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Chapters (78)
  1. Cover Page
  2. TITLE PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  5. Mary
  6. CHAPTER ONE
  7. CHAPTER TWO
  8. CHAPTER THREE
  9. CHAPTER FOUR
  10. CHAPTER FIVE
  11. Joyce
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. Russ
  21. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  22. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  23. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  25. Jaxson
  26. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  27. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY
  29. HSK
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  36. HSK
  37. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  38. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  39. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY
  41. Lyndsay
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  45. Grace
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  47. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  48. HSK
  49. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  50. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  51. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  52. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  53. Wilkes
  54. CHAPTER FORTY
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  57. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  58. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  59. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  60. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  61. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  62. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  63. Dubois
  64. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  65. CHAPTER FIFTY
  66. Dubois
  67. Wilkes
  68. CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
  69. CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
  70. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  71. ALSO BY DEAN KOONTZ
  72. PREVIEWS
  73. DIME STORE MAGIC
  74. INDUSTRIAL MAGIC
  75. HAUNTED
  76. BROKEN
  77. NO HUMANS INVOLVED
  78. COPYRIGHT

He wanted to be there when they realized they’d lost her. Not just lost her, sacrificed her. He’d tried to tell himself that he would never have fallen for their scheme, that even if he hadn’t recognized the girl, he wouldn’t have slid into the trap. But in all honesty, he wasn’t so sure. It was a clever ruse. Evelyn had always been so damned clever, so quick to rub it in. Now she’d see she wasn’t the only one.

When he’d arrived, after following Dubois from the press conference, he’d lamented his lack of supplies. He hadn’t been prepared for this, and had to make do with the few things he’d had hidden in his rental car, all designed to kill one person. He had no idea how many people were in there. Was it just the girl and the one FBI agent? Or had Evelyn cut a deal with the Feds, meaning there’d be a house full of them? Or were Evelyn and Jack themselves in there, waiting for him? He wasn’t stupid enough to sneak down and find out, not when he had the perfect perch.

A bomb would have been ideal. Blow the whole house up. Then it wouldn’t matter how many Feds were guarding the girl. But all he had was a tiny thing that wouldn’t do any good unless he put it right under her bed, and the explosion would have the Feds locking down the place in seconds. Then, while he’d been waiting, he’d slipped into the empty house next door, up to the attic and with a bit of work on some rotted boards, slipped through to the adjoining one. And there he’d found the answer to his prayers: the access door that led into the walk-in closet of the master suite…a master suite with a gas fireplace.

He checked his watch. Twelve minutes to go. Time to find himself a good, safe spot to watch the fireworks.

CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE

FIFTY-ONE

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For five minutes after Dubois left, I lay in bed waiting for his return. Then I sat up. I knew I needed to give it longer than that—he’d be waiting for me to fall back to sleep before returning—but something was niggling at the back of my brain, pestering me to get up.

I checked the clock. Still seven minutes before Jack or Quinn would wake me. Maybe that was it—like waking just before the alarm goes off, wanting to grab a few more minutes but unable to squelch that inner clock saying it was time to get up.