He found the truck and followed it onto a cross street. Suddenly a taxi, piloted by a madman, swerved around him and cut off the truck. After the impact, the cabdriver jumped out and Yoshio recognized him: the concerned citizen from moments before.

Yoshio watched in stunned amazement. What demon had possessed this man? What did he think he was going to accomplish alone?

Baker took a quick look around. He wasn't exactly sure where they were-somewhere in the West Thirties, probably. That had been the plan: take her for a ride, scare the s.h.i.t out of her, then dump her in some dark deserted spot as far west as possible.

At least there weren't too many pedestrians here. He saw how the left front end of their truck had inserted itself into the rear door of a beat-up yellow cab. What kind of a.s.shole move had this cabbie tried to pull to cause this? Was he trying trying to get hit? to get hit?

Whatever. The thing was to get the truck moving again. No cops, no accident report. Chuck had the frightened-looking cabbie pinned helpless against the side of the panel truck. He was an average-size white guy, and Chuck was a monster. The cabbie wasn't going anywhere.

Good. We'll do a little tap dance on this guy's head, then we'll be out of here.

Baker stepped forward. He was going to enjoy this.

That was when the cabbie stopped cursing and looking helpless. He grabbed Chuck's right wrist with both hands and gave a sharp backward twist. Baker thought he heard a bone crack. The cabbie ducked the pile-driver left Chuck threw at him and delivered a vicious sidekick to the inside of Chuck's knee. Baker knew knew he heard a ligament pop. he heard a ligament pop.

Chuck grunted and dropped to the street, clutching his knee. The moves took Baker by as much surprise as Chuck. Something very wrong here. Instead of running, the cabbie was coming his way, looking anything but frightened. Baker had a big weight advantage-what was this guy thinking? But then the guy was in his face. Who was this guy? Cabbies sat on their b.u.t.ts all day. They weren't supposed to move this fast...

Baker swung a right and missed as the cabbie leaned away from it. He grabbed the guy's arm with his left hand to steady him for the next shot, but he was slippery as a greased snake. He pulled free, and Baker's face exploded in pain as the heel of the cabbie's palm rammed up into his nose. Baker swung blindly and connected with what felt like ribs, but then something-a fist or a foot, he didn't know-pounded into his solar plexus. He heard himself grunt as the air exploded from him. He grabbed for the guy as he doubled over, hoping to take him down with him, but then something that had felt like a billy club but had to be an elbow rammed into his right kidney.

That did it. Baker dropped through a haze of nausea and agony, landing on his hands and knees, with his dazed mind mumbling, What happened? What happened What happened? What happened?

Horns were beginning to blare from traffic backed up behind the accident as Jack jumped to the panel truck's side door. He c.o.c.ked his right arm as he yanked the handle with his left.

Had to be someone else inside besides Alicia, he figured, and he wanted to strike while he still had surprise on his side.

He wished he'd been prepared for this. He had the Semmerling, of course, and the knife strapped to his leg, but as comforting as they were, he'd truly have liked a twelve-ounce sap in his hand right now.

The first person he saw when he opened the door was Alicia. They'd taped her into a chair, but other than that it didn't look like they'd harmed her. Her eyes widened when she saw him.

"Jack!"

And he'd been right about someone else being with her, but the doughy guy with the b.l.o.o.d.y mouth didn't look like a problem. A quick glance inside revealed no one else.

As Jack leaped inside, Mr. b.l.o.o.d.ymouth shrank back.

"Who are you?" His voice rose in pitch with each word. "What do you want?"

Jack pulled the knife from his ankle scabbard and pointed it at him.

"Shut up and don't move."

"Jack, thank G.o.d!" Alicia said as he sliced through the duct tape. "How in the world-?"

"Tell you later."

She began peeling away the strips as soon as he cut them. In seconds she was free. But instead of jumping for the door, she turned and went at b.l.o.o.d.ymouth, cursing and clawing at his face.

Jack pulled her away from the cowering figure.

"Come on! We've got to get away from here."

"Meet my half brother," she said through her teeth as Jack helped her down to the pavement.

Jack looked at the soft body, the lanky hair, and bulbous nose. "Must take after the other side of the family," he said.

