They were not ten feet apart, yet Kent had not heard him.
Mercer stopped.

The cane dropped from his hand.

Even in the starlight Kent could see his face turn white.
"Don't make a sound, Mercer," he warned.

"I'm taking a little exercise in the open air.

If you cry out, I'll kill you!" He advanced slowly, speaking in a voice that could not have been heard at the windows behind him.