Chapters (73)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Prologue
- Part IAnnie
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Part IIHarry
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Part IIIAnnie
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Part IVHarry
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Part VAnnie
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Fifty-One
- Fifty-Two
- Fifty-Three
- Fifty-Four
- Fifty-Five
- Fifty-Six
- Fifty-Seven
- Fifty-Eight
- Fifty-Nine
- Sixty
- Sixty-One
- Acknowledgments
- About the Author
- Also by Linwood Barclay
- About the Publisher
“I told you. I’m Edwin Nabler, and this is my shop.” He waved his arm. “As you can see, I carry a wide assortment of toy trains for the beginner and the enthusiast. Back in the day, when there were still people here, my clientele was made up entirely of Lucknow residents. After the . . . catastrophe . . . it might have made sense to relocate. In fact, even before, I was sensing I might need to pull up stakes once again. But that unfortunate incident—I’m sure you’re familiar with it—occurred at about the same time as the Internet’s reach began to expand. So I decided to stay, take orders online.” Nabler smiled proudly. “We ship all over the world. I can’t tell you what a godsend these technological advances have been for someone in my line of work.”
“You mean, as a toy train merchant, or something else?”
Nabler came out from behind the counter and raised a finger in the air. “Very perceptive. But I would imagine that some of the things you’ve experienced lately have persuaded you that there are . . . what’s the word? Forces? That there are forces at work with which you have been, up until recently, unfamiliar?”
“You could say that.”
“Forgive me if I sound boastful, because that’s not my intention, but I have to take the credit for that.”
“What are you? Some sort of magician?”
Nabler pondered how to reply. “That’s not a bad way of putting it. I don’t know that there’s any way I could explain it to you that would be adequate. I’ve tried with others in the past and they’re always left a little overwhelmed. Those of us who operate in the sliver have our own set of natural laws that are difficult to articulate. You know how it’s hard to imagine space going on forever?”
Was this an actual question, or rhetorical? But Annie said, “I think so.”
“You think, well, it has to end somewhere, right? But then, if it did, what would be beyond that? You see what I mean? Explaining myself would be like that. Beyond your ability to comprehend. No offense intended.”
“Why am I here? What do you want with Charlie and me? Because that’s what you’ve done, isn’t it? We’ve been summoned. There was no direct invitation, but we were manipulated, conned into coming here.”
“Yes,” Nabler said without hesitation. “You could not be more correct.”
“Why us?”
“The question is, why you. And I want to get to that. It’s my intention to be much more forthcoming with you than I’ve been with anyone else outside the sliver. Explaining my role. Have you heard of those . . . what is it they call them in the business world? Head hunters? People who match the right person to the right job?”
Annie said nothing.