Chapter 33

“What? Are you deaf as well as stupid?” came Snake’s voice.

My hand shook slightly as I folded the two thousand and put it into my shirt pocket. I extracted the card, and put in my credit card. From this I got five hundred, and from another bank account—paying the extra fee since it was with a competing bank—the final five hundred. Then I hailed a cab and climbed in.

As we pulled up in front of George’s house, I saw the lights in the main floor were on, both the front hallway and the kitchen with its bay window that overlooked the street. And the blinds in the kitchen were not down. I could see no one, but clearly someone was still there.

It was with a feeling of unreality that I went up the steps to the front door. Pressing the doorbell, I waited, feeling my heart hammering. After a minute the curtains over the door’s window shifted, and then the door was unlocked and opened. I stepped cautiously inside, and immediately felt the prick of a blade against the side of my neck.