about what was going on though. I glanced into his eyes and thought I caught a hint of sympathy. But not enough to call off his bulldog partner. The nasty guy held his pistol on me. It was an old-style revolver with a long barrel. It wasnât high-tech, but Iâm sure it could get the job done.
âHow did you find us?â I asked while crawling backward.
âWe got eyes everywhere,â said the nasty one, with a touch of cockiness. âYou can run, but you canât hide.â
âWhy are you after us?â I asked.
âI got nothing against you,â Nasty said. âBut my associate is another story.â
His associate. Who was that? Saint Dane? I wanted to keep these guys talking. Maybe I could use my Traveler hypnosis on him. But that would be tough, seeing as I was too scared to think straight, let alone concentrate enough to use mind powers I wasnât even sure I knew how to use in the first place.
âYou have the wrong guy,â I said with desperation, though I knew he probably had the exact right guy.
The gangster bent down and stuck the muzzle of the gun in my face. âWinn Farrow donât make mistakes like that.â
Winn Farrow. Who was Winn Farrow?
More important, why did he want us killed? It was then that I saw something move out of the corner of my eye. It was Spader. He was behind the gangsters. I tried not to look at him because that would give him away.
âIâ¦I donât know any Winn Farrow,â I said.
Spader cautiously moved behind one of the sofas that was standing on end.
âIâm not here to argue with you, sonny boy, Iâm here to tell you how itâs gonna be. Donât go sticking your nose where it donât belong,â he said. âIf somebody gets in Winn Farrowâs way, he wonât be there for long, if you catch my drift.â
The sofa behind the gangsters started to move. Spader was going to topple it over on them. I had to use every ounce of willpower to keep the gangstersâ eyes on me.
âOkay, I hear you. Can I ask you a question though?â
âWhat?â
âCan I have my ring back?â
The question caught the gangsters off guard. They both looked at me as if I were nuts. Here they were putting onthis big strong-arm intimidation show, and all I cared about was my ring. It confused them. Good. It was the perfect time for Spader to make his move. But it didnât exactly work out that way.
Instead, the nasty gangster got this evil gleam in his eye and said, âThe hell with orders. Iâm gonna end this right here.â
Uh-oh. He pulled the hammer back on his revolver. I willed Spader to hurry.
He did.
With a giant shove, the sofa came toppling over. The big couch first nailed the nervous guy, then continued down to take out Mr. Nasty. The gangsters didnât know what hit them. I had barely enough time to roll out of the way before the two thugs hit the floor in a pile of gangster and sofa. I sprang to my feet and dove over the pile toward Spader.
âWhat took you so long?â I shouted at him.
âIt was heavy!â
âCâmon!â I bolted out of the room with Spader right behind me. Those gangsters were going to be back on their feet in seconds, and I didnât want to be anywhere close when that happened. We ran down the hall, turned right, and blasted for the elevators. I hit the button and looked to see that the needle pointed to â1.â Bad news. I looked over the second elevator. That needle pointed to â30.â Worse news. We were on 6. Not even close.
âCâmon, câmon!â I coaxed the elevators while furiously hitting the buttonâ¦not that it would do any good.
âWhoâs Winn Farrow?â Spader asked. âIs it Saint Dane?â
âI donât know. Maybe,â I answered breathlessly. âBut those guys were only supposed to give us a warning and they decided to kill us.â
âYou