No Way Out

Claymore could breathe again. But not breathe easily. That maniac Louis Manning was on the loose with a grudge. Who would he go after? Sarah Jensen? Bridget Riley? Bethel Newton?

As if reading his mind, his cell phone beeped and flashed, alerting him to the fact that he had a message. He picked up the phone and pressed the button to retrieve the text.

You may have thwarted my plan, but there is a price to be paid for doing so. I am now going to kill Andi. Her blood is on your hands.

Lannosea.

Wednesday, 2 September 2009 — 18:20

“Hallo can I speak to Martine Yin please… I’m not sure what room she’s in.”

Again the receptionist checked the name via the computer in the most perfunctory fashion.

Louis Manning was still checking hotels in Oakland. He was getting to the bottom of his list and wondering if perhaps she was staying in San Francisco. Certainly they had better hotels on the other side of the Bay Bridge. But she had been sent here to cover a trial in Oakland and it was unlikely that she’d want to face that commuter time crush on the bridge.

Then again, she had come off the case — probably because of her relationship with the lawyer. So maybe she was staying with him. Or maybe at a hotel nearer to where he lived or worked.

He realized that he’s probably have to check out the hotels in San Francisco too.

“Putting you through now sir.”

His heart leapt! He had found her!

A few seconds later, he heard the ringing tone. He should ring off now, so as not to alert her. But he had to make sure. Maybe they had misheard the name.

“Hallo.”

He recognized the voice — the voice that he had heard on the TV. The voice of the woman whom he had tried to rape. The woman who had sprayed pepper spray in his face and escaped his clutches. The woman who was responsible for the fact that he had broken his leg and his collar bone and been arrested… and now been ID’d as the man who had raped Bethel Newton.

He put the phone down, slamming it harder than he intended.

That bitch is going to pay.

Wednesday, 2 September 2009 — 18:30

Martine Yin was undressing in her room at the Waterfront hotel on the East Bay, curious about the phone call that hadn’t got through. It was probably from Alex, she thought. But then he’d have tried her cell phone.

Whatever, she told herself. If it was important, they’d call back.

She had used the excuse of the trauma of the attempted rape to get herself relieved of reporting on the Claymore case. This avoided having to the station anything about her relationship with Alex. But she had also used the trauma as a pretext to ask for a leave of absence until Monday the seventh. That left her free to spend more time with Alex, including — she hoped — another weekend.

It was a little to early to think about moving in together. For a start, it wouldn’t be easy to co-ordinate work-wise. She was based in Southern California and he was firmly rooted in San Francisco. Secondly, he wasn’t yet ready to tell David and Debbie. And it wasn’t yet clear whether or not they approved of her. She didn’t want this to turn out into one of those ongoing feuds between the daughter and the “step-mother” who is only a few years her senior.

Still, Martine was already hoping… and planning.

Alex had invited her out for dinner tonight at Sens, an Exotic Southern Mediterranean restaurant in the Embarcadero Center. She had spent the morning on retail therapy, but still hadn’t decided what to wear. It would definitely have to be white. The question was, should it be the one with the single shoulder strap and long slit up the leg or the medium length little number with the tantalizing keyhole? She had laid them both out on the bed, but couldn’t make up her mind.

But there was still time. Meanwhile, she headed for the shower.

Wednesday, 2 September 2009 — 18:35

Alex was in his office cleaning up the paperwork from the Claymore case, when another call came. Juanita had gone home, so Alex took it himself.

“Alex Sedaka.”

“Hallo Mr. Sedaka.”

It was a woman’s voice. He hadn’t expected that. He thought it would be Claymore calling about Andi. He was all set to tell him that he had no news and that he should stop worrying. Women weren’t as emotionally fragile as men seemed to believe. Martine had proved that when she had brushed off his excess of sympathy and concern after the rape attempt. But this woman did sound emotionally fragile, even from the few words she had uttered.

“Yes. Who is this?”

“It’s Gene — Gene Vance.”

“Oh hi Gene. What can I do for you?”

“I’m worried about Martine.”

“Martine?” He had thought she was going to say Andi. Alex hadn’t seen her since he went off to make a statement to the press about how his client was relieved that it was all over. But Claymore had told him that Andi was in a state of distress when they parted. And when Gene came on the line, he thought it was going to be more of the same. But Gene had said Martine.”

“Why? What’s the problem?”

“I think she may be in danger.”

“Danger? What sort of danger?”

“Didn’t you hear?”

“Hear what?”

“Louis Manning escaped from the hospital-”

“How-”

“He drugged the cop who was keeping an eye on him and got the key to the handcuffs. Then he stole the cop’s uniform and escaped.”

Alex was in shock at this revelation. But he stayed calm until his sense of logic kicked in.

“But I don’t see that he’d be stupid enough to stick around. I mean he must know the cops’ll be looking for him. And if they know he’s wearing a cop’s uniform then they’ll be looking for that too. And that means he’ll be looking for a change of clothes. He’s more likely to attack a man to get some new threads then go after Martine.”

“No you don’t understand. It was on the news.”

“What was on the news.”

“He tasered a nurse, who saw him making his getaway. And it was reported that he said something to her before he hightailed it.”

“What did he say?”

“He said something about having an old score to settle.”

Alex thought about this for a moment.