Part 50 (1/2)

But before he could put that plan into action, Haig must find the d.a.m.n woman. And it wasn't just a matter of tramping through the badlands. She had escaped into that other universe.

Falcone clenched his hands into fists. He'd finally tortured the old man into compliance. Then Avery and Bellows had thrown him a curve.

They'd given him the bad news that it wasn't going to be so easy to get into that other world. After closing the portal farther west, they couldn't just open it again because the reversal would take a great deal of energy. The only portal left was at the commercial establishment.

Much too public a place to bring through fifteen or twenty men.

Now he was waiting for Avery to come up with an alternate plan.

When the old man returned, Falcone tried to read his face.

”You have something for me?” he demanded.

Avery s.h.i.+fted his weight from one foot to the other. ”I think so.”

”You don't sound too positive.”

”I have a way to get your troops through without being seen.”

”What?”

”An invisibility charm.”

”That would work,” Falcone mused, then focused on the other man's eyes.

”But something's wrong. What are you hiding?”

”n.o.body has ever tried to make so many men invisible.”

”Well, you'd better hope it works,” Falcone growled. ”Because if it doesn't, your head is on the chopping block.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN.

THE LAB WAS backed up. So while Jake Cooper waited to find out if the prints from the door handle matched the ones on the can of pork and beans, he ordered patrol cars to drive past the convenience store every few hours. None of the officers had reported any unusual activity.

But Jake couldn't rid himself of the conviction that there was something weird about the place. Starting with the clerk's strange story about men bursting from the back of the store and ending with the pile of clothing the patrol officers had found in the woods.

Too bad Tony Blanchard, the guy who'd tried to rob the place, was in no shape to talk about the experience. The small-time crook was in a coma in the hospital and hadn't spoken word one since the incident.

Because Jake couldn't deal with his curiosity any other way, he had gotten into the habit of having a look-see when he was in the area.

If he'd still been living with Annie, he would have gone straight home and climbed into bed with her. But she'd cleared out months ago, and he hadn't known how to make things right between them-not when she couldn't deal with the reality that his job always had the potential to put him in danger. So he'd been drifting along on his own, looking for excuses to stay out of the house.

Tonight he made a detour from the citizen's a.s.sociation meeting where he'd given a safety lecture and swung by the Easy Shopper, which sat between a fast food restaurant and a stretch of woods that hadn't been developed yet.

When he reached the location, he slowed, staring at the large gla.s.s windows at the front of the low building, where posters advertised everything from lottery tickets to the featured monthly sandwich and drink combo.

A couple of lights burned inside, but it was obvious from the lack of activity that the place was empty. He started to drive on by. Instead he pulled into the far end of the empty parking lot and cut his engine.