Slaughter

“All of them.”

He made his way along the halls, tried some doors until he found an unlocked one, and slipped into an unoccupied room, pushing the supposedly injured Weaver ahead of him. It was cool in there, and quiet.

He was glad again to have studied the Center’s floor plan, and thought he knew exactly where he was. If he made it about fifty feet to the next cross hall, dragging Weaver along with him, he should be able to turn right and use an exit.

Of course, the exit would be covered by the police, who by now must have surrounded the Center with much of their uniformed force, along with their teams of elite snipers.

The Gremlin went to the dim room’s door and attempted to lock it, but discovered there was no lock. That was when, for some reason, an element of fear crept into his mind. It was a small thing, leaving him no more vulnerable, but it was like having a black cat cross your path. Nothing but superstition, but still . . .

Something else he should have thought of was the young nurse he had let run away after he’d shot, and surely killed, the uniformed cop. If he’d held her as a hostage, she could have become a valuable bargaining chip. Even though she was not the one he had come to collect.

The killer looked around but didn’t see a phone. Probably the Center brought landline phones in and plugged them into wall outlets when new patients arrived.

He pulled his throwaway cell phone from his pocket and pecked out a number that was by now familiar. Qui

There was no caller ID on Qui

Qui

“This will be a short conversation,” the killer said. “It’s time for me to have Pearl.”

Qui

The Gremlin laughed. God, he enjoyed this! Whoever said victory was hollow didn’t know what he was talking about.

When he heard the laugh, Qui

“After we trade, watch and see if I get off the ground.”

Qui

Then Qui

“I have Weaver,” the voice on the phone said. “She’ll be actually and forever dead within an hour if you don’t do as I say.”

Qui

He wondered how Weaver felt. And the Gremlin.

He knew how Pearl felt, and he didn’t like that, either.

The Gremlin surprised him again. “This place doesn’t have a heliport,” the Gremlin said, “but it does have a flat grassy area up front that will do for one.”

Qui

“Not for keeps,” the Gremlin said.

Qui

The Gremlin was using Weaver as the surest route to Pearl.

“Get me a police or hospital helicopter, and fast,” the Gremlin said, “before it gets completely dark, or I’ll shoot your policewoman, and then everybody will be shooting everybody else. You know how these things get out of hand. Some unlucky sap in the next block will be sitting watching crap on TV and a bullet will come in through a window and blow his brains out.” He tightened his grip on Weaver and stuck the gun barrel under her right eye. “I’m waiting for your answer. You’ve got only so many seconds to make up your mind, and I’m counting.”

Weaver said, “Don’t bargain with the little prick.”

Instead Qui

“I guess that depends on what you and our phony, miraculously reborn girlfriend here decide. If she cooperates, the helicopter will simply drop down somewhere and let her out. If she doesn’t cooperate, the same thing will happen, only from higher up.” The Gremlin laughed. “I’ll bet there’ll be some TV copters, too. Recording everything. It will be immortal on the Internet.”

Qui

“It isn’t as if you have a choice,” the killer said.

Qui

“All right,” he said. “I’ll try to get you a helicopter. It won’t be easy. I’ll have to make some phone calls.”

Qui

In the building’s lobby, Renz answered a Center phone and listened to Qui

Most of the time.

He said, “I can get us a helicopter.”

“I need it fast, Harley.”

“You’ll get it.”

Renz didn’t bother telling Qui

Qui

When he heard, the Gremlin gri

People who lived on the edge, Qui

He caught a glimpse of himself reflected in a window.

It was subtle, but if he’d looked closely enough he might have noticed he was smiling.

It wasn’t a nice smile.

Things got worse.

Renz called Qui

“We’ve got more information,” Renz said. He sounded frazzled and desperate.

“Another phone call?”

“A letter, actually. Remember the Ethan Ellis death? Looked like suicide by car?”

“Of course.” Qui

“Nope. Suicide by car. There was a suicide note in an envelope stuck down between the seats. Had your name on it. From Ellis.”

Now Qui

“Note said he was being controlled by the Gremlin. Said we’d find out how. The thing is, we’ve gotta act fast. Ellis planted explosives in about a dozen buildings. He knew where and how to plant them. Not only will the buildings come down, but the way and sequence in which they fall will cause them to bring down strings of surrounding buildings, sometimes over a dozen at a time.”

“Like dominos,” Qui

“But with people inside.” Renz said. “Manhattan will be mostly debris when the chain reactions occur.”