Chapter 22 Chapter 21

Dawn in Chicago, the air heavy, the sky dark and low. A security guard came out of the lobby of the Tattler's office building.Stand on the side of the road.Rubbing his waist while smoking a cigarette.He was alone on the entire street, and it was so quiet that he could even hear the sound of the traffic light changing on the hilltop a block away. Half a block north of the traffic light, out of sight of security.Francis Dollard squatted beside Lounds in his car.He made the blanket just over Lounds' head. Lounds endured great pain.He appeared to be unconscious.But his mind was racing like lightning.There are many things he must remember.The blindfold stretched across his nose, and he could see Dollard examining the shelled gag with his fingers.

Dollard put on a medical orderly's white coat, put a thermos under Lounds' knee, and wheeled Lounds out of the van.Lounds could see the end of the bumper through the slit under the visor as he locked the wheels and put the ladder back in the car. Turning his head, looking at his bumper...well, the license plate number.With just one glance, Lounds firmly etched the number into memory. Push the wheelchair.Cross the pedestrian crossing.Came to a corner and got off the curb.There was paper rattling under the wheel.Dolard parked the wheelchair in the shelter between the trash can and a van.There is some rubbish on the ground.He changed the blindfold.Lounds closed his eyes.An ammonia bottle was placed under his nose.

A soft voice rang in his ear. "Can you hear me? You're almost there." The blindfold was removed. "Blink, if only you could hear me." Dolard parted his eyelids with his thumb and forefinger, and he looked into Dolard's face. "I told you a little lie," he tapped on the thermos. "I didn't freeze your lips." He lifted the blanket and opened the thermos. When Lounds smelled gasoline, he struggled so hard that the skin came off his forearms and the sturdy wheelchair creaked.Gasoline made him cold, and the smell of oil choked his throat and spread to the middle of the street.

"Would you like being Graham's pet, F-Ray-Dee?" The wheelchair ignited with a bang and was pushed out with a jerk, its wheels creaking as it rushed toward the building where the Tattler was located. Lounds squirted the gag out with a scream, and the security guard looked up at the sound.He saw a ball of fire approaching, turning to a pothole in the road, smoke, sparks, and flames blown by the wind like two wings of the fire ball, and the shop windows reflected the flames as if they were also rising. The fireball swerved and hit a parked car, flipping over in front of an office building, one wheel spinning skyward, flames bursting from the spokes.The arms with the flames were raised upwards, trying to fight with the posture of a burnt person.

Security ran into the lobby.He wondered if the fireball would explode, if he should jump out of the window and escape.He sounded the fire alarm.What else should I do?He yanked the fire extinguisher off the wall and looked out.The fireball hasn't exploded yet. The security guard approached it cautiously through the smoke, using a fire extinguisher to spray low on the sidewalk before finally spraying Lounds with life-saving foam.