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'Mars killed Kevin and Dennis, and now he's burning the house! We're in the security room, me and Jennifer! We're trapped!'

The cell connection faltered again. Talley knew that the boy must be getting low on power.

'Okay, son. Okay. I'm coming to get you! How much power do you have?'

'It's dying.'

Talley checked his watch.

'Turn it off, son. Turn it off, but turn it on again in two minutes. I'm on my way in!'

Talley felt strangely distant from himself, as if his feelings were bound in cotton. He had no choice now; he would act to save these children. It didn't matter what the Watchman wanted, or Jones, or even if it put Jane and Amanda at risk. He pulled Martin by the arm, taking her with him as he ran back along the street toward Jones, shouting instructions as they ran.

'Krupchek's torching the house! Get the fire truck up here!'

'What about Jones?'

'I'm getting him now. We're going in!'

'What about your wife?'

'Get the fire truck, and tell your people to stand by; if Jones won't move, we'll go in without him!'

Martin fell behind to use her radio. Talley ran toward Jones.

'Krupchek's torching the house. We have to go in.'

Jones glanced toward the house without expression.

Talley could see that Jones didn't believe him.

'We're waiting to hear from the man.'

Talley grabbed Jones's arm, and felt him stiffen. Behind them, the fire engine rumbled to life and swung around the corner.

'The house is burning, goddamnit. Krupchek has those kids trapped in the security room. We can't wait.'

'That's bullshit.'

'Look at it!'

Talley shoved Jones toward the house.

Flames were visible in the den window. Police radios crackled as the perimeter guards reported the fire, and the officers in the cul-de-sac openly milled behind their cars, waiting for someone to do something. Hicks and the Sheriff's tactical team trotted toward Martin.

Jones seemed frozen in place, anchored by his expectation of the Watchman's call.

Talley jerked his arm again, pulling him around.

'I'm breaching that house, Jones. Are you coming or not?'

'We go when the man says. Not before.'

'We can't wait for the man!'

'They'll fuckin' kill your family.'

'Those kids are trapped!'

Jones gripped his MP5. Talley slipped his hand under his sweatshirt and touched the.45.

'What? You want to shoot it out with the chief of police here in the street? You think you'll get the disks that way?'

Jones glanced at the house again, then grimaced. None of this was in the game plan. Everything had suddenly grown beyond their control, and Jones, like Talley, was being swept forward by the storm.

Jones decided.

'All right, goddamnit, but it's just us going into that house. We'll secure the structure, then retrieve the disks.'

'If you don't get your people on the hump, the firemen will get there first.'

They made their assault plan as they ran to the house.

MARS

The flames built slowly, growing up the doors and the walls like flowers on a trellis. Mars followed the flames as they crept along the trail of gas he had made through the house. He thought that the fire would spread with a whoosh, but it moved with surprising lethargy. The air clouded with smoke that smelled of tar.

Mars wanted music.

He went to the den, where he remembered a nice Denon sound system. He tuned to a local hip-hop station, and cranked the speakers to distortion. He helped himself to a bottle of scotch, then returned to the bedroom.

The bed was a raging inferno. Fire covered the doors and walls, and a layer of smoke roiled at the ceiling. The heat made him squint. A layer of smoke roiled at the ceiling. Mars took off his shirt and drank. He checked the Chinaman's gun, saw that there were still plenty of bullets, then took out his knife.

Mars crouched at the far side of the room, far from the flames and below the smoke. He watched the door. He hoped that if the security room grew hot enough, and the children grew frightened enough, the kids would open the door to escape.

Then he would have his way.

TALLEY

Two men would breach the front door, two the French doors; Talley and Jones would breach through a window to enter a guest bedroom located next to the master. Once inside, Jones would radio the sixth man, who would shatter the sliding doors in the master bedroom to distract Krupchek from the bedroom door, which would be the point of egress for the assault. All of them would carry fire extinguishers to suppress the flames.

Talley didn't have time to get his own vest from his car. He borrowed a vest from one of the CHiPs, strapping it over his sweatshirt, then slung a fire extinguisher over his shoulder. The firemen ran out their hoses, remaining under cover until word would come down that the hostiles had been neutralized.

When they agreed on the assault plan, Talley phoned Thomas. The connection was even weaker than before, and this time Talley told him to keep the phone on. Powering up the system probably cost more power than it saved. If Jones thought anything of Talley and the boy talking, he did not comment.