F Paul Wilson - Novel 02 (46 page)

 
          
Now
she was running for her life. Or if not her life, her sanity.

 
          
She
put the painful memory aside and concentrated on the now. Not far to the
FBBuilding from here. Had to calm herself, gather her wits.

 
          
Couldn't
act as frazzled as she felt. Had to be convincing. Had to . . .

 
          
In
her left sideview mirror . . . rising out of the Dupont Circle underpass like
some dark demon from the netherworld . . . looming ever larger, ever closer . .
. a black Mercedes. And this time she could make out the MD plates.

 
          
Duncan
!

 
          
He'd
bypassed the circle by going under it. Now he was nearly on top of her.

 
          
Her
heart raced ahead of her engine as the Mercedes pulled in behind her and began
riding her rear bumper. She sprang ahead, darting in and out of the traffic,
squeezing her smaller car through openings where the Mercedes could not hope to
follow, especially on this wet pavement.

 
          
She
pushed the lights, gunning through intersections whenever one threatened to
turn red.

 
          
It
was working. Slowly but steadily she increased the distance between them.

 
          
But
she was coming to the end of
Connecticut
. The traffic lights of
K Street
loomed ahead. Green now. Traffic was
flowing through. Good.

 
          
Where
to now? Normally she'd swing onto Seventeenth past
Farragut Square
and head down to
Pennsylvania
, but
Duncan
was only two cars back. And just ahead, the
light was turning amber. Again, NO LEFT TURN hung over the intersection.

 
          
It
hadn't worked before, but maybe this time . . .

 
          
But
then the BMW in front of her began to brake for the light.

 
          
"Oh,
no! " she cried aloud. "You wimp! " Instead of slowing, Gin set
her jaw, punched the gas, and wrenched the steering wheel to the right,
swerving around the Beamer and into the middle of the intersection.

 
          
Then
she yanked it back into a hard left to head east on K.

 
          
She
cried out as she hit a puddle and felt the tires begin to slip sideways on the
wet pavement. She floored the brake pedal but the car didn't slow. It was
completely out of her control. She saw the curb and the sidewalk careening
toward her.

 
          
'"Oh,
God, no!" Gin braced herself for the impact as the Sunbird slammed into
the curb. The right rear wheel bounced over onto the sidewalk and the car
tilted and threatened to tip over. Gin's head hit her side window as the car
fell back onto four wheels. She shook her head to clear it. The window was okay
and the car, thank you, God, had finally come to a halt without hitting
anybody.

 
          
Gin
wanted to cry, wanted to be sick, but she didn't have time for that. Except for
a bruised scalp she was all right. Her seat belt had kept her from being tossed
about the inside of the car. Horns were blaring all around her, frightened
pedestrians were staring and either pointing fingers or shaking fists her way.

 
          
And
her engine had stalled. She restarted it and tried to turn back into traffic,
but her wheels were locked. She couldn't turn the steering wheel. She got out and
ran around to the other side of the car and gasped when she saw the front
wheel. The tire had been knocked off the rim and the wheel itself was bent,
canted under the car. She didn't know if that meant a broken axle or what, but
she did know her little Sunbird wasn't going anywhere without extensive
repairs.

 
          
She
was at the top of
Farragut Square
, a block of grass and shrubs and park
benches with a statue of the admiral at its center. A wide-open area. She felt
exposed. She looked around and Saw Duncan's Mercedes pull into the curb on the
other side of
Seventeenth Street
.

 
          
With
a small cry she turned and bolted into
Farragut Square
. Her sneakers slipped on the wet grass as
she ran. She found a walk and slowed enough to look over her shoulder. No sign of
Duncan
's car back at the curb. Good. That meant he
wasn't following her on foot.

 
          
But
where was he? She'd feel better if she knew. Because she didn't know the
effective reach of whatever ultrasound device he might be carrying.

 
          
Ahead
and to her right, across
Eye Street
, she spotted a Metro sign.

 
          
Immediately
her spirits lifted. The Orange Line would leave her a couple of blocks from the
FBBuilding. She picked up her pace and cut across the grass toward the
entrance. She was less than thirty yards from it when a black Mercedes pulled
up and
Duncan
stepped out.

 
          
"Oh,
no." He stood by the Metro stairs, looking around. When he spotted her, he
started walking toward her with a determined stride.

