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Suddenly furious, Jack hurled the roll of adhesive tape against the wall.

"That's it? Kusum has killed Nellie and Grace and who knows how many winos, all because he got laid? Give me a break!"

"It's true!"

"There's got to be more to it than that!"

Kolabati still wasn't looking at him. "You've got to understand Kusum—"

"No, I don't! All I have to understand is that he's trying to kill a little girl I happen to love very much. Kusum's got a problem all right: me!"

"He's trying to cleanse his karma."

"Don't tell me about karma. I heard enough about karma from your brother last night. He's a mad dog!"

Kolabati turned on him, her eyes flashing. "Don't say that! "

"Can you honestly deny it?"

"No! But don't say that about him! Only I can say it!"

Jack could understand that. He nodded. "Okay. I'll just think it."

She started to turn to leave the bathroom but Jack gently pulled her back. He wanted very badly to get to the phone and check on Vicky, but he needed the answer to one more question.

"What happened to you in the hold? What did I say back there to shock you so?"

Kolabati's shoulders slumped, her head tilted to the side. Silent sobs caused small quakes at first but soon grew strong enough to wrack her whole body. She closed her eyes and began to cry.

Jack had never imagined the possibility of Kolabati reduced to tears. She’d always seemed so self-possessed, so worldly. Yet here she was standing before him and crying like a child. Her anguish touched him. He took her in his arms.

"Tell me about it."

She cried for a while longer, then she began to talk, keeping her face buried against his shoulder as she spoke.

"Remember how I said these rakoshi were smaller and paler than they should be? And how shocked I was that they could speak?"

Jack nodded against her hair. "Yes."

"Now I understand why. Kusum lied to me again! And again I believed him. But this is so much worse than a lie. I never thought even Kusum would go that far!"

"What are you talking about?"

"Kusum lied about finding a male egg!" A hysterical edge was creeping onto her voice. Jack pushed her to arm's length. Her face was tortured. He wanted to shake her but didn't.

"Talk sense!"

"Kaka-ji is Bengali for 'father'!"

"So?"

Kolabati only stared at him.

"Oh, jeez!"

17

They sat in the front room. Jack’s mind still reeled from the idea of Kusum impregnating the Mother rakosh. Visions of the act half formed in his brain and then quickly faded to merciful black.

"How could your brother have fathered those rakoshi? Kaka-ji has to be a title of respect or something like that."

Kolabati shook her head slowly, sadly. She appeared emotionally and physically drained. "No. It's true. The changes in the younglings are evidence enough."

"But how?"

"Probably when she was very young and docile. He needed only one brood from her. From there on the rakoshi would mate with each other and bring the nest to full size."

"I can't believe it. Why would he even try?"

"Kusum. .." her voice faltered, "Kusum sometimes thinks Kali speaks to him in dreams. He may believe she told him to mate with the female. Hindu folklore is full of tales of raksasha—mythical creatures inspired by the very real rakoshi—dark tales of them mating with humans."

"Tales! I'm not talking about tales! This is real life. I don't know much about biology but I know cross-species fertilization doesn’t work!"

"But the rakoshi aren't a different species, Jack. As I told you last night, legend has it that the ancient evil gods—the Old Ones—created the rakoshi as obscene parodies of humanity. They took a man and a woman and reshaped them in their image—into rakoshi. That means that somewhere far, far up the line there's a common ancestor between human and rakosh." She gripped Jack's arms. "You've got to stop him, Jack!"

"I could have stopped him last night," he said, remembering how he’d sighted down the barrel of the Glock at the space between Kusum's eyes. "Could have killed him."

"It's not necessary to kill him to stop him."

"I don't see any other way."

"There is: his necklace. Take it from him and he will lose his hold on the rakoshi.”

Jack smiled ruefully. "Sort of like the mice deciding to bell the cat, isn't it?"

"No. You can do it. You are his equal...in more ways than you know."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Why didn't you shoot Kusum when you had the chance?”

"Worried about you I guess, and...I don't know...couldn't pull the trigger." Jack had wondered about the answer to that question, too.

Kolabati came close and leaned against his chest. "That's because Kusum's like you and you're like him."

Resentment flared like a torch. "That's crazy!"

"Not really," she said, her smile seductive. "You're carved from the same stone. Kusum is you—gone mad."

Jack didn't want to hear that. The idea repulsed him...frightened him. He changed the subject.

"If he comes tonight, will he be alone or will he bring some rakoshi?"

"It depends," she said, moving closer. "If he wants to take me with him, he'll have to come in person, because a rakosh will never find me. If he wants only to even the score with you for stealing me away from under his nose, he'll send the Mother rakosh."

Jack swallowed, his throat going dry at the memory of her.

"Swell."

She kissed him "But that won't be for a while. I'm going to shower. Why don't you come in with me? We both need one."

"You go ahead," he said, gently releasing himself from her. He did not meet her gaze. "Someone has to stay on guard. I'll shower after you."

She studied him a moment with her dark eyes, then turned and walked toward the bathroom. Jack watched until the door closed behind her, then let out a long sigh. He felt no desire for her tonight. Was it because of Sunday night with Gia? It had been different when Gia was rejecting him. But now...

He was going to have to cool it with Kolabati. No more rolls in her Kama Sutra hay. But he had to tread softly here. He had enough trouble without adding the wrath of a scorned Indian woman.

He went to the secretary and removed the silenced Glock with the pre-frag hollowpoints; he also took out a snub-nosed Smith & Wesson .38 Chief Special and loaded it. Then he sat down to wait for Kolabati.

18

Kolabati blotted herself dry, wrapped the towel around her, and came out into the hall. She found Jack sitting on the bed—just where she wanted him. Desire surged at the sight of him.

She needed a man right now, someone to lie beside her, to help her lose herself in sensation and wash away all thought. And of all the men she knew, she needed Jack the most. He’d pulled her from Kusum's clutches, something no man she’d ever known could have done. She wanted Jack very much right now.

She dropped the towel and fell onto the bed beside him.

"Come," she said, caressing his inner thigh. "Lie down with me. We'll find a way to forget what we've been through tonight."

"We can't forget," he said, pulling away. "Not if he's coming after us."

"We have time, I'm sure." She wanted him so. "Come."

Jack held his hand out to her. She thought it was an invitation to pull him down and she reached up. But his hand was not empty.

"Take it," he said, placing something cold and heavy in her palm.

"A gun?" The sight of it jolted her. She’d never held one before...so heavy. The dark blue of its finish glinted in the subdued light of the bedroom. "What for? This won't stop a rakosh.”