Moon - New Moon Part 64

It was like the dogs knew something was going to happen moments before the building went up.

Well, he'd heard about animals getting vibrations that people couldn't hear. But that didn't explain why they had wanted to pull a police detective out of harm's way.

Jake made a m.u.f.fled sound. Last night when he'd come to the Easy Shopper, he'd gotten tangled up with a big white bird who seemed pretty intelligent. This morning it was trained dogs. Or maybe not. Some people who had seen the incident thought the dogs looked more like wolves.

His restless mind kept making leaps from one possibility to the next. He'd wondered if psychic phenomena might be involved. But he hadn't been willing to believe Marshall's nut-ball theory. So where did that leave him?

When a team from the Maryland State Police arrived, he pushed himself away from the unmarked and trotted toward them.

"Let's find out what happened here," he said.

"WHY should I untie you?" Falcone asked Rinna.

"Because I'm not your slave anymore-not here."

"How do I know you won't try to escape?"

"I came to you in the first place."

"But that doesn't make me trust you. Not after you blew up the portal."

"To protect myself," she said.

He looked like he wanted to slap her. Instead, he stepped through the tent door. When he came back, two of his soldiers were with him.

"If she gets away, you will be responsible," he said.

Both men stiffened their posture. She felt sorry for them, although she wasn't going to make a run for it. She was too weak to outrun Falcone at the moment, although she wouldn't share that information with him.

"Let me out of this chair," she said again.

He glared at her, waiting several heartbeats, letting her wonder what he had decided. Finally, he bent and began untying the knots.

When he had freed her, she flexed her arms and legs, restoring circulation to limbs that had been held in one position for too long.

"I'll help you find a house where we can hide," she said.

"I don't want your help."

"Suit yourself."

"I will," he snapped, but she smiled inwardly when she heard the worry below the surface of his bravado.

274 Rebecca York

"If you find a house with newspapers, be sure it doesn't have a security system," she said.

Falcone didn't ask what a security system was. He'd figure that out when he came to it.

Turning away from Rinna, he stepped out of the tent and took a breath of air to calm himself.

It was a struggle not to go back inside and beat the woman. She was a slave, and she had forgotten her place.

But in the end, she would be sorry for what she had done. She she had gotten the better of him, but he knew more about this world than she thought. And she had given him an idea-about neutralizing the man who had been with her.

Swiftly he walked toward his supply officer and gave terse orders.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR.

TO SHOW THAT he wasn't afraid to venture out into this unfamiliar world, Falcone took two of his best men-Kenner and Shafter-and started through the woods.

He came to a road within five minutes and followed it, looking for the signs that Rinna had mentioned. He marveled at how far apart the houses were. They had no protections, and they were open to invasion from anyone who took a fancy to the contents.

But he didn't just rely on Rinna's judgment that this world was safer than his own. The men who'd reconnoitered here had given him similar reports.

The houses in this area had trees around them. But instead of natural woods, the ground under the trees had been tended by gardeners.

He had strong legs. And he was used to walking. Several automobiles pa.s.sed by, but he was sure he and his men were not conspicuous since they were dressed just like the inhabitants of this world. They all wore jeans, dress s.h.i.+rts and what were called running shoes. They also had on baseball caps which they had turned around with the bill facing the back. The idea of wearing them that way seemed peculiar, since he would have expected the bill to serve as a sunshade. But his spies had a.s.sured him that was the way it was done.

He'd ordered the men to leave their usual weapons back at the camp. Now they were all carrying handguns, which several of his spies had secretly brought back and showed him. The guns were concealed under their s.h.i.+rts.

At home, they'd taken the weapons outside the city to practice. He knew how to fire the gun. And so did Kenner and Shafter.

Every minute or so, a car pa.s.sed them as they walked along the road. But he stayed out of the way of the vehicles, and he even got used to the wind they generated in their wake.

They had walked about a mile from the campground and pa.s.sed more than a dozen houses when he saw a pile of newspapers lying on the ground.

According to Rinna, that meant that the owners of the house were away. But he didn't take her word for it, in case she was leading him into a trap. He and the men stepped off the blacktop and into the woods, approaching the house from two different angles. When he looked inside, he saw furnis.h.i.+ngs that made his eyes pop.

His spies had told him that the people of this world lived well. Through the windows he could see rich fabrics and gleaming wood. And what he took to be a cooking area with s.h.i.+ny appliances that he didn't know how to use. Maybe Rinna understood how they worked. If not, they'd cook over a fire in back of the house, since there was plenty of fuel around.

They broke in through a side door. Immediately, a loud bell began to ring.

The security system.

Rus.h.i.+ng to the bell, he used his powers to shut it off.

A minute later, he heard a jangling noise. Before he could figure out where it was, the thing stopped, and he breathed out a sigh. Quickly he and the men searched the premises. No one was home.

He walked through the rooms, picking up objects and carefully setting them down again. His heart was pounding, and he felt a kind of glee gathering inside himself as he swiveled a smooth ball of s.h.i.+mmering gla.s.s in his hand. In his world, it would be priceless.

He turned to see Kenner and Shafter looking around with dazed expressions on their faces. This place was probably richer than anything they could imagine.

"No stealing," he ordered.

"Yes, sir."

"You will be searched before you return to our world."