wasn’t kidding.
This is real.
This is real.
This is real
.
… 37 seconds
G uy with the ice bucket for his Diet Coke. Up on five.
She jabbed forward with her index finger.
Collapsed to her knees.
Found the button for five.
Screamed.
Pounded the floor of the ascending elevator car.
Button five was lighted; the digital readout above the doors ticked upward in concert with the seconds.
She screamed louder, as if it would give the Mary Kates pause.
It didn’t.
… 38 seconds
J ack Eisley pounded furiously at the carpet with the wild idea that he could pound right through the floor and fall into the next floor, and the weight of his body and the chunk of floor would cause that floor to collapse, and then another and another and another, until he was in the lobby, surrounded by people, and the Mary Kates would know that and stop the screaming and throbbing in his head….
It was his only chance.
Jack pounded and pounded and pounded….
… 39 seconds
O n the fifth floor, the elevator doors opened, and Kelly White was screaming, she knew she was, but she couldn’t hear sound anymore, and all she could do was fall forward, and she collided with skin and plastic and she saw the ice tumble and scatter across the carpet and heard “
Jesus!
”
And she smiled, because she was worried about his Diet Coke, and here was a man to save her, finally, but it was too late, and …
And then it was over for Kelly White.
Which wasn’t even the name she had been born with.
… 40 seconds
A nd on an upswing, Jack Eisleys hand slapped flesh. The guard’s hand. The guard named Vincent.
“Buddy, buddy, what the hell…”
Jack reached out and clamped on Vincent’s forearm…. Vincent, be it his first or last name, it didn’t matter, but he clung to the man like he was never going to let go.
… 41 seconds
B rian Burke forgot the ice bucket, forgot the Diet Coke, held the woman in his hands, looked at her beautiful face … beautiful, except for the blood trickling from her nose and ears.
… 42 seconds
If I’ve only one life, let me live it as a blonde!
— CLAIROL ADVERTISEMENT
2:50 a.m.
Sheraton Lobby
F or the last time, Kowalski reassured the desk clerk that he was fine. “It’s just a sprain. Feeling a little tipsy. You know how it is.” All the while, he was scanning the elevator car to see where it stopped. He already had an idea of where that would be. Floor five. Diet Coke dork with the ice bucket.
You need to keep her within ten feet of you at all times, but do not allow her to get too close
.
It was coming together for him: All night, she had been in the company of others. Made a point of it. Pick up one guy at the airport, ditch him for another. A new guy with a hotel room to himself. She needed someone close.
I don’t want to die, but if I
have
to
…
She gets alone, she dies.
Never mind how. Figure that shit out later.
She’d kicked him out of the elevator, made a suicide run back up the shaft.
But maybe it wasn’t suicide. Maybe she was going for that Diet Coke dude on five. Hoping he’d still be there. Keep the company of another man. Stay alive another couple of hours.
“Sir, I’d feel a lot better if you sat down here and let me call someone to take a look at your wrist.”
But that made no fucking sense. What kind of government-created disease, plague, or virus—and it had to be one of the above; otherwise, CI-6 wouldn’t be having him traipse around Philadelphia with a severed head in a gym bag for shits and giggles— worked only when the victim was alone?
No wonder the handler wouldn’t tell him anything. This kind of thing went beyond spurned ex-lover territory.
What was CI-6 messing around with now?
Kowalski ignored the desk clerk and walked over and punched the up button. He knew he’d probably find a dead body up on five, if she’d made it that far. Which, okay, was not a great situation. He’d rather have Kelly tell him more. But if
This is real.
This is real.
This is real
.
… 37 seconds
G uy with the ice bucket for his Diet Coke. Up on five.
She jabbed forward with her index finger.
Collapsed to her knees.
Found the button for five.
Screamed.
Pounded the floor of the ascending elevator car.
Button five was lighted; the digital readout above the doors ticked upward in concert with the seconds.
She screamed louder, as if it would give the Mary Kates pause.
It didn’t.
… 38 seconds
J ack Eisley pounded furiously at the carpet with the wild idea that he could pound right through the floor and fall into the next floor, and the weight of his body and the chunk of floor would cause that floor to collapse, and then another and another and another, until he was in the lobby, surrounded by people, and the Mary Kates would know that and stop the screaming and throbbing in his head….
It was his only chance.
Jack pounded and pounded and pounded….
… 39 seconds
O n the fifth floor, the elevator doors opened, and Kelly White was screaming, she knew she was, but she couldn’t hear sound anymore, and all she could do was fall forward, and she collided with skin and plastic and she saw the ice tumble and scatter across the carpet and heard “
Jesus!
”
And she smiled, because she was worried about his Diet Coke, and here was a man to save her, finally, but it was too late, and …
And then it was over for Kelly White.
Which wasn’t even the name she had been born with.
… 40 seconds
A nd on an upswing, Jack Eisleys hand slapped flesh. The guard’s hand. The guard named Vincent.
“Buddy, buddy, what the hell…”
Jack reached out and clamped on Vincent’s forearm…. Vincent, be it his first or last name, it didn’t matter, but he clung to the man like he was never going to let go.
… 41 seconds
B rian Burke forgot the ice bucket, forgot the Diet Coke, held the woman in his hands, looked at her beautiful face … beautiful, except for the blood trickling from her nose and ears.
… 42 seconds
If I’ve only one life, let me live it as a blonde!
— CLAIROL ADVERTISEMENT
2:50 a.m.
Sheraton Lobby
F or the last time, Kowalski reassured the desk clerk that he was fine. “It’s just a sprain. Feeling a little tipsy. You know how it is.” All the while, he was scanning the elevator car to see where it stopped. He already had an idea of where that would be. Floor five. Diet Coke dork with the ice bucket.
You need to keep her within ten feet of you at all times, but do not allow her to get too close
.
It was coming together for him: All night, she had been in the company of others. Made a point of it. Pick up one guy at the airport, ditch him for another. A new guy with a hotel room to himself. She needed someone close.
I don’t want to die, but if I
have
to
…
She gets alone, she dies.
Never mind how. Figure that shit out later.
She’d kicked him out of the elevator, made a suicide run back up the shaft.
But maybe it wasn’t suicide. Maybe she was going for that Diet Coke dude on five. Hoping he’d still be there. Keep the company of another man. Stay alive another couple of hours.
“Sir, I’d feel a lot better if you sat down here and let me call someone to take a look at your wrist.”
But that made no fucking sense. What kind of government-created disease, plague, or virus—and it had to be one of the above; otherwise, CI-6 wouldn’t be having him traipse around Philadelphia with a severed head in a gym bag for shits and giggles— worked only when the victim was alone?
No wonder the handler wouldn’t tell him anything. This kind of thing went beyond spurned ex-lover territory.
What was CI-6 messing around with now?
Kowalski ignored the desk clerk and walked over and punched the up button. He knew he’d probably find a dead body up on five, if she’d made it that far. Which, okay, was not a great situation. He’d rather have Kelly tell him more. But if
Similar Books
