Implant

Gin gasped for breath as she pounded up the steps. She'd taken the rest of the antibiotic she got from Oliver, but she was still sick, still weak. She wasn't going to outdistance Duncan for long.

She reached the first floor and broke into a run down the hall, Right into the arms of three men in suits.

"What the hell's going on here? " said the tall, dark one in the middle, as the one to his right, the one she'd bumped into, grabbed her upper arm and held it. His fingers felt like steel. She might as well have been manacled to him.

'"Agent Decker! " said Duncan's voice behind her. "Thank God you came early! I found this young woman here when I arrived. Apparently she broke in sometime during the night." He held up the trocar. "She just stabbed me with this." She twisted around and saw Duncan standing in the doorway to the basement, panting.

"I just did to him what he was going to do to the president today.

"Whoa, " said the-tall, dark one Duncan had called Agent Decker. "Hang on there, ma'am, " '"She's deranged, ' Duncan said, moving closer.

"She's had a complete break with reality."

"That's not true! " Gin cried. "I work here! I'm a doctor. And he's pla

'"Yes, she used to work here, Agent Decker, " Duncan said quickly.

"We've noticed erratic behavior lately and we've been trying to arrange psychiatric help. Unfortunately, she decompensated before we were able to finalize those arrangements.

"What's your name, ma'am? " said Decker.

'"Dr. Gin Panzella. I'm a board-eligible internist, and I'm as sane as you are. ' She launched into an account of the mishaps that had befallen former members of the Guidelines committee who happened to be Duncan's patients, but Duncan interrupted her after a few sentences.

- "Agent Decker, do we have to listen to these ravings?

Check with the FBI. Just last week she led them on a wildgoose chase with some story of my implanting some poison in Senator Marsden. ' "Wait, " Gin said. "Don't listen to him. He pulled a reverse on that one." Duncan shook his head sadly as he stared at her. God, the bastard was a good actor. A regular Jack Nicholson. You'd almost think he truly felt sorry for a former colleague's deteriorating mental condition.

"After a full medical exam on the senator, " Duncan said, "including an MR scan, they found nothing and ended up looking like fools. You can check it out."

"Trust me, " Decker said. "We will check it out. We check everything out."

"Good. The name of-the agent in charge of that particular boondoggle was Ca

"Ca

"Yeah. I'll give him a call."

"Come on! " Gin said. "You've got to listen to me! " ' We listen to everybody, " Decker said. He turned to the man who was holding her.

"You and Briggs take her owntown and get her statement. I'm going to get in touch rith Mallard and see if we can put this deal off for a while. I on't like the smell of this.

Don't like it at all."

"Thank you, God! " Gin said as they started leading her toward the rear of the building. "I don't care if you believe eye or not, just don't let the president come here today." Decker looked at her with new interest as he opened the loot to the parking lot. "That's not always our decision, ma'am. So, you know Gerry Ca

He was staring at the car that had just pulled into the rear lot.

A long night. A bad night. Gerry hadn't had a wink of sleep SlnCC 6

A. M.

yesterday morning. He was tired, his stomaching was on fire, and he was generally pissed.

After leaving the Tremont Hotel last night he'd been unable to had a trace of Gin. The only action he'd had was the 91 I call to her apartment that turned out to be a false -'arm. Nobody home when the ambulance got there, but the _oor had been wide open.

Something strange and ominous about that call. Something going on that he couldn't quite grasp. Something just uUt of reach. And it was that tantalizing closeness that had kept him ru

He hadn'r been able to stop, hadn't been able to drop it. He'd called Mrs. Snedecker and asked if Martha could stay overnight. Martha didn't mind. She liked sleeping over anywhere. Sometimes that worried him. He'd talked to her on the car phone, then kept driving, periodically stopping back at the Bureau building. He'd even spoken to Gin's parents. No, they hadn't heard from her. He hoped they were telling him the truth and he hadn't been patrolling the whole damn northwest all night for nothing.

He'd just made another stop at Gina's apartment. Still empty. And now, for the third time tonight, or this morning7 rather, since the sun was threatening to rise, he was checking out Lathram's building.

He pulled into the rear lot and was startled to find three cars there, two of them Federal, according to their plates. As he parked and got out of his car, he saw a very grim-looking Gin being escorted from the building by three guys in suits.

Weak with relief, he leaned back against the car. Thank God!

At least she was alive, though not looking too well. And the three with her, had to be Secret Service. Bob Decker was one of them.

Secret Service . . . the president's surgery. Shit. If she'd been right about that, what else had she been right about?

He slammed the car door behind him. God damn it!

Gin's face broke into a smile. "Gerry! " "Speak of the devil, " Decker said, "we were just, " "You son of a bitch! " Gerry shouted as he strode toward them. "Son of a bitch! " The two other agents with Decker pulled back and their hands started drifting toward their jackets.

"It's okay, " Decker said. "I know him. A Fibby."

"Gin, " Gerry said, "are you okay? " She beamed at him. "I am now."

She looked so small and fragile between them. Gerry wanted to take her in his arms and tell her she'd be all right, but now wasn't the time, not in this place, not in this company.

He turned to Decker. "You told me you knew nothing about any surgery on the president, yet here you are at Lathram's surgicenter at five in the morning. You want to explain that, pal? " Decker shrugged. "The Man says he doesn't want anyone told, no one gets told."

"This could have ended up a disaster, you know." '"You mean if we'd let this young lady run loose in there? " "No, I mean if she hadn't found her way here."

"Gerry! " Gin said, her eyes wide. "You mean you believe >, , me!

'"I don't know exactly what I believe, but I know there's enough fishy stuff co

"It was a wild-goose chase, all right, but I'm not so sure anymore who was leading us." '"And the doc inside says she stabbed him."

"With the trocar, " Gin said. "The same one he used on me. The one he was going to use on the president." Gerry winced at the way that sounded. So far out. Who on earth would believe her?

Which worked perfectly to Lathrarn's advantage.

But what if he'd intended that all along?

'"My agents'll take her downtown and get a statement, " "No, wait! " Gin cried. "We can settle this all now. I know how. ' "Come on, miss, " said the red-haired agent holding her, and began guiding her toward the car.

Gerry put a hand on his chest. "Give her a minute. Let's hear her out.