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She frowned "Honey, that’s not how this works You know that"

But by this ti any of it He was also standing in front of her wearing only his boxers and undershirt, his pants bunched around his ankles

"Are you all right? You don’t look so good"

"I love you," he said

She gave an airy smile "That’s sweet"

"I said, I love you"

"Okay, I can do that That’s no proble you want"

"I don’t have any n of warmth or even friendship in her eyes "Horace, this is a cash business, you know that I don’t like the way you’re talking"

"Please, letin his ears "You can sell the bracelet if you want It’s worth a lot of money"

"Baby, I don’t think so" She held it out to him with unconcealed contelass I don’t knoho sold it to you, but you should get your o on, be sweet You know the drill"

He had to make her understand how he felt In desperation he reached for her, but his feet were still tangled up in his trouser legs Shawna released a yelp; the next thing Guilder knew, he was sprawled on the floor He raised his face to discover a pistol aimed at his head

"Get the fk out"

"Please," he moaned His voice was thick with tears "You said you wanted to be et out of here with your crappy goddamned bracelet"

He rose heavily to his feet Never had he experienced such humiliation And yet what he mostly felt was love A helpless, "

"We’re all dying, baby" She waved the pistol at the door "Do like I say before I shoot your balls off"

He knew he could never face her again How could he have been so stupid? He drove to his townhouse, pulled into the garage, shut off the engine, and sealed the door with the remote He sat in his car for a full thirtyHe had ain, because heto her

Which hen he realized why he was still sitting in the Caine back on It would be like falling asleep He’d never have to think about Shawna again, or Project NOAH, or live in the prison of his own failing body, or visit his father at the convalescent center-none of it All his cares lifted, just like that Following an impulse he could not explain, he removed his watch and took his wallet fro the ready for bed Probably it was customary to write a note, but ould he say? Who would the note be for?

Three times he tried to make himself turn the key Three tiun to feel silly, sitting in his car-oneleft to do but put his watch back on and return his wallet to his pocket and go into the house

As Guilder was driving home from McLean, his handheld buzzed Nelson

"They’re on the , Nebraska A large groupin western Kansas" He paused "That’s not why I called"

Guilder drove straight to the office Nelson nal a little before sunset Grabbed it off a toest of Denver, a town called Silver Plu, but I was able to call in some favors at Hoet a picture"

At his terrainy black and white Not the girl; it was abeside a pickup truck parked on the side of the highway It looked like he was taking a leak

"Who the hell is this? One of the docs?"

"It’s one of Richards’s guys"

Guilder was perplexed "What are you talking about?"

For a ht you were in the loop on this They’re paroled sex offenders One of Richards’s little projects For security reasons, all sixth-tier civilian personnel were harvested fro e on the screen "This guy? Our lone survivor of Project NOAH? He’s a fking pedophile"

Chapter 9

The pickup gave out late on theof Grey’s second day on the road

The hour was just shy of noon, the sun high in the sky After a restless night in a Motel 6 near Leadville, Grey had picked up I-70 near Vail, then made his descent toward Denver As far east as the town of Golden, the interstate corridor had been mostly clear, but as he e shopping centers and sprawling subdivisions, things began to change Portions of the highere choked with abandoned cars, forcing hihere scenes of frozen disorder, store s smashed, merchandise strewn over the pavement The stillness was different here, too-not a si deeper, more ominous A lot of the bodies he saere headless, like the suspendered uessed maybe Zero and the others liked to take the heads

He did his best to keep his eyes on the road, forcing the carnage to the fringes of his vision The weird, buzzing energy he’d felt at the Red Roof had not abated; his brain was hu He hadn’t slept in a day and a half, but he wasn’t tired Or hungry, which wasn’t like him at all Grey used to slaht of food wasn’t reotten a Baby Ruth fro he should try to put so past his nose Just the odor of it made his insides clench He could practically s, a nasty chemical stink, like industrial floor cleaner