Tracer, page 22
After a short silence, a faint, slightly muffled voice said, ‘Are you there?’
‘That depends. Who is this?’
‘Who do you think?’ Natasha said, in a much clearer voice. ‘Where are you?’
‘Within spitting distance of the church,’ he said, allowing himself a brief smile. ‘And you?’
‘Inside the clock tower. In the room with the church bells.’
‘The belfry.’
‘Yes, the belfry. I’ve been trying to call you for over three minutes.’
Korso checked the screen and saw the missed call icon at the top left corner. ‘With good news, I hope.’
‘Just the opposite. Cain is gone.’
Thirty-Eight
22 hours, 57 minutes and counting…
When he finally reached the top of the spiral stairwell, he saw Natasha crouched on the east-facing side of the belfry, peering at the town through the arched openings. She still wore her dark baseball cap with the bill pulled down low, and there was now a dark material tied around her upper left arm in a makeshift field dressing.
She turned at the sound of his footsteps. ‘Korso, you’re all right? No injuries?’
‘Still in one piece. How about you?’
‘I’ve suffered worse. Come over here and look at this.’
The cramped room was only ten feet square, and Korso had to stoop to avoid banging his head against the two large church bells above him. He went over to Natasha, and immediately recognised the rifle lying on the floor next to her. It was a Bergara B-14 HMR, a popular bolt-action hunting rifle with a five-round AICS-style magazine. Capable of shooting over a distance of a thousand yards, or just over half a mile. They were fairly common and inexpensive, but Cain had clearly been in a hurry if he left it behind. Although he’d had the presence of mind to take the bolt lever, so nobody else could use it.
‘I entered through the rear door several minutes ago,’ Natasha said. ‘He must have beaten me by seconds, or exited via the front.’
‘No sign of him at all?’
‘None.’
‘No stray shots after you left the house?’
She shrugged. ‘None that found its target, thankfully. He may have tried and missed, but how would I know?’
‘Good point.’
Korso thought about telling her of his being shot at, but decided against it. He studied the bandage around her arm. It looked like she’d used an old t-shirt. It was flecked with her blood, but not too much of it.
‘How’s the pain?’ he asked.
‘Bearable. But it keeps me focused. Cain could be anywhere now, Korso. Maybe even watching us as we speak.’
‘Possibly, but he’s lost the height advantage now, along with his rifle.’ Korso raised his foot and brought his heel down hard on the long barrel, then down again on the scope, completely misaligning the gun’s aim. ‘Just to be sure.’
He knelt down next to Natasha, and looked out through the arches at the deserted town beyond without really seeing it. He was looking inward, trying to think like Cain, in order to second guess his next move. After mulling various possibilities over, he said, ‘I don’t believe he’ll try and kill us again. Not here, anyway.’
Natasha turned to him, her brow furrowed. ‘What makes you say that?’
‘Two things. The C4 he left for us in the drugstore, and his continued attempts to pick us off from this eagle’s nest. Or three things, if you count his using Adamson against me. That all tells me Cain prefers to kill from a distance, not up close and personal. Also, he’s seen us both in action, so he now knows for a fact that he’s dealing with trained professionals. And it’s now two against one in our favour, don’t forget. So he’s not about to suddenly change character and try to take us out at close quarters. That’s not his modus operandi. Too much risk of things going wrong. And he’s far too careful for that.’
‘A fair assumption. So what do think he’ll do?’
‘Probably what I’d do if I were in his shoes.’
‘Which is?’
‘Disappear.’
She blinked at him. ‘Seriously?’
‘Why not? As far as he’s concerned, he’s still holding all the winning cards. He dragged the two of us out here and made a decent effort to take us out of the game permanently, and failed each time. What does he gain by trying again? Nothing. Not when he can simply disappear off the face of the earth, with no chance of us ever finding him again.’
She breathed out a sigh. ‘I was afraid you might say that. Do you really think we’ve no chance if he chooses to run?’
‘No.’
‘But you said—’
‘I’m trying to think like Cain, and that’s simply how he would see things. I don’t give up so easily. I’ve been in this business long enough to know there’s always more than one way to solve a problem. You just have to find it.’
She looked at him. ‘You have a talent for finding the positive in every setback.’
‘There’s no secret to it,’ he said with a shrug. ‘I’m just used to doing things the hard way, that’s all.’
‘And do you have any ideas on our next move if he does decide to vanish?’
‘Not yet. Let me think on it while we head back to the car. And I also remember seeing some unused bandages and medical tape in that pharmacy, so you might want to change that dressing while we’ve got the chance.’
They made their way down the stairwell in single file, and left the building the same way they’d entered, by the rear door. Once they reached the road out front, they headed east toward the drugstore, each lost in their own thoughts.
It was eight minutes later when they arrived at the section of Main Street they’d started from, the Chevy Impala still parked where they’d left it. Korso had used the walk to give Natasha a brief account of what he’d gone through, and she updated him with her side of the story. The drugstore looked the same as when they’d first arrived in town, except for the front door, which was now ajar. He turned his attention to the vehicle and groaned inwardly when he saw the rear tyre on the driver’s side. It was completely flat.
