Run, Spy, Run

"Don't play games with me, Cane." Judas' voice was thin ice. "Is that thing a bomb, or isn't it?"

"Regrettably, no," said Nick, fingering Pierre thoughtfully. "Here, you take Pierre." He dropped it casually into the bayoneted hand. Judas flung it from him as if it were a rattlesnake. It hit a wall, bounced, rolled and then lay still. Nick raised his eyebrows, praying fervently that the impact had not jarred Pierre into action.

"Why did you do that? I told you it was just a keepsake. A nasty little keepsake, true, and the more it comes in contact with this damp floor, the nastier it'll be. Now give me the flashlight."

"What's in that ball, Cane?" the high voice screamed.

"Never mind that now!" Nick shouted back. "That's not the thing I was talking about. Now give me the flashlight!"

"Braille! Find that thing and get rid of it."

Braille shuffled in the background. From the corner of his eye Nick could see Julie come to life and reach into her tangled hair. Her hand pulled out a silver gleam and then dropped quickly down her side. Braille felt around in his eternal darkness.

"Now. Cane." Judas turned toward him and gently stroked Nick's chest with the wicked blade. It left a narrow white line that quickly bubbled red. Judas regarded it with relish.

"You've got a timebomb ticking in your hands," Nick spat through his teeth. "Die, if you want to. It's all right with me."

Without taking his eyes off Nick, Judas reached into the tin.

"Not that one — the keychain."

Judas took out the keychain. Then he put the box down on the floor and gave the tiny flashlight to Nick.

"I've had enough of your tricks, Cane," he hissed. "Now if that's your death-gadget, reset it."

Braille lumbered to the end of the room holding something small.

The door, thought Nick. At least a window.

"Not my trick at all," said Nick, holding the little gadget to his ear. "Your mistake."

"Get on with it. Let me see you finish your bluff." Judas tried to control his voice. "It would be interesting to learn if something so small could contain enough explosive to kill, let alone a timing device. If you are lying, no L-pills for either of you. Braille will do what he wishes with the lady, and you will tell me what I want to know."

Something slammed at the end of the room. Goodbye, Pierre. Hello, Junior.

A screw-thread held the chain in place. Nick twisted the chain very, very slowly.

"Continue, Mr. Cane, or I will point my finger at the lady's right breast as an inducement. She will bleed before your eyes."

Nick turned the screw. Slowly, very slowly.

"I'm warning you. Be careful — but be quick!" The steel finger hung poised before Julie's silky breasts.

Nick felt the screw part from the threading. It was time.

"Now," said Judas sibilantly, "or my finger kisses her."

Nick looked up at him. "There is no now," he said sorrowfully. "There is no timer, and no bomb." Judas pulled his hand away from Julie and stared into Nick's face. Nick pulled the pin. "It's only a flashlight after all." He lobbed it into Judas' face and flung himself back, screaming, "Behind the pillar, Julie!"

Judas threw up his robot hand and backed away with an inhuman scream. There was an ear-shattering sound, and then — no hand. Judas fell. Braille came grunting out of the shadows. Nick pulled himself to a sitting position, cursing the thongs that held his feet. Julie shot out from behind the beam, silver knife in hand. Braille thundered after her. Her slim knife lashed the cords, and Nick was free.

"Run! Just run!" He pushed her. She rounded a beam and gave a piercing scream. Braille went after her.

Blood streamed down Judas' face. Nick dropped to one knee, scooped up Wilhelmina and Hugo, and made for Judas. Incredibly, the man was rising to his feet. His good hand slammed at Nick. The globular head ducked like a striking snake and butted him. Nick kicked hard. Judas fell again, screaming "Braille!" as he fell.

The pursuit in the shadows stopped. Braille came charging into the lighted circle with a gorilla-like roar compounded of blood-lust and brutal anger. Judas rose again. Nick's teeth closed on Hugo while his trigger finger tightened. Braille screamed in pain but kept on coming. Judas reached for the empty tin box and slammed it through the air. There was a loud pop and a sparkling splash of electricity as the bulb shattered.

The cellar became a jungle.

Braille's blurt of maddened pain erupted in the new darkness. Another of Wilhelmina's bullets had thudded home. But the impetus of his forward charge carried him like a runaway barrel into Nick's body. Nick went down, tenpin style, with Braille's lumpy fingers clawing at his throat. The big one was going to die hard.

His mind half-registered scuffling noises at the far end of the room. There was a thud, a high-pitched snarl, the clatter of a falling body, and a feminine squeal. Something clanked and slammed. Julie.?.. Judas.?.. The cellar was strangely silent. But there was no time to count noses. Braille's powerful fingers were scorching Nick's throat.