CHAPTER 15The first sound to penetrate that fluid darkness was the barking of the distant dog. It came faintly to Don’s ears over the loud pounding of his own pulse; in the intervals there was a curious roaring in his ears, like the crashing of heavy surf within his skull.
He lay on his back on the floor of the front seat, his head against the foot brake, his legs dangling through the open door by the seat next to the wheel. His legs were cold but for some time he lay motionless, gulping air that burned his lungs like-molten metal, before he realized that he was cold because he had been stripped of his trousers.
He still felt the strangling wire around his throat, put up his hand to tear it away. There was no wire, but when his fingers touched the mark it had cut into his skin, it was li
