Nightrise

there.
    But something had disturbed it. Scott heard a low growling that suddenly rose, loud and threatening. It was coming from the corridor. Jamie looked up. He had never heard Jagger like that before. Scott raised a hand, signaling his brother to stay where he was, then stepped out of the door. And that was when he saw them.
    Two men. One bald, one dark. Both in brown suits. Scott hadn't seen them in the audience but Jamie had. He recognized them at once, knew where they had come from. At the same time, he registered with a shock of disbelief that the bald man was holding a strange-looking gun.
    Scott stared at them. They had seen him the moment he had appeared in the corridor but they couldn't reach him. The dog was between them, its hackles raised and its teeth bared. Jagger was ten years old. It slept most of the time. But now, suddenly, it had changed. It was as if the dog had discovered the savage animal it might once have been. It was about to attack. There could be no doubt of it.
    Scott realized instantly that he and his brother were in danger. He didn't know who the men were or why they were here, but he knew he had to get away and had only seconds in which to do it.
    "Jamie! Come here!"
    He didn't shout the words. He thought them. But it had the same effect. Jamie burst out of the room and saw the two men just as Jagger let out a final snarl and leaped into the air. Banes fired the gun — not a bullet but some sort of dart. It hit Jagger in the neck. The dog screamed. Scott pushed Jamie ahead of him and the two of them began to run. Behind them, Jagger was still arcing toward the two attackers.
    The end of the dart — tufts of black feather — stuck out of the fur below its ear, but it was still conscious, snapping at the two men, snarling and barking. Kyle Hovey cried out as the dog sank its teeth into his arm and began to tear at his flesh. But then Banes got hold of it. His hands clamped down on the animal's head, holding it down against the floor. Jagger tried to reach him, tried to get back onto its feet.
    But then the drug, whatever it was inside the dart, took effect. Its eyes glazed and it lay still.
    The boys still hadn't reached the corner of the corridor. Banes had dropped the gun when he had dealt with the dog but now he snatched it up, aimed, and fired. The dart missed Scott by an inch and bounced off the wall. Banes didn't have time to fire again. The boys had disappeared. White-faced, furious, he turned to Hovey, who was cradling his arm, half buried underneath the unconscious animal.
    "After them!" he hissed.
    Hovey stumbled to his feet. Banes reloaded his gun, pressing two more darts into the chamber. The two men set off even as the stage door clanged open ahead of them.
    Jamie had reached the parking lot between the theatre and the motel. One end led onto Virginia Street with one of the casinos — Circus —just opposite. The other tapered into a narrow alleyway leading to the quieter streets behind. There was nobody in sight. A few cars, belonging to the motel guests, had been left in the lot. The motel office, a box-like room looking out onto the main road, was closed with a no vacancies sign in the window. Jamie came to a halt. The heavy night air seemed to fall onto him, instantly draining his strength. What was going on? Scott had called him…but he had done it telepathically. It had been like a knife going into his head. And then the two men from the audience. One of them with a gun. Jagger…

    "Scott!" he cried out and at once he was angry with himself. He wasn't helping. He had no idea what to do. As always, he depended entirely on his brother.
    Scott wasn't going to let him down. While Jamie stood there doing nothing, he had snatched up a coil of electrical wire that had been left on top of a Dumpster. He had already slammed the stage door shut and was twisting the wire around the handles. Now the door wouldn't open from the inside. He had bought them time. The two men — whoever they were — would have to go around the front.
    "Who are they?" Jamie cried. "I saw them. They were in the theatre. They came twice."
    "Not now," Scott rasped. "We have to move…"
    It was already too late. Even as Jamie watched, a car appeared, a black Mustang racing down the alleyway toward them. There was a driver and another man in the passenger seat, and there could be no doubt that they had been waiting for the boys to come out.
    Jamie froze. Scott leaned down and picked up one of the