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His exuberance didn’t abate on the drive home. “I promise you’ll get a treat as soon as we get inside,” she told him as they got out of the car. “Just please calm down.” Since someone had taken the parking space in front of her townhouse, she’d had to settle on another, half a block away.

“Cronkite, please!” Ninety pounds of dog strained at the leash. Knowing he was close to home, where a treat awaited, he was nearly in a frenzy.

“Okay, okay.” Barrie removed the leash from his collar. It was either that or be dragged along behind him. Once freed, he went airborne for a millisecond, then bounded down the street, his nails clicking on the pavement.

“Go in through your doggie door,” she called after him.

She leaned into the backseat to retrieve her satchel and luggage.

The concussion of the blast struck her like a giant hand and knocked her backward to the ground.

A gigantic fireball burst into the night sky, washing the entire neighborhood with the eerie red glow of hell.

“Ohmygodmygodmygod.” She managed to get onto all fours. For several seconds, she could only gape at the inferno half a block away where her townhouse had stood. Black smoke roiled above it, blotting out a quarter moon.

For several moments, she was too stunned to move. Then adrenaline kicked in. Swaying drunkenly, she came to her feet and began running down the sidewalk. At least she tried to run. Actually it was more a stumble-lurch.

“Cronkite!” Her scream was little more than a croak. “Cronkite! Here, boy!”

She was unaware of the heat as she staggered up the brick walkway that had led to her front door.

“Lady, are you crazy!”

Restraining hands caught her from behind and held her back.

“Somebody help me,” a man called out. “She’s trying to go inside.”

Then several pairs of hands were on her, holding her back. She struggled, but to no avail. They dragged her across the street and into a neighbor’s yard, out of harm’s way. She tried to make herself understood, but could only sob. “Cronkite. Cronkite.”

“I think Cronkite’s her dog.”

“Not anymore. If he was in that house, he’s…”

“Does anybody know what happened?”

“Whose house was it?”

Barrie was only vaguely aware of the voices around her. Neighbors poured from their houses. The sidewalk and street were now crowded with gawkers. From a distance came the wail of sirens.

When her well-meaning neighbors were sure that Barrie wasn’t going to barge into the conflagration, they released her and drifted away to watch the fire. She shrank back into the hedgerow between lawns and watched in horror as her property continued to disintegrate. No one paid any attention to her. The bystanders were chattering among themselves, trying to piece together the sequence of events.

“Here come the fire trucks. Can they get through?”

“I hope they hose down our roofs.”

“Was anyone inside?”

“Only a pet. Somebody said it was the owner’s dog.”

Unheard, Barrie whimpered, “Cronkite.”

That was her last word before a large hand clamped over her mouth and she was yanked backward through the hedge.

She screamed, or tried to, but the hand across her mouth only increased its pressure. Barrie dug her heels into the neighbor’s backyard grass, but her captor jerked her off her feet. When they reached the alley behind the house, she kicked his shins hard enough to make him relax his hold, but she was free only long enough to fall and skin her knees on the pavement. She screamed, but there was no way her scream could have been heard above the racket and confusion of the crowds and emergency vehicles.

She scrambled to regain her footing, but once again was swept up into a breath-stealing bear hug. “Shut up or I’ll hurt you.”

Believing him, she put up no more resistance as she was dragged through another yard, then another alley, and another yard. Finally they reached a car parked at the curb two streets away from hers.