Omega Dog by Tim Stevens Page B

was empty apart from a waitress with a tired but friendly smile, and two solitary men who looked like construction workers, each nursing early breakfasts with their heads buried in newspapers. Venn found a booth near the back, and took the seat facing the door.
    The waitress ambled over. Venn ordered black coffee for the both of them, without asking Colby. Also eggs, bacon, tomatoes and hash browns.
    Dr Colby raised a hand. ‘No. I don’t want –’
    ‘Shh.’ Venn nodded at the waitress and she went to fill the order.
    To Colby, Venn said: ‘You need to eat. Whether you’re hungry or not. Protein, carbs. You’re in deficit after everything that’s happened, and you’re going to need a lot of energy for the foreseeable future.’
    Her hands began to shake, then. She clasped them together but it didn’t make any difference. The tremor spread to her shoulders. She bowed her head, and through the tangle of hair hanging down over her face, Venn could see her features contorted. Long, barely controlled sobs began to wrack her body.
    Venn watched her for thirty seconds, letting the delayed reaction take its course. Then he laid a gentle hand on her forearm. She jerked away, then relaxed. He left his hand there lightly.
    ‘It’s a hell of a lot to take in,’ he said quietly. ‘A hell of a lot. Better that you face it now, than go to pieces later when you need to have your wits about you.’
    He handed her a fistful of paper napkins from a dispenser on the table. She took them gratefully, dabbed at her eyes, then blew her nose.
    The waitress came back with the order. She gave Dr Colby a pained, sympathetic smile.
    Lover’s tiff , Venn could see her thinking.
    He attacked his food, realizing suddenly that he was starving. He nudged her plate toward her but she ignored it. Just sat there shredding a paper napkin in her fingers.
    Without warning she lifted her head and said, ‘You’re on the run from the law.’
    ‘We both are, now,’ Venn said. ‘Technically.’
    ‘No. I mean... before this. You’ve got that tag on your ankle.’
    ‘You’re very observant.’ He raised his eyebrows. ‘In a manner of speaking, you’re right. On the other hand, I am the law. Kind of.’
    She peered at him through swollen eyes, as if trying to decide if he was insane as well as intimidating.
    ‘It’s something to do with Professor Lomax, isn’t it?’ she said. ‘When I phoned his home tonight... you were the one who answered.’
    ‘Yes,’ said Venn.
    And he began to explain.

Chapter 24
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    ‘G od dammit !’ Gomez punched the brickwork of the nearest wall.
    Shelly Anderson was surprised. Despite his gruff demeanor, she’d never seen her partner lose his cool like this before.
    Around them the street brimmed with civilians, swarming around out of curiosity or simple fear. Gunfire in this Upper West Side neighborhood wasn’t common, nor did cars tend to explode. Already the uniformed cops were cordoning the street off, controlling the crowds.
    But for Anderson and Gomez it was too late. Their charge, Dr Colby, and the man who’d abducted her, were both gone. Swallowed up in the crowd, and probably several blocks away in a boosted car by now.
    Shelly was the first to act, hurrying back to their car and getting on the radio. She requested an APB on the fugitives. One woman in her late twenties. The other a man in his thirties.
    Tough-looking. Maybe ex-military.
    Armed and highly dangerous.
    Gomez was at the burning wreck of the car when Shelly got back. His face was sheened with sweat, and she knew it wasn’t just from the heat.
    ‘You okay?’ she said.
    He puffed out his cheeks. ‘What the hell was all that about?’
    ‘God knows.’
    A little distance away from the wreck, a couple of uniforms squatted by the man who’d leaped from the vehicle just before it had gone up. The man who’d driven up in the car, and with whom they’d exchanged gunfire. Shelly and Gomez hurried over.
    The man’s