BAM! Grandma fired and knocked out a light.

“Dang,” she said, “must be something wrong with this sight.”

Kenny scrambled to the ammo cases to get a gun, Spiro ran for the stairs, and I inched toward Grandma on my belly.

BAM! She got another shot off. It missed Kenny, but it tore into one of the cases. There was an instant explosion, and a fireball rose to the basement ceiling.

I jumped to my feet and dragged Grandma off the tray.

Another case exploded. Fire crackled across the floor and traced along the wooden casket casings. I didn’t know what was exploding, but I thought we were lucky not to have been hit by flying fragments. Smoke roiled from the burning boxes, cutting into the light, stinging my eyes.

I yanked Grandma to the back door and shoved her out into the yard.

“Are you okay?” I yelled at her.

“He was going to kill me,” she said. “He was going to kill you too.”

“Yes.”

“It’s terrible what happens to people. That they lose respect for life.”

“Yes.”

Grandma looked back at the house. “Good thing not everyone’s like Kenny. Good thing some human beings are decent.”

“Like us,” I said.

“Well, I suppose, but I was thinking more of Dirty Harry.”

“That was some speech you gave.”

“Always wanted to give that speech. Guess there’s a silver lining to everything.”

“Can you walk around to the front of the building? Can you find Morelli and tell him I’m back here?”

Grandma lurched toward the driveway. “If he’s there, I’ll find him.”

Kenny had been on the opposite side of the cellar when we rushed to get out. Either he’d gone up the stairs, or he was still inside, making his way close to the floor, trying to get to the back door. I was putting my money on the latter. Too many people at the top of the stairs.

I was standing about twenty feet from the door, and I wasn’t sure what I’d do if Kenny appeared. I didn’t have a gun or a defense spray. I didn’t even have a flashlight. Probably I should get the hell out of there and forget about Kenny. The money’s not worth it, I said to myself.

Who was I kidding? This wasn’t about money. This was about Grandma.

There was another small explosion, and flames flared through the kitchen windows. People shouted from the street, and I could hear sirens in the distance. Smoke poured through the cellar door and swirled around a human form. A hellish creature, backlit by fire. Kenny.

He bent at the waist and coughed and took in some air. His hands hung loose at his sides. Didn’t look like he’d been able to find a gun. That was a break. I saw him glance side to side and then come straight toward me. My heart almost jumped out of my chest, until I realized he didn’t see me. I was standing, lost in shadow, in his line of escape. He was going to skirt the garage and disappear into the back alleys of the burg.