"Brian," Bryn began, desperately trying to sound calm. "Honey, did you hear anything tonight? Did you see anything? Do you know where your brother--''

She didn't finish her sentence, because the phone began to ring. "Go back to sleep, Brian," she said, her tone faint as a feeling of sickness clutched at her abdomen and almost doubled her over. "I'll turn out the light."

She hurried to do so, then gathered her failing strength and rushed back into the hall to race down the stairs. Barbara was ready to reach for the phone. "Don't answer it!" Bryn shrilled out.

Barbara paused as she took a look at her friend's panicked face. Bryn swept by her, half sobbing. "Barb, we have to do it my way! They've got Adam!"

She picked up the phone, shaking too badly to speak for a moment. The caller wasn't deterred. "Miss Keller? Answer me--quickly." "Yes! Yes, I'm here!" Bryn screamed. "And I want him back! I want Adam back right now. You bring him back, or so help me God I'll call the police! I'll kill you with my bare hands--''

"Shut up, and don't get carried away. Yes, we have Adam. And do you know what? He's just fine right now, Miss Keller. He just had a nice fudge sundae and curled up to sleep. We'll continue to take real, real good care of him, Miss Keller. But you don't get him back. Not until I get the pictures. You messed up tonight. I knew you would. You weren't taking me seriously enough. Now you'll take me seriously--and maybe you'lldo it right."

"Oh, God!Don't you understand! I can't get the damned pictures! Condor won't--"

"You are going to get them back from Condor." "I tried...."

The whispered voice suddenly turned to a growl. "You didn't try hard enough. You ran away. You see, Miss Keller, I know your type. I know what you did. I even know how you think. I see everything. So don't mess with me, eh? And keep your mouth shut, you understand? I wouldn't want to have to return your little boy in bits and pieces."

"I tried!" Bryn pleaded again. "I would have done anything--''

"Like I said, Miss Keller, try harder. It's rumored that Condor has a real thing for you. And I have faith, Miss Keller. A woman with your obvious assets can get a man where she wants him. Do it.And soon."

"You knocked out my friend," Bryn charged the caller bitterly. "She wants me to call the police--" "If she's your friend, she won't." "But--" "Get the pictures, Miss Keller.Quickly. You're running out of time." The phone went dead in Bryn's hand.Dead. What a word. Oh, God, what was she going to do? She felt a hand on her shoulder and she almost jumped through the roof. It was just Barb. Bryn covered her face with her hands and burst into tears.

Barbara put an arm around her and led her to sit at the kitchen table. "Where's the brandy?"

"Under the sink."

Barbara stuck a snifter full of the fiery liquid beneath Bryn's nose. "Drink it all down at once. All of it."

Bryn did as she was told. She choked, and her throat burned, but she managed to stop crying.

"Okay, now. Let me hear this whole story."

In a dull monotone Bryn told Barbara everything, starting with the strange man who had appeared on her

porch offering her five thousand dollars for the photos. She told her about the darkroom, and about all the phone calls--and about her catastrophic efforts to win back the proofs that night.

"It's simple," Barbara said. "You've got to tell Lee."

"No!" Bryn wailed. "I can't! That's one of the main things this person keeps telling me! Not to tell Lee."

"Because he's probably afraid of Lee.Honey, when he's got Adam, he has you by the nose. But if you just tell Lee, he'll give you the pictures back. He'd never jeopardize the life of a little boy."

"But he might try! He might be furious about all this and determined to catch these people. Oh, Barbara. I can't take the chance. Not now! They have Adam!"

"Lee's no fool, Bryn. He'd handle things discreetly." "I just can't risk it, Barbara! Someone managed to break into my darkroom in broad daylight and rip it to shreds. Tonight, he or she broke in here, knocked you out and abducted Adam--all without a sound! Barb, look. The lock was picked. It seems this person can come and go at will. And I think he knows where I am and where I go. I just can't take a chance, Barbara. Oh, please! You've got to help me! We've just got to do this my way!"

Barbara lowered her lashes,then looked at Bryn squarely. "You're taking another risk, you know."

Bryn swallowed. She knew what Barbara meant, but she had to ask. "What are you talking about?"

"If these people are that ruthless, Adam is in danger no matter what you do."

Bryn shook her head. "All they want is thepictures, I can't let myself believe that they would hurt Adam."

"What are you going to tell his brothers?"

"That...that...he went to stay with your sister."

"I don't have a sister."

"You do now."

Barbara sighed. "All right, Bryn. Adam is your nephew; I can't make you do what would terrify you,

even if I do think that the police should be called in. But what are you going to do?" "I've tried charm, now I'm going to try robbery." "What?" "I'm going to break into his house tomorrow night." "Oh, God in heaven!Now you really have gone crazy!" "No, no, Barbara! I was in the house tonight,remember ? There's a little alcove off the living room with his desk and business papers and the like.And a file cabinet. The proofs have to be there somewhere."