‘Probably caused by Cain when he was shooting at us earlier,’ Natasha said.
‘Or more recent than that,’ Korso said. ‘A little parting gift to remember him by. It also means his trail will be that much colder by the time I get it fixed. Let me have the keys.’
Natasha pulled them from her pants pocket and lobbed them over. Korso caught them and knelt down next to the wheel. He spotted the bullet hole straight away. It was hard to miss. The rifle round had entered the bottom part of the tyre, pulling the rubber apart to leave a hole the size of a dime.
Getting up, he pressed the unlock button on the fob and the car chirped back at him. He stepped over to the rear and popped the trunk, pulled up the false floor, unscrewed and removed the spare wheel and then placed it on the ground. As he was reaching in for the jack and wrench, he heard Natasha open one of the car doors. He saw her in there, rummaging around for something. He slammed the trunk lid down and set to work.
He was just starting on the second wheel nut on the flat when Natasha joined him. She was holding out the burner phone Cain had left them.
‘He left us a sweet message,’ she said.
Korso looked at the display. It contained two words: Sayonara, assholes.
‘As succinct as ever,’ he said. ‘Sent when?’
Natasha pressed some buttons. ‘Ten after four. Six minutes ago.’
Korso nodded as he went back to loosening the nut. Hard to believe it had been just over an hour since they’d entered this godforsaken town.
‘How long will it take to change this tyre?’ she said.
‘Not long. Five or ten minutes.’
‘Good. I will go and change this dressing.’
‘Stay alert. He could still be nearby.’
‘The same goes for you.’
Korso thought that was sound advice. He pulled the Ruger from his waistband and set it down on the ground next to him. He grabbed hold of the wrench and was about to turn it again when he stopped. He felt something nagging at him. He stood up, saw Natasha walking toward the front door of Philby’s. The partially open front door. She pushed it open further and took a step inside.
‘Wait,’ he called out.
Natasha stopped immediately. She turned back to him. ‘What is it?’
‘That door wasn’t open before. After we dived inside to avoid the gunfire, I distinctly remember kicking it shut behind us. And we left by the rear exit.’
Natasha looked at the door as though it might hold a clue. ‘You’re sure?’
‘Absolutely.’
‘So Cain has been here since then.’ She slowly pulled the Taurus from her waistband, pulled back the hammer. She took another step inside.
‘Natasha, I said stop.’
She halted again, turning to him. ‘What now?’
‘Close quarters, remember? It’s not his style. He likes distance between himself and his quarry.’ He thought for a moment. ‘Do you hear or see anything in there that you didn’t before?’
Without taking another step, Natasha pushed her head into the store. After five or six seconds, she pulled back and said, ‘I see nothing different in there. What am I listening for?’
‘I’m not sure. Look, forget about those supplies in there. You can buy some fresh bandages at the next Walmart we see.’
‘It will only take a second to check.’
‘Natasha, I’m asking you not to go in there. I don’t like it.’
She looked at him again. Then she shrugged, turned and began walking back. ‘Very well,’ she said. ‘But only because you asked so nicely.’
Natasha reached his side of the car, and said, ‘I still think you are overreac—’ when the building exploded behind her.
Thirty-Nine
22 hours, 42 minutes and counting…
Korso instinctively dived to the ground, knowing the Chevy would protect them from the worst of the shockwave. The noise of the blast was tremendous, like the world was coming to an end. An intense wave of heat briefly washed over him as he clamped both hands over his head. He felt the weight of Natasha’s body as she landed on his legs.
All around, the sounds of glass shattering. Glancing up, he saw large chunks of masonry landing in the street, and heard something land on the roof of the Chevy. Smaller pieces of rubble landed on his hands and his neck and the back of his head. The sound of thunder quickly died down to just the ringing in his ears. Then nothing. He felt Natasha shift her weight and freed his legs. Glancing over, he saw she was in the same position as him, both arms protecting her head.
‘You okay?’ he said, a little louder than necessary.
She raised her head, looked at him, and nodded once.
Korso slowly raised himself up, using the side of the car for support. He looked at what remained of Philby’s Pharmacy. The roof was completely gone, as was much of the roofing of the adjoining properties on either side. The outer walls had collapsed in on themselves. The whole property was engulfed in flames, and dark smoke writhed and billowed into the sky. It looked solid enough to reach out and grab.
He used a hand to wave smoke away from his face. He’d witnessed the effects of C4 many times, but its destructive capabilities never failed to impress.
Natasha was now standing next to him, staring open-mouthed at the devastation. She turned to Korso with a fierce look in her eyes, then suddenly grabbed him by the back of his neck and clamped her lips hard against his. Seconds passed, he didn’t know how many. Just as suddenly, she released him and turned back to the destruction before them.
‘You’re welcome,’ he said, once he got his breath back.
She raised a finger. ‘Not another word.’
He saw a smoking brick had landed on the car roof. Or half of one. He reached over and picked it up. It felt hot in his hand. It had also left a dent in the roof. Throwing it to the ground, he walked round the car, inspecting it closely. Other than the roof, he saw very little external damage. Black soot and dust covered every inch of the vehicle on one side, but all the windows were intact. More importantly, so were the other three tyres.
