht find in the ice-cream shop

No I felt the subtle but un me I’d assumed that I had finished the job Evidently not

SIXTY-TWO

THIS DEPARTMENT STORE STYLED ITSELF MORE UPSCALE than the one in which Viola had bought the Rollerblades The crap they sold here was of a more refined quality than the crap they sold in the store at the north end of the h a perfulamorous displays that not so subtly implied the merchandise was as valuable as diaranite, stainless steel, and Starfire glass, as if it offered not coh the gunfire had fallen silent, shoppers and employees still sheltered behind counters, behind marble-clad colu theain

Even though I didn’t have a gun, I erous Or maybe I only see any chances I didn’t bla

aloud totocoherent

I didn’t knohere psychicme next, didn’t know if Storo back to find her, but I continued to be drawn urgently forward by e was marked by tics, twitches, hesitations, and sudden rushes of new purpose I must have looked not just spastic but psychotic

Sweet-faced, sleepy-eyed Simon Varner didn’t have such a sweet face anymore, or sleepy eyes Dead in front of Burke & Bailey’s

So uess what thatwithout a dearly defined quarry was new toracks of cocktail dresses, silk blouses, silk jackets, hand­bags, I hurried at last to a door marked EMPLOYEES ONLY Beyond lay a storeroom Directly across from the door by which I entered, another led to a concrete stairwell

The layout was familiar from the department store at the north end of the mall The stairs led down to a corridor where I passed e doorsenterprise, though it didn’t quite equal the size of the one at the north-end store Merchandise on racks and carts awaited processing, prepping, and transfer to stockrooms and sales floors

Numerous employees were present, but work appeared to have co wo the room toward her Down here where no shots could have been heard, news of the horror in the mall had now ar­rived

Only one truck stood in the receiving roohteen-footer, with no company name on the cab doors or the sides of the trailer I uy with a shaved head and a handlebar mustache braced me as I reached the vehicle ‘Are you with this truck?"

Without responding, I pulled open the driver’s door and clinition

"Where’s your driver," he asked

When I popped open the glove box, I found it eistration or proof of insurance required by California law

"I’uy said ‘Are you deaf or just difficult?"

Nothing on the seats No trash container on the floor No scrap of discarded candy wrapper No air freshener or decorative geegaw hanging from the mirror

This didn’t have the feel of a truck that anyone drove for a living or in which anyone spent a significant a wheel, the foreman said, "Where’s your driver? He didn’t leave me a manifest, and the box is locked"

I went around to the back of the truck, which featured a roll-up door on the cargo trailer A key lock in the base bar of the door se­cured it to a channel in the truck bed

"I’ve got other shipments due," he said "I can’t let this just sit here"

"Do you have a power drill?" I asked

"What’re you going to do?"

"Drill out the lock"

"You’re not the guy drove this in here Are you his crew?"

"Police," I lied "Off duty"

He was dubious