"He does. He-"

She stopped and Jack saw she was staring at the two guys he'd flattened a minute ago. The driver had curled into a fetal position and was moaning as he clutched his left knee with his good hand. The other guy was already struggling to his feet. He had to be a tough one-a kidney punch like that usually put a guy down for the count.

He tugged on Alicia's arm again, pulling her away from the scene. Drivers backed up behind the truck would be wandering up to see what the h.e.l.l was holding things up. He saw one getting out of his car now. Jack didn't want anyone giving his description.

"Let's go. Time to fade away."

After the collision, Yoshio had seen Baker come out and move around to the front of the truck. He did not return. The concerned citizen appeared instead and freed Alicia Clayton.

Unable to contain his curiosity, Yoshio approached the truck on foot. Peeking inside the open door, he saw a man he recognized as Thomas Clayton wiping blood from his mouth. He went around to the front and saw Baker and another man, both much larger than the concerned citizen, both looking battered.

This carnage was certainly not the work of an average citizen. It appeared that Ms. Clayton had found herself a samurai... a ronin ronin.

And then Baker, holding a hand against his back, over his right kidney, noticed Yoshio and snarled. "Whatta you lookin' at? Get the f.u.c.k outta here!"

As Yoshio made a frightened gesture and backed away, he glanced down the street to where Alicia Clayton and her rescuer were vanishing into the shadows.

Yoshio's car was trapped behind the accident, and would be so for a long while, he feared. He would not be able to follow them.

But he wished he could. Yoshio wanted to know more about the ronin ronin.

"I don't know how to thank you."

It must have been the twentieth time she'd said it. Jack sipped his Molson and said nothing. He'd given up on telling her not to worry about it.

They'd run a few blocks, then ducked into this sports bar to get off the street. The place traded on the Madison Square Garden crowd, and seemed to be lit solely by neon beer signs-must have been a hundred of them on the walls and over the bar. The long-haired guy in the ap.r.o.n on the Sam Adams sign stared at Jack over Alicia's shoulder.

At least the place was quiet. The Knicks were off tonight, so Jack and Alicia had a corner all to themselves.

And now with the adrenaline fading, his right flank began to throb where that big sandy-haired guy had connected. The man looked heavy and middle-aged but, he was in shape. Threw a mean punch.

He'd explained to her how he'd seen her pushed into the truck, how he'd commandeered a taxi and chased the truck until he could cut it off and stop it.

She was working on her second Dewar's, and when she lifted the gla.s.s to her lips he noticed that the adrenaline tremor in her hand was easing.

"If you really want to thank me," he said, "you'll forget about going to the cops."

"But this is my chance to put a stop to all this!" she said. She balled her free hand into a fist and held it over the table. "I've got them now. They abducted me! I don't have to worry about civil actions anymore. This is a felony and you were a witness. I know this detective, Will Matthews. We can go to him and-"

Jack felt his insides twist into a knot. "No, we can't."

She blinked. "Why not?"

"Because I can't be your witness."

"What do you mean? You saw the whole thing. You even cut me free."

"But I can't be a witness, Alicia. I don't exist."

Another blink. "What are you talking about?"

"I have no official existence."'

She shook her head. "How can that be? You've got to have a social security number. You've got to have a bank account, a credit card, a driver license. You can't function without them."

"I do. In fact, I have a number of them. All bogus."

"Well then, be a witness under one of those ident.i.ties."

"No can do. Those ident.i.ties hold up with a bank looking to get my money in its vault and hoping I'll start charging everything I buy on its credit card. And they hold up with a bored DMV clerk who's transferring the license of a dead man in Toledo to a nonexistent address in Park Slope. But they won't hold up under a real background check. Especially if they check with the IRS."

"You don't file?"

"Never. And please... you can't ever mention me to this detective friend of yours."

"Are you wanted for anything?"

"No, and I'd like to keep it that way."

Alicia leaned back, deflated. "d.a.m.n. For a minute there I really thought..."

"Sorry," Jack said.

"My G.o.d, don't apologize for pulling me out of that van."

"But maybe I shouldn't have," he said.

"That's not funny."

