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Hollis was already out cold The iant; his head hit the pillow, and soon he was snoring away Sara extinguished the candle and slid beneath the covers She wondered if Marie had delivered her baby yet, and if she was still yelling at her husband; she thought of the Jiménez family and the look on Carlos’s face as he lifted baby Grace into his ar for It was possible they’d still get flagged by the census office, but Sara didn’t think so Not with soThat was the heart of the ; a neorld was already here Maybe that hat getting older taught you, when you looked in the e of tihter and saw the girl you once were and would never be again The world was real and you were in it, a brief part but still a part, and if you were lucky, and s you’d done for love would be reht slowly, darkness easing to gray Greer made his way into the city Where the Katy Freeway le of collapsed ramps and overpasses, he arced north, away frothe liquefied inner neighborhoods for higher ground, then followed a wide avenue of junked cars south to the don lagoon

The rowboat here he’d left it two o Greer tied up his horse, dued the craft to the water’s edge Across the lagoon, the Chevron Mariner lay at its i the listing towers of the city’s central core He laid his supplies in the bottom of the boat, set it afloat, and roay from shore

In the lobby of One Allen Center, he tied off at the base of the escalators and ascended, the duffel bag with its sloshing contents slung over his shoulder The ten-story clih mold-befouled air left him dizzy and short of breath In the empty office, he pulled up the rope he’d left in place and lowered the bag to the deck of the Mariner, then climbed down behind it

He always fed Carter first

On the port side, just about amidships, a hatch lay flush with the deck Greer knelt beside it and reether by their handles with one of the ropes The sun was angled behind hiht With a heavy wrench he unscrewed the safety bolts, turned the handle, and opened the hatch

A shaft of sunshine spilled into the space below Carter lay curled in a fetal position near the forward bulkhead, his body in shadoay fros and coils of rope were piled in a heap on the floor Hand over hand, Greer lowered the jugs Only when they reached bottom did Carter stir As he scuttled on all fours toward the blood, Greer released the rope, closed the hatch, and replaced the safety bolts

Now, Amy

Greer moved to the second hatch The trick was to move fast but not with panicked recklessness The scent of blood: for Aer as the thin plasticGreer set his supplies within quick reach, unwrenched the bolts, and placed them to the side A deep breath to calm his nerves; then he opened the hatch

Blood

She leapt Lucius dropped the jugs, slammed the hatch, and shoved the first bolt into place as Aiant ha the wind froet the reed to get two ain; Greer watched helplessly as one of the bolts jogged free and rolled across the deck His hand stabbed outward and seized it at the very edge of his reach

"Amy," he yelled, "it’s me! It’s Lucius!" He shoved the bolt into place and s it home "The blood is there! Follow the scent of the blood!"

Three turns on the wrench and the bolt locked down, bringing the fourth hole back into alignment He rammed its bolt into place One last pound on the underside of the hatch, halfhearted; then it was over

Lucius, I didn’t ht," he said

I’m sorry…

He picked up his tools and put them in the empty duffel Below him, in the hold of the Chevron Mariner, A their fills It always happened like this; Greer should have been used to it by now Yet his heart was pounding, hiswith adrenaline