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.No doubt, Lincoln realized, the owner of that voice was looking through from his side, trying to identify the callers.Apparently, that was exactly what Waid was counting on, too.Lincoln was startled when a dazzling light burst from her silver eyes.It was very swift and very bright, like a camera flash.Even though she was facing away from him, the backwash off the glossy wooden door was enough to send spots scurrying across his vision."Open the door, Lincoln," she ordered, stepping back.Taking his turn at the lead, Lincoln grumbled, "That’s ‘Powerhouse,’ please," as he gave the door a casual shove.It cracked on either side of his hand, but it also snapped right off the doorframe.It struck whoever was on the other side harder than he would have preferred, but it got the job done.Waid rolled her eyes as Graham gave a mean-spirited chuckle."Sure, kiddo," she purred as she moved past him and into the house."Whatever you say."Once inside, Lincoln quickly realized that the man underneath the unfettered door wasn’t moving.Fearful that he’d hurt him more than he’d thought, Lincoln reached down and tossed the heavy wood to one side."Jesus!" he cried, jumping back when he spotted the PCA badge.But the man still wasn’t moving.His eyes were open, and he was posed as he had probably been when he’d peered through the peephole — he hadn’t moved a muscle, even when Lincoln knocked him down.A high-tech looking firearm rested in the man’s left hand, but it was now a useless trinket in his paralyzed fingers.Well, he thought, now I know what those silver eyes of hers can do.Another pop-flash, followed closely by a woman’s scream, echoed from deeper inside the house — Lincoln’s partners had not waited for him.He rushed forward into the living room just as the smell of ozone and a horrendously loud crack of lightning assailed his senses.There were two more P C Agents present in the house, but Waid and Graham had already dealt with them, each in their characteristic, paranormal fashion.Linda Nolan, a fifty-something woman wearing nothing but her nightgown and an open robe, cowered in the corner.The television continued to offer the late-evening news until Graham silenced it with another miniature lightning bolt.Nolan screamed again."Shut up," Waid muttered, annoyed.Her eyes flashed once more, and Nolan froze solid, like a DVD on Pause.Her eyes wide, her hands splayed, her mouth open.so far as Lincoln could tell, she was barely breathing."Any others?" Graham asked, peering carefully around a corner."Don’t the PCA usually work in pairs?""Not this time, I guess," Waid answered with a shrug."McLane said there would only be three.But we should expect company soon.""Then we’d better hurry," Lincoln pitched in.As the others looked on in surprise, Lincoln stepped forward and knelt before their frozen target."Can she hear me?" he asked over his shoulder."Yyeeeeaaaahhhh," Waid drawled, as though she were uncertain where he was going with this."All right, Ms.Nolan," Lincoln barked in a ludicrous tough-guy voice.Nolan, of course, did not react."We understand you’ve got a court appointment coming up pretty soon.You’re going to forget about that, get it? You’re going to tell the DA that you won’t be testifying, see? You’re going to—""I don’t believe this guy!" Graham suddenly interrupted with an all-new burst of his trademark laughter."Powerhouse," Waid asked, his codename dripping with sarcasm, "just what do you think you’re doing?"Lincoln was baffled."I’m.I’m doing what we were sent here to do.""Oh, please!" Graham bellowed, stepping around him so that he was standing directly over Nolan."You’re killing me!" Raising his hand, he shot one of his electrical bolts directly into the woman’s face.Her hair stood on end, her flesh immediately welted.and her eyes burst from her head.Then her hair caught fire.Screaming, Lincoln fell over backward and scrambled away from the ghastly sight."What are you doing?!" he cried, gasping in shock."What do you think, you moron!" Graham yelled back.No more simple mockery — he was sincerely disgusted by Lincoln this time."Is this some TV show to you?! Huh?! You really thought we’d just tell her to keep her mouth shut and she actually would?! She already agreed to testify once, stupid! You really gonna trust her to just roll over now?!" He glared at his masked partner a moment later, then shook his hands as though to brush something filthy away."Waid, how much juice did you give’em?""The usual.They’re not moving for at least another ten minutes or more.""All right.Go bring the car up front — take stupid here with you.I’ll finish up."Waid, who was slightly more sympathetic than Graham, gently touched Lincoln’s shoulder."Come on, kiddo.You won’t want to stick around for this." That was the end of her coddling, though, as she left him where he was — sitting on his ass, his heart thundering in his chest so fiercely that he could barely breathe.Graham gave Nolan one more bolt, this one aimed at her chest.He glanced around and sent another small one into the drapes, which caught fire even quicker than Nolan’s hair and robe.The next one leaped into the bookcase.Now, as Lincoln slowly grasped the true nature of his situation, he was able to figure out what Graham was up to.He’s going to burn the house down.Burn it down with the P C Agents still inside, alive and conscious, but paralyzed
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