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No luggage usuallydistance and that the round-trip, including the time needed to perform whatever as expected of him, would take no more than twenty-four hours But as he turned away fro, "Airport" Of course, there were a lot of places to which he could fly round-trip in a single day

He picked his wallet off the dresser, waited to see if he felt coain, and finally slipped it into his hip pocket

Evidently he would need not only money but ID-or at least he would not risk exposure by carrying it

As he walked to the kitchen again and took the car keys off the pegboard, fear played through hily as it had the last time he had left his house on a mission That day he had been "told" to steal a car so it could not be traced to hiht encounter adversaries even , but he was not as worried as he’d been before He knew he could die Being the instruuarantees of immortality; he was still only a man whose flesh could be torn, whose bones could be broken, and whose heart could be stopped instantly with a well-placed bullet The amelioration of his fear was attributable solely to his somewhat mystical journey on the Harley, two days with Father Geary, the report of the stig conviction that a divine hand was at work in all of this

Holly was on Bougainvillea Way, a block froreen Ford backed out of his driveway She did not knohat kind of car he drove, but since he lived alone, she assu to swing around hile across his bow, force hiht in the street Then she slowed down again, figuring discretion was seldo, what he was up to

As she passed his house, the auto down Just before it closed, she was able to see that no other car was in thereThe man in the Ford had to be Ironheart

Because she had never been assigned to stories about paranoid drug lords or bent politicians or corrupt business a surveillance subject through traffic The skills and techniques of clandestine operations were not necessary when you wrote exclusives about Tiled live mice on the steps of city hall and called it "art," and pie-eating contests She was also mindful of the fact that Ironheart had taken a teek course in aggressive driving at a special school in Marin County; if he kne to handle a car well enough to shake off pursuing terrorists, he would leave her in the dust about thirty seconds after he realized she was following hi as far back as she dared Fortunately, the Sunday-h to allow her to hide behind other cars But it was light enough so she didn’t have to worry that the lanes would suddenly clog up between her and Ironheart, cutting her off until he disappeared froht

He drove east on Crown Valley Parkway to Interstate 5, then north toward Los Angeles on 405

By the tih rises around South Coast Plaza, the pri and office center for the two e County metroplex, Holly’sto be adept atfroh to follow if he abruptly swung onto an exit raer was tempered by the pleasure she took in her skillful pursuit Now and then she even found herself ad pink and white oleanders that flanked the freeway at soan to worry that she was going to spend the whole day on the road with hi to do with the enigma that concerned her Even a self appointed superhero with clairvoyant powersnothingSzechuan Chinese with the chef’s hottest ht beco her a few cars back see death of a small boy in Boston

On the other hand,he could not turn on and off at will, andhier and destruction and death--or no visions at all Which made sense in a way

It would probably drive you insane to have psychic visions that told you in advance whether you were going to enjoy a particular as and the bloats fro soone more car between theeles International Airport, Holly beca flight But it wason one of his tiust 12, nearly teeks ago Holly was not prepared to travel; she didn’t even have a change of clothes However, she had cash and credit cards to handle expenses, and she could buy a fresh blouse anywhere The prospect of tailing him all the way to the scene of the action tantalized her

Ultimately, when she wrote about him, she would be able to do so with more authority if she had been an eye-witness at two of his rescues

She al off the airport service loop into a parking garage, because there was no longer a convenient car between them to mask her presence But the alternative was to drive on, park in another garage, and lose hi back only as far as she dared and took a ticket from the dispenser seconds after he did

Ironheart found an e a row on the third level, and Holly pulled in ten spaces past him She slu hi back and seeing her

She alot out of her car, she was barely in tiht and disappeared around a wall at the bottom of the ramp

She hurried after him The soft, flat slap-slap of her footsteps echoed hollowly off the low concrete ceiling At the base of the ramp, when she turned the corner, she saw hih that door after hiht and open the door below

Thanks to his colorful Hawaiian shirt, she was able to stay well behind hi with other travelers, as he crossed the service road and entered the United Airlines ter a story without the financial backing of the newspaper was expensive enough If Ironheart was going to save soo instead of Honolulu

In the ter them for cover, while Ironheart stood for a while at a bank of ing by the frown on his face, he didn’t see the flight he wanted Or ht he wanted Perhaps his preht have to work at theht not know exactly where he was going or whose life he would be saving until he got there

After a fewthe concourse to the ticket counter Holly continued to stay well back of hi from a distance, until she realized that she would not know his destination unless she was close enough to hear hiap

She could wait until he had bought the ticket, of course, follow hiate he waited at, then book herself on the saht But what if the plane took off while she was dashing through the endless hallways of the ter her which flight Ironheart had taken by clai to have picked up a credit card he’d dropped But the airline ht offer to return it to hiht even call security guards

In the line at the ticket counter, she dared to close within one person of Ironheart The only traveler between the-bellied one to seed; he had mildly offensive body odor, but he provided considerable cover, for which she was grateful