'Ames.'
Daniel spun around, fist cocked. He held his punch when he recognized Kaidanov. The scientist looked as miserable as Daniel felt. Water ran down his face and beaded a mustache and beard that Daniel had not noticed in the picture on the liquor cabinet in Kaidanov's living room.
'You scared the shit out of me,' Daniel said as he sagged against the tomb.
'We don't have much time,' the Russian answered. He was shivering and his voice trembled from the cold. 'I want you to tell Geller Pharmaceuticals that I'll testify that my study is a hoax.'
'The results aren't real?' Daniel asked, stunned by Kaidanov's revelation.
'Of course not.'
'And Insufort is safe?'
'I don't have time for this,' Kaidanov said impatiently. 'You tell Geller's people that I want money and protection. I'm not meeting anyone until I've been paid and all of the safety precautions have been arranged to my satisfaction.'
'Why me?'
'Because I don't know who to trust at Reed, Briggs or Geller. I want one million dollars. That's cheap considering how much I'll save them. I also want a safe house and bodyguards.' Kaidanov looked around nervously. 'They tried to kill me at the lab. Then they tried again when they murdered Briggs.'
'Who tried to kill you?'
'I don't know. I never met anyone. I received my instructions by phone or in the mail or at a drop. They paid me to transform that building into a lab and to phony up the study. They told me the results they wanted.'
'Why did you do it?'
Kaidanov shrugged. 'Gambling debts. They promised me enough to pay them and more. I was stupid. I believed them.'
'Do you know who killed Arthur Briggs?'
'I'm sure it was the same person who tried to kill me at the lab, but I didn't see his face. Everything happened too fast. Arthur warned me and I got away. I was lucky at the lab, too.' Kaidanov laughed. 'That fucking monkey. It saved my life.'
'The monkey that was shot?'
'I was seconds away from being set on fire when the little beast came out of nowhere. It was amazing. Its coat was solid flame and it still had the strength to attack.' The Russian shook his head in awe. 'The last thing I saw was its teeth sinking into the killer's shoulder.'
Kaidanov shuddered. Blood, skin, and brains spattered Daniel's face. He stepped back instinctively, making a strangled sound as he stared in shock at the remains of Kaidanov's face. The scientist lurched forward and clutched Daniel's jacket. His back absorbed the next bullet. The explosion acted like a slap. Daniel shoved the body away and jumped behind the mausoleum, barely avoiding a bullet that nicked the edge of the crypt and sprayed him with rock chips.
Daniel sprinted between the graves toward another mausoleum. Someone was running parallel to him, several rows over. The killer pulled up and assumed a shooting stance. Daniel dove behind a stone angel just as the angel's head exploded.
Daniel scrambled forward, crablike, but he held out little hope of escape. It wouldn't take long for the killer to figure out that he was unarmed and helpless. He took a quick look around. The mausoleum was two rows away. The killer would expect him to head for it because it provided the best shelter, so he started circling back toward Kaidanov's body, hoping that the heavy clouds and rain would cloak his movements.
Daniel risked a look over his shoulder and saw a figure racing toward the mausoleum. As soon as it disappeared he leaped up and raced away. A gun fired and Daniel felt the wind track of a bullet speeding by his cheek. He shifted gears and ran all out, dodging behind the tallest monuments and widest headstones. Another bullet ripped the fabric of his hood and creased the side of his head, sending him sprawling headfirst into a granite slab. Fighting for consciousness, Daniel gritted his teeth and struggled to one knee, then tumbled back down. Footsteps pounded the ground, drawing closer. A shot. Daniel braced for the impact, but none came. Two more shots, but from opposite directions, then another and another. Daniel looked around. A figure was firing toward his assailant, who turned and fled.
'Stay down,' Kate Ross yelled. Daniel crawled behind a large headstone. His head was throbbing. When he touched the skin above his left ear, blood dampened his palm and pain flared in his temple.
Kate crouched beside him, a gun in her hand.
'Get up. We've got to go, now !'
Daniel braced himself on the headstone and levered himself to his feet, before doubling over from nausea. Kate gripped his arm.
'Suck it up and move.'
Daniel stumbled forward like a drunk with Kate following, gun in hand. Gradually, his head cleared enough for him to get his bearings.
'Where's your car?'
'Over there,' Daniel said, pointing toward the ravine where he'd come in. Kate worried that the shooter was waiting in the woods, but she angled toward the trees. Daniel had all he could do to keep his feet moving. At some point Kate took his arm, steadying him. Kate breathed a sigh of relief when they entered the woods without incident.
When they found Daniel's car, Kate took his keys and helped him into the passenger's seat, then went around to the driver's side. The dome light went on. Kate got a good look at Daniel's face and gasped. Daniel stared in the rearview mirror. His blood drenched the left side of his head and Kaidanov's blood and brains speckled his face and the front of his windbreaker.
'Oh, Jesus,' he said as a wave of nausea rolled through his stomach. He pushed open the door and threw up on the macadam. Kate put a hand on his back.
'How badly are you hurt?' she asked.
Daniel ran the back of his hand across his mouth and squeezed his eyes tight.
'It's not all my blood,' he managed. 'Kaidanov . . .'
Another wave of nausea hit him and he gritted his teeth.
'The scientist you came to meet?' Kate asked.
Daniel nodded. 'His body is back there by the mausoleum.'
Kate made a decision. She punched in a number on her cell phone and Daniel looked at her.
'I'm getting you an ambulance.'
'No,' Daniel gasped. 'They'll send me back to jail.'
Kate gave their location to 911, then dialed another number.
'You're hurt and there's been a murder,' she answered as she waited for the party on the other end to pick up.
Daniel was too weak to talk and almost too dizzy to think, but he shook his head. Kate grabbed his shoulder and squeezed.
'Do you trust me?' she asked.
Daniel used most of his energy to muster a nod.
'Then stick with me.' A voice on the other end of the phone distracted her.
'Hello,' she said. 'It's Kate Ross, Amanda. I'm with Daniel Ames. We need you.'
Chapter Thirty-Four.
When Billie Brewster and Zeke Forbus drove up, the medics were treating Daniel's head wound in the back of an ambulance. An officer was stationed at the rear of the ambulance, guarding Daniel. The detectives conferred with him for a few minutes. Then the officer pointed to Kate's car, where Kate Ross and Amanda Jaffe had taken shelter from the rain. Billie ran over and knocked on Kate's window. Kate got out of the car just as Forbus joined his partner.
'Why couldn't your boyfriend commit murder on a sunny afternoon?' he grumbled.
'Daniel didn't kill anyone,' Kate snapped, too exhausted to be polite.
Forbus barked out a sour laugh and threw a thumb over his shoulder toward the uniform. 'Harris told me the bullshit story you gave him about a mysterious stranger and your heroic rescue. Sounds a little like Lethal Weapon
