f--"

"--as if they were getting ready for something," Nora said. "Do you
suppose they're going to move south?"

Davis said, "I'm not going to kill you here. We're going down stairs."

The pivotal moment, hinged in Jim Wilson's mind, that could have changed
the situation, had come and gone. The fine edge of additional madness
that would make a man hurl himself at a loaded gun, was dulled. Leroy
Davis motioned pre-emptorily toward Minna.

"You first--then the other babe. You walk side by side down the hall
with the men behind you. Straight down to the lobby."

They complied without resistance. There was only Jim Wilson's scowl,
Frank Brooks' clouded eyes, and the white, taut look of Nora.

Nora's mind was not on the gun. It was filled with thoughts of the pale
maniac who held it. He was in command. Instinctively, she felt that
maniacs in command have one of but two motivations--sex and murder. Her
reaction to possible murder was secondary. But what if this man insisted
upon laying his hands upon her. What if he forced her into the age old
thing she had done so often? Nora shuddered. But it was also in her mind
to question, and be surprised at the reason for her revulsion. She
visualized the hands upon her body--the old familiar things, and the
taste in her mouth was one of horror.

She had never experienced such shrinkings before. Why now. Had she
herself changed? Had something happened during the night that made the
past a time of shame? Or was it the madman himself? She did not know.

Nora returned from her musings to find herself standing in the empty
lobby. Leroy Davis, speaking to Frank, was saying, "You look kind of
tricky to me. Put your hands on your head. Lock your fingers together
over your head and keep your hands there."

Jim Wilson was standing close to the mute Minna. She had followed all
the orders without any show of anger, with no outward expression. Always
she had kept her eyes on Jim Wilson. Obviously, whatever Jim ordered,
she would have done without question.

Wilson leaned his head down toward her. He said, "Listen, baby, there's
something I keep meaning to ask but I always forget it. What's your last
name?"

"Trumble--Minna Trumble. I thought I told you."

"Maybe you did. Maybe I didn't get it."

Nora felt the hysteria welling again. "How long are you going to keep
doing this?" she asked.

Leroy Davis cocked his head as he looked at her. "Doing what?"

"Play cat and mouse like thi