Dead Mans Hand

Ezili thought that was hilarious. Her laughter was almost hysterical. The centipede joined in.

"The boy won't be telling anybody anything," Sascha said almost sorrowfully. He reached down and grabbed the front of Jay's shirt and jerked him upright to a sitting position. "There."

Behind the sofa, a monstrous shape filled the gray shadows along the wall. In the dimness, Jay saw arms, tendrils, claws, flesh twisting into flesh. And eyes… It wasn't until the creature moved that Jay recognized the Siamese quint.

Blaise was slumped unconscious on a mattress at its feet, wrist and ankle shackled to nearby pipes. His face was battered and bruised, and dried blood had caked over one eye, sealing it shut.

All Jay could think was that Dr. Tachyon was going to be really pissed.

Noon

Bre

Father Squid was still conducting Mass, so Bre

Mass lasted only a few more minutes, but the church took a long time to empty. Bre

Quasiman shuffled off and Father Squid gestured significantly to Bre

Bre

"I hope you're all right," Bre

"Sure," Quasiman said. "Do you think you'll be needing me soon?"

Bre

"Okay," Quasiman said. "I'll be ready."

He opened the door to the rectory and Bre

He quietly tiptoed to the hallway that led to Father Squid's little bedroom. His bag was sitting by the bedroom door. He took off his battered, bloody clothes and discovered how hard a simple thing like changing pants can be with an arm in a cast. Once he accomplished this, he closed the door behind him, and sat down on Father Squid's water bed and rested for a moment.

He took a deep breath. Dr. Fi

He picked up the phone by the bedstand and dialed a number that had been given him by a cat. It rang once, then a recorded message came on that said, "We're sorry, the number you're trying to reach is no longer in service."

He hung up the phone. Fadeout worked fast. He even had the telephone company jumping. Bre

He put the last weapon he had, a snub-nosed. 38, securely in the waistband of his fresh set of jeans, and went out into the living room.

He watched Je

Quasiman was sitting in the grass, listening to whatever thoughts they were that drifted like clouds across his mind. "Tell Father Squid I'll be back," Bre

As he went through the churchyard to the street beyond he wished that he could always be that lucky. He stepped to the sidewalk just as an empty cab went by. Bre

"Twisted Dragon," he said to the cabbie, who nodded, flipped the flag with his flipper, and pulled off down the street.

The talkative cabbie was festooned with Hartma

"The fur," the cabbie said, "is really go

The cab pulled up in front of the Twisted Dragon. "Why do you think Tachyon turned his back on us?" the cabbie asked Bre

Bre

Bre

The Twisted Dragon was as crowded and noisy as it usually is, which is saying a lot on both accounts. Bre

"Nice to see you again, pal," Bre

Dragon nodded once, and his hand started to go slowly to his jacket pocket, until Bre

"Relax. Keep your hands in sight. I don't want you turning into a teddy bear and scaring all these people."

"All right," Dragon said quietly, his hands resting flat on the bar. "What do you want?"

"I could want your ass, chum, but you saved my life once, so we'll call it quits. If you tell me how to get in touch with Fadeout."

"All I have is a phone number," Dragon said. "The one I gave you a few days ago.".

Bre

"Then I can't help you."

Bre