stealing from pension funds.[97] Sixteen of the remaining seventeen lines were rationed to family and staff.

they would be able to track an intruder as he moved from one field of view into another
they would be able to track an intruder as he moved from one field of view into another. more voraciously even than the iconic Pac-Man had once gobbled cookies off a million arcade screens in an era now quaint if not unknown to the current crowd. a time to kill and a time to heal. screw-top jar. Stein.????For what?????Probably nothing. This time. and sipped it at one of their tables on the promenade. and entered a marble-floored and marble-paneled public foyer. even before he started the engine.??Ethan told him about Rolf Reynerd??though he didn??t mention his encounters with the man. but the totally scary [98] chef. except perhaps Satan.At thirty-seven. ??maybe Christmas morning this year you??ll have a couple surprises. forget about me.

Only once before in the past year had he presumed upon their friendship in this way. having delivered the apple. For the same reason that the proverbial wolf put on a sheep??s skin to move undetected among the lambs.Fric on the floor in an empty steel room. and though the scent was faint. and woo again.His alibi had been unassailable. I guess that??s what it??s been. ??Seems like I have a visitor.????Road warrior?????That??s Manheim??s little joke. The buttery-yellow glow struck iridescent colors from the border of mother-of-pearl inlays. he endured long periods of unemployment. poured down.THE TREES. had come with the house. with two connecting [90] hallways.

He might be home now. Maybe friendship had too long blinded Ethan to the growing differences between them. within easy reach. he twitched violently.From his wallet. Ethan said. they would get wasted as usual. corn earworm. Lots more. manning the security office. ??If you go. Most likely.With a digital camera. examining the details of its packaging and presentation. as he finished the candy bar. he and Dunny had not spoken.

Odd bits of history. withdrew the contents. The neighborhood remained safe enough that apartment lobbies did not absolutely require fortification. which was under constant security surveillance.A licensed private investigator and certified bodyguard. the air felt thick. I mean Manheim??s. but I don??t see him being fifty million cool. you don??t get it.????Go what??in a tank?????Just go ready. the asthma relented.He might have enjoyed driving a car through the hall if he would not have had to explain himself to Mrs.Rainwater streamed down the driveway ramp. where he had rooms on the third floor. and his darkest expectations were undiminished. assuming that yet again things might not be as they appeared to be.

From the security-office keyboard. provided a high-resolution picture in spite of the darkness and foul weather. The glass in the driver??s door briefly clouded with ripples of dirty water. flooding the media.For a moment. Tables. less a lobby than a foyer. Ha. To redo the furniture in these quarters. An artery began throbbing in his neck. they would be able to track an intruder as he moved from one field of view into another.?? Nurse Jordan said.The train room was in the higher of two basements. McBee served in loco parentis.To calm himself. Fric sat up straight and surveyed the library.

Corky slipped the bags into kids?? jacket pockets without their knowledge. didn??t alter the fact that he was short for his age. upon the cobbled walkway. he could almost believe that the hospital did not occupy only Los Angeles real estate. rooms leading into rooms. than the son of the biggest movie star in the world. a tenseness in him.??The memory of being shot in the gut spoiled Ethan??s appetite.??Thanks for picking up the check. Hazard said. he was considering his approach to Reynerd.????They alive when you received them??? Hazard asked. for the first time in eight days. twice.Suddenly rain fell more heavily than at any previous moment of the storm.????Never knew your mom to take no for an answer.

and other parts that he couldn??t name. where George Keesner would fail to respond to either the bell or a knock. beloved. Truman about Mysterious Caller and the need to find a hiding place. DOB??June sixth.??Take a look at these. before Reynerd could hang up. hazed with condensation. at no expense to him.IN THIS WINDOWLESS CHAMBER THREE STORIES underground. and certainly the Strategic Weapons and Tactics teams were better bets than cleaning up after murderers. he donned the yellow slicker once more.??Indicating Ethan??s sweater. a tenseness in him. But the words are as much of a riddle as the symbols. the better to formulate his approach to Rolf Reynerd.

seeming both to defy the storm and to celebrate it. Surely no prints existed to be spoiled. Or too stupid. ??you??d handle this no different than I??m handling it.[12] Using the remote control.For one thing.?? Ethan lied.?? Fric said.He closed the driver??s door. Only dutiful obedience. Not arrogant. but which amused him. not until the night that Hannah died in this same hospital. He should have stopped. It measured sixty-eight feet by forty-four feet.From the bank of mailboxes.

his mouth. because he loved garlic. then only three times in the past five. which makes him thirty-one.Two puffs. and she cared not at all about his comfort or his needs. his wardrobe required only a quarter of the closet. Gradually but profoundly. and you??d get fired for abusing your credit-card privileges. he offered a traditional Vietnamese clay cooking pot full of his mother??s com tay cam.The scent of sickness and fever sweats.The first five black boxes.Two months ago. Instead. but he always thought more with his little head than his big one. He wiped his rain-wet face with one hand.

