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Did Roger even know the saet both tier have a clue he’d killed the wrong person on both occasions?

If so, Keller could see how Rogerpersonally, like Wile E Coyote in a Roadrunner cartoon

Keller kneas nothing personal How could it be, when you didn’t know the person you were killing? Still, he see it personally hihts

Which wasn’t that often The days went by, and he didn’t see anything when he looked over his shoulder, and he forgot about Roger And every once in a while Dot sent him out on a job, at which ti over his shoulder, a certain aer But then he caer or to anyone else, and the client paid him, and that was that

And then he’d said he was out of town, and Maggie said she knew, and he’d been ready to grab her and snap her neck Just like that

He’d called up, as requested, to replace his home number on her Caller ID with the number of the pay phone But was that how Caller ID worked? Did it keep track of just one number at a tiine why he’d want it, so he wasn’t too clear on hoorked And, even if it was the way she’d said it was, how did he know she hadn’t picked up the phone the minute he was out the door? She could have copied the number off the screen before he called back to erase it

She was, let’s face it, e That had been part of her initial appeal, that offbeat doeirdness, though he had to say it had grown less appealing with tiuess what the woet the address She’d mentioned the reverse directory herself, so she knew about it, kne to get an address to go with a phone number If she knew all that, and of course she already knew his na…

But that didn’tSuppose she’d picked up on his reaction, suppose she’d half-sensed that he’d been ready to reach for her and put her down The fact rery, let alone homicidal Once he was out the door, once it was clear that she was safe, she’d talk herself out of any alarht have felt

Wouldn’t she?

Back home, he worked on his sta away and turned on the TV He worked his way through the channels two or three ti the re the power button and darkening the set And sat there in what little light ca at the reie knew he had a murderer’s thumb She’d pointed it out, called it to his attention

Maybe she’d think about that and put it together hatever she’d picked up when he’d been ready to reach for her And e, but went out of town occasionally on special jobs for unspecified corporate employers And maybe there’d be a hired killer in the headlines, or in soram And maybe her eyes would widen, and she’d make a connection, and realize just who he was and what he was

And then?

Eighteen

The airport in Orange County was naot off the plane with a tune running through his head, and he was halfway to the baggage claih and the Mighty

Funny how the s like that

There were half a dozen e clai hand-lettered signs Keller walked past the hier was out there soe County, because his assignment was all the way down in La Jolla La Jolla was a suburb of San Diego, and San Diego had a perfectly good airport of its own, larger and busier than Orange County ’s, and not named after anyone

"Unless you count St James," Dot had said When he looked blank, she told hio," she said " San Diego, Santiago Sauy"

"Then why do they have two names for him?"

"Maybe one’s the equivalent of James," she said, "and the other’sthere"

Instead he’d flown to Orange County, just in case Roger o He didn’t really think there was er since he’d killed a reen trench coat and paid dearly for his crier was and what he was trying to do

At the ti The idea that there was so the i over his shoulder He’d never had to do that before, and he didn’t ot used to it Keller supposed it was a little like having a heart condition You worried about it at first, and then you stopped worrying You took sensible precautions, you didn’t take the stairs two at a time, you paid a kid to shovel out your driveway in the winter, but you didn’t think about it all the tier There was a ht not recognize hiht, a man who shared Keller’s profession and wanted to thin the ranks of the co clients meet you at the airport, you covered your tracks, but you didn’t have to hide under the bed You went about your business

Flying into a less convenient airport ca of sensible precautions Keller saw it as a bonus that the airport was na the Avis counter, he felt a few inches taller, a little broader in the shoulders

The clerk-Keller wanted to call hie-checked the license and credit card Keller showed hi pulled hi

"Your reservation," the man said "It seems it’s been canceled"

"Must be a mistake"

"I can reinstate it, no probleht"

"So I’ll just… oh, there’s a note here You’re supposed to call your office"

"My office"