Jake looked around the room. Younger was sitting beside Glynis, with Monster standing a few paces away, looking imperturbable. Perez was on the phone at the bar, along with the two sluggers from Las Vegas.

“We got two extra guys now,” Perez was saying. “Yeah, they came up here to get the girl. Big heroes. Yeah … What choice do we have? Right.”

Stepping closer to Monster, Jake whispered, “Are you going to let them do this to us? To me?” He was disgusted with the pleading whine of his own voice.

Monster looked uncomfortable, but replied, “Hey, it ain’t my decision, Jake. I told you you shouldn’ta come here.”

“But they’re going to kill us!”

“It won’t hurt none,” said Monster. “Just a whack on the head to knock you out. Then we put you in the car and find a nice high overpass. No seat belts. You won’t wake up.”

“Monster, it’s murder!”

“Yeah, I guess it is.”

A weapon, Jake thought. I need a weapon, something to fight with. They’ve got guns. I’ve got nothing. They’re going to kill us, kill the three of us and I’m standing here talking it over with one of the killers. If I had a gun, even that stupid sword from this dumb costume …

He saw the heavy brass lamp on the low table between the chairs where Younger and Glynis were sitting. If I could get to it, Jake thought, and take out Monster with it … Then he realized that Perez or one of the Nevada guys would gun him down.

Even so, he calculated, they’d have a hard time explaining a body with bullet holes in it as an accident. Yeah, sure, some plan. Get yourself killed. Brilliant strategy.

Perez hung up the phone. “Okay. That’s it.”

Younger started to get up, but Monster laid one paw on his shoulder and the engineer sat down again.

Perez asked Monster, “What was this guy drivin’?”

“Land Rover,” Monster replied.

“Good.” He turned to one of the gorillas and said, “Go outside and get it started.”

The thug nodded, turned to his companion. “Come on.”

They headed for the door. Jake thought, That leaves only Nacho and Monster.

Action

ACTION

Jake edged closer to Younger and the low table that bore the heavy-looking lamp. “Tim, could the big rig really stop this blackout?”

His brows rising slightly with surprise, Younger answered, “It could light up all of Lignite County, easy. Maybe more.”

“The capital city?” Jake was standing in front of the table lamp now.

“If the fartbrains running the system pipe the juice that way, yes,” Younger said, clearly unhappy with the executives in charge of the state’s power grid.