Programmed for Peril

open tap. Pale and quiet, he moved largely at Lois Smith-Patton’s command now. He, too, had his bodyguard. In his case, though, Branch looked like a permanent addition to the family. Much of Foster’s personal fortune had flown to the winds. Hives of attorneys and accountants swarmed after it, their success very much in doubt. Was it wrong to call him ruined?
    She recalled Carson’s voice on the phone minutes ago and whimpered. Tran’s death hadn’t changed her mind about going off with him. So what else could he do? Kidnap her? She turned that idea over in the light of his derange personality. No, his obsession turned a different way.
    She had to agree to be his companion.
    What had to happen to make her do it?
    She spun that smooth stone over and over in her mind. Intruding on her ponderings was her suspicion that Carson’s mental deterioration was accelerating. She wondered if he really knew just who he was.
    Danny D. returned. His top-dollar cologne floated before him.
    “Time to hit the road,” Trish said. “You start earning your big money right now.”
    “Where’re we going?”
    “You like apple tarts?”
    Danny D. checked out the whole bakery, much to Dino’s annoyance. Only then did he lounge at one of the tables facing the door and sip espresso and nibble Italian cookies. Dino took Trish back by the ovens. He apologized for having to talk to her there. Mario was taking a few well-deserved days off. “I been thinking about where you are in all this...” He waved an arm and mouthed an Italian obscenity. “What it is you gotta do till they catch this Carson guy.” He jabbed hands into his apron pockets and paced in a small circle. “Then I figured it out. You gotta get out of town. You and Melody,” He snapped his fingers. “Fast! Just like that. You lay low, nobody knows where you are... See what I mean?”
    She should have thought of it. She was like a rat in a broken trap, too scared to dash off into hiding. “So where do we go?”
    “I got a place down at the Jersey shore. A summer place I been renting to people. Nobody there now that the schools have started up.”
    She hesitated. She wasn’t used to running from trouble, furthermore, she had tried once to escape Carson. She had told Sarkman she wouldn’t run again. As she thought about it, though, the idea seemed better. The key element would be to get out of the city without being seen by Carson. She would tell no one where she was going. She looked at Dino. “What about Danny D.?”
    “He goes. We need all the help we can get. Once we get there he can tell the rest of the cops where we are—another state. The four of us hole up until crazy Carson gets caught.” She turned the idea over and over. At the heart of her desperate situation was the certainty that she had to do something herself to derail Carson’s planning. She had tried unsuccessfully to rely on Foster, Nicholas, and the police. All that remained that she still dared count on was Dino, her rough, muscular diamond, and her own limited resourcefulness. She hadn’t the mental stamina any longer for detailed planning and the patient weighing of risks against benefits. She had to act!
    The longer she thought, the better Dino’s idea seemed. Finally she looked up at him. “Okay, let’s do it!”
    “All right!”
    “I won’t feel safe till we’re on the road.” She managed what she hoped was a brave smile.
    “Don’t even pack. Let’s just get up and go.”
    “Yes!”
    This breakthrough to potential safety triggered a flash of revelation. Niggling behind her other worries was anxiety over exactly what means Carson would finally use to crush her resistance. Tran’s death hadn’t done it. In a burst of insight she guessed what avenue he would take to make her submit.
    Melody!
    “We have to get Melody out of school right away!” she blurted. “Carson is going to kidnap her!”
    Dino was startled. “Why do you think—”
    “I just know it! I should have realized it earlier.” She was aware her voice was a near-shriek. Her child in his hands...
    “Where’s she go to school?”
    She told him, halfway across the city.
    “Send somebody for her, then. Somebody you can trust.”
    Marylou. No, Stoneman Gore. He was used to being told what to do. She looked at her watch. Early afternoon. The school day was staggered because of overcrowding. Melody was in the second wave. She would be safe there until Stoneman could get to her. She hurried to the phone. Her