"I'm serious. It just occurred to me that I should have done everything the same except cut you free. If maybe I clobbered your brother like the other two and left the truck's door open with you still bound to that seat, and you started shouting for help, someone someone would have come along and seen you and called the cops. I'd have faded away to another part of the city, and those three would be locked up in Midtown South right now." would have come along and seen you and called the cops. I'd have faded away to another part of the city, and those three would be locked up in Midtown South right now."

It annoyed the h.e.l.l out of him that he hadn't thought of any of this at the time.

Alicia was nodding slowly. "That would have been perfect. But it didn't occur to me either. All I wanted right then was to be free of that tape and out of that truck."

"And I was trying to figure out how many more guys I was going to have to deal with."

"Yes," she said, leaning forward now. A small, tight smile played about her lips. The Scotch was getting to her. "Tell me about that. Both those men were bigger than you. And I know you didn't use your eyeball trick. So how did you beat them? Karate? Kung fu?"

"Surprise," Jack said, "The best weapon there is. The outcome could have been very different if they'd been ready for me. But they saw a guy who was scared, frightened, helpless. Easy meat. The second guy even smiled when he saw how helpless I looked. But I had my moves planned-went for their knees and noses. Doesn't matter how big a guy is, he's not much trouble after you pop one of his knee ligaments, or ram his nasal bones back into his head. Those two got caught napping. That only works once, though. Have to think of something else if I run into them again."

"I have have to ask you this," she said. Jack noticed her looking at her hands. "Those thumbnails. You keep them so much longer than the others. Can I ask you why?" to ask you this," she said. Jack noticed her looking at her hands. "Those thumbnails. You keep them so much longer than the others. Can I ask you why?"

"You'd probably rather not know."

"I do. Really I do."

Jack took a breath. "Sometimes you get into spots where things don't clean up as neatly as they did tonight. Sometimes you wind up rolling in the dirt or on the floor and you're dodging head b.u.t.ts and bites and you've got to use every trick you know and every part of your body just to survive. And that's when it's good to have a sort of built-in weapon." He held up his long-nailed thumbs and wiggled them. "Nothing like a gouged eye to end a fight."

Alicia blanched and straightened in her chair. "Oh."

Warned you, Jack thought.

He tried to stare down the guy on the Sam Adams sign. That didn't work, so he made to move the conversation away from himself and into a more interesting area.

"This is the second time I've asked you this today," he said, "but things have changed since this morning: What's your next move?"

"I'm not sure."

"s.n.a.t.c.hing you off the street was a risky and dangerous move. It tells me they're getting desperate. And desperate people do crazy and stupid things. You might get hurt."

"I don't know if tonight had anything to do with desperation," she said slowly. "Thomas told me that they were going to win, that it's just a matter of time. I don't think he was bluffing."

"Maybe there's a clock running somewhere."

"Maybe. But I get the feeling that tonight had nothing to do with the legal battle. I heard something in Thomas's voice... when he said, 'If you ever, ever ever try to do harm to that house again'... he sounded as afraid as he was angry." try to do harm to that house again'... he sounded as afraid as he was angry."

"So you think this is a direct response to your hiring Benny the Torch. Seems a little over the top."

"It does, doesn't it. But I think it really really frightened him. The thought of that house going up in flames seems to have just about unhinged Thomas." frightened him. The thought of that house going up in flames seems to have just about unhinged Thomas."

"And unhinged people are dangerous." Jack pounded his fist lightly on the table. "But what is is it about that house that would unhinge him?" it about that house that would unhinge him?"

Something inside him was screaming for answers.

"I didn't really care before," Alicia said, "but after tonight, I want to know. Help me find out."

Thought you'd never ask.

But he didn't want to appear too anxious. There was still the matter of his fee.

"Well..."

"Look." She leaned over the table, her expression intent, her voice low. "Thomas tried to frighten me off. I can't let him do that. Whatever's in that house has got to be valuable. Very valuable. I can't pay you cash, but you can have whatever we find."

"A contingency fee," he said, nodding slowly, as if he'd never considered it. "I usually operate on a cash basis, but since I'm already involved in this, I'll make an exception."

"Great!" She gave up one of her rare smiles.

"But I can't take it all. It's yours by right."

"I don't want it."