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one hand and grasped one of Iola's earlobes, giving it a sharp twist. Iola screamed. Joe felt his knees turn to water and his blood turn to ice.
    Boshevsky was reaching for Iola's other earlobe when the speaker said, "That's enough for the moment. Joe has had a hint of what will happen to Iola if he does not cooperate. Believe me, Joe, what you have just seen cannot compare with Boshevsky's ingenuity and enthusiasm in inflicting pain when he really goes to work. But perhaps you don't believe me. Perhaps you want to see more."
    "No, no more," said Joe. He kept his eyes on Iola and avoided looking at Frank. He didn't want to see how Frank would react to surrender, because Joe was about to give in. He would do anything rather than hear Iola scream like that again. "You win. I'll tell you what you - "
    "Not so fast Joe. Think for a second," said Frank, before Joe could continue. "How do you know this is the real Iola? Remember, these guys specialize in creating doubles." "But her clothes, her voice," said Joe.
    "The clothes would be easy," said Frank. "And clearly they can program voices. That would be no trick with a computer to analyze and reproduce voice prints. They could have tapped our phone to get our voices, and as for Iola, remember how she liked to send tapes instead of letters to her friends? They simply got their hands on one of those tapes."
    Joe wavered. He looked first at Iola, then at Frank. Whom should he believe His brother, or his own eyes and ears?
    "Very good thinking, Frank," said the speaker. "We were told you had a fine deductive mind, and indeed you have. Unfortunately, even the best of minds can be wrong. And fortunately, it will be easy to prove it in this case. Joe, ask Iola anything you want, no matter how personal it is. If she is not able to tell you things that only you and she could know, you are free to believe that this lovely girl is not the girl you love. Do you have any objection to that, Frank?"
    Frank was silent a moment. He bit his lip, thinking hard. Finally he reluctantly admitted, "I guess not."
    "But I do," said Joe. "The stuff I ask Iola isn't' anything I want anybody else to hear, especially your goon squad here. I'm not going to have Iola perform in this human zoo." "You want to spare your true love from embarrassment as well as pain. How very touching," said the speaker mockingly. "But I will agree to your request. You may speak with Iola alone in a room. But I warn you against trying to escape. It would be quick death for both of you."
    The speaker needn't have issued his warning. The room into which Joe and Iola were led made thoughts of escape impossible. Like the cell Joe had been in before, it was without windows, and the locked door was made of steel.
    As soon as the door slammed shut, Joe and Iola turned to face each other. They would have liked to touch each other, too, but their hands were cuffed behind them.
    "A man yanked me away from the car just before it exploded," Iola said desperately. "Then I was blindfolded, and I wound up here. I've been kept prisoner ever since. It seems like forever."
    "It wasn't so long ago," said Joe, looking into Iola's eyes. "It seems like just yesterday we were together. Maybe that's why, deep down, I wasn't surprised you're alive. I mean, in my heart, I never really believed you were gone. It's so great to find out I was right. It's so great to find you. One thing's for sure. I'm never going to lose you again, not if I can help it."
    He could see no answering spark of joy in Iola's eyes, though. It was clear why. Iola was still reliving her ordeal.
    "I didn't know what they wanted to do with me," she said, her voice filled with remembered hurt. "Then, a couple of days ago, they told me you and Frank were camping nearby. They ordered me to lure you two into a trap. They threatened to let Boshevsky loose on me if I refused. But when I saw you in the woods, I couldn't do it. I turned and ran."
    Iola shook her head at the memory. "I was