Programmed for Peril

than a foot from hers. He was now so near she saw the fine of the cunning mask clinging close even to the edges of green eyes burning with sexual desire.
    Did he want to kiss or strangle her?
    “Carson, why are you doing this? I came... to go away with you and Melody.”
    “Maybe to punish you for leaving.” His voice was a low hiss.
    “No, no. I’m here now, Carson!” She was trying to debate with a madman. “You can’t kill me. You’ll have no one then.”
    “Queen of My Heart, you’ve made me so... sad.” His thumbs squirmed like eels against her windpipe.
    That he wanted to kill her made no sense. Just the same...
    There was absolutely nothing she could do about it.
    That she was to die was terrifying enough. But to have Melody witness it worsened the horror. She found herself whispering, “Don’t kill me in front of my child!”
    “You should have thought of that so many months ago, Queen of My Heart,” he hissed. “I did all in my power to keep you from this moment. But you insisted on defying Carson.”
    She hovered on the edge of the hot crater of hysteria. "Who are you? You’re not Carson! Why are you doing this to me and my daughter?”
    “Far, far too late for questions now, my love. My secret, true, true love!” He spoke with such tenderness! Even close to total panic she understood his utter sincerity. What was happening here? Was she being murdered by someone who loved her? Was he Carson after all?
    His thumbs shoved gently into her throat, hinting at the power in the big hands. She would die by strangling! “Are you sorry for having left me?” he said loudly. “Are you sorry for the anguish you caused me?”
    A tear ran from the comer of his eye.
    She groaned in despair and bafflement. On the bed Melody wailed wordlessly.
    His fingers constricted her throat like a boa. She tried to hit his tender side again. He angled his arm to protect it, lowering his shoulder.
    Beyond it she saw movement!
    The door to the rear stairs was opening. Dust fell from its top. it hadn’t been opened for months. Someone was easing through it.
    Dino!
    He was carrying a heavy stick longer than a beat policeman’s billy club. Oh, Lord, he had followed her! Thank heaven for his stupid brashness! She tried to tear her eyes from him lest she give away his approach. The yellow notepaper carrying Carson’s message and this address was stuck in his shirt pocket. She offered a silent prayer that Melody would contain herself.
    The constriction on her throat increased. Her assailant’s weeping, masked face now filled her field of vision.
    She couldn’t breathe! She twisted and shoved, glimpsing Dino for a moment.
    He puckered his face, demanding her conspiracy. He turned to Melody and put a finger to his lips. His wink was theatrical.
    Trish’s frustrated urge to draw breath hurtled her toward hysteria.
    Dino stood directly behind the curved back of her attacker. She wondered if she had ever been so glad to see another human being.
    He raised his club high.
    Whack him hard as you can, she thought.
    Down came the club on her assailant’s head. And burst.
    A shower of confetti stars exploded from the crumpled tube. Red, gold, silver bits swirled in the air like snow in an old paperweight. Dino struck again. The tube disintegrated into cardboard tatters. Stars whirled in clouds.
    The crushing hands fell from her throat. Dino began to laugh. The man in the Carson mask began to laugh, too. Chuckles gave way to shaky wheezes. Dino waved his arms through the fluttering confetti. Stars clung to his shirt, to the hairs on his forearms where the alligator tattoo writhed above his flailing wrists.
    The two men turned and faced her, howling now with laughter. They threw arms over each other’s shoulders.
    Stars, stars descended on their gleeful faces. Bright bits clung to the tracks of her assailant’s tears.
    Trish moved away from the wall, touching her bruised throat. Stars found her lashes and clung. She turned toward Melody, whose tearstained face trembled with an uncertain grin. “Is... everything all right, Mommy?”
    “I don’t know.” She shook head to toe. “Dino, what’s going on?”
    The man in the Carson mask spoke. “Now you and Carson live happily ever after.”
    “What are you talking about?” Trish’s voice was a nearshriek. “Who are you?”
    “Someone you know,” he said.
    “Who?"
    “But haven’t seen in years. Guess who!”
    “Stop this!”
    He bowed. “Who can’t obey the