The guards were evidently well aware of that power because his hands were manacled and his ankles chained so that he could walk with only a shuffling gait. One of the guards said something to Falkner and then pushed him to start him down the street. Falkner turned and looked at him. It was just a stare, but the guard faltered and then started to curse as he prodded Falkner with his automatic rifle.

Great stuff, Ronnie thought absently as she continued filming. She could almost hear the voice-over-Falkner, dominant even in captivity.

The three men were heading toward her, their destination the house at the end of the block. She was located at the halfway point. Reluctandy she turned off the camcorder and put it in her camera bag.

The men were now a hundred yards from where she stood.

Bracing herself, Ronnie reached behind her, silendy opened the door she had previously oiled, and took the smoke grenade from her jacket pocket.

Fifty yards.

She cast an anxious glance at the second-story window across the street. Mohammed had betterbe as good a shot as Evan had said. He would have to pick off both guards within a matter of seconds to keep them from turning on Falkner.

Five yards.

She pulled the pin from the smoke grenade with her teeth.

The first shot!

The guard on the far side of Falkner fell to the ground.

She hurled the smoke bomb down the street.

The sickening thunkof a bullet hitting flesh as Mohammed's second bullet struck the remaining guard.

Billows of smoke suddenly obscured everything in the narrow street.

She darted out of the alcove. Her hand grasped Falkner's arm. "Hurry!"

He didn't question her. "Right." He let her pull him into the alcove and through the open doorway.

She slammed the door, shot the bolt, and then moved down the corridor. "Follow me. We have two minutes before the men from the house will get here and another two minutes before the smoke clears enough for them to start a search. There's a trapdoor in the basement that leads to a fruit cellar. I've cut an exit out of the cellar thatleads to a storm drain." She fired the words as she hurried down a curving staircase, then into the basement. "Can you manage a ladder in those chains?"