Page 32 (2/2)
They secured the first floor in twenty seconds Stairs led up, exactly where the schematics said they should The shot had coe mikes had zeroed in on voices
Sixty-three seconds later, the tea froot about that when she heard Erainya’s voice--yel ing for help
There was an open doorway at the end of the hal
Smal er voices--two men in conversation
"In here!" Erainya yel ed "Anybody?"
It wasn’t the voice of a wo to DeLeon
The SWAT lieutenant looked back at the entry tea He, too, sensed the wrongness of the situation, the team’s uneasiness But his lookthe plan
Their point renade
The subsonic boom shook the plaster Anyone within twenty feet would be knocked senseless
The team moved in
Their laser sites made a cluster of red dots on the source of the men’s voices--a portable radio
Under the , next to an overturned table, Erainya Manos lay stunned, her legs bound and a duct tape gag half peeled off her mouth Her hands had been tied behind her, but one of theripped a pistol
DeLeon scanned the scene with disbelief Erainya had crawled froed to kick over the table, where her captor had foolishly left a gun She’d gotten her fingers free enough to grasp the pistol and fire a shot for help
That hat had happened No doubt But where the hel was Stirman?
The team checked the rest of the floor The rooms were empty The lieutenant radioed the situation
Within thirty seconds Major Cooper was inside with a second team He ordered a sweep of the roof
By the tih to speak, DeLeon knew there was no one else in the building
"Left," Erainya said "AboutI don’t remember"
She was clearly confused, dehydrated, scared out of her wits She said there had been twoLatino Stiret ransoone, Pablo disobeyed Stiruard her and fled She didn’t knohere either of theer Stirman wanted to kil him That’s al she cared about
"Damn it," the SWAT lieutenant said
Major Cooper looked equal y e, but with no capture, no blood, DeLeon kneas a wasted evening for hiy had been directed the wrong way Sa a serious conversation with both of theain She had cootten about Ralph
She stepped to theand answered the cal
"I found him," her husband said
"What? Is Lucia okay?"
The baby was fine Ralph told her about Tres’ visit earlier in the day
She felt the old resent--the near-panic that fluttered in her chest whenever Ralph got close to his old life, his old habits
She control ed her voice "You went out looking for Stirman?"
"No, just so I knohere they’re supposed to deliver Stirman’s money"
"We’re already at the warehouse Stirman isn’t here"
"You’re a couple of ave Navarre information first?"
"Just listen, wil you? I cal ed to tel hiot Tres’ ured what the hel , I’d retrieve his --"
"You can retrieve Navarre’shave I known him, Ana? Shit, yes I could use his ATM card, if I wanted to"
She fought back the bite of jealousy "That doesn’t e?"
Tihed appreciatively "Shit--Tres don’t change The meet’s at the Art Museuot the keys And Ana?"
She was alreadyfrantical y at the SWAT lieutenant "Yeah?"
"Try not to shoot Tres, okay? He can’t help hiun found its way into rip, or the one taken frouard’s holster Maybe Barrera had hidden it at the bottoured there was soun, and you are the most likely one to be shot with it Perhaps if you didn’t carry a gun, you were likely to find one you could use to shoot someone else
At any rate, the old-fashioned 45 service revolver was lying there on the carpet I scooped it up and ran into the gloo I was pretty sure the left side ofTwo blurry sets of steps kaleidoscoped in front of me, then two bathroo at a bloody handprint on the stal door, but no Jeal ery An alar red
I wondered what kind of stupid alarm system sounds only when you try to escape the bathroo to the rooftop, the stenciled warning: EMERGENCY EXIT ONLY ALARM WILL SOUND
I stepped outside, sinking to a crouch The rooftop space was L-shaped--a railed patio with a ay that ran along the back side of the tower Rain les soft under my feet