The idea was plausible. The warehouse was in a rundown part of town with abandoned factories and the like, and the infrastructure was in poor condition. There had been leaks the previous year, and the gas company was taking its time at verifying the installations. Andy found out how to make a simple time bomb via the internet, and they rigged it up right near the gas meter. They found some clothes for Erik, took the money from the safe, set the time bomb and walked into town where they caught a bus back to Andy's home town.

The morning of Ian's return, the bomb went off, breaking the gas main and causing an even greater explosion and fire which consumed the wooden warehouse. When Ian got the news from the fire department, he was stunned, but in a way, relieved. He had not known what he was going to do with Erik, and now the matter had been settled for him. As for Andy, well, he had lived his dream for a few months, which is more than most people can say. There was a bit of difficulty with the insurance and other official matters, as Erik was the owner of the property. Fortunately, Ian had forged a power of attorney, and was able to settle the matters quickly. He had plenty of legitimate money in the bank, and could always make more doing muscle worship, and the two boys were now big enough to make for an interesting three-way for his special clients. He continued training for Olympia in new premises, and found the Bobby and Charlie productive enough to avoid looking for a new trainee. •