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Rooo

She slipped into the huge kitchen There were three doors in here, and she knew that Stevie ht Jazz headed left, crouched low and listen-ing all the ti footsteps The air smelled of old food As she passed one work surface, she saw the detritus of a meal:

bread cru salad There were a few plates piled up beside the double sink, and on an island unit in the center of the kitchen sat several full shopping bags

She opened the first door she reached, still crouched do She winced as the hinges creaked, stared through the narrow gap, squinted against the bad light It was a walk-in larder, at least eight feet per side The walls were lined with shelves stacked with all oods The entire rear as taken up by a wine rack, at least two-thirds of it filled with bottles There were built-in cupboards at floor level, all of theht So what's in there? Posh food? She closed the door gently behind her and switched on the light

The cupboards were solid, and when she tapped the first door it sounded heavy Metal lined ood laled the padlock, but the hasp and eye were bolted firmly into the door If she had a crowbar, perhaps she could pull it off, given time But she had neither

Last place to look, she thought If we don't find it anywhere else

She turned off the light, opened the door slowly, peeked out, and exited back into the kitchen

The final door fro roorand place, with a table that seated at least twenty being the only item of furni-ture The walls were paneled with dark wood fro, and a portrait held pride of place in each separate bay At first Jazz thought they would be pictures of the Blackwood Club and that the accusing eyes of her father would soon bear down upon her But then she recognized one of the paintings as the previous mayor of London, and froave hi room It didn't seem to be a place that was used very much; there was a film of dust on the table, and the air was ht

Get rid of the stink There was a pair of doors at the far end, and she opened them just a crack

Then froze

The doors opened inward, and beyond was the man-sion's ht where the main entrance doors still stood open Directly across froht was the stairway, eight feet wide and cli to a balcony that overlooked the hallway on three sides On the first stair stood two men One of theht The BMW e to death

"Fuckin' tunnel rats!" Philip hissed

"He's got guts, co up here," the second uts to the air" Philip's face seerih so reminded --" the second man said, but Philip cut hi to us down there" He twitched again, his head flipping to the side Jazz saw his good eye, and it was almost completely black "Gassed us or poisoned us Bastards! Get my hands on 'em Get my knife in 'em "

"Calm it, mate," the second man said, and from his tone he was obviously scared of Philip

"Yeah," Philip said "Cal but calm

"Where's the mayor now?"

"Upstairs in that room of his Fiddlin'"

"Weird," the second man whispered

"He likes to be left alone," Philip said "Needs to con-centrate"

"He really thinks it'll help hirinned "He'll win" The two ht

She closed the doors Fiddlin', Philip had said In any other place, Jazzelse But not here, and not now, and not knohat she knew

"Upstairs," she whispered Stevie was supposed to go di-rectly to the second floor, and Terence would likely still be working his way through the first floor beyond the hallway There were probably the library and living rooms over there, much more likely places to hide the battery than in the kitchen and dining room, and probably a second minor staircase buried in the bowels of the mansion But the mayor was upstairs --in "that rooe

I need to find that battery, she thought Me Not Terence, not Stevie They've both got too e is fresher

Revenge ht be a dish best served cold, but as Jazz opened the dining-roo inside

She glanced carefully up the stairs The two men had disappeared, either around onto the balcony above her or into one of the roo Behind her the et away froh the doors was the rear end of one of the black cars, which meant that there were likely more people still outside Maybe they'd coo She did not want to wait to find out

As she started cliht as she could in case the twosilently above her, she heard the screech of tires A police siren sang briefly before falling silent again Jazz paused and held her breath; if Philip and the other BMW man were on the bal-cony above her, they'd probably pass some comment now But all was silent

She ran up a dozenaround Before her, a corridor led toward the back of the house, a door halfway down on either side To her left and right, the landing swung around above the hallway, and there wereoff Several of the doors were half open, others closed, and though she concentrated she could not hear voices from any of them

Stevie could be anywhere

There were several s vases with sprays of dried flowers A couple were eer cupboards beneath Bloody thing could be anywhere! she thought, realizing for the first tie the battery was or what it looked like; all he knew, based on Harry's walk-by, was that it was here

Jazz went left The first door she cahtly until she could see inside A bathroom: toilet, bidet, shower stall, bath, basin, a couple of chairs The shoas stea water, and the air carried the warm, heavy smell of re-cent use

The next door was closed, and Jazz pressed her ear to the wood She couldn't hear anything inside

She touched the handle, paused, and withdrew her hand Doesn't feel right, she thought Trusting her instincts, she moved on