“Are you thieves? We have so little but take it and go away. My grandmother has been ill. A shock could kill her. Look at her, she’s scared to death.”

Vern hugged Grannie.

“There, there, Mama-san, it ain’t nothing. You just relax now, okay. Just sit down on the sofa and relax. Watch a show, do some knitting.”

“She likes Sudoku.”

“Yeah, then do that. Meanwhile-”

He took the smaller girl back into the bedroom. She was one of those scrawny-beautiful scrappers, with eyes that glittered fiercely. Twelve, maybe. No breasts. Short, a T-shirt, some running shoes. The T-shirt said HANNAH MONTANA ’08 TOUR and had a picture of another kid. The child had no sexuality but she was hotter than hell nevertheless, as the smart, feisty ones always are. She’d never back down from nobody.

“Sweetie, please work with me on this. It’s better for everone. How many people live here? Where are they? When they gonna be home? I don’t want no surprises, and if I’m surprised, you ain’t gonna be a happy camper.”

He showed her the grip of his shoulder-holstered Glock.

“In case you don’t get it, that’s a real gun. I am a real bad man and I have to be here for a time. I ain’t gonna hurt you. You ain’t a witness, because my name’s already on a hundred circulars. But I am the real thing, and there ain’t no heroes no more, nobody’s coming to save you, so you do what I say, exactly, or there will be some problems. And I’m the easy one. That guy, Ernie, with me? He is a true bastard. I’m the only thing between your family and him.”

He loved the perfect tenderness of her beautiful little ear: so tiny, so precise, like some kind of exquisite jewelry.

“You’re an ape. Why are you doing this? We have nothing.”

“I am not an ape. Well, maybe a little. Sweetie, we’re here because we’re here and we’ll be gone when we’re gone. What are you, Chinese?”

“Vietnamese. My grandfather’s with the hospital, a researcher. My father’s dead, my mother works. My brother and sister will be home by four, Mom at five. Please don’t hurt us. We don’t have a thing, we haven’t done a thing.”

“There you go, sweetie, talking about hurting. I told you, nobody gets hurt long as I get smooth cooperation. Here’s how it’s gonna be. Grandma’s in here with you. You can watch TV, go to the bathroom, whatever. You can fix food. But that’s it. We’re going to be outside in the living room, looking out the sliding doors at the building across the parking lot. Don’t know for how long. If we’re still here when the other folks start arriving, it’s your job to keep them from going nuts. You tell them what’s what. You cool them down. You have to be a grown-up today. How old are you?”

“None of your business, you ape.”

“Wow, you do have snazzle. I like that. Think somewhere I got a gal your age. Hope she’s got the same snazzle. Anyhows, go ahead, hate me, I’m used to it. I kind of like it, truth is. Maybe that’s why I turned out so rotten. Anyhow, you got responsibilities. You have to please God. I am God. Please me and you’ll come out happy.”

“You’re not God. You’re an ape bastard bully with a gun.”

He saw he was never going to make any headway with this one, which of course made him really like her a lot. Maybe too much. An idea was starting to form. He could get her in the bathroom and she had to do what he said or he’d hurt her family so she’d have to do it. He saw her fear, her little body, the trembling. It excited him.

“I’ll go get Grandma. Oh, and one other thing. What do you want on your pizza?”

For some reason, like an old bear, he needed sleep. So he violated his promise to the sheriff by sleeping through the clock radio, awaking at ten-thirty and thinking first of all, Oh hell, where am I?

That moment of confusion, familiar to men beyond sixty. His eyes flashed around the banal motel room and he had no idea what he was doing there, what time it was, why he was so late, why in his dreams people seemed so disappointed in him. It came back, of course, but not quickly enough, and he needed a good ten minutes for the blood to somehow reach his brain and revive his short-term memories. Quickly he took up the Kimber.38 Super, made a quick recon of the parking lot of the Mountain Empire Motel and was satisfied to see it largely empty, no sheriff’s cars in sight. He started the coffee, took a shower, pulled on his last clean Polo-there had to be a washer and dryer at Nikki’s-and began his calls.

The first, of course, was to his wife.

The news was great.

“Bob, she’s awake. She’s back, our baby is back.”

Bob felt the elation blossom bright, like a flare in the night, signaling that reinforcements were coming in.

“Oh, thank God. Oh, Christ, that is so great. When did it happen, how, what’s her condition?”

Julie tumbled through the story. At about eight-fifteen, Nikki opened her eyes, sat up, shook her head groggily, and said, “Hi, Mom. Where am I?”

Doctors came and went, tests were made, Nikki gradually seemed to focus, and particularly benefited from her little sister’s incredible joy. The two girls sat on the bed and talked for what seemed hours, while all the fuss went on about them. Now she was getting further tests.

“She doesn’t remember anything about the incident, but everything else seemed all right. How’s Dad-oh my God, how much work have I missed-oh, I have to call my editor-when can we leave-I’m hungry.”

“Oh, that’s so great,” said Bob. It doesn’t get much better than the moment you hear your kid has pulled through a tough one. His first impulse was to race to the car and beeline to Knoxville to be with his family at this precious moment.

“The doctor says the signs are good. She’ll get more memory back over the next few days. Our little girl is going to make it.”

Miko came on, delirious, and he talked to the second daughter for a while, in the language of fathers and daughters, both intimate and silly. But at a certain point it came back to him. Yeah, she’s fine, she’s okay, it’s all right, there’s a happy ending…if.

He realized that she’d make it if the boys didn’t come back to take her out again. She was much more dangerous now that she was conscious. Unconscious, there was always the thought that she could pass; now, revived, she was a threat.

“I’d like to come back,” he said. “I wish I could come back.”

“But you can’t,” Julie said. “You have work to do.”

“Yes, I do. I want the security tightened.”

“Bob, I’ve already called Pinkerton. They’re upping the manpower. It’ll cost us a fortune, but I don’t care. What’s happening there, where are you?”

He told her, summing things up, wishing he had a definite next step in mind, or that a solution would somehow soon be at hand. But it remained amorphous. Strange men tried to kill Nikki, tried to kill him for looking into it. The sheriff’s office didn’t have a clue. Nick Memphis hadn’t returned his phone calls.

“I’m going to go to Bristol now, to her apartment. That’s where they’ll know to find me.”

“Bob, be careful.”

“Maybe I can turn a thing on them. If not, I’ll wait a few days until after the race, then I’ll sneak back here and sniff out Eddie Ferrol. If anyone knows anything for sure, it’s him. He and I’ll have a little conversation, and then I’ll be up to speed.”

“Can you find him?”

“I think I can.”

He saw his cell light blinking, informing him another call was coming in.

“You know, I have to go. I’ll get back to you when I’m in Bristol.”

“Love you.”

“Love you.”

He called up Received Calls and recovered Charlie Wingate’s number. He punched Call and the phone was answered in two seconds.

“Charlie?”

“Mr. Swagger, did you hear?”

“No.”

“They found the owner of that gun store dead. Eddie Ferrol, the guy who owned Iron Mountain Armory. Someone shot him. They found the body off the interstate.”