Returning to the one flat tyre, he began to work the wrench as fast as he could. The sooner they were out of there, the better.
‘I think you can say goodbye to your deposit,’ he said.
Natasha snorted. ‘The least of our problems. Somebody must have heard that explosion and called the police, meaning further complications we can do without.’
‘Only if we’re still here when they arrive.’ Removing the last nut, he inserted the jack under the car and began raising the vehicle.
‘Can I help at all?’ Natasha said.
‘Not really. This is a one-person job.’
As he worked, she said, ‘If Cain could detonate the plastique remotely, why didn’t he when we were both in there earlier?’
‘I don’t think he did detonate it remotely.’ Once the flat tyre was an inch off the ground, he removed it and fitted the spare in its place. ‘I’m no explosives expert, but if the trigger device was pressure-sensitive, then a small vibration against the fridge could have been enough to set it off. And then I remembered that ancient-looking alarm clock on the work desk in there. The one with the huge bells.’
‘I remember seeing that now,’ she said, nodding. ‘And you were asking me before if I could hear anything in there. You were thinking of a ticking noise?’
‘It was just a thought.’ Korso began replacing the wheel nuts, tightening each one as he went. ‘Cain gets back here before us and puts one in the tyre to delay our departure just long enough. He winds up the clock, sets the alarm for ten minutes and places the bells against the refrigerator. Boom. Sayonara.’
‘Well, you were right on that point. Although you also thought he wouldn’t try to kill us again.’
‘I never said I was perfect.’
After lowering the vehicle to the ground again, he removed the jack, and tightened each of the four nuts further until he was satisfied the wheel was solid. Meanwhile, Natasha dragged the old wheel to the sidewalk, and slammed the trunk shut.
‘Still no sirens,’ she said, opening the passenger door.
‘Yet.’
Neither of them spoke until Korso got them out of Bilchner and safely back onto US-550. Fortunately, they didn’t see any police cars during their exit from town. Or any other vehicles for that matter. He continued heading south, aiming them toward the city of Durango, located fifty or sixty miles from their present location.
Now they were out of the woods, so to speak, Korso reduced his speed to a respectable fifty-five miles per hour, matching that of the other vehicles on the road. After everything they’d faced, it would be dumb to get pulled over for speeding. He checked the dashboard clock. It was 16:34. A little over two days since this had all started. By rights, he should have had another forty-seven hours to work with, but instead he had less than a day. He turned to see Natasha swiping a finger across her phone display. He also noticed the specks of blood on her arm dressing hadn’t gotten any worse.
‘The bleeding seems to have stopped,’ he said.
‘Hmm,’ she said, still focused on the screen.
With both eyes on the road, Korso pulled his own phone from his pocket and keyed a number. He raised it to his ear and waited. At the voicemail prompt, he left his name and number and hung up. He placed the phone on the central partition.
‘That strange Dog person again?’ Natasha said.
‘The same.’
‘What exactly can he or she do for us now?’
‘Probably nothing. I won’t know until I ask.’
Natasha returned her attention to her own phone. ‘I assume you are making for that city that we passed through on the way here?’
‘Right. It’s the nearest place with an airport. I remember seeing some signs for it when we drove through town.’
‘Yes, I was just checking it on Wikipedia. It is called the Durango-La Plata County Airport, located twelve miles southeast of the city. And I believe it is now time for our two pilots in Texas to start earning their pay.’
She pressed a few buttons and raised her phone to her ear. After a few seconds, she said, ‘This is your client. You are both awake and sober? Good. We are currently in southwest Colorado, and so I want you to bring yourselves to the Durango-La Plata Airport as soon as humanly possible, where you will refuel the plane for the next trip. We’re still figuring out our next destination, and will provide you with that information once you’re here. How long will it take you? Not good enough. I want you at this airport within two hours. Do that and you will each receive a thousand-dollar cash bonus… Yes, I thought you might.’ She ended the call, placed the phone on the dash.
‘Cash bonuses,’ he said. ‘You’ve changed your tune since Tijuana.’
She shrugged. ‘One must adapt to the circumstances, and time is now of the essence. Was I lying?’
‘About what?’
‘About being able to provide them with a new destination when they arrive.’
‘Well, you were a little premature, but the pilots don’t need to know that. And they’ll wait for as long as we want them to. Once we get to Durango, we’ll figure out our next move in more detail. And on that subject, can you get your source in the SAA investigative unit to email you their official and unofficial findings so far, so I at least know what to ignore? And while you’re at it, anything from their CAA counterparts in Guyana would be—’
His phone began trilling. ‘Put it on speaker,’ he said.
‘Hello again, Korso.’
This time, the modulated voice filling the car was a generic robotic voice of indeterminate gender, totally void of inflection or emotion.
‘Dog,’ Korso said. ‘What are you now, the Terminator?’
‘Funny. So did everything work out at that storage place in Texas?’
‘Not really, but through no fault of yours.’
