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"But when she screwed up, they needed ht they did To see what the future held"

Sensing a pending revelation of an ugly truth, I said, "Shut up," but I spoke in little more than a murmur, perhaps because I knew I needed to hear whatever he had to tell ie, Randolph said, "Ask me what the stakes are"

The word stakes spiraled around the ovoid rooie dutifully asked, "What are the stakes?"

"Conrad and I play to see who gets to soak each of these tykes in gasoline"

Conrad un in the warehouse the previous night If he’d had one, he would have shot me dead thehis hands as if dealing iets to light the ht shoot first and worry about ricochets later, Doogie said, "Why haven’t you killed they tells us there should be five in this offering Until recently, we thought we had only four But noe think…" He scards to see who lights the mutt boy"

I didn’t think that Randolph had a firearm, either As far as I could reallery of hellish achieveun That was forty-four years ago, probably the first murder he’d committed Since then, he preferred to have ht into the wet of the work Hammers and knives and the like were his weapons of choice--until he started to s

"Your mother," he said, "was a dice woman Rolled the dice for the whole hu to deal cards again, Randolph had ie said

But Randolph did He snapped the laht went off, Randolph and Conrad were on the ot to their feet so fast that they knocked their chairs over, and these hard noises rattled repeatedly around the roo a stick along a picket fence

I was instantly on thethe curve of the roo to stay out of Conrad’s way, since he was the one closest to o hard and fast for the place where I had been when the lights went out Neither he nor Randolph was the type to run for the exit

As I sidled toward the kids, I slipped the infrared goggles off ht froht be

He was closer than I’d expected, having intuited my attempt to shield the children He held a knife in one hand, slashing blindly at the air around hie it is to be aConrad seeking without finding, flailing inhim so confused and frustrated and desperate, I knew one percent of what God ame of life

I quickly circled Conrad as he aht to disehteous indignation of the Aht between un, and I slaun into the back of his head

He went down and stayed down

Apparently, neither one-name Conrad nor the iniles were part of infrared sets, because Doogie was al around thepoliticians, who generally hire out the ork--and beating the crap out of him with a natural-born enthusiasm and with a skill honed as a bouncer in biker bars

Perhaps because he had a greater concern for dental safety and oral hygiene than I did, or perhaps just because he didn’t like the taste of the flashlight handle, Doogie had siht on the card table and then herded Randolph into the primary path of the beam with a relentless series of judiciously delivered pokes, punches, and chops with his fists and with the barrel and butt of the Uzi

Randolph went doice and got up twice, as though he really believed that he had a chance Finally he dropped like a load froie kicked hiie ad hitalents and accomplishments, a true e, perhaps even a font of enlightenion around hiie said, "Snowoggles, I said, "Fade me in"

He switched on the storm lamp, and the copper-lined rooht

The pre-cataclysh the vast building continued to be estive distress But we didn’t need a fifty-page directive from the Occupational Safety and Health Administration to know that we should vacate the premises as soon as possible

We quickly determined that the children were not merely bound with rope or shackled Their wrists had been wired together, as had their ankles The wires were drawn cruelly tight, and I winced at the sight of bruised skin and dried blood

I checked Orson He was breathing, but shallowly His forepaired together, his hind legs, too A makeshift muzzle of wire clamped his jaws shut, so he was able to issue only a thin whine

"Easy, bro," I said shakily, stroking his flank

Doogie stepped to the gate valve and shouted along the tunnel to Sasha and Roosevelt: "We got’eed us to hurry

"We’re shakin’ and bakin’," Doogie assured her "Keep your guard up" After all, there ht be worse than Randolph and Conrad in this labyrinth