Page 8 (1/2)

It was six puard In spite of how long it took to co their oeet time--the process for his release was smooth and quick now that they had decided to let hinatures to be inked--his Clothes to change out of--theirs Clothes to change into--his Wallet returned

All he could think about was his attorney He couldn&039;t believe she&039;d gotten him bail

Or carried money for him

Man, he owed her Without Grier Childe, he wouldn&039;t be on the verge of the freedo to keep him alive

He hadn&039;t seen her since she&039;d coe, but clearly she&039;d settled things with his cash or he wouldn&039;t be back in his own boxers

The lockdown part of the courthouse was separated froates that took him by the room he&039;d met with her in The last set of don&039;t-even-think-about-its was by central processing, where he&039;d been checked in and photographed

God, he could still smell her perfu and the guard gave hie"--

"Do you need a ride?"

Isaac stopped dead just inside the waiting area Ms Childe was standing across the linoleued at a cocktail party and not the county jail: Her hair was in the same twist, but she wasn&039;t in a suit anyas well as a pair of sheer black panty hose that

What a woman she was

"Do you?" she prooggle route, he shook his head "No, thank you, ma&039;am"

She walked over to the exit and opened the way out, standing to the side, looking like abetter to do with her time than play doorstop for hi room and into a hall that had just a bank of elevators and a fire exit

"Let ive you a ride," she told him as she punched the down arrow "I knohere you live, reet a cab at rush hour"

True enough Plus he only had five dollars in cash on him "I&039;ll take care of it"

"Exactly By letting me drive you It&039;s cold and you don&039;t even have a coat, for God&039;s sake"

Also true He&039;d lost his sweatshirt in the rush of getting cuffed But like everything else about him, that was not her problem

When she turned away, as if the decision had been made, he stared at the complicated swirls of her hair He couldn&039;t see any pins or anything, and yet it didn&039;t look shellacked

Magic, he thought

Without being aware of it, he reached up with his busted punching hand like he was going to touch the nape of her neck He caught hione asoundlessly into the stairwell

Which had an open square layout Perfect

Hehis body over the banister and let hi hi his torso up and over He landed in a silent crouch and didn&039;t wait even a heartbeat before he took the last set of steps in a leap and hit the exit As he broke free into the cold April wind, he scared the crap out of the s the into a run, his path took his and then down past all the jewelry stores, as well as Macy&039;s and Filene&039;s Base with professional people disgorged froround T stops or strea like ants across the park Fortunately, there was less foot traffic in Chinatown, although unned for his place, the exertion helped with the fact that he had nothing but a h the wet chill in the air did keep the bruises and the cut on his forehead froot to the block where he stayed, he was al histhe three-story house from the rear, he wound in and out of the shallow yards of the neighbors and stopped about thirty feet frohts were on in the landlady&039;s crib and the second floor, but everything was off on his level

When he was reasonably sure he hadn&039;t been followed, he bent down and picked up a stone Staying in the shadows, he closed in, then hauled back and snapped out a throw, clipping the dangling head of the bald bulb over the stoop and putting the exterior lighting to sleep

Isaac waited, hanging tight right where he was: Speed was often your friend, but that wasn&039;t always the case So sloas the only reason you woke up the next ot up and passed from indow, then ood news, but not a surprise Mrs Mulcahy never left her roost except to go get food--and she was the kind of pesky landlord who ht, however, she wasn&039;t the reason he was sneaking into his own place: Chances were daood that with his name in the penal system, his address had been popped by XOps, and that er secure

He had to get in and out of there fast

Ten minutes later, it was a case of over to the back steps Key in the lock Ghosting up the stairwell

And on his way to the top floor, he avoided the squeaking steps--which eliminated three out of every four of the bastards

The door to his flat opened without a sound because he&039;d oiled the hinges the night he&039;d moved in, and with a quick twist of the dead bolt, he locked himself inside A fast listen told him that there were no sounds other than the television below, but he stayed where he was for a minute and a half just to be sure

When there was nothing out of order that he could sense, he got down to business

Lightning fast was the speed Whisper quiet was the way

Out of the kitchen Into the front room

He took one look at his stuff and knew Grier had rifled through it--the shift in the pile of clothes was so subtle only he would notice, but the folding systened precisely for that purpose

He put on the sweatshirt he used as a pillow, slipped his two forties into the fat center pockets in front and changed into his co blade and his cell phone went into his pants, and then he put on the black windbreaker that was all he had, coat-wise

Down to the bedroom Into the closet

There had been twenty-seven thousand eight hundred and fifty-three dollars in his stash, so he should have a little so left over after the bail

He popped off the panel and reached in--

"Fuck" He didn&039;t have to open the Star Market bag and count; by weight alone, he knew that Grier hadn&039;t taken even a dollar out of the rolls of hundreds and twenties or the fluffy scruff of the unbundled

But she had been here--Matthias would have taken the weapons to erous And waited around to shoot him in the head

Shitthe cash-intact crap meant either there was a bondsman involvedor she&039;d bailed him out with her own money And when he&039;d been processed, there had been no disclosure about a third party posting the benjamins So sheback into action, he took the bag and replaced the section of bead board Then he went around to the s and doors, flicking off the receptors with his knife and putting the metal plates into his pockets No more than three minutes later, he left the way he&039;d come: out the back and quiet as smoke

The five hundred dollars he left on the counter in the kitchen was going to have to cover the fact that he was breaking his lease, and Mrs Mulcahy would have to figure out herself that he&039;d left when there was no sign of him after a couple of days

The less contact with him, the safer she was

Same with his attorney

God damn it

Down below, in the backyard, Isaac&039;s senses were razor-sharp as he whispered around to the side of the apart He didn&039;t slow his pace until he was a couple ofinto an alley, the call he : "Yeah"