‘You don’t have to – it’s a blind alley, T-shaped. Just for deliveries and garbage pickup.’
‘What’s the bomb look like?’
‘A sealed black metal cube about a foot on each side. It’s in a paper shopping bag.’
‘What sort of bomb?’
‘I didn’t ask.’
‘I mean does it have a timer? Fuse? Remote control?’
‘I don’t know. I don’t care, either. What difference does it make?’
‘I just wondered if it was armed.’
‘No. I have to do that in the alley. There’s a button I push. A red light should come on. Whether it lights up or not, we leave immediately and call a number from a pay phone a half mile away.’
‘Probably a timer,’ Daniel said to himself.
‘Right, I guess it is. Shamus said it had a Mickey Mouse clock inside. He said the guy that put it together was in the avant garde of demolition.’
‘How is Shamus?’
‘Gone. Not there. Electric with purpose. The damn bomb was under the bed all night, if you can believe that.’
‘Yeah,’ Daniel said noncommitally. ‘How’s our time?’
‘Too much, not enough, and running out.’ She felt tears welling in her eyes and turned for the bathroom.
Daniel caught her by the hand as she passed him and held her at arms’ length. ‘You sure you’re okay? We have to concentrate.’
‘If I concentrate any harder I’ll disappear.’ She took a deep breath to gather herself, slumping as she let it out. ‘This whole thing is stupid and impossible and pointless.’
‘We’ve got outs,’ Daniel said gently. ‘Call the number Shamus gave you and tell him the car broke down. I can dump some sugar in the tank.’
Annalee hugged him fiercely. ‘I know, I know.’ She buried her face on his shoulder and squeezed him again. After a moment, she pushed herself away and gave him a weak smile. ‘I’m all right. I got shaky there for a minute, but I’ll make it.’
‘Then let’s go.’ Daniel smiled back. ‘You’ll be fine. You always are.’
* * *
A light rain was falling when they left Berkeley. As Shamus had planned, Daniel and Annalee were just in front of the heavy rush hour traffic on 580 through Castro Valley. It was almost dark as they left Dublin Canyon. Annalee glanced at her watch when they saw the Las Postas exit.
‘We doing good?’ Daniel asked. They’d hardly spoken since they’d left, but the silence was solid and comfortable.
‘We’re doing fine,’ Annalee said.
When they passed a Texaco station she pointed out the rain-blurred window and told him, ‘That’s the pay phone we want, so we’re close now. Look for 4800.’
When Daniel spotted it moments later, she turned right and circled the block. There were few cars on the wet streets, fewer pedestrians.
‘The rain’s a blessing,’ Daniel said. ‘It’s hard to see out the side windows, makes people concentrate on the road.’
Annalee said absently, ‘Small blessings.’
She stopped at the mouth of the alley. As she reached to switch off the ignition her hand stopped. She giggled, ‘Help! Do I turn it off or leave it running?’
‘Off,’ Daniel said. ‘Along with the headlights. And pull up the hood on your coat.’
‘Thanks.’ She smiled at him as she killed the engine. She glanced in the rearview mirror and then up the street.
‘Looks fine,’ Daniel said.
‘Well,’ she said, reaching over into the backseat for the shopping bag, ‘here we are.’
‘I’ll give two short honks if anything looks like trouble.’
Annalee opened the door and slid out, pausing to tell him, ‘You’re special, Daniel.’ She shut the door with her knee, adjusted the bag in her arms, and walked briskly down the alley.
Daniel could barely see her through the rain-smeared glass so he cranked the window down halfway. He caught a flash of headlights in the rearview mirror and turned to watch as a car hissed passed. The rain came down harder. He turned back to the alley just as Annalee disappeared around the left corner. He checked the streets quickly for pedestrians. Not a soul. He was just turning to check the alley when he heard Annalee scream, ‘Daniel! Run!’ and the bomb exploded, blowing the car fifteen feet sideways and hurling a shard of metal through his right temple. He staggered from the car, swayed, collapsed on the wet pavement. Shaking his head, he pushed himself up on his hands and knees, crawled toward the alley, and collapsed again. He lay still, blood and rain in his eyes. When he tried to blink them clear, they stayed closed.
Far below, he saw a tiny point of light. He began sliding toward it, helplessly gathering momentum. As he plunged, the light slowly enlarged, gleaming so brilliantly he was blinded. Daniel was falling into the sun. Just as he was about to be consumed, he realized the light was being reflected from a mirror. He tried to raise his hands to
