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Show 82. the last ten miles of the storm. That gave JD time to find about seventy good reasons why they shouldn't go through with this, but Chic had vetoed all of them. "It's going to work. Just think. Relief from your anxieties. Get your head together again, old friend." The boys pulled off their boots, then tiptoed upstairs to Stephanie's room. She definitely didn't want to be disturbed. "Shuddup," she mumbled at first, then "Go wan!" with a little more force, pushing JD away. Chic started laughing. Finally, JD got her to sit up and, in whispers, told her their plan. "I'll be ri' down," she said and shoved them out the door, JD and Chic had time to split a bottle of milk and finish a pack of soda crackers before Stephanie joined them in jeans and a sweat shirt. She was pulling a comb through her hair when she came into the kitchen. She crossed to the coat rack, lifted her parka off the hook and moved towards the back door like she'd been programmed. "Le's go," she said. She hadn't looked at either of them. Outside she waded into the deep snow with sneakers and bare ankles without even flinching. JD poked Chic and laughed as they followed her to the car. "She's sleepwalking," he said. "I swear it! We've got her body but her brain's back on the pillowi" The shop was just as Chic had promised. Warm. Too warm, really. Perfect for getting drowsy. The time was right, too. Middle of the night. If JD didn't resist, Chic thought, he could put him under in fifteen minutes. Chic had JD sit in a wicker lounge chair that Tom Crawford's wife had brought in for repair and never picked up. A broad, bucket-like affair, it was the only comfortable seat in the place. Stephanie took over the high stool at the workbench, ducking to miss the overhead bulb. Chic upended a wooden crate and stationed himself directly in front of JD. "Let me explain," Chic began, looking first at Stephanie, then at her brother. "There's no danger to you at all. You trust me, right? If you allow yourself to go into a deep sleep you'll soon relive seeing the UFO. When we're finished, I'll simply count to three and you'll be awake." |