He had a sense that somebody was watching him.

Frank Walsh was walking toward his apartment in the West Village, aware of a man in his forties, large, with curly blond hair sticking out from beneath a baseball cap, wearing a dark overcoat. The man was on the opposite side of Hudson Street, walking in the same direction. But it was odd, the way this guy was walking. Anybody else would have been looking down at his feet or ahead or at the windows to his left. This guy, though, was glancing pretty frequently at the spa.r.s.e Sunday-morning traffic. Like he was worried about cars following him.

Worried why? That cops were after him, a mugger? A killer?

Or was Mr Overcoat studiously avoiding looking at his own target: Franklin Walsh himself?

The thirty-year-old knew about stalking up on prey, about fighting, about attacking. About survival.

About blood.

His instincts told him this guy was trouble.

A fast glance but the man seemed to antic.i.p.ate this and looked away. Frank got only a look at a round face and that creepy hair tight blond curls, slick. But this was the Village and weird was the order of the day.

Then Mr Overcoat paused to look in a window, head c.o.c.ked with what seemed to be legitimate curiosity. So maybe he was just another local. Frank told himself to stop being paranoid. Besides, he knew how to take care of himself. He felt the knife in his pocket, tapped it for rea.s.surance.

Soon his thoughts drifted away from Mr Overcoat. They even skipped over what was coming a half hour from now: the knife work he'd been obsessing over for days.

And they settled on ... what else? s.h.i.t. The weekend visit with his mother. She'd overfed him. She'd made him take her shopping to the most crowded mall on Long Island. And there hadn't been much to talk about with her, of course there never was though the woman had managed to bring up Frank's sister's marriage at least a half-dozen times.

Part of that topic included the fact that Barbara and her husband would 'surely have a baby in the next year or so.'

Which involuntarily had conjured an unpleasant image of his sister having s.e.x, which put him off dinner last night, at least until dessert.

'Brobbie and Steve want four, you know. Ideally one year apart.'

What was his mother's point? Did she think he could wave his wand (hmm, bad choice of word, that) and, poof, there was a wife popping out kids? s.h.i.t, didn't she know he was doing the best he could? His life wasn't like everybody else's. Who, for instance, would understand his obsession?

The knives, the fighting, the blood ...

Also, another thing: the practicality. Given his line of work, he didn't meet many women.

Besides, he was holding out for one particular person.

Ah, Gabriela ...

Tuesday, sure.

Her words, punctuated with a smile.

Frank was presently striding briskly back from Penn Station at Madison Square Garden. This was a pretty good walk, and guaranteed to burn off maybe a hundred calories, particularly in the chill autumn air. He'd purposefully taken off his jacket so his body would drop fat, burning calories in the chill even though he didn't like looking at his round figure in the storefront windows as he pa.s.sed them. He shouldn't have worn the knit shirt. It was clinging, revealing.

Well, don't look, he told himself.

But he did.

Still, he kept the jacket off. Cold weather made you burn up to 50 percent more calories than in the heat. In the Arctic you could eat whatever you wanted and still lose weight. He'd researched it. Six thousand calories a day. He should spend a year there.

Frank glanced around again and noted that Mr Overcoat was now on the same side of the street as he was, and the man's pace continued to match Frank's.

Stalking, attacking, killing ...

Still, had to be paranoia.

What would this guy be interested in me for? And even if he is, how could he have found me here, on the street, striding south from Penn Station?

But, of course, Frank Walsh knew computers cold the good side of machines, and the bad. He was well aware of phone tapping and datamining. He'd bought his ticket back to the city this morning with a credit card. He'd phoned his mother to tell her he'd made the train. If somebody wanted to, he could've found out what train Frank was on, when he'd be arriving at the station, even what he looked like from the Motor Vehicle picture (even if the depiction was thirty pounds lighter than presently).

He then turned the corner onto his street in the Village and risked a fast look back, his hand on the knife in his pocket.

The curly haired guy was gone.

Frank continued up the block and approached his eight-story apartment building. As he got to the door he stepped in quickly and looked around but the quiet, tree-lined street was deserted of pedestrians.

He stepped into the lobby and finally relaxed.

'Hi, Arthur.'

The doorman was old and when he walked he shuffled and he smelled of Old Spice. 'Package for you, Mr Walsh.'

'FedEx?' He was expecting the knife, the kukri. Those Nepalese were far more deadly than people thought.

Cheery Sherpas, my a.s.s.

'No, it was a hand delivery. Some Hispanic fellow dropped it off yesterday.'

It was a plastic bag containing something rectangular and heavy. He took it.

'Thanks.' He hadn't planned to give him a tip. Frank was plenty generous around Christmas. He looked into the bag and his heart thudded and he laughed as he read the note that accompanied it.

He handed Arthur five dollars.

The old man took it without thanks but with a raised hand that Frank chose to interpret as undying grat.i.tude.

Frank unlocked his door and walked inside, tossing his jacket on his armchair in front of the big-screen TV.

