set to explode at nine-thirty. Jassim will be long gone by then.”
“Inshallah,”Mahmoud said.
“Inshallah,”the others repeated.
The men fell silent.
“The weather is supposed to be clear and cold tonight,” Nikmaddu said at last.
“Good,” Mahmoud said. “Then our drive to Florida should be trouble free.”
“Someday, I would love to spend some time in Florida,” Akbar said, almost wistfully.
THE BLONDE Ollie had shot in the back was in a room on the sixth floor of Hoch Memorial. A male police officer was stationed outside the door to the room. The clock on the wall behind him read twelve-fortyP.M. The blonde had plastic tubes trailing out of her nose. The blonde had lines running into her arm. Neither Carella nor Ollie felt the slightest bit of pity or compassion for her on this cold December afternoon at the end of the year.
“Want to tell us who you are?” Carella asked.
“I don’t have to tell you anything,” she said. “You’re making a grave mistake here.”
“You’re the one who made the grave mistake,” Ollie said.
“Threeof them,” Carella said.
The blonde smiled.
“What’s your name?” he asked.
“I don’t have to tell you that.”
“You killed two civilians and tried to kill a police officer. Do you know what kind of trouble you’re in here?”
“I’m not in any trouble at all.”
“Two counts of Murder Two …”
“Another count of Attempted …”
“On our block, that’s pretty serious,” Ollie said.
“On my block, it’s routine,” she said.
“And where’s that, Miss?”
“What’s your name, Miss?”
“Where do you live?”
“How come you weren’t carrying any identification?”
The blonde smiled again.
“You think this is pretty funny, don’t you?” Ollie said. “Trying to kill a police officer.”
“How about a police officer shooting me in the back?” she said. “Do you thinkthat’s funny?”
“Not as funny as it might have been if I’d killed you,” Ollie said. “That really would’ve been comical.”
“You think so, huh? Just wait, Mister.”
“For what?” Ollie said.
“Just wait.”
“What it is, you see, we don’t like cops getting shot in this city.”
“Then cops in this city should keep their noses out of other people’s business.”
“Which people are you talking about?”
“People with more important matters on their minds than two piss-ant dope dealers.”
“Oh?” Carella said.
“Oh?” Ollie said.
“You knew they were dealing, huh?”
The blonde smiled.
“What else did you know about them?”
She shook her head.
“Did you know one of them killed a man named Jerry Hoskins?”
She kept smiling, shaking her head.
“Ever hear that name?”
“Jerry Hoskins?”
“Got himself shot on Christmas Eve by one of the guysyou shot last night? Think there might be a connection?”
