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Page 43.
Chapter 35.
 As Louis approached the house on Golf Place, a dog began to bark. Louis ducked into some bushes and cursed his luck. It sounded as though the animal was right in Maxxon's yard. Just the luck, at this moment, to run into a damn canine.
Louis's hesitation saved him.
A police cruiser slowly turned the corner. Louis hid behind a tree as the car's spotlight shone right and left, making islands of searing light. The police car pulled up in front of Maxxon's house and two officers got out.
Louis frowned from his hiding place. Was this all the surveillance Maxxon had? If so, that was clearly a lucky break. Evidently, then, they did not think Louis knew where Maxxon lived. That could be capitalized on.
The officers knocked. A door was unbolted. There was a conversation.
All the while, the dog kept barking.
The officers left. The door was thoroughly bolted again, with a sound of slamming tumblers. The police car stayed for two minutes or so, then abruptly turned and drove off.
Louis screwed the silencer onto his Luger. This would have to work smoothly. He stepped from the bushes and moved toward the house. The dog was still barking. As Louis approached the house, the dog's barking took on a new tone of menace.
Louis was within ten feet of the wood fence. The dog's barking was ferocious now. He could hear its bony head banging against the wood. He would hear the tearing of its paws in sod, the rattle of its neck chain, the yelps of frustration amid its barks.
He shot once, twice, three times.
First shot, wood splinters.
Second shot, a yelp.
Third shot, silence.
The echo of that last yelp lingered in the foggy air.
Louis stepped boldly onto the concrete porch, where a yellow bulb glared. The flimsy screen door was unlocked. He pulled it open and banged on the door.
A frightened woman yelled inside: "Who is it?"
"Police, Ma'am. We came back to check about the dog."
He heard the rattle of a lock, the snap of a deadbolt, the turn of a door handle.
The door opened a crack, and Myra's frightened face hovered. She wailed: "We heard a yelp--"
Louis kicked the door open, knocking her backwards onto the floor. He jumped into the house while she lay on her elbows. She looked up in horror. He pushed the door shut behind him and aimed the gun at her head. "Be quiet."
The daughter stepped into the room and screamed, fists by her temples.
"Shut up," Louis said, jiggling the Luger by Myra's head. "One more sound, and I shoot her. I need one of you alive, that's all."
Trembling, the two women clung together. The younger one knelt protectively by her mother while Louis backed away, picked up the phone, and dialed. "Hello, Albert?"
"Yes!" his eager voice sounded.
"I'm in a position to bargain with you now. I have a gun on Myra and Alexa, and I won't hesitate to use it unless you drive out here right now."
"Where are you?"
"I'm at Maxxon's home."
"So." He sounded cold. "You managed to get his address."
"Yes. And now I need a firm commitment from you. It's my last hope. I've got to return tonight."
Albert, surprisingly, had a knife-edge to his frail old man's voice: "Don't be too hasty, brother. I may be in a position to bargain with you too."
"Just get here quickly," Louis said, "and don't make the mistake of calling anybody, least of all Maxxon or the police."
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