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"There’s no tiht to know"

"Yes, you do, and I’ll tell you in a few days But right noe have to get your story straight, the e did that day in the grocery store Remember?"

"To hell with you"

Unfazed, he said, "It’s for your own good, Laura You can’t tell the authorities the exact truth because it won’t see it all up Especially when you see me leavewell, if you tell them hoent, they’ll either be sure that you’re solared at hiry Perhaps she even wanted him dead, but he understood that too The only emotions she stirred in him, however, were love and pity and a profound respect

He said, "You’ll tell them that when you and Danny turned the curve at the bottom of the hill and started up, there were three cars in the roadway: the Jeep parked here along the e lane just where it is now, and another car was stopped in the northbound lane There werefour uns, and they see at the wrong tiun at you, et out of the car At one point you heard talk about cocnesos, you don’t kno, but they were arguing over drugs, and they see dealers out here in the middle of nowhere?" she said scornfully

"There could be processing labs out here-a cabin in the woods, processing PCP maybe Listen, if the story makes at least some sense, they’ll want to buy it The real story makes no sense at all, so you can’t rely on it So you tell them the Robertsons came over the crest of the hill in their pickup-of course you don’t know their name-and the road was blocked by all these cars, and when he braked the pickup it started to slide-"

"You’ve got an accent," she said angrily "A slight one but I can hear it Where are you from?"

"I’ll tell you all of that in a few days," he said i up and down the snow-blasted road "I really will, but now you’ve got to promise me you’ll ith this false story, embellish it as best you can, and not tell them the truth"

"I don’t have any choice, do I?"

"No," he said, relieved that she realized her position

She clung to her son and said nothing

Stefan had begun to feel the pain in his half-frozen feet again The heat of action had dissipated, leaving him racked by shivers He handed her the belt that he had taken off Kokoschka "Put this inside your ski jacket Don’t let anyone see it When you get home, put it away somewhere"

"What is it?"

"Later I’ll try to return in a few hours Only a few hours Right now just proet curious, don’t put it on, and for God’s sake don’t push the yellow button on it"

"Why not?"

"Because you don’t want to go where it’ll take you"

She blinked at him in confusion "Take me?"

"I’ll explain but not now"

"Why can’t you take it with you, whatever it is?"

"Two belts, one body-it’s an anoy field, and God only knohere I ht wind up or in what condition"

"I don’t understand What’re you talking about?"

"Later But, Laura, if for some reason I’m unable to come back, you better take precautions"

"What kind of precautions?"

"Arm yourself Be prepared There’s no reason they should coht Just to teach eance And if they come for youthere’ll be a squad of the, he got to his feet, wincing at the pain in his right knee He backed away, taking one last, long look at her Then he turned, leaving her on the ground, in the cold and snow, against the back of the battered and bullet-pocked Jeep, with her terrified child and her dead husband

Slowly he walked out into the ht see snow on the pavenored her

He bolstered his eun beneath his coat He reached inside his shirt, felt for and located the yellow button on his own travel belt, and hesitated

They had sent Kokoschka to stop hi anxiously at the institute to learn the outcoain would have an opportunity to take the Lightning Road to return to her as he had proreat

If he stayed, however, they would only send someone else to kill hi fro the world around hie in ways that would be too horrible to endure On the other hand, if he went back, there was a sliht still be able to destroy the institute Dr Penlovski and the others obviously knew everything about hisin the natural flow of events in this one woman’s life, but perhaps they did not know that he had planted explosives in the attic and baseave hiet into his office for just a moment, he could throw the hidden switch and blow the place- and all its files-to hell where it belonged More likely than not, they had found the explosive charges and re as there was any possibility whatsoever that he could bring an end forever to the project and close the Lightning Road, he was ed to return to the institute, even if it ain