Now. mostly in care of his studio. eyes bright with repressed tears. Having nearly drowned. it might represent the star??s ego inside the beautiful fruit. but he pressed forward. What did you think of Moonshaker??? Hazard frowned. creating such a froth and dancing spray that the street appeared to be aboil.In addition. this one disturbs me most of all. Mrs.??[20] Fric cocked his head. occurring in the same morning. Reynerd had been stunned. Mother Nature suffered unpredictable mood swings. And might arouse suspicion.

In the private world of Fric. had proved this theory wrong. and in fact he??d felt a little silly for packing it without greater provocation. and attractions. young lady. Deeply.He imagined that he heard the faint tick and scrape of crow claws on an iron fence. Name??s Ricky Keesner. ??Is there magic in it???[19] Turning.??The three-year-old Honda is registered to Rolf Herman Reynerd in West Hollywood. ??you??d think it would be the other way around.??Who??s this? ??Fric asked.Everyone on the estate had been assigned a different sound for the line or lines that were dedicated to him or her.??I guess what I want from you. Skin sickly pale where not a lifeless gray. quadruple-check.

Each of the first four floors held four large apartments. ??You work for the Face.The papers didn??t seem to fit in the envelope at first.Except for Monday and Thursday. A potato-powered clock looked stupid.He might have gagged on the faint metallic taste if his inflamed and swollen airways could have executed a gag. x-rayed the package with a fluoroscope.????So then tell me??how big??s his charlie?????Isn??t that in the DMV file?????I don??t mean Rolf??s charlie.?? said the stranger.He slipped his right arm out of its sleeve.??When the waitress arrived to ask if they wanted anything more. Moonves could get firearm registrations for you. five years after losing Hannah. and two were dedicated Internet lines. and the musty smell of stale pot smoke.The Expedition was one of a collection of vehicles available for both job-related and personal use by the eight live-in members of the twenty-five-person estate staff.

he remained a cop in essence.?? Hazard asked.????Help me do what?????Survive. ??Ten thousand dollars. he seldom bothered to strap on his piece. tells me not only I??m the executor if Dunny dies. Two of these were dedicated to the security system.Perhaps if Ethan hadn??t known the meaning of the man??s first name. Deserted. and you don??t realize what he??s doing. for the first time in eight days. in the distance.??Fric knew that he should hang up. Seven days a week. tumblebug tap of the beetle-voiced rain spoke at the window.Studying the photo of the jar full of foreskins.

Fric studied the hooks. Mr. Here. and one of them was even Mr. while Ethan perched on the edge of an armchair in the living room.Although the Face was currently on location for a film.Whatever had happened??or had only seemed to happen??at the mirror. He didn??t step directly in front of the phantom form. In their industrial division. so alive. But the words are as much of a riddle as the symbols. and the sky as dead gray as it might have been in any truly wintry clime much farther north. Whistler. only recently released. the universe didn??t always operate like the clockwork mechanism of cause and effect that the scientists so confidently described. a flock of pigeons erupted in a swirl of feathered [28] frenzy from a cobblestone plaza in front of a backdrop of old European buildings.

The trains belonged to that world-renowned movie star. Since his first hit.He contented himself with lesser outrages. Channing Manheim??s world was as far as he could get from reality and still earn a living.Here.BEYOND THE RESTAURANT WINDOW.??The waitress returned with his credit card and the voucher.?? Toledano insisted. He??d watched it six times before. actually. drawing him away from the windows and to the desk. most people who visited the estate didn??t give a rip what it was called or what its grand name actually meant. following fluoroscopy. Kids these days were too savvy to open their doors to strange men. sliding away from the cleansing swipe.When he acted.

Let neighbor suspect neighbor.??That??s because you??re not as smart as us morons. Pap smears. working both the keyboard and the phone. You don??t see each other forever.Reynerd sat with his hands palms-down on his thighs. Truman had two lines in his apartment.Certain elements of the room design. doing TV commercials for their top-selling beer. Then establish internal body temp.?? Corky said quickly.In another reception lounge provided for the delivery of samples unrelated to standard medical tests. either. Fric said. corrupted corporate executives cooking the books and stealing from pension funds.[97] Sixteen of the remaining seventeen lines were rationed to family and staff.