Darkfall

stuck because they were vulnerable when they stayed in one place too long, safe only while they were on wheels and moving, where the goblins couldn’t get a fix on them. In the meantime her father would go up to Harlem to see a man named Carver Hampton, who would probably be able to help him find Lavelle. Then he was going after that witchdoctor. He was sure he wouldn’t be in terrible danger. He said that, for some reason he really didn’t understand, Lavelle’s magic had no effect on him. He said putting the cuffs on Lavelle wouldn’t be any more difficult or dangerous than putting them on any other criminal. He meant it, too. And Penny wanted to believe that he was absolutely right. But deep in her heart, she was certain she would never see him again.
    Nevertheless, she didn’t cry too much, and she didn’t hang on him too much, and she got into the car with Davey and Rebecca. As they drove out of the garage, up the exit ramp, she looked back. Daddy was waving at them. Then they reached the street and turned right, and he was out of sight. From that moment, it seemed to Penny that he was already as good as dead.
    II
    A few minutes after midnight, in Harlem, Jack parked in front of Rada . He knew Hampton lived above the store, and he figured there must be a private entrance to the apartment, so he went around to the side of the building, where he found a door with a street number.
    There were a lot of lights on the second floor. Every window glowed brightly.
    Standing with his back to the pummeling wind, Jack pushed the buzzer beside the door but wasn’t satisfied with just a short ring; he held his thumb there, pressing down so hard that it hurt a little. Even through the closed door, the sound of the buzzer swiftly became irritating. Inside, it must be five or six times louder. If Hampton looked out through the fisheye security lens in the door and saw who was waiting and decided not to open up, then he’d better have a damned good pair of earplugs. In five minutes the buzzer would give him a headache. In ten minutes it would be like an icepick probing in his ears. If that didn’t work, however, Jack intended to escalate the battle; he’d look around for a pile of loose bricks or several empty bottles or other hefty pieces of rubbish to throw through Hampton’s windows. He didn’t care about being charged with reckless use of authority; he didn’t care about getting in trouble and maybe losing his badge. He was past the point of polite requests and civilized debate.
    To his surprise, in less than half a minute the door opened, and there was Carver Hampton, looking bigger and more formidable than Jack remembered him, not frowning as expected but smiling, not angry but delighted.
    Before Jack could speak, Hampton said, “You’re all right! Thank God for that. Thank God. Come in. You don’t know how glad I am to see you. Come in, come in.” There was a small foyer beyond the door, then a set of stairs, and Jack went in, and Hampton closed the door but didn’t stop talking. “My God, man, I’ve been worried half to death. Are you all right? You look all right. Will you please, for God’s sake, tell me you’re all right?”
    “I’m okay,” Jack said. “Almost wasn’t. But there’s so much I have to ask you, so much I- ”
    “Come upstairs,” Hampton said, leading the way. “You’ve got to tell me what’s happened, all of it, every detail. It’s been an eventful and momentous night; I know it; I sense it.”
    Pulling off his snow-encrusted boots, following Hampton up the narrow stairs, Jack said, “I should warn you-I’ve come here to demand your help, and by God you’re going to give it to me, one way or the other.”
    “Gladly,” Hampton said, further surprising him. “I’ll do whatever I possibly can; anything.”
    At the top of the stairs, they came into a comfortable-looking, well-furnished living room with a great many books on shelves along one wall, an Oriental tapestry on the wall opposite the books, and a beautiful Oriental carpet, predominantly beige and blue, occupying most of the floor space. Four blown-glass table lamps in striking blues and greens and yellows were placed with such skill that you were drawn by their beauty no matter which way you were facing. There were also two reading lamps, more functional in design, one by each of the big armchairs. Both of those and all four of the blown-glass lamps were on. However, their light didn’t fully illuminate