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am the
Rajah, he through whom heaven shall be made on earth. I am the mightiest of
mightiest, and nations shall tremble before me."
"You were a cheap hustler in a carnival," Frank interrupted. He was suddenly
very tired and short-tempered. "Your name was Mikey Hadley when Shakey Leland
found you pitching fortunes for a couple of dollars a shot.
"He must have been pretty impressed with your talent. Then again, I hear you
were a fair hypnotist, and Leland was smart enough to know the time was ripe
for a new religion."
"No," said the Rajah.
"Yes," Frank continued. "So you and Leland bought a little land and started
preaching, preying on poor, lost kids who had run away from home. You promised
them heaven, but you just made them your brainwashed slaves."
"It was my divine right," the Rajah said.
"But you never told Leland what you were really up to, did you? You kept your
eyes open for Holly, because you knew someday she'd walk into your trap, or
you would lure her in or drag her in, and then you could carry out your plans.
139
"But Leland was smart enough to see that your revenge scheme would blow the
good scam you two had. So you' killed him to keep him from getting in the way.
Right?"
"Silence!" the Rajah raged. His hands shook as he squeezed them into fists.
Emmett Strand stared dumbly at Frank. "What are you talking about?" he asked,
but a look of terrible understanding began to steal over his face. The past
was coming back to
Strand, and it terrified him.
Frank stared into Holly's eyes. What he was saying fascinated her, but he
could see that she was frightened, too, and in that state she was capable of
anything.
He reached over and took the knife from her hand. She didn't try to hold on to
it.
"The Rajah never told you his real name, did he?" Frank asked her. "Not the
name he was using when Leland found him. His real name."
"Stop!" the Rajah shouted. "I command it!"
Frank ignored him. "I saw his birth certificate, Holly. Michael's his second
name. Hadley is his mother's last name.
"His name is Paul Michael Strand."
"Mary Hadley had a son?" Emmett Strand said in disbelief. Tears welled up in
his eyes.
Page 56
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"I never knew. ... I never knew. . . ."
"You knew!" the Rajah shrieked. Despite his size, he no longer seemed the
nearly omnipotent figure he had appeared to be just moments before.
140
He looked like an angry little boy, and years of rage crackled in his voice.
"My mother wasn't good enough for you! You had to go off and run your bank and
make lots of money, and you didn't care about us or anyone else. All you cared
about was your money."
"It's not true," Strand said. "I didn't know. Do you mean all these years you
thought that I-? Oh, you poor boy. My poor son. "
"I don't want your pity, old man!" the Rajah said. "I don't need it."
"You've got nothing else, Paul," Frank said.
"Your followers have left you. You're wanted by the police. Give it up."
To Frank's surprise, the Rajah smiled. "You think you have power over me
because you've discovered my secret? The voices still speak to me." He tapped
two fingers on his forehead. "They have told me my future, and it is good."
He stretched out his hand to Holly. "Come with me, little sister."
She looked to Frank, but though she moved her lips, no words came out. She was
confused, Frank realized. She was in shock, and he wasn't sure what to do.
Before anyone could move, Holly stepped over to the Rajah and took his hand.
"No!" Frank screamed, but it was too late.
The Rajah spun her as soon as her fingers touched his. As she twirled into
him, his arm wrapped around her neck and shoulders, holding
141
her there. A hand disappeared into his silk robe and came out a second later,
holding a gun. He pressed the barrel of the gun against Holly's temple.
"Now," the Rajah said, "I will have my re venge.
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Chapter
18
"LET HER GO!" Frank shouted at the Rajah. "It's all over. You've lost."
The Rajah's mouth twitched in anger. Then his lips curled into a vicious
smile.
Madness glazed his eyes...
"My father has sinned, and he must pay," the Rajah said. "Vengeance is mine,
sayeth the Lord. From this day, I am the Lord, and I shall avenge."
Firmly holding Holly, he turned the gun on Frank. "You thought you could trick
me, but I know. Call in the others."
"What others?" Frank asked.
"You came with three others, your brother and two boys. Call them in, or this
precious flower will be crushed." The Rajah tightened his grip on Holly.
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He does know! Frank thought. For a moment, he was in the Rajah's grip again, [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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