Siri and Daeng had pushed together into a standing position. Dom continued to scramble around on top of the sins, eventually edging closer to the old couple. Siri leaned forward, and, using their bound wrists as a pivot, Daeng left the ground and swung her legs through the air. Both feet connected to the Thai’s head. The force of the blow shook off Ugly, but it also stunned the killer. Siri and Daeng stood breathing heavily in the cleared space in the center of the room. The newspaper continued to smolder, but the material in the heap was packed together too tightly to burst into flame. The Thai was out cold on the skirts.

“Nice one,” said Siri.

He looked around.

“What do we do now?” he asked.

“I haven’t thought that far ahead,” said Daeng.

“How did you know Ugly would come inside?”

“Instinct,” said Daeng. “Mine and his.”

In the distance they could hear the squeak of the hinges on the dog door. Dom began to stir.

“Merde,” said Siri.

The boy took a while to get himself oriented, but just as he reached for the Zippo, a dark figure appeared in the doorway—a dark, completely naked figure. Crazy Rajhid was much faster at assessing the situation than Ugly had been. He dived across the skirts, grabbed Dom’s Zippo hand and wrestled him down. Ugly went for the ankle. But the attack seemed to unleash the beast in the intruder. He snarled and flailed and seemed to draw on a pool of strength from deep inside him. Rajhid weighed no more than a Wednesday. Dom threw him off, bouncing him against a wall. The dog got a kick for his troubles and fell into the central clearing where Daeng and Siri stood helpless, back to back. Someone downstairs was banging on the restaurant shutter. It was past noodle time.

Dom made for the rear window. It was narrow but open, and he was about to dive through, when Rajhid with his second wind made a flying rugby tackle at Dom’s legs. The boy’s chest fell heavily against the window frame. He tried to kick free of the tackle but what Rajhid lacked in bulk he more than made up for in adhesion. He now had an unbreakable grip. But the Thai still had the Zippo. He flipped it open, produced a tall flame and tossed the lighter in the direction of Siri. It landed at the doctor’s feet and immediately ignited the slowly evaporating fluid. The flames engulfed one leg of his trousers.

Rajhid made the call. He let go of Dom, grabbed the nearest skirt, and threw himself at the fire. He wrapped the cloth around Siri’s leg and smothered the flames. When Siri looked up, he saw that Dom was gone. Rajhid crawled to the window, looked down and shook his head. They’d lost him.

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Nineteen

Works Like a Charm