Page 41 of End of Days

Which was something I didn’t want to hear. I said, “Is he going to transmit the message out?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. No other reason to bring the laptop.”

I said, “Can you interdict? Force him to leave before?”

“You want me to make a scene here? Pull out my pistol and start ranting about Muslims or something?”

I realized I was grasping at straws. I said, “What about cutting the hotel computer? Can you do something to interdict it? Maybe walk to it while he’s on his laptop and make it crash?”

“Too late. He’s done. He’s put the thumb drive back into the computer, and he’s typing.”

Damn it.

I said, “Okay, okay, we got a Mike Tyson punch. Continue the mission. We get the next punch.”

Two minutes later, Knuckles said, “He’s on the move. I have five-five. Same path.”

I clicked on the net and said, “Koko, Blood, you ready?”

Jennifer said, “Car is staged. Engine running.”

Brett said, “Yeah. You call him on the ramp, and I’m on the move.”

“Roger all. Carrie, what’s your status?”

“In the Rover and on the way. Don’t wait on me. I’ll be there.”

“Good to go.”

Two minutes later, Knuckles said, “He’s in the park. Headed your way.”

I glanced left and saw the Professor, moving at a leisurely pace and glancing around. Looking for the bad man. He passed right in front of me and began the long walk down the far side ramp out of the park. I said, “All elements, all elements, I have control. Stand by.”

And rose to follow.

When he reached the point where his head was below the walls around him I said, “Execute,” and saw Brett coming up the other way. We closed on him rapidly, meeting at the bottom of the ramp, with about twenty feet to the street. I tapped the target on the shoulder and he turned. I put my pistol into his gut and said, “Don’t move.”

Brett came up behind him and trapped his arms behind his back. His eyes went wide and he sagged into the stone wall.

Perfect.

He was the bad guy, and he knew it. But he wasn’t willing to fight.

I said, “Hand me the laptop.”

He did so. I continued, “We’re going to walk out of this park and one block up. If you try to fight us or flee, you’ll be dead. Do you understand?”

He nodded dumbly and I said, “Let’s go.”

From the top of the ramp, Knuckles said, “Hold what you got. Biker on the way.”

I pushed Professor into the wall and said, “Just remain quiet. Any noise, and you’re dead.”

I glanced up and saw a guy on a mountain bike coming down thepath, decked out in cycling gear. Brett let go of the target’s arms, but I kept the pistol in his gut, hidden by my body. The biker slowed down due to the slope of the ramp and the stairs at the bottom, coming almost to a standstill right next to us. I heard Brett hiss, “Gun!” and then heard a suppressed pop.

The Professor’s head exploded right in front of me, the stone wall coated with brain matter. He collapsed like someone had turned off the power to his body, rolling on the ground, his left eye open, unseeing, his right a gout of blood.

What the fuck?

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