Joe Pike held her gaze for another moment, then turned away as the large man sat straight up on the kitchen floor as if rising from the dead and shot Joe again.

Joe Pike fell hard.

The two women finally arrive, and Sobek eases down the hill to Paulette's house. He knows from watching that none of the neighbors are home, so he strolls up the drive and into Paulette Wozniak's garage without fear of being seen.

He creeps through the garage past Paulette Wozniak's ticking car, and puts his ear to the utility door, but doesn't hear anything. He knows that doors like this usually open to a laundry room or a kitchen, and decides to take the chance that Pike and the others aren't poised on the other side. He turns the knob, then cracks the door, and sees a washer and dryer.

He can hear voices now, and then a woman shouts, "What could you possibly have to say? You killed him! Mother, he's wanted! He just murdered someone else!"

Sobek grips the.357, pulls back the hammer, then eases into the laundry. He peeks into the kitchen. No one. He creeps through the kitchen, careful not to make any noise, getting closer and closer to the voices until they are just around the corner in the family room. Two women and the Pikester.

Sobek takes a deep breath, then another, then steps around the corner and shoots Joe Pike in the back.

Ka-Boom!

The.357 kicks harder than the little.22s, and before he can shoot again Pike has a gun in his hands and fires BAMBAMBAM. Three bricks hit Sobek in the chest all at the same time, knocking him flat on his ass, and making him see stars.

He thinks he is dead, then realizes that the Kevlar vest he's wearing under the sweatshirt has saved him. Most cops wear lightweight vests designed to stop common rounds like the 9mm or.45, but Sobek wears the heavier model, rated at stopping anything up to and including the.44 Magnum.

Control.

He hears voices. They're talking. Pike is still alive, but wounded.

Second chance.

Sobek sits up and shoots Joe Pike again even as the younger woman screams.

Pike drops like a bag of wet laundry, and Sobek says, "Cool!"

The older woman falls to her knees beside Pike and grabs for his gun, but Sobek runs forward and kicks her in the ribs. He is dizzy from the hits that he's taken, but his kick is solid and upends her.

A red pool spreads through Pike's shirt.

Sobek looks at Paulette Wozniak, then the younger woman. "Are you Abel Wozniak's daughter?"

Neither of them answer.

Sobek points the.357 at the older one, and the younger one says, "Yes."

"Okay. Let's get a couple of chairs, and you two sit down."

Sobek feels disoriented and nauseated from the chest trauma, but he tapes their wrists and ankles to two wooden dining-room chairs and puts more tape over their mouths. Then he peels off his shirt and vest to inspect his wounds. The entire center of his chest is a throbbing purple bruise. The bullets probably broke some ribs. Christ, that Pike can shoot. All three bullets would've been in his heart.

Sobek spits on Pike's body, and screams, "FUCK YOU!"

The screaming makes his head spin worse, and he has to sit or throw up. When the spinning subsides, he considers the women.

"You're next."

He is thinking about how best to kill them when he hears a car door out front and sees two deputies strolling toward the house.

Sobek drags the two women into a back room to hide them even as the doorbell rings. He puts on his shirt, not even thinking of the three bullet holes, and hurries to the door as it rings again. He plasters on a big smile, opens the door with a surprised expression, and says, "Oh, wow, the Highway Patrol. Are we under arrest?"

The two deps stare at him for a moment, and then the closer one smiles. Friendly and getting the joke. "Is Mrs. Renfro at home?"

"Oh, sure. She's my aunt. Did you want to see her?"

"Yes, if we could."

"Come on in out of that heat and I'll bring you back. She's in the pool."

The other dep smiles then and takes off his campaign hat. He says, "Man, I could go for some of that."

Sobek nods, and smiles wider. "Hey, why not? I'll get you guys a beer or a soft drink, if you like."

He holds the door and lets them step past him into the living room, then closes the door, takes out his.357, and shoots both deputies in the back, puts the gun to their heads, and shoots them again.

Verdugo to Palm Springs was less than an hour. Paulette didn't answer when I called, which none of us liked, but I left word on her machine that she should drive directly to the Palm Springs Police Department and wait for us there.

During the drive, Krantz spoke several times on the radio, once getting a report that sheriffs had arrived on scene at Paulette's, and that everything was fine.

We left the interstate at North Palm Springs and drove directly to Paulette's house in the hills above the windmills. A clean new sedan that I didn't recognize was parked in the drive. The garage door was down, and no other cars were parked on the block. The house, like the neighborhood, was still.

I said, "I thought the sheriffs were supposed to be here."

"They were."

Krantz got on his radio and told someone to confirm with the sheriffs, then have them send another car.

We parked beside the sedan, and got out.

Williams said, "Goddamn. It's hot as hell out here."

We didn't make it to the front door. We were passing the big picture window when all three of us saw the body in the family room, and a cold sweat broke over my back and legs even in the awful desert heat.

"That's Joe."

Williams said, "She-it."

Krantz fumbled out his gun. "Jerome, radio back. Tell'm we need cars right goddamned now. I don't care who. Tell'm to send an ambulance."

Williams ran back to the unit.

Two swerving blood trails led out of the living room through the family room and into the kitchen. I couldn't see any other bodies, but I thought it might be Paulette and Evelyn. Then I saw that the sliding back doors were open.

"I'm going in, Krantz."

"Goddamnit, we gotta wait for backup. He might still be in there."

"Those people might be bleeding to death. I'm going in."

The front door was locked. I trotted around the side of the house, popping fast peeks through every window I came to, not seeing anything unusual until I found Paulette and Evelyn in the rear corner bedroom. They were taped to chairs with duct tape covering their wrists and ankles and mouths, and struggling to get free. I tapped on the glass, and their eyes went wide. Evelyn struggled harder, but Paulette stared at me. I made a calming gesture, then spread my hands, asking if Sobek was in the house.

Paulette nodded.

I mouthed, "Where?"

Paulette shook her head. She didn't know.

I moved along the rear of the house to the glass doors, dropped into a push-up position, and peeked inside. Joe was slumped on his side, the back of his shirt damp with blood. I was trying to see if his chest was moving when I heard a voice. The two blood trails ran past Pike through the kitchen and into the laundry room; that's where the voice came from. I looked at Pike again, and this time the tears started and my nose clogged, but I made the tears stop.

Krantz came toward me from the opposite side of the house, stopping on the other side of the doors. He had his gun out, holding it with both hands. "I've got units and paramedics on the way."

"Paulette and her daughter are alive in the room at the end of the hall. I'm hearing something in the garage. You get them out of here, okay? Get them safe."