He stood up and stretched. He could discuss business and stay fully aroused. Completely crazy — a new definition of crazy. When was she supposed to bail out? Was submitting to him and getting killed later when he got bored less courageous than telling him to fuck himself and getting killed on the spot? Or should she fight him physically and get raped and then get killed after he showed her what sexual sadism was all about? Sam didn’t want her to die, but this was not his problem — it had nothing to do with what he wanted.

From a distance came a burst of automatic small arms fire. “Right on schedule.”

“That’s the way your friends say goodbye?”

Another burst. “They own guns. What’s the point, if they can’t use them?”

“All those men were downstairs. They know what you’re up to. How are you going to keep their mouths shut?”

“An excellent grasp of the problem.” He kissed her neck again, this time carefully. He said, “They believe they understand their situation, too — they think they’re safe until the critical moment. That the time to worry is after. I’m going to kill them beforehand. Every one. They won’t live to see —” He stopped because three shots close to the house drowned him out.

“What critical moment?”

“You’ll see.”

“And killing your friends doesn’t bother you.”

“They’re not my friends.” He lifted the strap of her nightgown off her shoulder. She was trying not to freeze up on him or focus on how close she was to nausea. “They’re a lot of little opportunists with a thousand others eager to take their places, all of them a thousand times more loyal to me than these could ever be. This is the real nature of the world, Amy. Six thousand years to restore the true order of things, the constant struggle to determine who has the real power.” He breathed deeply as he studied her nipple. “You’re perfect. Just beautiful.”

A shadow passed across the ceiling. Gregory was standing in the doorway. She said, “We have company. Monkeyboy wants to talk to you.”

Chino turned. “What is it?”

Gregory could not help taking a moment to fill his eyes. Amy covered up, trying to stare him down.

“Her husband has arrived,” he said, and smiled.

For a moment it felt as if her heart had stopped, and she was only glad that Chino wasn’t touching her, or he would have known. She was dizzy — too unaware that she had no idea how close she was to passing out or falling over. She struggled to stay motionless while the room spun.

Gregory said, “The others were headed off to the cul-de-sac to get him when they saw Rosario’s car parked up on the road. They found Rosario in the trunk.”

“Was he alive?”

“Yes, but frightened to death. He said Merrill killed the other one, What’s-His-Name.”