“Maybe. But if I were a sniper and my goal was to keep someone from driving away, I’d shoot out as many tires as I could—not just one.”

“Then why …?”

“Maybe because one flat can be dealt with—with a jack and a spare, like you said.”

“So …?”

“A jack, a spare, and one of us kneeling out there for five or ten minutes to do the job.”

“You mean, like a sitting duck?”

“Yes. Speaking of which, let’s kill the mudroom light and get away from the door.”

Kyle swallowed. “Because that weird little hit man you just told me about might be out there … waiting?”

“It’s possible.”

“The guy I saw with the rifle down in the pine woods—he wasn’t that small. Maybe it was your neighbor after all?”

“I’m not sure. What I do know is that a very provocative message has been running on TV, a message designed to get Peter Pan to come after me. I have to assume that it might have worked. It would also be smart to assume—”

He was interrupted by his cell phone ringing in the den.

It was Esti. She sounded stressed. “Where are you?”

He told her.

“Why are you still there? You better get the hell out before something happens.”

“You sound like Jack.”

“I sound like Jack because he’s right. You have to get out now. I called you twice today after I found out about the screwup on TV. I called to tell you to get out.”

“It might be a little late for that now.”

“Why?”

“Someone may have put a bullet in my front tire.”

“Oh, shit. This is true? If this is true, you got to bring in some help. Right now. You want me to come, I can be there in maybe forty-five minutes.”

“That’s not a good idea.”

“Okay, then call 911.”

“Like I said, you sound like Jack.”

“Who the hell cares what I sound like? The point is, you need help now.”

“I need to think it through.”

“Think? That’s what you’re going to do? Think? While somebody’s shooting at you?”

“At my tire.”

“David, you are a crazy person. Do you know that? Crazy! The man is shooting, and you’re thinking.”

“I have to go, Esti. I’ll call you back in a little while.” He ended the call the same way as he had with Hardwick—breaking the connection in the middle of a cry of protest.

That’s when he remembered the message that had come in right after he’d broken off his conversation with Hardwick. He’d assumed it was the man trying to finish what he had to say, but now, as he checked, he saw that the call’s origin wasn’t Hardwick’s phone but an unknown number.

He played the message back.