"You stay right here," he told the janitor, who stood with his mouth hanging open. "Some St. Paul cops are going to come here, and you take them up in the elevator. You wait right here, you got it?"

The janitor nodded. "Wait right here," he said.

"Right." Lucas patted him on the shoulder and dashed up the stairs.

Carla's door had better locks, he thought breathlessly as he came up the last few steps, but it was still a crappy door. No time to think about it really. Christ, if the maddog wasn't here, this was going to be embarrassing. He hurried down to the doorway, saw the light coming from beneath it. He dropped the gym bag, took a step back, and kicked the door in. Lucas exploded into the room, his pistol in a two-handed grip.

The studio was empty.

CHAPTER 34

There was a quiet sound from the left, like a cat dropping from a bookcase. But it was no cat. Lucas pivoted and extended the gun. There was a small room, dark, cavelike. A groan. He stepped forward. Couldn't see. Stepped forward, still couldn't see. Another step, three feet from the door. A white shape, trussed, arched, on the bed, another groan, nothing else…

Another step, and suddenly Vullion was there, his eyes wide and hard like boiled eggs, his hands covered with fuzzy yellow gloves, a pipe of some kind in one hand, the pipe sweeping down, and Lucas twisted the last three inches he needed to fire and the pipe smashed into the back of his hand and the gun went down on the floor. Lucas felt the bones in his right hand go and he pushed the pipe sideways with his left and Vullion's other hand was coming up in a long sweeping thrust and in it the knife was glittering like a short-sword toward Lucas' bowels. Lucas pivoted and caught the thrust with his broken hand and felt the hand flex and he screamed but the blade passed clear, under his arm, and he caught Vullion's knife hand with his left hand and smashed his right elbow into Vullion's eye socket. The impact lifted Vullion back, and they staggered together back into the tiny bedroom and Vullion's legs folded beneath him as he hit the bed and they fell together on top of Carla and Lucas pounded Vullion's face with his forearm once, twice, three times, the pain from his broken hand like lightning in his brain.

And then Vullion stopped. Then Lucas twisted the knife arm, and the knife fell to the floor. Vullion was stunned, not out. Lucas hit him twice with his left hand, pounding Vullion's ear, then rolled him off Carla into the narrow space between the bed and the wall and knelt on his head and shoulders.

"Motherfucker," Lucas groaned. His own breath was harsh and ragged in his ears. He reached awkwardly into his pocket with his good hand and took out his key ring. A miniature Tekna knife dangled from the ring. He pulled the knife out of its plastic sheath and gently slipped the blade under the tape that circled Carla's head, holding the gag in place. When he pulled the Kotex from her mouth, she gasped and then whimpered, an animal cry, like a rabbit's. She was alive.

"Hurt me," Vullion moaned from beneath Lucas' knees. "I'm hurt."

"Shut up, motherfucker," Lucas said. He hit him on the head with his closed left fist and Vullion twitched and moaned again.

Lucas reached forward and cut the tape that bound Carla's arms to the bed, then freed her legs.

"It's me, Lucas," he said next to her ear. "You're going to be okay. The ambulance is coming, just stay here."

He levered himself up off the bed, grabbed Vullion by the back of his shirt and physically lifted him from the floor and half-dragged, half-led him into the studio. Lucas' pistol was lying against the wall. With a sweeping kick he knocked Vullion's legs out from beneath him, and guided his upper body down to the floor, protecting his head. He didn't want him unconscious. Vullion went down like a rag man.

While he was down, Lucas picked up the pistol and walked quickly backward to the hallway, got the gym bag, and brought it inside. He pushed the door closed with his foot.

Vullion, on his stomach, brought his hands to his ears.

"Get up," Lucas said to Vullion. Vullion made no response, and Lucas kicked him in the hip. "Get up. Come on, get up."

Vullion struggled up, fell back to his stomach, then pushed up to one knee. Blood was running from his nose into his mouth. The pupil of one eye was dilated. The other eye was closed, the lid and flesh around the socket bloody and swollen.

"On your feet, asshole, or I swear to Christ I'll kick you to death."

Vullion was watching him as best he could, still dazed. With an exhausted heave he got to his feet and swayed.

"Now, back up. Five steps." Lucas thrust the pistol at Vullion's chest. Vullion stepped back carefully, but looked as though he might be recovering.

"Now, you just stand there," Lucas said as he stepped toward the telephone.

"I knew about the surveillance," Vullion said through broken teeth.

"I figured that out about ten minutes ago," Lucas said. He gestured with his left hand.

"Is your hand broken?"

"Shut up," said Lucas. He lifted the receiver from the phone.

"Did you deliberately lure me here? With your friend? Like you did with McGowan?"

"Not this time. McGowan was bait, though," Lucas said.

"You're worse than I am in some ways," Vullion said. Blood dribbled down his chin. He swayed again, and he reached out to Carla's sink to brace himself. "I was taking people who were… chips. You set up a friend. If I had a friend, I would never do that."

"Like I told the papers, you're not that much of a player," Lucas said quietly in a voice just above a whisper.

"We'll see about that," the maddog said. He was growing stronger, and Lucas was impressed in spite of himself. "I have defenses. You won't be able to prove any of the murders. After all, I did not kill Miss Ruiz. And you'll notice that my method is different this time. You won't find a note. I was going to make it here, afterward. If it comes to negotiations, I'll get an insanity plea. A few years at the state hospital and I'm out. And even if worse comes to worst, and I get a first-degree, well, it's eighteen years at Stillwater. I can do it."

Lucas nodded. "I thought of that. It would be like losing, seeing you get away alive. I really couldn't stand that. Not with an inferior player."

"What?"

Lucas ignored him. He groped in his pants pocket and took a single nine-millimeter shell from his pocket. Watching Vullion carefully, he braced the pistol against his armpit and punched the magazine out of the pistol butt. This was when Vullion would act, if he was going to, but he did not; he stood still, puzzled, as Lucas pushed the blank into the top slot, slammed the magazine back into the butt, and jacked the shell into the chamber.

"What are you doing?" Vullion asked. Something was happening. Something not right.

"First, I'm going to call the cops," Lucas said. He stepped to Carla's wall phone and dialed 911. When he got the dispatcher, he identified himself and asked for an ambulance and backup. The operator asked that he leave the line open and Lucas said he would. That was standard operating procedure. Lucas let the phone dangle and stepped away from it.

Vullion was still watching him, frowning. When Lucas stepped away from the phone, the maddog stepped back from the sink. Lucas pointed his pistol at the ceiling, fired once, his eyes tracking the ejected shell, the maddog's eyes involuntarily widening at the sharp explosion. He was still reacting when Lucas fired two more shots. One hit Vullion in the right lung, one in the left.

The three shots were in a quick musical rhythm, a bang; bang-bang.

Vullion was swatted back a step, two, and then he fell, going straight down as though his bones had melted. His mouth worked a few times and he rolled onto his back. The shots were killing shots, but not too good; not too aimed. It was supposed to have been a gunfight. Lucas stepped over to look down at the dying man.