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Stix was gone for twenty minutes, which meant Leslie had
been gone for thirty-five. Which was too long. Which caused
long gaps of silence, ears straining for the sound of footsteps,
during the next thirty minutes of conversation.
Jane looked at her watch for the tenth time, sighed, and picked
up Stix s phone. Stix, please keep your eyes glued to the bug
monitor. If it so much as flickers, make a chopping motion with
your hand.
Stix nodded, and watched as Jane dialed a series of numbers.
I hate doing this, because now we ll have to reprogram,
assuming the possibility that someone picked this number up.
Jane listened to the sound of mating whales, while in the
background was a series of clicking noises. After twenty seconds,
a single tone lasting four seconds sounded. Jane closed her eyes
and hoped what she was about to say was in error. Operation
STIX 133
Salvage has been compromised. Number two, missing and
presumed down with scrambler. Number one is holding.
Condition Red.
You didn t leave a number to call back.
They had a lock on this number in less than twelve seconds
from the time the call was received.
What do we do now? Stix asked, looking around.
Can you use that weapon? Jane asked, pointing at the nine
millimeter, the butt of which stuck out of a side pocket on the
recliner.
Yes. I m well trained in both handguns and rifles. My father--
Good, Jane was no longer playing at being a girl buddy, she
had become more like a drill instructor. If anyone tries to come
through the front door or the window, shoot them. Your life and
my life depend on it.
Do you think Leslie--
At this point I have to assume that she is down, and that
means that whoever took her out knows about me and where I
am. And they know that to get you they have to get me.
When the phone rang, Stix jumped (as much as she could);
Jane never turned a hair.
Jane, who was watching the bedroom windows, nodded at
Stix. Answer it. Don t worry about keeping someone on the
line.
Hello? She listened for a few seconds, said, Uh huh, and
then held the phone up so that Jane could reach it.
Jane s conversation was a series of Yes, sirs, No, sirs. And
once Stix heard her say, Still daylight. Hour and twenty-seven
minutes.
Later she said, Fuck! And hung up.
Stix had been watching the bug monitor. Once she thought
the needle dipped, but she wasn t sure. Seconds after Jane hung
up the monitor s needle began a steady decline.
Stix pointed at it.
134 DAVE MEAD
I see it, Jane said. Turn the stereo up a bit. That means
they re probably in the parking lot, panning the building with a
phone scanner programmed to pick up long distance calls.
Stix did as instructed, then screwed herself around in her chair
to face Jane, Did Leslie make contact?
No. But just before I hung up, someone else tried to get into
the system using her scrambler and password.
I m sorry.
We don t do sorry, we do revenge.
The phone rang, Jane picked it up and walked over to stand
next to the stereo speaker by the kitchen door. Her back was to
Stix so she couldn t hear what was being said. After nearly two
minutes she hung up. When she turned to speak to Stix there
were tears in her eyes. Leslie s dead. Left in the phone booth by
the market. We need to get the hell out of here. Any
suggestions?
Spruce cut a doorway from the pantry into a janitorial closet
under the stairs. That s how he came and went.
Sounds better than walking out the front door. Even if we
have local cops on standby, we could be cut down by a sniper.
She thought a minute, or a remote-controlled bomb.
Why can t we stay here?
I expect a grenade or something similar through the window
any time now.
My computer is in a side pocket of this chair. She saw Jane
looking at the one on the cart and said, That one is a decoy.
Good idea.
It was Spruce s idea, not mine.
We need it?
Yeah. It s got everything from Jim s office on it. And I ve
entered all of his notes too.
The mainframe in his office had been wiped clean.
Yeah. I know. I did it. Just before the cops got there.
Why?
STIX 135
He was a friend. I wanted to track down the killers.
Jane didn t say anything about letting the police handle it. She
knew as well as Stix did that they probably didn t have the
experience or resources to make an arrest, but then neither did
this kid on crutches.
Let s go. Jane said, already in the kitchen.
I m coming. Just one more thing. Stix leaned forward on her
crutches and, taking the lid off of the box of chocolates, lifted the
top tray of candy out. She carefully lifted the book under it out
and replaced the tray of candy.
And that is? Jane ask as Stix caught up with her in the
kitchen.
My journal.
Stix jammed it down into a side pocket of the backpack she
had over her left shoulder and pointed at the typing table. That s
fastened to the panel. I think he somehow locked it in place from
inside the janitorial room.
No one in their right mind would block an escape exit. He
must have either installed a lever or trip wire to open it from this
side if he had to. Jane was methodical in her search, and after
thirty seconds or so she grinned and said, Of course, it s right
here in plain sight. You two must have read the same book.
She had Stix move back out of the pantry and against the wall
of the nook. Using a coat hanger from the rod above she looped
the hook through the eye of the trip wire and stepping back out of
the pantry, gently tugged the trip wire. There was an audible
click, and the table rolled into the pantry with the panel attached
to it. Jane waited for what to Stix seemed a very long time before
she crawled through the opening. Come on. It s clear.
Stix tossed her backpack through, handed her crutches to
Jane, and scooted through on her butt. Jane pulled the panel into
place and after locking it, jammed the lock with the coat hanger
she d brought from the pantry.
And if we need to use the magic door again? Stix asked.
We will free the locking mechanism before you move back in.
136 DAVE MEAD
Jane opened the door into the hall and listened for several
seconds before closing the door and coming back to where Stix
was standing.
You need to tell me about the layout of this complex.
Sure. We re in the main building. There are two four-plex
units on each end of the main building. I think they were built
later. I think that there are seventy-four condos in this building.
All of the ground-floor units are ADA. They have doors out of the
bedrooms onto a patio. All the upper-floor units have glass sliders
out onto balconies.
They are accessed from the bedrooms too?
Yes.
Where are the elevators?
There s a single one that s used mostly for moving furniture
and cleaning supplies. You have to have a key to use it. All the
tenants use the stairs. There is one stairway at each end of the
building.
Okay. Can you climb stairs?
After a fashion. If you push against my back to keep me from
falling over backwards, I can climb pretty fast.
Then let s do it.
They made it to the third floor without being seen.
Stix was leaning on her crutches, panting. Now what? She
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