The apartment, consisting of three rooms, was this: Dark and insanely cluttered, yet comforting if claustrophobic at times, depending on his mood. A kitchenette with a two-burner gas stove and oven big enough for a TV dinner or two. His microwave sat atop a table, sharing the s.p.a.ce with books and magazines. But back in the day, in this locale of glorious bohemian art, you created your poetry or paintings, you smoked pot, you slept with as many women as you could and you drank to oblivion; cooking was secondary, if not wholly unnecessary.

Frank walked to the window and looked out at Westbeth, the famous artists' community. He had a view of the very room where Diane Arbus had slashed her wrists in '71.

At least that was what the real estate broker, sensing a hooked fish, had said. As if it would make this dive more appealing to be able to look out over the s.p.a.ce where a very weird photographer had offed herself.

Then he shifted his gaze and scanned for men in black overcoats.

Not a single Matrix killer with slick, curly blonde hair. He closed the curtain.

Frank then returned to the delivery he'd just received and, swollen with joy, lifted out the dark green box of Dom Perignon champagne.

He peeled off the note.

Dear Frank. Thinking of you. We'll share this soon! Really looking forward to Tuesday. I'll call you! XOXO, Gabriela.

He felt like he'd just scratched off the last number in Lotto and won a million dollars. He laughed out loud with pleasure.

Champagne! And he didn't think this was the cheap stuff, either.

He pictured Gabby's slim waist, her high, spherical b.r.e.a.s.t.s, thick, straight, auburn hair that she seemed to wear up in buns or ponytails most of the time. But occasionally she wore it down, which Frank loved.

G.o.d, was she pretty.

He recalled seeing her in that yellow swimsuit, sunbathing in Central Park. He believed he'd seen a scar on her belly. He wondered if it was a C-section or from an accident.

He wondered how he could find out.

Ask her, dummy.

Their coffee on Friday had been great. He must've pa.s.sed a test of sorts, because look at this! He regarded the green box again. Reread the note. Then again, and once more.

h.e.l.l, Dom Perignon. He Googled.

s.h.i.t! A hundred fifty bucks!

Frank began to fantasize about when she came over on Tuesday. He'd have the place spick-and-span.

Vacuumed. And air-freshened; he sniffed and something smelled off.

Clean sheets on the bed ...

Frank glanced at his watch. Well, he'd have to think about their date later. Now it was time for the fight.

Time for death, time for blood.

His palms began to sweat.

In his musty bedroom Frank Walsh emptied his pockets onto his dresser: forty-three dollars in crumpled bills, coins, receipts, a Necco Wafer wrapper, a Kit Kat wrapper, and the knife he always carried, a two-inch Swiss Army model with magnifier, toothpick and scissors.

He opened the closet door. Inside were dozens of shoes, one suit, four combat jackets and a hat rack with a single piece of headgear, a Greek fisherman cap. This he grabbed and pulled over his ruddy hair. He sat down in his creaky office chair and booted up his computer, kicking his shoes off. Squinting at the computer screen, Frank moused up the volume, and music trilled, otherworldly music from a different dimension.

The familiar logo filled the screen, giving him comfort, like seeing the Now Entering sign of your hometown.

The Clans of Gravias Major The Number One Online Role Playing Game Frank clicked on Resume Game and motioned to life his avatar, a lean, handsome warrior whose appearance was similar to its owner only in hair color. He directed this figure to the armory to select the Daratian knife from his a.r.s.enal of weapons. Frank then flew the avatar, via a winged horse, into Prospecia Woods, where he would meet and fight an avatar manned by a young player in Taiwan.

They'd scheduled this one-on-one battle to settle a dispute between their respective clans, as the rules of the game allowed.

A few moments later he arrived at the Judgment Circle, which was already surrounded by several dozen avatars from both clans. The people behind those creatures none of whom Frank had ever met in person, or even had a real conversation with directed the warriors and wizards to applaud and leap up and down, offering cries of support. The other side, of course, did the same, encouraging their warrior.

After a moment the opposing avatar appeared, a bizarre-looking creature with a tentacle for a tail. He surveyed the fighting circle and stepped over the barrier.

Frank instructed his avatar to do the same. The two animated creations faced each other.

He had a brief memory of Mr Overcoat, but it faded quickly. He had a knife fight to win. He directed his avatar to crouch and, with the wicked blade forward, he advanced on his opponent, who dropped into a defensive position as its snaky face surveyed his enemy.

Frank feinted to the side and then leapt forward, knife swinging like an airplane propeller, and he clung to his strategy pretending he was defending Gabby from being raped by the creature.

Blood flew and screams rose harrowingly, shooting from the Bose speakers, a month's pay.

Frank advanced again.

Stalking, attacking, killing ...

III.

CHAPTER.

20.

10:00 p.m., Sat.u.r.day

10 hours, 30 minutes earlier

'Hal. Sorry to ruin your Sat.u.r.day night.'