Creepers

He put the crowbar in his knapsack and entered the corridor. At once, he saw the dangling spiral staircase, its moorings pulled from the wall. My God, I'm under the penthouse dining room. Amanda, Vi

He put his weight on the stairs. They wobbled. He eased upward, trying to move smoothly, to keep the staircase steady. Again, it wobbled. Please, he thought. He stepped higher, gripping the curved banister. He felt as if he were on the unsteady deck of a wave-tossed sailboat. Unable to get enough air into his lungs, he reached the trapdoor and pounded. Twice. Three times. Once.

The trapdoor opened, Amanda looking at him in relief. "There's a second fire."

"I know." Balenger crawled from the staircase. The pressure of his shoes pushing him away from the stairs was enough to send them crashing down.

The penthouse was filling with smoke. As they rushed to Vi

"Help me get him to the bedroom. We'll take him down to Danata's suite."

"Ro

"I don't know. Maybe he's dead."

"Maybe?"

"I hope. Can't be sure."

They put Vi

They set him down at the bedroom's trapdoor. Then Amanda unlocked and lifted the hatch while Balenger aimed into it. Only two rounds left, he thought. Can't waste them. But all he saw was green-tinted smoke.

The moment he entered the staircase, he hesitated. "Wait a second." He took a step upward and grasped the block of plastic explosive he'd set aside when disarming the bomb.

"What can you do with that?" Amanda asked.

"Don't know."

"You said it was useless without a detonator."

"It is." He stuffed the explosive into his knapsack. Just below the opening, he waited with his back turned. Amanda slid Vi

Flames rose on the other side of the hotel's core. They also spread from a room on this side.

"It was dark for so long, I thought I'd give anything if I could see." Vi

"Help me get him on my back," Balenger told Amanda. "Vi

"My legs are messed up, but there's nothing wrong with my hands."

They worked their way into a corridor and reached the entrance to the emergency stairs. Again, Balenger aimed. Again, there wasn't a target. Bent forward with Vi

"I hear water," Amanda said.

"So many roofs to collect it. So many holes. The place is flooding," Balenger told her.

Second level. First.

They were submerged knee-deep as they tugged a door open. The water chilled them, but not as much as what they saw: the chaos of the lobby. Now Balenger understood why furniture piled up, tangled against columns and doors. The force of the water falling from the upper levels was dismaying, the din overwhelming. Any object that wasn't anchored got swept away.

61

"How do we get out?"

The voice startled Balenger, almost making him pull the trigger. It belonged to a man struggling through the current toward them. The figure wore goggles. He had bulging pockets that weighed him down. Tattoos covered his face.

"I tried the tu

"We'll use the crowbar! We'll try to wedge a door open!"

The instant Balenger stepped into the current, it almost knocked him over. Twenty feet to his right, a waterfall cascaded.

"This whole damned place is about to come down," Tod said.

"Get rid of the coins. If you fall, they'll hold you under the water."

"Then I'd better not fall."

Balenger saw a chair rush by, carrying a rat. He dodged the chair, only to stagger from Vi

"What happened to him?" Tod said.

"His legs got burned. Ro

"I'd love to shove a detonator down his throat if I ever get my hands on-" Tod gaped in shock.

"What's the matter?"

"A body just floated past. A woman. The woman I saw in the corridor."

Blond hair disappeared in the current. Balenger was sickened by the thought that it could be any of the other corpses that Ro

Objects spattered the water. The roar in the lobby was sufficiently loud that Balenger realized only belatedly that a shotgun had gone off behind him. Fighting the current, he reached a pillar, taking cover behind the furniture caught against it.

"Amanda!"

"Here! Behind you!"

"Where's Tod?"

"There!"

She pointed toward a neighboring pillar.

Balenger gave Vi

Leaning as far out as he dared, Balenger thought he saw movement beneath a tangle of railings. Only two rounds left, he thought. Need to be sure. As the water kept rising, he shifted back behind the furniture and the pillar. Pellets tore a chunk from a table next to him. Hiding, he didn't see the muzzle flash.

Eager for a better sense of Ro

He turned the walkie-talkie to a minimum volume and strained to listen for Ro

Useless to Balenger, Ro

Balenger cocked his head, focusing on Ro

Ro

Yes, definitely from that tangle of railings, Balenger thought. But why is he talking so much? Is he trying to bait me again? Is he shifting his position, hoping I'll waste another shot?

"Do you know the word 'exponential'?" the voice asked.

Balenger decided he had to answer, to encourage Ro

"Something like that," the voice said across the way.

From the same place. On the right. Among the wreckage. If I don't shoot, will he decide I'm out of ammunition? Balenger wondered. Will he take the risk of coming for me? Can I bait him?