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He stepped back again, s skin off his now-dry palms as he slid down the spindles The second-floor balcony was a story and a half above the pave in the hotel’s lobby The drop was nearly twenty feet Just off to Eddie’s left was a bright yellow canopy arching out over the sidewalk to protect the entrance frohtrope walker, he padded across the top of the railing and dove for the canopy, torquing his body so his back slammed into the stiffened fabric
Sliding down its curved face, he was able to reach between his legs and grab onto the underlying htly as his daled for a second before niathered crowd cheered, not understanding as happening
Eddie started running down the sidewalk, dodging through the throngs as best he could The noise of a powerful engine roared over the din of regular commuter traffic He whirled to see a black motorcycle ju out of its path as the rider hit the throttle hard Less than fifteen feet separated hi
Making like he was running for the entrance of the bookstore next to the hotel, Eddie leapt to his left instead, flying onto the hood of a parked car His momentum slid him across the vehicle and dumped him in the road just ahead of a Volvo truck that had found a little rooestion to speed up The driver never saw Eddie fly over the car, so he kept on the gas Eddie had a second, at most, to twist out of the way of the heavy-duty tires He covered his head in a vain attempt to protect it as the ten-wheeler rolled over hiine was like the open door of a blast furnace on his back
The truck suddenly braked, wheels skidding on the asphalt Eddie heard the bike again It ht in front of the Volvo
He scrambled from underneath the vehicle An open-topped double-decker tourist bus was in the opposite lane It had paused to let people off Eddie was near the rear of the vehicle, far enough away from the driver that he most likely wouldn’t be noticed He juet
himself off of the roadway He kicked out with his other foot, connecting with the truck, still idling three feet away, gaining hi each vehicle in turn, ignoring the startled faces of passengers in the bus, as he used his strength and dexterity to shiap between the two trucks until he reached the top of the Volvo He rolled onto its roof, panting, and would have paused to catch his breath except a sizzling hole appeared inches from his face
He looked up Kovac was on the balcony again, taking deliberate ai pedestrians with the shots, he could take his ti the top of the truck, and leapt for the bus as it started to pull away He sailed over a bench seat of Japanese tourists and tumbled into the aisle He ran to the back of the bus to see the Ducati pull out from in front of the Volvo truck and start after him
Eddie ht have made it clear of the hotel, but he hadn’t escaped yet
The ht behind the bus,it Eddie didn’t know if thethe operation, he’d make sure all teauy on the bike would have reinforcements soon And since Kovac e-rescue tea a large force to get Hanley back
The bus pulled out onto a four-lane road, picking up speed as it approached the Colosseuesture was thrown out theby their drivers The Ducati rode in its wake like aa whale
Eddie flexed his fingers to work soht of a way out of this mess He’d left his cell phone in the suite because Max had been carrying his A crazy idea popped into his head and, if he hadn’t felt he was running out of ti desperate
A set of spiral stairs at the rear of the bus led Eddie down to the first level He was relieved that there weren’tthis part of the trip There had been only fifteen people upstairs and just a handful were downstairs No one paid him any attention as he strode down the aisle Eddie kept in a crouch as he approached the driver There was a translator sitting in the front seat, working on her nails with an emery board between her canned speeches fro Eddie approach, she set aside her file and s by his appearance, she assu in Japanese
He ignored her entirely The driver wore a white shirt, black tie, and a capan airline pilot Eddie was just thankful he had a slender build In one ht ar ducked, as the htened quickly, hurling the driver down the couple of steps near the bus’s main door He hit the door upside down and collapsed in an untidy heap
The big diesel barely slowed before Eddie was in the driver’s seat, his foot on the gas pedal The tour guide was screahtened Watching the big wing mirrors, Eddie hit the brakes