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He dialed the operator and told her his proble the nuh, either

"Is it off the hook?" he asked

"It doesn’t seem to be"

"What can you do?"

"I’ll report the number out of order," she said "Our service department will take care of it"

"When?"

"Does this nu to either an elderly person or an invalid?"

"No," he said

"Then it falls under normal service procedures," she said "One of our serviceht o’clock this "

"Thank you"

He put down the receiver He was sitting on the edge of the bed He stared pensively at the rumpled sheets where Hilary had lain, looked at the slip of paper on which her new number ritten

Out of order?

He supposed it was possible that the serviceman had made a mistake when he’d switched Hilary’s phones yesterday afternoon Possible But not probable Not very likely at all

Suddenly, he thought of the anony her Awas usually weak, ineffectual, sexually stunted; al a norenerally too introverted and frightened to attempt rape Usually Almost without exception Generally But was it conceivable that this crank was the one out of a thousand as dangerous?

Tony put one hand on his sto to feel queasy

If book bets on the likelihood of Hilary Thoet of two unconnected hoainst would have been astronoeles Police Departain; and long ago he had learned to expect the unexpected

He thought of Bobby Valdez Naked Crawling out of that small kitchen cabinet Eyes wild The pistol in his hand

Outside the bedrooht still had not touched the eastern sky, a bird cried It was a shrill cry, rising and falling and rising again as the bird swooped fro pursued by sory and relentless

Sweat broke out on Tony’s brow

He got up fro at Hilary’s place So

Because she stopped at the all-night s, butter, and a few other iteet home until more than half an hour after she left Tony’s apart forward to a cheese omelet with a lot of finely chopped parsley--and then at least six uninterrupted hours of deep, deep sleep She was far too tired to bother putting the Mercedes in the garage: she parked in the circular driveway

The autorass,sound A breeze rustled the palm fronds overhead

She let herself into the house by the front entrance The living roo anticipated a late return, she had left the foyer light burning when she’d gone out Inside, she held the bag of groceries in one arm, closed and double-locked the door

She switched on the living rooht and took two steps out of the foyer before she realized that the place had been destroyed Two table lalass display case lay in thousands of sharp pieces on the carpet; and the expensive limited-edition porcelains that had been in it were ruined: they were reduced to worthless fraground underfoot The sofa and armchairs were ripped open; chunks of foa material were scattered all over the floor

Tooden chairs, which apparently had been sainst one wall, were now only piles of kindling, and the as scarred The legs were broken off the lovely little antique corner desk; all of the draere pulled fro was still where she’d put it, but each hung in unrepairable ribbons Ashes had been scooped out of the fireplace and sle piece of furniture or decoration had been overlooked; even the fireplace screen had been kicked apart, and all of the plants had been jerked out of their pots and torn to bits

Hilary was dazed at first, but then her shock gave way to anger at the vandals "Son of a bitch,"

she said between clenched teeth

She had passedevery item in the room She spent a small fortune on thee that disturbed her; most of it was covered by insurance However, there was sentimental value that could not be replaced, for these were the first really nice things that she had ever owned, and it hurt to lose them Tears shi, she walked farther into the rubble before she realized that she er She stopped, listened The house was silent

An icy shiver raced up her spine, and for one horrible instant she thought she felt soainst the nape of her neck

She whirled, looked behind her

No one was there

The foyer closet, which had been closed when she’d come into the house, was still closed For a moment, she stared at it expectantly, afraid that it would open But if anyone had been hiding in there, waiting for her to arrive, he would have coht It can’t happen again It just can’t That’s preposterous

Isn’t it?

There was a noise behind her

With a soft cry of alarm, she turned and threw up her free arm to fend off the attacker

But there was no attacker She was still alone in the living room

Nevertheless, she was convinced that what she had heard was not so beam or floorboard She knew she was not the only person in the house She sensed another presence

The noise again

In the dining roo a step on broken glass or shattered china

Then another step

The dining room lay beyond an archway, twenty feet frorave in there

Another step: tinkle-snap

She started to back up, cautiously retreating fro toward the front door, which now seemed a mile away She wished she hadn’t locked it

Aroo loo roo toward the door Her heart leapt, and her mouth went dry, and she shook her head back and forth, back and forth: no, no, no

He was holding a large and wickedly sharp knife He grinned at her It was Bruno Frye

Tony was thankful that the streets were empty, for he couldn’t have tolerated any delay He was afraid he was already too late

He drove hard and fast, north on Santa Monica, then west on Wilshire, putting the Jeep up to seventy miles an hour by the time he reached the first downslope just outside the Beverly Hills city li, s and loose dashboard knobs vibrating tinnily At the bottoht was red He didn’t brake He pressed the horn in warning and flew through the intersection He slae channel in the street, a broad depression that was almost unnoticeable at thirty-fiveditch beneath him; for a fraction of a second he actually was airborne, thu harness that he wore The Jeep ca, a many-voiced chorus of rattles and clanks, and a sharp bark of tortured rubber It began to slue to the left, its rear end sliding around with a blood-chilling screech, s instant, he thought he was going to lose control, but then abruptly the wheel was his again, and he washow he’d gotten there