[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
.Gone before we know it.”“All right, this is your last chance.Get out.” Donohue held up her phone like a weapon.“Or I’m calling the cops.”Chapman took a step forward.“Keep in mind, Judy, that the people you’re working with have killed everyone who’s helped them.Why do you think you’ll be any different?” She glanced at the door.“In fact, I wouldn’t be surprised if they were waiting outside for us to leave before they come in here and tidy up this loose end.”Donohue looked like she might start sobbing.Regaining her composure, she snapped, “Last time, get out.”Stone and Chapman left.“What now?” asked Chapman.“Part of me says we just flushed the quail, so let’s see where it takes us.”“And your other part?”“Worried that she’ll be dead before we can get her to tell the truth.Go ahead and pull out, let her think we’re leaving.I know she’s watching us from the window.”Chapman started the car and drove off.Stone had her stop at a spot far enough away but that still allowed them to see Donohue’s house.He pulled out his phone and called Ashburn.It took a couple of minutes of explanation and Stone nodded his head.“Make it as fast as you can.” He clicked off and put the phone away.“Well?” asked Chapman.“She’s getting the paperwork together to bring the lady in.If nothing else for her own protection.”“What if she leaves the house?”“We’re to stop her and hold her until the Bureau shows up.”Chapman eased back in her seat but almost immediately jolted up.Stone had seen it too.Donohue had come out of her house.She was carrying a bag and she was in a hurry.Stone said, “Quick, let’s get her before someone else does.”By the time Chapman put the car in gear, Donohue had opened her truck door.“Block her in,” ordered Stone.“Got it.” Chapman punched the gas.Their car was twenty-five feet from Donohue’s when she started her truck.The explosion lifted her vehicle off the asphalt and the concussive wave emanating from the blast knocked Chapman’s car on its side.Both their heads bloodied from impacting with metal and glass from the car, Stone and Chapman lay unconscious, still strapped in their seat belts.CHAPTER 72STONE WOKE.HIS MIND WAS FUZZY but his reason was slowly returning.He tried to sit up, but a hand held him back.He saw Agent Ashburn staring down at him.“What?” he began.“It’s okay.Just take it easy,” she said in a soothing voice.Stone looked around.He was in a hospital room again.He started to close his eyes when they snapped open as he remembered.“Chapman?”“She’s going to be okay.A few bumps and bruises.Just like you.”“Donohue’s dead,” he said in a low voice.“Yes.You saw the bomb detonate?”Stone nodded.“She was in the truck.”“Any idea where the bomb came from?”He touched his head and grimaced.“It was either already on her vehicle when she got home or else someone put it on there while we were in the house with her.”“You saw no one?”Stone shook his head slowly.Ashburn eased down into a chair next to the bed.“I was surprised to get your phone call about Donohue.What pointed you in her direction?”“A hunch.”“About her?”“Not necessarily.About refusing to be led around by the nose this time.”“Meaning that’s what you think is happening?”Stone sat up in the bed.“Meaning I think we’re being manipulated, yeah.”“Any idea by whom?”“Maybe closer to home than we’d like.Remember what Agent Gross said.Someone was watching him.”“So what was Donohue’s angle? Was she the one involved with the tree and the bomb and not George Sykes?”“I believe so.She tried to throw suspicion his way.Did you find anything at her place?”“No.But if she had travel docs with her in preparation for making a run they’re in the wreckage and we’re still sifting through it.But paper is not something that’s likely to survive something like that.”“But she had a bag.We certainly spooked her.I think she was making a run for it.”“Not disagreeing with you.” Ashburn rose.“You’ve had a busy day.Almost shot by an imposter security guard/sniper and now nearly blown up.”“Does anyone know I’m here?”“You mean your friends? No, we thought it best to keep it on the QT.”“So Chapman is okay.No BS?”“No BS.”“Can I see her?”“I’ll check.Be back in a minute.”Less than a minute later the door opened.It wasn’t Ashburn.It was Chapman propelling herself into the room via a wheelchair.There was a strip of bandage across her right cheek and one on her forehead.Stone started and sat up more.His gaze darted to the wheelchair and then back at her.“Not to worry.” Chapman grinned.“I can walk, just hospital rules for patients having gotten themselves blown up.You Americans have so many bloody regulations.”Stone sat back, relief on his features.She stopped next to the bed.“How about you? Everything working okay?”Stone stretched his arms and neck.“Far as I know.Sore, but functional.”“We almost caught them.”“Almost doesn’t count in our business.”“What did Ashburn tell you?”“Basic stuff.No leads.” He added with a smile, “The most important thing she told me was that you were okay.”Chapman smiled back.“I’m glad to see you have your priorities right.”“You saved my life.”“That only means we’re even.”“I guess that’s true.”“But Donohue was the last straw.No one left to talk to.”“You’re wrong.There’s Fuat Turkekul.”“But he’s off-limits.”“After being blown up twice, nothing is off-limits as far as I’m concerned.”Later, when she walked in, Stone tried to hide his surprise but really couldn’t.Marisa Friedman was dressed in a white skirt, a blue silk blouse and flats.Her makeup was immaculate, her hair was glossy and fell loosely to her shoulders.She carried a purse in one hand and a pair of sunglasses in the other.She placed a pair of penetrating eyes on Stone and sat down in the room’s one chair.“I can tell you’re stunned to see me,” she said.“The last time I got near you, I was told in no uncertain terms to back the hell off.”“How much do you really know? About me, I mean?”“Weaver was blunt but informative.”“In our line of work that’s good sometimes and not so good other times.”He sat up in the bed.“So why are you here?”“I heard about what happened to you.I wanted to see that you were okay.”“You didn’t have to come here to find that out.A phone call would’ve done it.”She glanced at him and then quickly looked away.She rose and walked to the window.“It’s a pretty day.”“I guess it is.I hadn’t really thought about it.”She continued to gaze out.“When I was a kid I was fascinated with the weather.I thought I’d grow up to be a meteorologist.”“What happened?”She turned to look at him.“I’m not sure, actually.I did all the right things.Went to all the right schools.Then I detoured to Harvard Law.After graduating I had the intention of taking a year off, traveling in Europe and then settling down to a desk job at a firm in New York City
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]