page91 (1/2)

Of course she has She’s enjoying this I ruined her plans She has a half billion dollars she can’t spend She’s going to take it all out onto try to

But again so him there had to be s evidenced that birds had gotten into Murder Mountain That had happened when the place was operational Stone had even made a pet of one bird that had built a nest near where he slept It was the only tie to the outside world he’d had

The place had been built in the 1960s, and the design reflected the era There were even ashtrays built intohopelessly out of date But when it was new, Murder Mountain was a state-of-the-art facility The government funds to build it, Stone had been told once, had been buried in a huge spending bill that included subsidies for hog farmers and the textile industries

What was a little governmental assassination with your ham and polyester?

He cautiously entered the firing range It was here that he had killed the first man he’d shot in thirty years He had done it to save hiaze traveled to the very spot where the hts were too weak to allow Stone to see if the man’s blood was still there At least his body wasn’t The place had been cleaned up after his last visit here He wondered why they hadn’t just i it under tons of steel and rock Maybe they were holding on to it, in case they needed to use it again That was a chilling thought

The lights were on, though, however feebly Which enerator system to create a bit of power He crept forward, past the tattered targets, ducking under the sagging wires on pulleys that allowed the paper targets to beother than ould be waiting for him

The bare scrape of a shoe on the dusty floor caused him to drop low behind a wooden counter where he had once stood daily to fire his allotted rounds The sound had come from his left, ten yards atdarts until the moment of truth came It didn’t really matter If he allowed himself to be knocked unconscious by a tranquilizer round he was as good as dead anyway

Crouching down, he circled backward, his gun covering both front and rear flanks in alternating swivels This tactic ht Stone wasforward and not backith every creak of boards When the et that wasn’t where it was supposed to be, Stone placed one round in thehim As he clutched for his wounded li his body armor The man dropped on the spot, his carotid severed

Stone studied the door, did the math in his head It was probable that the man he’d just killed was a ruse to flush hi at Nory, only the number of lives sacrificed had been in the thousands On the other side of that door were probably at least two shooters waiting to take him

So he waited He counted off the seconds in his head Patience He had spent years learning that trait There were few men who could outwait him Ten minutes passed and the only part of Stone that moved was his chest, with each shallow breath

The only problem was that Friedo back in these sections One had to go forward How long were they willing to wait? How long was Stone willing to wait?

We’re all going to find out

CHAPTER 98

“WAIT A MINUTE, HOW’D YOU KNOW to bring that laser thing?” Knox asked Chapman as they crouched in the darkness

“Like your Boy Scouts, it’s the mission of MI6 to always be prepared”

“Meaning you didn’t believe Stone?”

“The key?” Chap his psychological profile was fairly easy He wasn’t going to endanger us too”

“He let us go to New York with him,” Finn pointed out

“I guess he believed the South Bronx was safer than this place,” pointed out Knox

“Murder Mountain,” said Chap”

Both men looked at her

“I researched it, of course,” she said “Didn’t you?”

Knox cleared his throat “How did you knohat to research? Stone didn’t mention the place until ere on the way here”

“The place where it all began? Re said back in New York So I did so the same I knew that Stone started out his career in Triple Six What I didn’t knoas that it began with a year’s worth of training right here Got a file emailed to ”

Finn looked down at the laiven him “Looks like multiple spots to be ambushed”