HL 04-The Final Hour by Andrew Klavan

story, but I got enough of it to get to Rose.”
    My jaw literally dropped. My mouth hung open as I stared at him.
    “Close your mouth, chucklehead. You look like an idiot,” he said.
    My teeth clopped together. “You talked to Rose?” I said. “How did you know he was part of it?”
    Mike shrugged. “I just figured it out, you know. The way you escaped from his custody, the fact that he kept showing up out of his jurisdiction to hunt you down, taking charge of other police departments and things like that. That’s not the way things work. Also, the fact that you were supposed to be this mad killer, but he somehow managed to hunt you down without you getting hurt. Like I said, I just figured it out.”
    “Wow. That’s amazing. I mean, I never even figured it out.”
    “Well, you’re a chucklehead, that’s why.”
    “Oh yeah. I forgot.”
    “Anyway,” Mike went on. “I thought maybe if I went to Rose and played the whole military card, showed him my medals, bled on his floor, whatever, I could get him to let me in on what was happening.”
    “And did he?”
    “Nah, you kidding? Guy stonewalled me into the ground. It was like talking to Mount Rushmore. But . . .” He wagged his big head of black hair back and forth. “Let’s just say there was a lot of information in some of those silences of his.”
    The wave of surprise started to draw back inside me. I took stock of what he was telling me. Mike had a pretty good idea of what it was all about. And he knew Detective Rose was in on it. “That’s great,” I said, excited. “That’s great. Is there any way you could get in touch with him? With Rose, I mean?”
    Mike stroked his mustache as he thought about it. “Maybe. It wouldn’t be easy. He told me he’s gonna go invisible, but like I say: I still got a lot of contacts in secret places. I might be able to get word to him somehow.”
    My heart started pounding harder. A chance, a hope. I couldn’t ask for more than that. I leaned in close to the glass, dropping my voice. I knew the prison authorities could listen in if they wanted. But as long as I didn’t talk about Blade’s escape plans, I didn’t see where it made much difference. I’d already gone to the warden, after all, so it was no secret I was worried about the Homelanders.
    “All right,” I said. “Here’s the deal. Most of the Homelanders have been rounded up now, but not all of them. The leader, Prince, is still on the loose.”
    Now it was Mike’s turn to look surprised. “Really? Rose gave me the impression it was all over . . .”
    “I know. That’s what the government thinks and what they want everyone to think. They figure Prince has left the country so there’s no reason to start a panic. But they’re wrong. He’s still here.”
    “How do you know?”
    “I just do. Prince swore he wouldn’t leave, wouldn’t give up until he’d carried out a plan called the Great Death . . .”
    “The Great Death, huh. I’m guessing that’s not good.”
    “That’s my guess too. It involves something called a C.O. device that they’re acquiring from the Russians. Any idea what that is?”
    “No. But it must be a weapon of some kind.”
    “Right,” I said. “And whatever it is, they’re going to set it off on the devil’s New Year’s Eve.”
    “And the devil . . .”
    “Is us, America, right?”
    Mike sighed. “Of course. Who else? Okay. Where is this supposed to happen?” Mike was leaning into the glass on his side now too. His eyes were flat and serious. He knew there was no time to waste.
    “I don’t know,” I told him. “I don’t know if I ever knew. If I did, I don’t remember. Right now, that’s all I got.”
    “Okay.”
    “You have to get the word out to Rose. You have to. If not to Rose, then to some of your other friends.”
    “Don’t worry. It’s as good as done.”
    I leaned in even closer. Our faces were inches apart now, with the glass between us. “And Mike,” I said. “You gotta get