Fatal

Matt scanned ahead for some way to put more distance between them. The Land Rover was way too close to consider trying to search out a place to hide. The only hope he could see was to work toward the far side of Shady Lake Manor by making sharp, unpredictable turns, and hope that they could find the opening to a narrow track and escape into the woods. He tried cutting across some lots and hit a steep slope of firm, packed dirt that sent the Harley airborne. The landing was anything but smooth. Nikki cried out as her head snapped forward against the windshield. Behind them, Verne took the same jump with ease.

Back on one of the streets, Matt sped onto rolling, sparsely treed land that was probably a golf course in the making. They were bouncing viciously now. Matt did his best to avoid the major pits and rises, but they were moving too fast for him to do much in the way of prevention. Then, up ahead, his headlight glinted off a vast, uniform darkness. Before he could completely analyze the situation, they were airborne again, sailing over the edge of what was one day to be Shady Lake.

'Sit up straight and hang on!' he screamed.

Just as Nikki did so, the bike landed with surprising gentleness on the side of a steep embankment, maybe twenty-five feet high. At the bottom of the slope, as far as Matt could see, was water. What there was of the lake could have been six inches deep or six feet. There was no way to tell. They were out of control, speeding and skidding downward toward the smooth blackness. But Matt had been riding motorcycles of one kind or another for most of his life. By staying upright, using his outstretched feet, and delicately playing the front and rear brakes, he was able to skid the Harley into a right-hand turn and onto a stony rim just a foot or so from the water.

Nicely done, he thought.

He cut the lights and braked to a stop. Nikki sighed loudly, straightened up, and sank back against him. He quickly stripped his jacket off and helped her get it on.

'I knew I'd hate this,' she groaned.

'What are you talking about?'

'This is my first time on a motorcycle. Now I know why I said no thanks so many times.'

'But this isn't exactly — '

'Rutledge!'

High up and behind them, Verne had pulled to a stop at the rim. The twin beams of the Land Rover knifed out over the huge crater. Against the bright night sky, Matt could make out Grimes's silhouette, standing hands on hips on the edge of the embankment.

'What?' Matt yelled up, using the light from the Rover to scan the nearly empty lake. The sides, as far as he could see, were too steep to ride back up, but he sensed he was viewing only a small portion of the excavation. The lake bed itself was lined with three-or four-inch stones, extending up a foot or so beyond where they were standing. If the water wasn't too deep, and if the stones covered the entire bottom, it was possible they could ride across. Big ifs. And ride across to what?

'There's no way out of there except on foot, Matt. Come up and let's talk.'

'Sounds good to me. You've always been an upstanding, trustworthy guy. Just turn off those lights and we'll be right up.'

'Rutledge, my man has a rifle and he's a damn good shot. Come out of there now and I can keep you from getting killed.'

'Just how do you plan on doing that?' he asked, buying a little time. 'Nikki,' he whispered, 'how're you holding up?'

'My kidneys are still bouncing, and my heart hasn't slowed down from that little ride down the cliff, but at least I'm not thinking about my headache anymore. Where are we?'

Matt was pleased to hear her humor, and if anything, her voice sounded stronger.

'We're in Disneyland a year or two before Mickey arrives,' he replied. 'Listen, if you can handle it, I'm going to try and motor around the lake just in case the slope gets any less someplace and we can drive out. Can you hang on?'

'Would it be easier if I was on the back?'

'Not if you fall off.'

'I can do it.'

'Keep your feet on those rests at all times. If you hit the exhaust with your bare tootsies, you're going to need smaller shoes.'

'Rutledge, this is your last chance!'

'Okay, we're coming, we're coming,' Matt called out, buying time. 'Nikki, you all set?'

'Is there something I should be holding on to?'

'Those railings beside your seat, or else me.'

She slipped her arms around his waist, squeezed tightly, and pressed her cheek against his back.

'Go,' she said.

Matt squinted through the darkness to gauge how far ahead he could see in order to skirt the water's edge without turning on his headlight. Then he picked up a stone and threw it across the water as far as he could. Along with a splash, he heard the distinct click of rock hitting rock. That far out at least the water was very shallow.

'Rutledge!'

Matt shifted into first and gunned the Harley ahead. If there was a rifle crack from overhead, he didn't hear it. Ten, twenty, thirty mph. The magnificent bike surged forward over the stones. Over his shoulder he could see that the Rover had backed up and was now paralleling them overhead, a short distance back. The darkness made speed difficult, and Matt finally gave in and switched on his light for a short while. The lake, while not quite as vast as he had thought, was an oval, maybe half a mile long and a quarter mile across. If, in fact, it had actually been a shady lake, there might have been some trees overhead to slow up or even detour Verne and Grimes. But as things stood, they were having no trouble racing along twenty or thirty feet above them. The engine noise from the Harley reverberated off the water and the steep walls, making it impossible to tell if they were being fired on or not.

It was then that Matt spotted the opening up ahead. It was a massive, corrugated steel tunnel built through the embankment on their right. The opening was about six feet across, and the floor was three feet or so above the stony track where they were riding. From the way it was positioned, it had to have been constructed to empty the lake. He judged that there was enough of a slope up to the floor so that they could make it over the edge and inside — provided they came at it head-on, through the water. If the depth at the center of the lake was greater than a foot, though, they probably wouldn't make it across on the Harley. Matt thought about looping out into the lake and then back toward the tunnel, but that would still leave Grimes and Verne directly above them. Riding across from the other side made more sense — provided, of course, they made it.

He switched on the high beam of the Harley, checked the odometer as they passed the tunnel, and accelerated again. The shifting stones made it challenging to keep the bike upright. Thirty felt barely controllable, but he pushed the bike to thirty-five. Overhead, the Land Rover kept pace.

Nikki continued to be the perfect passenger, holding on tightly, yet staying relaxed enough not to affect Matt's delicate balancing act. The woman was tough.

To their right, the embankment continued steep and high. The slim hope that there would be a gentler slope at the end of the lake vanished. If anything, the grade was even sharper. As they passed the hairpin end and sped down the other side, Matt watched the odometer until he was at the point directly across the lake from the tunnel. Then he cut off his headlight and made a sharp left-hand turn into the water. If Nikki was startled at the move, she hid it

well. Matt plowed ahead as fast as he dared. The water — probably from recent heavy rains — was six or so inches deep, and the stony bottom was identical to the track on which they had been riding. If the depth increased much, passage would probably be impossible. If they stalled and couldn't get restarted, Matt had decided to leave the bike where it was and try to make it to the tunnel on foot.

'Come on, baby,' he urged. 'You can do this.'

Through his rearview, he could see the lights of the Rover shining directly out over the lake. Confusion at last, he thought, smiling.

Come on, bike!

They were at least at the center of the lake now and the depth was holding. If he could keep the Harley upright while maintaining his speed slow enough to prevent water from splashing up into the electrical system, they were going to make it across. His fear now was that even though he entered the water at the right spot, he hadn't