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PART ONE

The Living and The Dead

The forces that affect our lives, the influences that mold and shape us, are often like whispers in a

distant rooly indistinct, apprehended

only with difficulty

--Charles Dickens

One

TUESDAY AT DAWN, Los Angeles trembled Windows rattled in their frah there was no wind In some houses, dishes fell off shelves

At the start of therush hour, KFWB, all-news radio, used the earthquake as its lead story The treistered 48 on the Richter Scale By the end of the rush hour, KFWB

demoted the story to third place behind a report of terrorist bos in Rome and an account of a five-car accident on the Santa Monica Freeway After all, no buildings had fallen By noon, only a handful of Angelenos (mostly those who had moved ithin the past year) found the event worthy of even a minute’s conversation over lunch

The e van didn’t even feel the earthsouth on the San Diego Freehen the quake struck Because it is difficult to feel any but the strongest tre vehicle, he wasn’t aware of the shaking until he stopped for breakfast at a diner and heard one of the other custo about it

He knew at once that the earthquake was a sign meant just for him It had been sent either to assure hieles would be a success--or to warn hie was he supposed to perceive in this sign?

He brooded over that question while he ate He was a big strong man--six-foot-four, two hundred and thirty pounds, all muscle--and he took more than an hour and a half to finish his e fries, toast and a glass of milk He chewed slowly, methodically, his eyes focused on his food as if he were entranced by it When he finished his first plateful, he asked for a tall stack of pancakes and more milk After the pancakes, he ate a cheese omelet with three pieces of Canadian bacon on the side, another serving of toast, and orange juice

By the time he ordered the third breakfast, he was the chief topic of conversation in the kitchen

His waitress was a giggly redhead named Helen, but each of the other waitresses found an excuse to pass by his table and get a better look at him He are of their interest, but he didn’t care

When he finally asked Helen for the check, she said, "You "

He looked up at her and sh this was the first tih he had o, he knew exactly what she was going to say He had heard it all a hundred tiled self-consciously, but her blue eyes fixed unwaveringly on his "I uess I do"

She stood beside the booth, one hip against the edge of the table, leaning slightly forward, not-so-subtly letting hiht be available "But with all that foodyou don’t have an ounce of fat on you"

Still s, he wondered what she’d be like in bed He pictured hi into her--and then he pictured his hands around her throat, squeezing, squeezing, until her face slowly turned purple and her eyes bulged out of their sockets

She stared at hi whether he satisfied all of his appetites with such single-et a lot of exercise"

"I lift weights," he said

"Like Arnold Schwarzenegger"

"Yeah"

She had a graceful, delicate neck He knew he could break it as if it were a dry twig, and the thought of doing that made him feel war ar a short-sleeved shirt, and she touched his bare forear iron, no matter how much you eat, it just turns into more muscle"

"Well, that’s the idea," he said "But I also have one of those metabolisms"

"Huh?"

"I burn up a lot of calories in nervous energy"

"You? Nervous?"

"Jumpy as a Siamese cat"

"I don’t believe it I bet there’s nothing in the world could ood-looking woer than he was, and he figured he could have her if he wanted her She would need a little wooing, but not h so she could convince herself that he had swept her off her feet, playing Rhett to her Scarlett, and had tuainst her will Of course, if he made love to her, he would have to kill her afterward He’d have to put a knife through her pretty brsts or cut her throat, and he really didn’t want to do that She wasn’t worth the bother or the risk She simply wasn’t his type, he didn’t kill redheads

He left her a good tip, paid his check at the cash register by the door, and got out of there

After the air conditioned restaurant, the Septeainst his face As he walked toward the Dodge van, he knew that Helen atching him, but he didn’t look back

Fro center and parked in a corner of the large lot, in the shade of a date palet He climbed between the bucket seats, into the back of the van, pulled down a bamboo shade that separated the driver’s coo area, and stretched out on a thick but tatteredall night without rest, all the way fro breakfast in his belly, he was drowsy

Four hours later, he woke fro up and freezing at the sa the e to scream, but his voice was stuck far down in his throat; hesound