It was very frustrating because he was so sure that Anana and his two friends, if they were still alive, were behind one of the ten gates.
The telephone rang. Kickaha was startled but quickly recovered. He picked up the phone and carried it over to di Angelo and put the receiver at a distance between both their ears. Di Angelo did not need to be told what was expected of him. He said, “Hello!”
The voice that answered was Ramos’.
“Di Angelo? Just a minute.”
The next voice was that of the man Kickaha had talked to when he thought he was speaking to Red Orc. This must be Urthona, and whatever it was that had brought him out in the open had to be something very important. The only thing that would do that would be a chance to get Red Orc.
“Angelo? I’m getting an alarm transmission here. It’s coming from my office. Did you know that?”
Kickaha shook his head and di Angelo said, “No, sir.”
“Well, someone is in my office. Where are you?”
“In the kitchen, sir,” di Angelo said.
“Get up there and find out what’s going on,” Urthona said. “I’ll leave this line open. And I’m sending over men from the warehouse to help you. Don’t take any chances. Shoot to kill unless you’re dead certain you can get the drop on him. You understand?”
“Yes, sir,” di Angelo said.
The phone clicked. Kickaha did not feel triumphant. Urthona must realize that anyone in the office could have picked up the phone to listen in. He knew this cut down any chance of di Angelo’s surprising the intruder and meant that the reinforcements would have to be rushed over as swiftly as possible.
Kickaha taped di Angelo’s mouth and locked him in the closet. He then destroyed the control panel for the gates with a flash from the beamer. If Urthona meant to transfer his other prisoners-if he had any -or to do anything to them, he would be stopped for a while. He would have to build another panel-unless he had some duplicates in storage.
His next step was to get out of the house quickly and down to the railroad station, where the Horn was in a locker. He wished that he could have gotten the Horn first, because then he might have been able to use it unhindered. Now, Urthona would be certain to guard his house well.
Kickaha had to leave the house and go downtown. He decided to cache the beamer on the estate grounds. He found a depression in the ground behind a large oleander bush near the wall. The estate was excellently gardened; there were no loose leaves or twigs with which to cover the weapon. He placed it in the depression and left it there. He also decided to leave the gun which he had taken from di Angelo. It was too bulky to conceal under his shirt.
He left without incident except having to return to the beamer’s hiding place so he could use it to burn through the lock on the iron gate that was the exit to the street. This was set in a high brick wall with spikes on top. The guardhouse by the big iron gate to the driveway was unoccupied, apparently because Urthona had pulled everybody except di Angelo from the house. There were controls in the guardhouse, and he easily identified those that worked both gates. But the power or the mechanisms had been shut off, and he did not want to take the time to return to the house to question di Angelo. He burned through the lock mechanism and pushed the gate open. Behind him, a siren began whooping and he could see lights flashing on the control board in the guardhouse. If the noise continued, the police would be called in. Kickaha smiled at that thought. Then he lost his smile. He did not want the police interfering any more than Urthona did.
After hiding the beamer behind the bush again, he walked southward. After five blocks, he came to Sunset. He was apprehensive that a police car might notice him, because he understood that any pedestrians in this exclusive and extremely wealthy neighborhood were likely to be stopped by the police. Especially at night.