A frightened man who has just made his own situation catastrophically worse is the most dangerous kind of man there is.

“Christopher is not going to stop now,” I said, and my voice shook.

“He can’t.

If he was in a hurry before, he’ll be desperate now.” “No,” Raymond agreed grimly.

“He will not stop.” And then something changed in him, some last piece of the helpless patient falling away to reveal the man who had built an empire out of nothing.

He extended his right hand toward me, steady now.