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"Outside." He took her gently by the arm. She hesitated a moment. "Lady, I swear I am not going to hurt you." |
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"You force your way into my home and threaten me with a gun and you expect me to believe you?" |
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"A man's only as good as his word." He dropped the gun back into his briefcase. "I won't lay a finger on you." |
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She stepped outside. Jerry's rental van sat back in the driveway, the windows opened a few inches, the little side curtains closed. |
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He led her across a narrow boardwalk that cut through the dune grass and down to the beach. In either direction stretched a wide expanse of empty sand. The only movement, a few gulls and the sailboats far off shore. He took in a deep breath. In the back of his head he could hear the McGuire Sisters crooning lines from "Old Cape Cod." |
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He nodded for the woman to walk toward the right. She was eyeing the briefcase. He smiled and dropped it to the sand. "Have a nice walk," he said. "And don't forget, vitamin A and lots of water." |
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She turned and headed down the beach, picking up her pace as she got farther away, her blue flowered skirt lufting in the breeze. |
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"What were you people doing?" he said to himself. "Why do they want you dead?" |
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When she was perhaps a hundred feet down the beach, Jerry went up to the van. The woman stopped to see what he was doing. He opened up his hands to show he wasn't holding the gun. Only as good as his word. She stared at him for a moment, then continued walking. |
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Jerry slid back the door. "Time to go to work," he said. |
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A huge black pit bull jumped out. Jerry led the animal to the crest of the dunes and removed the muzzle. The animal's tongue lolled out between huge jaws. The dog made no sound, but his eyes were black with jungle. |
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Jerry steadied the animal by the chain collar. |
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He pointed at the woman down the beach and, with a slap to the rump, said, "Rufus, kill!" |
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