system was that there should be no natural wastage of time. And it would be a waste of a precious second if I had to rack a bullet into place before I fired. In that time I could already be dead.
The SIG I used was specially modified so that there were no safety switch or sights on the barrel to snag on my clothing. It was a steel-bodied blowback model that barely recoiled in the fist. Handy when the 9 mm soft-nosed Parabellums it fired were a powerful enough load to stop most men in their tracks. I didn't want a gun that I had to constantly fight to control and to retarget after every shot.
Harvey had brought plenty of spare ammunition. He'd also supplied me with a military issue Ka-bar knife coated in black epoxy. Finally, there was a new pay-and-go mobile phone for use during the operation ahead.
I caught sight of myself in a mirror at the back of the room. Most people would see a taller than average man on his way to forty years old, but with the hard body of someone ten years younger. They'd see the short brown hair with only a hint of grey at the temples and the eyes that flashed between blue and green depending on my mood. They'd notice the tattoo on my right shoulder and wonder what it represented. Only if they looked close enough would they notice the story of my life etched into my skin in the form of a tapestry of scars that I'd picked up during fourteen years as a counterterrorism officer and the four years since. On my right pectoral muscle is a tiny white indentation where I was shot when on patrol in Northern Ireland. The scar where the bullet exited formed a puckered mass of scar tissue an inch or so from the tattoo.
I touched a more recent scar, running my fingers over the pink ridge in my chest just to the left of my heart. That was courtesy of a fight with an ex-Secret Service agent named Martin Maxwell who had taken to killing people and stripping bones from their corpses. The bones he took to Jubal's Hollow, his secret repository in the Mojave Desert. Maxwell, dubbed the Harvestman by the FBI, made a mistake when he took my brother, John. I hunted the bastard down and rammed one of those bones into his throat. He got me good, though, and it was pure chance that he missed my heart and found only the meat of my pectoral muscle.
Thinking of the Harvestman, I couldn't help but draw parallels between him and this latest maniac I was up against. Why was it that they had to take assumed names? And often from the Bible? Martin Maxwell had believed himself Tubal Cain reincarnated, and now I had some lunatic who thought he had fallen from Heaven with Lucifer and his crew. Well, he'd certainly taken a fall, rammed off the bridge at Neptune Island and sent to a watery hell in the sea below.
Ever the pessimist, though, I had to admit that I hadn't seen him die. He could still be out there someplace. With that in mind I pushed the SIG into my waistband at the back and felt around for fresh socks. I pulled on my boots — still dusty from my run — then slipped the Ka-bar alongside my right ankle. A plain black V-neck T, with a loose canvas jacket over the top of that. It was too warm for outerwear but I needed something to cover the bulge that my SIG made at the small of my back. I had a licence to carry, but not in my real name. Fundamentally the cops were on the same side as I was, but it wouldn't stop them running me in if they realised the licence was as bogus as the name on it.
A man of many resources, Harvey had already paid the bill for the room. But I still had to hand back the keys before leaving. Pulling all my belongings into a pile, I shoved them into a plastic bin liner and knotted the top. I slung them on the back seat on passing the Audi then went and deposited the key to the room through a flap provided. Then I got in the car, and headed back towards the Dixie Highway. I watched the totem pole grow small in the rear-view mirror as I pulled away.
The Dixie Highway went through Hobe Sound. It was still early, not yet eight o'clock, and the road wasn't so busy. There were only a few people out on the palm-lined streets. Out of Hobe Sound the road hugged the coast. A short distance later, I found the turnpike that allowed me on to the road that traversed first Jupiter then Neptune Islands.
As I drove I watched the boats sailing up and down the Inter-Coastal Waterway. The sea was turquoise against pale sand. In places I could see all the way to the bottom. The sky was equally clear with only a haze on the southern horizon that wasn't cloud but pollution from the cities of Miami and Miami Beach. A mile overhead a passenger plane headed out over the ocean, and I imagined holidaymakers with glum faces as they took their last look down on paradise. They wouldn't think it was paradise if they knew what had gone on down here the evening before.
Arriving at Neptune, I slowed the Audi and pulled into a layover next to a picnic area. There were already families in attendance, but they were too busy enjoying the scenery and glorious weather to pay attention to a lone man making a telephone call. Harvey was driving so it was Marianne Dean who answered. She put the call on speakerphone so that the two of them could listen.
'I hope Harvey's treating you well, Mari?' I said, to keep things light between us. Purposely I used the name she wished to go by; a way of reassuring her that I was fully on her side.
'Don't worry, Joe, Harvey's being the perfect gentleman.' Her voice sounded musical, like some of the worry had been expunged from her soul. I only hoped my next question wouldn't send her two steps backwards.
'What has hit the news about last night, Harve?'
Harvey grunted. 'World War Three, the way the networks are handling things.'
'Anything specific?'
'If you're asking if the shooter has turned up, the answer's no. But some old guy was found floating nearby the crash scene. Unless he was unlucky and the Lincoln landed on him, I think Dantalion did the poor sap in.'
'What was he doing out there?'
'At a guess? Fishing. And before you ask, the water's too deep for wading; he had to have had a boat with him. Looks like Dantalion survived. Worse than that, he got clean away.'
We should have made sure. It's a pity Rink didn't get to put a couple rounds in his ugly face for good measure before pushing him into the sea.
But, the news didn't exactly surprise me.
'So he's still out there,' I said. 'But if we were right about Gabe Wellborn being his handler, then I'm guessing he's been cut free. He has no support network to back him up.'
'Has to be resilient enough,' Harvey said, 'surviving the crash and getting away. I don't think he's about to crawl away and hide under a rock someplace. He's probably got himself holed up somewhere and is planning his next move.'
'OK,' I said. 'This is what we're going to do. You go ahead with getting Marianne to the safe house; I'm going to try to get hold of Bradley. I don't trust that asshole Seagram to protect him. Only way that piece of shit would stop a bullet would be if he tripped over his own feet and fell into the line of fire.'
'Can help you there,' Harvey said. 'We spoke to Bradley a few minutes ago. Marianne guessed where he'd be. A motel they used to use when they were first seeing one another.'
In the background I heard Marianne saying something about their rendezvous all being innocent, that they'd only meet there then go on to some movie or bar.
'Where is he?' I asked.
'On his way back to Neptune by now. We caught him on his way out. Tried to convince him to keep well away but he wasn't having any of it.'
'Idiot,' I said.
'He has to be concerned,' Marianne said in his defence. 'Don't forget that we're talking about his home. His family.'
Yeah, I thought. The same family who were trying their damnedest to kill Bradley and her off. I went on, 'The place will be swarming with cops. It's not going to be easy getting in touch with him.'
Then Marianne chipped in, 'I can always give you his phone number.'
'He's carrying a cell?'
'No, I don't think so. We spoke to him on the motel phone. But if he's home I can give you a direct line through to his private office.'
'Sounds good.'
Marianne reeled off the number and I memorised it to put into my phone's address book later.
'OK, guys, I'll let you get on with your bit. I'll ring you when I know what's happening. Watch your backs. If this crazy is still out there we've no idea where he'll pop up next.'
'Don't worry,' Harvey said. 'Next time there'll be no mistakes.'
'Yeah,' I said. My own sentiment exactly.
'Take it easy, Hunter.'
