Page 3 (1/2)

The tire tracks continued through the tunnel into another open stretch of the Santa Rosita, where I switched off the flashlight, relieved to rely on aht, leading east-southeast away froh houses still stippled the surrounding hills, ere nearing the edge of town

I knehere ere going I had known for some tiht trail and if Ji the vehicle that had left these tracks, then the kidnapper had fled with the boy into Fort Wyvern, the abandoned ht Bay’s current problems

Wyvern, which covers 134,456 acres--far h chain-link fence supported by steel posts sunk in concrete caissons, topped with helixes of razor wire This barrier bisected the river, and as I rounded the curve in the channel, I saw a dark-colored Chevrolet Suburban parked in front of it, at the end of the tracks we had been following

The truck was about sixty feet away, but I was reasonably sure no one was in it Nevertheless, I intended to approach it with caution

Orson’s lol indicated a wariness of his own

Turning to the terrain we had crossed, I could see no sign of the creeping gargoyle that I had glihway 1 Nonetheless, I felt as though I were being watched

I concealed otten its teeth into a few dead tuht under my belt, at the small of my back, I drew the Glock from my holster It is a safe-action pistol with only internal safety devices: no little levers that need thuun for use

This weapon has saved h it’s a reassurance to me, I am not entirely comfortable with it I suspect I’ll never be able to handle it with co to do with un As a boy roaht, however, I was subjected to some memorable verbal and physical abuse froh to know better--and although their harassht me never to let an injustice pass without a fir of violence as an easy solution To protect myself and those I love, I will use lethal force when I must, but I’ll never enjoy it

With Orson at er waited inside The hood was still ith engine heat; the truck had been parked here only minutes

Footprints led froer’s side From there, they continued toward the nearby fence They appeared to be si bed under Ji slowly toward the dark purse of the western horizon, but its glow reh to allow me to read the license plate on the back of the vehicle I quickly memorized the number

I found where a bolt cutter had been used to breach the chain-link fence Evidently, this was accoo, before the most recent rain, because the water-smoothed silt was not heavily disturbed, as it would have been by so all that work

Several culverts also link Moonlight Bay to Wyvern Usually, when I explore the fores, where I have usedfence--as elsewhere along the entire perin with red and black lettering warned that although this facility had been shut down at the reconment Commission, as a consequence of the end of the Cold War, trespassers would nevertheless be prosecuted, fined, and possibly i that it occupied the botto was stern, unco, but I wasn’t deterred by it Politicians also pro, and justice If their promises are ever fulfilled, perhaps then I’ll have more respect for their threats

Here, at the fence, the kidnapper’s tracks were not the only loo the new i it with one hand, I flicked it on for only a second or thich was long enough for h the breach in the fence apparently had been made well ahead of time, in preparation for the cri hole He’d created a less obvious pass-through, and tonight he had needed only to pull the loosely hanging flap of chain-link out of his way To free both hands for this task, he had put down his captive, ensuring against an escape atte Ji the boy

The second set of tracks was considerably smaller than the first And shoeless These were the prints of a child who had been snatched barefoot frouished face Her husband, Benja, a power-coo in a work-related accident He’d been a big, uy, half Cherokee, so full of life that it had seemed as if he would never run short of it, and his death had stunned everyone As strong as Lilly was, she ht be broken if she had to suffer this second and even h she and I had long ago ceased to be lovers, I still loved her as a friend I prayed that I’d be able to bring her son back to her, suish vanish from her face

Orson’s whine was filled orry He was quivering, eager to give pursuit

After tucking the sht underof protest sang through the steel links

I promised, "Frankfurters for the brave of heart," and Orson shot through the gap

3

As I followed the dog into the forbidden zone, the ragged edge of one of the cut fence links snared round, dusted it against ain

This navy-blue, billed cap has been in e concrete charound, deep in the abandoned warrens of Fort Wyvern

Above the visor, embroidered in red, were the words Mystery Train I had no idea to who of the ruby-red needlework

This siear had little intrinsic value, but of all my material possessions, it was in some ways the most precious I had no proof that it was related to my mother’s work as a scientist, to any project of which she was a part--at Fort Wyvern or elsewhere--but I reh I already knew some of Wyvern’s terrible secrets, I also believed that if I were able to discover thetruths would be revealed I had vested a lot of faith in this cap When I wasn’t wearing it, I kept it close, because it reminded me of my mother and, therefore, comforted me