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through with it? What if he played it out? What would be the reaction of his buddies? Would they, each in their turn, pick up the challenge and continue the game? Would they not in turn feel obligated to reciprocate? To continue on with the game, whether they wanted to or not? Wasn’t it a matter of principle? Sort of a new twist on the old, eye for an eye . . .

His fingers stretched and flexed, as if remembering his Marys.

He smiled to himself, trying to imagine what the reaction of his buddies would be when they realized what he’d done. Shock? Horror? Pleasure? Gratitude? Amusement?

It sure would be interesting to see how it all played out in the end.

As for him, well, Curtis Alan Channing wasn’t about to strike out a third time.

He snapped off the light on the desk and tucked the little notebook into the pocket of his dark jacket and headed off to work. He wanted to be early today, to give himself a little time to go through the phone book and jot down a few addresses and numbers before clocking in for his shift. He needed to set up a little surveillance schedule to focus on the right target. This time, there would be no uh-oh when he turned on the TV or opened the newspaper. There simply would be the sheer satisfaction of having completed his task and completed it well, before moving on to the next name on the list. Which he would most certainly do in short order.

After all, it was his honor that was at stake.

This book contains an excerpt from the forthcoming paperback edition of Dead Wrong by Mariah Stewart. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition.

A Ballantine Book

Published by The Random House Publishing Group

Copyright © 2003 by Marti Robb

Excerpt from Dead Wrong by Mariah Stewart copyright © 2003 by Marti Robb

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by The Random House Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.

Ballantine Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Until Dark is a work of fiction. Names, places, and incidents are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

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eISBN: 978-0-345-46996-0

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