The woman was trying to tell him that the man had a knife, but he knew that. He didnt listen to her but focused on the man, focused on his eyes. He couldnt tell their color, not in that light, but he could see a keen manic energy in them, and he let go of his shopping bag and balanced his weight on the balls of his feet and tried to remember something useful from the various bits and pieces of martial arts training hed had over the years.
Hed had classes and one-on-one instruction in kung fu and judo and tae kwon do, along with some Western-style hand-to-hand combat training, though hed never trained in any disciplined fashion, never stayed with any of it for any length of time. But every trainer hed ever known had offered the same instruction when you were unarmed and the other guy had a knife. The thing to do, they all would tell you, was turn around and run like hell.
The chances were considerable, theyd all agreed, that he wouldnt chase you. And Keller was sure that was true with this drooling blond madman. He wouldnt run after Keller, hed stay right where he was and get back to raping the woman.
Keller watched his eyes, and when the man moved, Keller moved. He sprang to the side, kicked high in the air, and caught the wrist of the hand that held the knife. He was wearing sneakers and wished they could have been steel-toed work shoes, but his aim and his timing almost made up for whatever the sneakers lacked, and the knife went flying even as the man roared in pain.
Okay, he said, stepping back, rubbing at his wrist. Okay, you win. Im going.
And he started to back away.
I dont think so, Keller said, and went after him. The guy turned, ready to fight, and swung a roundhouse right that Keller ducked underneath. He straightened up and butted the guy in the chin, and when the guys head snapped back Keller reached out and grabbed hold of it, one hand closing on a fistful of greasy yellow hair, the other cupping the bristly chin.
Keller didnt have to think about what came next. His hands knew what to do, and they did it.
He let go of the man, allowed the body to slip to the ground. A few feet away, the woman was staring, her mouth open, her shoulders heaving.
Time to go, he thought. Time to turn around and slip off into the night. By the time she pulled herself together hed be gone. Who was that masked man? Why, I dont know, but he left this silver bullet
He walked over to the woman, held out a hand. She took it and he drew her to her feet.
My God, she said. You just saved my life.
If there was a response to that, Keller didnt know what it might be. The only ones that came to mind started with Aw, shucks . He stood there with what definitely felt like an Aw shucks look on his face, and she stepped back, took a look at him, and then lowered her eyes to look down on the man at her feet.
We have to call the police, she said.
Im not sure thats such a good idea.
But dont you know who he is? This has to be the man who killed the nurse three nights ago in Audubon Park, raped her and stabbed her ten, twenty times. He fits the description. And thats not the first woman he attacked. He was going to kill me!
But youre safe now, he told her.
Yes, and thank God for that, but that doesnt mean we can let him walk away.
I dont think theres much chance of that.
What do you mean? She took a closer look. What did you do to him? Is he
Im afraid so, yes.
But how can that be? He had a knife, you saw it, it must have been a foot long.
Not quite.
Close enough. She was getting her composure back, he noticed, and more quickly than he would have expected. And you had your bare hands.
Its too warm for gloves.
I dont know what that means.
It was sort of a joke, Keller said. You said I had bare hands, and I said it was too warm to be wearing gloves.
Oh.
It wasnt all that great a joke, he admitted, and explaining it doesnt do a lot to improve it.
No, please, Im sorry, Im just a little slow at the moment. What I meant, of course, is that you didnt have anything in your hands.
I had a shopping bag, he said, and found it and picked it up. But thats not what you meant.
I meant like, you know, a gun or a knife, something like that.
No.
And hes dead? You actually killed him?
She was hard to read. Was she impressed? Horrified? He couldnt tell.
And you just turned up from out of nowhere. If I were some kind of religious crank Id probably figure you were an angel. Well?
Well what?
Well, are you an angel?
Not even close.
I didnt just offend you, did I? Using the term religious crank?
No.
So I guess that means youre not a religious crank yourself, or youd be offended. Well, thank God for that. That was a joke.
I thought it might be.
Its not very funny, she said, but its the best I can do right now, with just my bare hands. Ha! That got a smile out of you, didnt it?
It did.
She took a breath. You know, she said, even if hes dead, were still supposed to call the police, arent we? We cant just leave him here for the Sanitation Department to pick up. Ive got my phone in my purse, Ill just call 911.