mouth of a long driveway that led to a secluded house. The mailbox flashed the number 23 in gold letters.
The house was shaded by a small forest that crept into the front yard. Pulling over close to the main road, Jade got out of his car and gazed through the woods. He scanned the area slowly, his eyes straining to see through the leaves and branches. Waiting. Waiting for the slightest crack of a twig or crunch of a leaf. Somewhere, a stream moved against its banks, its melodic flow tickling Jade's ear. A soft roll of thunder issued from the distance.
As he looked, Jade turned in a full circle. When he'd returned to his starting position, he headed toward the house. He moved forward and sideways, never taking his eyes off the front door.
If Allander's here, he's watching me right now, Jade thought. And something told him that Allander was expecting him.
The chopping of a helicopter sounded overhead. It approached swiftly, its searchlight zooming across the landscape. It would pick up Jade's car and direct the backup. Anger swept over Jade. He wanted this one alone.
He walked boldly up the front walk to the house, then sprinted for the door. Clearing the three stairs, the small porch, and kicking down the door with a single flying leap, he landed beside the door, inside the foyer, balanced in a boxer's stance.
He stood motionless as the dust settled around the stark interior. The furniture covered with dust cloths and the rolled-up rugs leaning in the corners of the rooms made the house look like it belonged in a ghost town. Tools lay scattered about the floor.
A small mound of dirt was fanned in a semicircle at the base of the stairs. Jade walked over to it and pinched some in his fingers, raising it to his nose. Fertilizer. Probably tracked in during the landscaping makeover. He rose from his crouch and looked up the stairs.
Complete silence. Outside he heard another rumble of thunder, closer now.
Jade moved quickly, overturning the covered desks and chairs, smashing doors open and kicking through closets. He ran upstairs and sprinted from room to room. There were no signs of life.
Only the master bedroom remained to be searched; he looked down the length of the hallway at the closed door. With his Sig Sauer leading the way, Jade stalked toward it, cushioning the sound of his footsteps by walking toe to heel.
The door left its hinges entirely when he kicked it, crashing to the floor. The light from outside was fading rapidly, and much of the bedroom was cloaked in shadow.
An antique mirror stood in the corner of the room, next to an enormous maple wardrobe with intricately carved handles. Jade aimed his raised pistol at the wardrobe. He was ready. He approached it slowly.
His finger was white-knuckled against the trigger as he nosed the wardrobe door open. It swung outward on creaky hinges. He leaned back and fired once into the dark interior. A single wire hanger dangled from the bar, lit with the flash from Jade's shot. That was all.
The house was empty. It had all been a wild-goose chase. In his excitement, he had forgotten that the green paint and remodeled house only had been part of a theory, and that this had been one of only several possible houses.
Rage filled his body, and he spun to face the room. Catching his dim reflection in the mirror, he glared at himself-his hard, green eyes, his ineffective body.
Cursing, he hurled the pistol at his reflection. The mirror shattered and the wooden board behind it swung to the side like a window shutter, held there by two bent nails. As the mirror fell away in shards, it seemed that Jade's reflection still remained, his eyes peering back at him. Then the eyes blinked when his did not, and a smile crept across the face of Allander Atlasia.
Chapter 56
The element of surprise decidedly in his favor, Allander stepped through the shattered frame and pounced on Jade, pressing the point of a screwdriver to his throat. Jade swallowed roughly as the probing tool dug into his Adam's apple.
Allander smiled. After all this time, he and Jade were together. Here at the new house. His house. Allander felt a chill teasing his legs, and his testicles tightened. The dance had begun.
The noise of sirens outside escalated, and red-and-blue lights flashed through the window. Jade tried to talk, but the screwdriver was pressed so tightly against his windpipe that he only choked.
He looked into Allander's face, savoring the feeling of his flesh against his own. After so much distance and time, the two men were finally touching. The beat of Allander's heart pounded in Jade's ears, and for a moment, he could not distinguish it from his own.
'Not a movement, not a word,' Allander hissed in his ear. 'At last, Marlow, we're together. I know you've waited desperately for me to come out of hiding. Or should I say, out of repression.'
Jade saw the dried blood covering one of Allander's knuckles where his shot had grazed him in the restaurant. There was another smudge of blood on Allander's cuff, but it was lighter, a cherry red. It looked like paint.
Jade struggled again to speak, twisting his neck until he could force out a few words. 'Kill me if you're going to. Just don't waste my fucking time.'
Allander eased the pressure from the screwdriver just enough for Jade to continue.
'You're done, Atlasia. We got cars, agents, 'copters. And you've got a fuckin' screwdriver.'
'And your gun, Marlow. And your gun.' Allander reached for the Glock tucked in his jeans.
The moment he moved, Jade seized the hand gripping the screwdriver and dropped all his weight off his feet. As he collapsed to the floor, he twisted Allander's hand across itself until he felt the elbow lock. Allander screamed in pain and swung the butt of his pistol to the back of Jade's head, dropping him to the floor.
The death grip on his hand eased and Allander pulled it to freedom, sending the screwdriver skidding across the floorboards. In seconds, he was through the door and down the stairs.
Jade pushed himself up on all fours. The bump on his head was painful, but the skin wasn't split. He grabbed the pistol he had thrown through the shattered mirror and stumbled after Allander, gripping his head and banging forcefully into the door frame with his shoulder. The stairs and the floor below were quiet.
Walking unsteadily from room to room, Jade planted his hand on countertops and walls to support himself. He was familiar with this drill, the disappearance. He knew Allander had to be in the house somewhere, especially with the FBI barricade outside. He tried to focus, but saw only blurry images.
He had a haunting feeling that Allander had spared his life. It was the worst thing he could imagine-charity from a murderer. If Allander had wanted to kill him, he would probably have done it right away, sending the screwdriver through his neck to the handle and watching his blood spray the floor.
Jade's vision was getting worse. He knew he had to get some fresh air or he would pass out. He staggered over the flattened front door, blinded by the searchlights that covered the front yard. Most of them, at this moment, were angled directly into his eyes.
The clicking of gun hammers greeted Jade as he stumbled off the porch. Still gripping the back of his head, he shouted, 'Relax! It's me, Marlow. He's pinned down on the property, so hold your positions.' He walked behind the phalanx of cars. 'I need to sit down a minute and then I'm going back in.'
A tall agent stormed over and bent down like an umpire, hands on his knees. Jade recognized him as Fredericks; he'd last seen him at the meeting in the federal building. Evidently, he had replaced McGuire. 'Until you bring me up to speed,' Fredericks yelled, 'you're not going anywhere, Marlow.'
Jade reached over and grabbed Fredericks's tie, yanking his head forward. He tried to make his eyes focus as he spoke. His voice was low, calm, and surprisingly tired. 'I don't think you should push me right now.'
Fredericks stumbled back when Jade released his tie. 'We will discuss this later, Marlow. I don't have the luxury right now.' He backed off and pretended to busy himself by repositioning a few of the snipers.
A row of FBI agents dressed in black swept past Jade as they rolled into position. Same game as at the apartment. Agents around the house, on the roof ready to rappel. Snipers in the trees. There was no way out for him. Not this time.
Jade pulled himself to his feet. He checked his pistol, clicking the chamber and glancing down the hard shaft
