Suddenly a man bolted from the shadows of Dave’s shrubbery and crashed square into Kate. They sprawled flat on the sidewalk in a tangle of flailing arms and thrashing legs. The man pushed away from her, muttered an oath, and scrambled to his feet. A police car arrived on the scene, and behind the police car a fire truck rumbled to a stop. The man stood frozen, as if suspended in time by the headlights shining directly on him.

He wasn’t one of her neighbors, but she’d seen him before, Kate decided. In her kitchen! It was the man with the knife. The man Elsie’d almost blown to smithereens. His panic was palpable, like an animal trapped in the hypnotic glare of a hunter’s spotlight.

He looked to the far end of the street and was confronted by more police cars and fire trucks. There were no alleys in between. Each house was attached to the next. He pulled a gun from his jacket and pressed the snub-nosed barrel against Kate’s temple.

“Get up,” he said, wrapping his hand around her upper arm. “Move!”

Kate recoiled at his touch, revolted by the odor of sweat and gun oil. She felt her stomach roll and stared at him stupidly. The gun pressed more insistently into her flesh. She struggled to stand but had little luck with the awkward cast.

“Wonderful,” he muttered, “I have to pick a cripple to take hostage.” He gave a grunt and jerked her to her feet, holding her close. “No one come near me.”

“This isn’t a good idea,” Kate told him. “I’m not so great at walking.”

“We don’t need to walk. We’re gonna get a car. We’re gonna use this one that’s double-parked with the keys in it.”

Anatole’s mouth fell open. “That’s my car!” he whispered to Dave. “Do something!”

Dave narrowed his eyes. “If I do anything, it’ll be to rearrange your face.”

“Get in the car,” the man told Kate.

“My cast won’t fit.”

“Make it fit! Jeez, lady, give me a break. Hang your leg out the window if you hafta.” He pushed the seat back as far as possible and shoved her in.

Kate looked over her shoulder. “We’re surrounded by police cars.”

He fired a shot through the sunroof and leaned on his horn. “You ever have a day when nothing goes right?” he asked Kate. “You ever blow up a building by mistake? All I wanted to do was get some of my equipment back and make a little dope.”

“I thought you were arrested when the police raided the house? They caught you in my kitchen.”