He had no way of knowing, either, that Amy wasn’t still in the building. Anyone could have started the car. Merrill moved closer to the wall, listening, his head down. He picked up a stone and tossed it at the wall. If Chino wanted to kill him, this was as good a time as any. Merrill stepped closer, studying the wall and the building beyond. The top of the wall seemed smooth. He’d have no problem going over it if he could find something on this side he could stand on.

In front of him was an old dead branch three feet long and as thick as his wrist. It was light for its size but maybe it was enough. He watched the wall and the building for the shine of the lens of a surveillance camera, but some of the shadows were deep enough to hide a sniper.

He had to assume now that anyone still in the house wanted him inside. If he was going to get to Amy, he had no choice any more but to continue to go straight ahead… No! The car! What else had Merrill heard? The doors being slammed. He had not seen a garage or parking lot when he had arrived. There had to be something to contain the household cars. A place this size could not function without a lot of vehicles. And what he had heard — or more accurately, had not heard — had told him the cars were outdoors.

To confuse anyone who might be paying attention, he threw a branch over the wall before taking off on a dead run around to the other side of the house. If someone heard the branch, it might have him looking in the wrong direction long enough to give Merrill a moment’s advantage.

Merrill changed direction when he reached a driveway lined with young trees. He tried to pick up speed. The gate had been left open, but now someone activated the motor that began to close it. So much for advantage. Merrill had to run harder as the gate seemed to pick up speed. Beyond the gate he could see a half a dozen vehicles or more. The gate slammed him painfully into the masonry post. He had to pull himself the rest of the way as the gate pressed against him, heavy as a trolley car. It held his leg even after he got his torso inside, and finally claimed the shoe from his foot as he pulled that through. The gate clanged shut, the shoe bouncing on the blacktop out of Merrill’s reach. Merrill ran for the building as the forecourt filled with light.

He was bleeding from the ankle. With his back to the wall, he began moving toward the shadow. A voice sounded from a pair of speakers mounted on one of the light poles.