"Marvelous. What if he has a burglar alarm?"

"He doesn't...at least, I'm almost certain he doesn't. And I went through the house. There's a den

window that was open tonight. I'm sure I can slip through it."

"This is insane."

"I'm desperate, Barbara!"

Barbara shook her head. "I still say it's insane. You're going to wind up in jail, and then what will

happen?"

"I won't wind up in jail," Bryn said with far more confidence than she felt.

Barbara sighed. "Pass the brandy, will you please? This is going to be a long night. And somehow we're

both going to have to show up for work tomorrow morning."

Bryn poured Barbara a stiff brandy,then poured another one for herself. God bless Barbara!she thought

in sudden meditation. She'd been knocked unconscious, dragged into terror and now showed no signs of deserting the ship. At least Bryn now had a sympathetic shoulder to lean on....

"How many brandies to you think it will take us to get to sleep?"

Bryn grimaced."The bottle."

But ten bottles of brandy wouldn't have allowed her to sleep that night. All she could think about was Adam. If she could only hold him now, she would promise him that he could shoot peas across any restaurant that he wanted for the rest of his life....

Oh, Adam! Please come home. Dear God, please let him come home....

Before Andrew neared the door of theFultonplace, he could hear the drums. A heavy rock beat was being pounded out, and he pictured Lee before he saw him; face set in a grim mask, biceps and pectorals straining and bulging with the muscular force needed to create such driving thunder from the drums.

He was right. But as soon as he opened the door, Lee stopped pounding. He waseither angry , brooding or puzzled, Andrew knew, but no matter what his state, he wouldn't abuse a friend.

The cymbals crashed together as Lee rose and came to the balcony railing to wave at him."Hey, Andrew. You're early."

"I've been trying to call you all morning."

Lee shrugged. "I've been here. Why? Has something happened?' '

"I'm not sure."

Lee left the railing and came pelting down the stairs. "Coffee is on. Let's get some, and you tell me what you mean."

A few minutes later, Andrew had already gulped down one cup of coffee and had begun on another, leaning against the table in the den.

"Last night, as you know, was my turn to watch Bryn's house again. I had a few errands to run first, but I didn't worry about time too much because you had told me Bryn would be coming over to your house. I figured the earliest she could get home would be about ten, so I planned to get there about nine-thirty.

But she was already home--at least her van was in the drive--when I got there."

"She left early," Lee said dryly. "Please, Andrew, go on. What happened?"

"Well, nothing, really.Nothing happened, I mean. It was just strange. The lights never went off. Barbara didn't leave, and the television stayed on all night."

Lee frowned, and then shrugged. "Maybe they stayed up talking and fell asleep with the TV and the lights on."

"Maybe," Andrew said, but his look was dubious. "I have a feeling, and intuition, that something did happen before I got there."

Lee was silent for a minute; then he said, "Andrew, don't worry about it, there's probably nothing wrong."

"I should have been there earlier."

"Don't worry about it. It sure as hell isn't your fault that Bryn left my place early."

Andrew still appeared unhappy, but he asked, "What about your place last night?"

"No one came in last night; they waited until I left this morning."

"How do you know that?"

'"Cause Maria just called. And she knows my habits like she knows the Psalms. She's been keeping that

place for five years now. She wanted to know why there was a file on my desk. She knows I always keep them in the cabinets."

"And you didn't leavea rile on your desk?"

"No."

"You know, Lee, maybe we can't handle this thing. Maybe we need to get some security men in or something."

Lee shook his head. "I still don't know for what. The police would laugh me out of their office and tell me I'm a paranoid 'star.' I could hire private detectives, but something tells me not to right now. Nothing has really happened--that I know about. I don't want to just catch some flunky prowling around my house. I want to know what's going on."

Andrew yawned. "Well, I bloody well hope we find out soon. I could use a week of solid sleep. Oh, by the way. How did your date go?" "It didn't. As you know, she left early." "Oh, sorry." "So was I. Sorry enough to wish I had made a bargain." "What?"

"Never mind.Thanks for helping me keep up the vigil, Andrew."

"No problem--" Andrew began. He broke off as they heard the front door open. From the den they could see that a tall figure was silhouetted in the doorway.

"Condor?"

Lee looked puzzled; then he frowned as he realized who the man was. "What in hell does he want?" he asked Andrew.

"He who?"Andrew demanded softly.

"It's that damned politician. Remember, the guy from the country club. He said he wanted to see what

we had done here, and like an idiot, I told him to stop by anytime." "Public relations," Andrew reminded him dryly. "Yeah, public relations!"