A low throbbing to the south.
Logans heart jumped. The hell you did.
The air.
Why hadnt he thought about the air? Logan thought, even as the brilliant blue lights of the heli-copter speared down at them out of the darkness.
Run for the boat! Keep low.
Gil was already streaking for the speedboat.
The man theyd thought was Maren was running toward them.
A bullet whistled by Logans ear.
Son of a bitch.
Gil was in the boat, untying the line from the stake.
The damn helicopter was almost on top of them, flooding the boat with cold blue light.
Logan jumped in the boat and turned on the throttle.
The water ahead of them was sprayed with bul-lets from above.
Stay low. Logan started zigzagging the boat across the water, trying to avoid the cone of light. If we can make it to that inlet, were home free. Theres a thick tree cover, and there are too many residences for them to keep shooting. Well ditch the boat and
Another spray of bullets, closer.
Too close.
Christ, that beam was like a spotlight. How could they miss?
Unless they wanted to miss.
Unless they were more valuable alive than dead.
The skull. Jesus, they needed the skull.
The speedboat tore into the inlet and was en-gulfed in shadows from the overhanging trees.
Not safe yet. Not as long as they remained in the boat. He pulled the boat close to the bank and cut the motor. He jumped out and grabbed the lead.
He could hear the helicopter overhead. Come on, well go up to the house and see what kind of transport we can
Gil was staring at him, his eyes glittering.
Gil?
Why hadnt Logan called?
Eve rolled over in bed and looked at the illumi-nated face of the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was almost three in the morning. Surely he could have picked up the damn phone and let her know he and Gil were safe.
If they were safe. If the trap hadnt been sprung.
Go to sleep. They were hundreds of miles away. She couldnt help by lying there, staring into the darkness.
And wishing she hadnt been so curt to Logan be-fore hed left.
My God, she was having all these morbid regrets, as if he werent on his way back to her.
Back to her? Back to Ben and the forensic testing, back to their joint purpose.
Never back to her.
Kessler knocked on her door at seven-thirty the next morning. Theres something you should see. He came into the motel room and switched on the televi-sion set. The Presidents press secretary just issued a statement. CNN is repeating it now. When a picture of Kevin Detwil appeared on the screen, Kessler mur-mured, Look at him. Even knowing its not Chadbourne, I still cant
The shot immediately switched to the group of reporters firing questions at Jim Douglas, Chadbournes press secretary.
It wasnt John Logan in the fire?
So Ive been told. The man who burned to death at Barrett House was Abdul Jamal.
And you think an assassination conspiracy is a possibility?
I wish I could say it wasnt. I assure you the President doesnt like the idea of being a target. But since the fire occurred at the time President Chadbourne was invited to visit Barrett House, Mr. Timwick tells me he has to consider the possibility and increase his security.
And Logan is suspected of instigating this conspiracy?
We sincerely hope not. Even though theyre on the opposite ends of the political spectrum, the Presi-dent has always held him in respect. Its his sincere wish that Logan will come forward and explain all this. He paused. Until that time, we must consider Logan a threat to both the President and the country. Jamal was a known terrorist and assassin and the Se-cret Service believes that the Presidents visit to Bar-rett House would have been a disastrous mistake.
We were told the body was almost entirely destroyed. How did you manage to match the DNA to Jamal?