 
          
Gin
made a sharp right turn and hurried on an angle back toward the corner of K and
Seventeenth. A glance over her shoulder revealed that
Duncan
must have changed his mind about following
her on foot. He was heading back to his car.

 
          
Gin
broke into a run and turned down K. She had to get off the street.

 
          
She
was a sitting duck out here. She passed a CVS and ducked inside.

 
          
As
good a place as any to hide. Big and crowded with other people getting out of
the rain.

 
          
She
moved toward the side wall and wandered among the nail-care items hung on the
Peg-Boards. She pretended to be shopping but all the while her eyes were fixed
on the front doors. She migrated toward the rear, near the pharmacy counter
where the first-aid items were stocked. She ducked behind a condom display as
she saw
Duncan
walk past the front windows, under an
umbrella no less. She hung there with her nose poking among the party-colored
boxes. Any one watching would have thought she had a hot time planned for
tonight.

 
          
When
she thought she'd waited long enough, she stepped out into the aisle and made
her way toward the front of the store.

 
          
Halfway
there she saw
Duncan
on the sidewalk outside again. Only this time he didn't pass. This time
he pushed through the door and came inside.

 
          
Gin
dropped to a crouch. In case anyone was watching, she quickly untied and retied
her shoelace. She glanced around. No one was paying her any attention. She half
straightened and looked around. Her heart tripped over a beat when she saw
Duncan
heading her way, his head rotating back and
forth like a radar dish as he roamed the aisles.

 
          
She
ducked down and cowered near the Halloween candy displays, frantically casting
about for a plan. She could run, get up and sprint for the doors and the
street, but that would give her away.
Duncan
wasn't sure where she was right now,
couldn't even know she was in the store. If she ran, he'd have her. And worse,
fleeing at full speed might bring the store detectives after her. If they
grabbed her and held her, all
Duncan
would have to do was walk by, let loose an
ultrasonic pulse, and she'd join Senator Vincent in the psych ward.

 
          
She
glanced up and noticed one of the convex antishoplifter mirrors overhead. In it
she saw a dapper-looking man in a blue blazer with a folded umbrella coming
down the aisle on the other side of the counter.

 
          
Duncan
. No more than three feet away.

 
          
Head
down, she ran in a crouch in the opposite direction and stopped at a break in
the display counter. She checked the mirror again.
Duncan
was at the far end and turning into her
aisle. She scurried around into the aisle he'd just left, moved along a dozen
or so feet, and huddled, waiting, barely breathing as she pretended to compare
the prices of the various widths and sizes of bandage gauze and adhesive tape.

 
          
She
didn't dare peek at the mirror again. Not yet. If she'd been able to see
Duncan
in it, he'd could just as easily use it to
see her.

 
          
Finally
she reared up and cautiously peeked around a display of Ace bandages. It took
her a moment before she spotted him. Near the front of the store now. Pushing
through the door. Leaving.

 
          
But
he wouldn't be leaving the area. He'd be wandering around, watching the Metro
entrance, cruising the streets. He knew she was somewhere around here, and he
wasn't going away. Trying to slip past him was too dangerous, especially in
daylight. She needed a place to hide until it was dark.

 
          
Gin's
fists knotted in frustration. She was so damn vulnerable with this . . . this
thing in her leg. She wished she could be rid of it.

 
          
Then
she could walk up to
Duncan
and thumb her nose at him. If only . .

 
          
She
looked at the tape and bandages in her hands.

 
          
And
came to a decision.

 
          
Where
the hell is she?

 
          
Duncan
opened the umbrella and looked up and down
K Street
as the rain increased its intensity,
falling in sheets. The weather matched his mood.

 
          
This
wasn't going well at all.

 
          
He
tried to look on the bright side, If nothing else, the downpour was driving
people indoors. That would make anyone still wandering about outside even more
conspicuous. Gin would be easier to spot if she made a break for it. Obviously
she'd ducked into one of the stores on this side of the street. She hadn't had
time to cross to the other side o reach the far end of the block before he'd
arrived.

 
          
She
was here. This side. And she had to come out sometime.

 
          
But
what if her fellow from the FBI was on his way to meet her here now?

 
          
That
could be trouble. But not insurmountable. All he had to do was sidle up within
range, press a button on the transducer, and TPD would begin seeping into her
bloodstream.

 
          
But
that scenario was risky. Far better to find her before the cavalry arrived . .
. if it was even coming.

 
          
Duncan
sighed. He'd have to search these stores
one by one. Most of them were small. It wouldn't take long.