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CHAPTER 092

Brad Gordon followed the crowds that swarmed toward Mighty Kong, the huge roller coaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. He’d been visiting amusement parks for weeks now; this one was the biggest and best in America. He was feeling better; his jaw was almost completely pain-free now.

The only thing that bothered him was he had had one conversation with his lawyer, Johnson. Johnson seemed smart, but Brad was uneasy. Why hadn’t his uncle paid for a first-rate attorney? He always had before. Brad had the vague feeling that his life was on some sort of knife-edge.

But he pushed all those thoughts aside as he looked at the track far above him, and the people shrieking as their cars went by. This roller coaster! Mighty Kong! With more than four hundred feet of drop, it gave plenty of cause for people to scream. The line of eager ticket-holders buzzed with anticipation. Brad waited, as was his custom, until two very cute young girls got on line. They were local kids, raised in a milk bottle, healthy and pink-skinned, with little budding breasts and sweet faces. One girl had braces, which was just adorable. He stayed behind them, happily listening to their high-pitched, inane chatter. Then he screamed with the rest of them, as he took the fantastic drop.

The ride left him shivering with adrenaline and pent-up excitement. He felt a bit weak as he climbed out of the car and watched the girls’ round little buns as they walked away from the coaster, toward the exit. Wait! They were going again! Perfect! He followed them, getting on line a second time.

He was feeling dreamy, catching his breath, letting his eyes drift over the soft curls of their hair, the freckles on their shoulders, revealed by their halter tops. He was starting to fantasize about what it would be like with one of them-hell, with both of them-when a man stepped forward and said, “Come with me, please.”

Brad blinked, guilty from his reverie. “I’m sorry?”

“Would you come with me, sir?” It was a handsome, confident face, one encouraging him, smiling. Brad was instantly suspicious. Often cops acted friendly and polite. He hadn’t done anything with these girls, he was sure of it. He hadn’t touched them, hadn’t said anything-

“Sir? Please? It’s important if you would step over here…Just over here…”

Brad looked and saw, to one side, some people wearing what appeared to be uniforms, maybe security uniforms, and a couple of men in white coats, like people from a sanitarium. And there was a television crew, or a camera crew of some kind, filming. And he suddenly felt paranoid.

“Sir,” the handsome man said, “please, we very much need you-”

“Why do you need me?”

“Sir, please…” The man was plucking at Brad’s elbow, then grabbed it more forcefully. “Sir, we get so few adult repeaters-”

Adult repeaters. Brad shivered. They knew. And now this guy, this handsome, charming smooth-talker was leading him toward the people in the white coats. They were obviously onto him, and he tugged free, but the handsome man held on.

Brad’s heart was pounding and he felt panic flood through him. He bent over and pulled his gun from its holster. “No! Let go of me!”

The handsome man looked shocked. Some people screamed. The man held up his hands. “Now take it easy,” he said, “it’s going to be-”

The gun in Brad’s hand fired. He didn’t realize it had happened until he saw the man stumble and start to fall. He clutched at Brad, hanging on him, and Brad shot again. The man fell back. Everybody was screaming all over the place. Somebody shouted, “He shot Dr. Bellarmino! He shot Bellarmino!”

But by then he was very confused; the crowd was running away, those cute little buns were running; everything was ruined; and when more men in uniform yelled to him to drop his gun, he fired at them, too. And the world went black.