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.Nick must have gotten some argument after that comment because his voice got lower and his body tensed.At last, he ended the conversation, saying something about getting some watchers in the area and setting himself up as an asset.Michael wasn’t sure what that was about.As he hung up the phone, Nick took a deep breath and his expression was less fierce when he turned and looked at Michael, but it wasn’t changed enough.Michael knew then that Nick had never given up his old line of work at all.He was not just a stringer, an occasional or freelance operative.He was still the genuine article.“So what now?”“The bodies will be retrieved and the ID’s checked out.We’ll know by tomorrow morning everything there is to know about them.In the meantime we’ve got to find Lyra before whoever’s running these guys does.”They got in the Jeep and Michael looked over at Nick as he pulled onto the road from the park.“You’re still a Company man, aren’t you?”“I thought we’d already covered that.”“So did I.Just like I thought we were too good of friends to lie to one another.You said you’d turned in your card, man.That you just acted as a stringer in a clinch.”“That wasn’t a lie.”“And is this one of those clinches?”Nick looked at him.“You know I can’t talk about it.”“So what can you tell me?”“That if we don’t both do our jobs a whole lot more people are going to die.This thing’s gotten personal.I’m gonna find that bastard and I am going to take him out—regardless of what anyone says.You get my drift?”Michael nodded.“Yeah, and for once, old buddy, I wholeheartedly agree.”Sea IslandChelsey pulled her car in the garage and parked it.Lyra had insisted they return to the house when she had called the studio and gotten no answer.She called the police station where Michael worked and was told he had left over an hour ago.Then she had called the house again and gotten a recorded message saying that the number she had dialed was either out of order or no longer in service.She called the operator and asked her to check the line and the operator told her that the phone must be off the hook.That was when she dragged Chelsey from the restaurant.All the way back she fidgeted, sure that something terrible had happened.She unlocked the garage door and bounded into the kitchen.“Nick!”Hands suddenly grabbed her and almost jerked her down.She tugged, trying to break free and heard a scream behind her.The man holding her yanked her around and she saw Chelsey.A man in black, wearing a ski mask, had hold of her arm, pressing a gun to her head.Lyra froze, not knowing what to do.The man holding her pulled her through the house into the den and shoved her down on the couch.She watched fearfully as Chelsey was pushed into the room, the gun still at her head.“What do you want?” Lyra’s voice was thick with fear.“I want you to get the diary.Then you’re going to go with us.”“I don’t know where it is.”The man looked over at Chelsey for a moment.“I think you do, Lyra.And unless you want to see your friend’s brains become part of the wallpaper you’ll do exactly like I tell you.Do you understand?”Lyra nodded and the man jerked her up.She went with him upstairs and walked to the desk in her room, opening the top drawer.She scrambled around in it frantically for a moment then looked at the man.“It was right here!”He stepped over and jerked the drawer out, dumping its contents on the floor.“Don’t fuck with me, honey, or I’ll rip your friend’s heart out and shove it down her throat.”Lyra swallowed and nodded.“But I’m telling you the truth.I left it here in the desk this morning!”They both heard a noise downstairs and the man grabbed her, holding her in front of him as he started for the door.Downstairs, Nick and Michael had arrived at the house, leaving the Jeep on the street and coming in on foot, just in case someone was inside.They saw the open door of the garage and crept in silently, entering the house.Stopping in the hall, Nick heard Chelsey crying.He edged to the door of the den and looked in then backed up and whispered to Michael.Michael nodded and passed him, pausing as he reached the door.He stepped past it and worked his way to the other entrance.Nick waited as Michael stepped into the den from the front entrance then silently slipped in from the rear.The man holding the gun on Chelsey yelled “Hold it!”as he saw Michael.Michael held up his hands and moved farther into the room.“I said, hold it!” the man yelled.“I’ll blow her brains out, man!”Michael stopped as he saw Nick move up silently behind the man.“Okay, okay.I’m not moving.Now why don’t you let the girl go?”The man laughed and at that moment, Nick grabbed his hand, jerking the gun away from Chelsey’s head.Michael dove at her, tackling her to the floor as the gun went off.The man whirled and took a swing at Nick.Nick jabbed him in the side with his free hand, still clamped on to his wrist with the other.They fought over the gun for a few moments, getting it trapped between them.Michael felt like he was watching an old movie as the gun went off.He didn’t know which one had been shot but he prayed it wasn’t Nick.The man in the mask staggered back and fell against the wall.As he slid to the floor, he left a bloody track on the wallpaper.Nick didn’t wait to see if he was still alive.He took off up the stairs three at a time.Lyra and the second man were standing just inside her bedroom door.She had heard the shots and was sure Chelsey was dead.Tears stung her eyes and she shook as the man shoved her out into the hall.They passed two opened doorways and moved toward the stairs [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]