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He waited athe pistol behind his back, he glanced up and down the hallway to make sure he was alone, then knocked The door opened athere It was the man he had jostled He had taken off his jacket, and, as Schroeder had suspected, he earing a shoulder holster with a handgun in it

"What the hell do you want?"

"I see if I could use your phone"

"I'm busy" He put his hand on the holster "Go bother someone else"

The ht the pistol around and snapped off a shot between the eyes The man crumpled to the floor with a look of abject surprise on his otherwise un up and down the corridor, Schroeder stepped over the body and dragged it just inside the room

Schroeder followed the saht variations but similar results In one case, he rushed his first shot and had to fire twice In another, he heard the elevator door open just as he pulled the body into the room But when it was over, he had killed four men in less than five minutes

He felt no re them with the cold, murderous efficiency of his old days They were sis, no different from many he had encountered, even worked with Worse, they were sloppy and careless The team must have been assembled in a hurry They were not the first men he had killed Nor were they likely the last

He hung do not disturb signs on each door A few minutes later, he was back in his rental car headed for the airport Harper was still in his office, burrowing through his paperwork like an overgrown mole

"I talked to the TV crew," Schroeder said "They've changed their minds They've decided to head down to Kodiak Island to shoot a feature on bears"

"Shit! Why didn't they tell me?"

"You can call them and ask But they were on their way out when I called them"

Harper snatched up the phone and called the hotel He asked to be connected to the TV crew's rooms When no one answered, he slammed the phone down on its cradle He rubbed his eyes, and see into tears

"That's it," he said "I was counting on a check fro bird I'm ruined"

"You don't have any other charters scheduled?"

"It's not that easy It takes days, soether a deal"