[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

it.  Goddamn it all to hell, he said.
She drew in a loud, shaky breath, then eased out from under his touch. Her arm snaked back up, and
when she turned back to face him, she was dressed again.  It happened this morning, she said. 
Ten-thirty. Maybe eleven.
 It s almost one now.
 Should I go to a hospital?
 I don t think so, he said.  If the doctors think you ve been infected with that kind of a toxin, they ll
raise the alarm. Call in Homeland Security and get all sorts of authorities involved. You ll be quarantined.
And by the time we get it straightened out, twenty-four hours will be long gone.
 We don t have to mention the comparison to Ricin. We could just say poison.
 There s no guarantee the toxin will be isolated in time even if we do mention Ricin. And if we don t, we
can pretty much guarantee they won t find anything out in time. In the meantime, the antidote will be out
there waiting for us. But if we don t find it in time 
 You re right, she said.  No hospital. She squared her shoulders and looked him in the eyes.  We
follow the clue.
Chapter 22
I felt fine, and I couldn t quite get my head around the idea that I d been poisoned and had less than
twenty-four hours to find the antidote. If this were a movie or even an episode of 24 I d find the
antidote in the last possible second, then I d turn around and kick the shit out of the bad guy.
Would be nice, but I wasn t going to bank on it.
I shoved Kiefer out of my mind and focused instead on the man who was with me. The man who d
promised to help get me through this. I believed him, too, and already I d come to rely on his strength, to
anticipate his thoughts and suggestions. I d only known him for a few hours, but my life was running in
fast forward now, and Stryker was running right alongside me.
At the moment, though, he wasn t running anywhere. Instead, he d parked himself back at the computer,
and now he pulled up Google and typed in a search.
>>>New York Prestige Park
About a million hits came up, all of them raving about the prestigious apartments/offices/restaurants on
Park Avenue. So much for an easy answer.
We were running out of ideas. If we couldn t figure out Prestige Park, we couldn t find the next clue.
And if we couldn t find the next clue, I was dead.
 Let me try, I said. I didn t care if there were two thousand pages of hits. We were going to look at
every single one of them.
 Hold on, he said, then typed in a new search.
>>> New York  Prestige Park
He hit Enter, and bingo. A car park.  Well, hello, Stryker said. And I actually almost smiled.
We d decided to stay in my apartment until we figured out the clue, since moving to some other location
would take too much time. But we d also decided to be quiet, just in case there were other eyes and ears
watching us. I d changed out of Todd s clothes and pulled on my Miss Sixty jeans and a Goretti tank top
I d scored off eBay.
Beside me, Stryker had his cell phone open and was dialing information.  Turn up the radio, he said.
I rushed to the stereo and complied, turning the volume higher and higher until he finally nodded, satisfied.
How he d hear his conversation, I didn t know. Didn t care, either, so long as he got it done. I knew he
would, too. The man had it together, that was for sure. He d told me that his earlier phone call was to a
computer geek friend to try and figure out who posted that Web message. Nice to know he was on top
of that. And now he d solved the Prestige Park mystery. And the best part? He was on my side.
Behind me, Stryker muttered into his phone, then snapped it shut. He leaned onto the table, brushing my
shoulder as he picked up the pen I d been using earlier. He scribbled a note, then inched it toward me.
Prestige Car Park downtown & Bronx.
 Looks like we re going downtown, he said.
I nodded, trying to remember if the online version of the game extended to the boroughs. I didn t think it
did. A plus for me, since, like so many Manhattanites, I was entirely clueless about life outside the island.
He snapped the screen shut on Jenn s laptop, then slid it into the case, balling the cords up and shoving
them in, too. I thought about protesting it was Jenn s computer, after all but I didn t. Jenn would
understand, and we might need the thing. Finally, he grabbed the original message and my notes
interpreting it.  Let s go.
I stood up, then took the papers from him. I dumped them and my pocketbook-sized purse into a tote
bag that I regularly schlepped to class with me.  Are we coming back?
 Not if I can help it.
I nodded, shifting my weight on the balls of my feet, now snugly encased in my Prada sneakers as I
stalled in the doorway. What can I say? It was hard to leave. I hated the idea of abandoning all my
shoes. Not to mention my handbags, clothes, photo albums, books, and favorite CDs.
 I ll buy you a change of underwear, Stryker said, since my thoughts were apparently transparent.  But
we need to get moving. We ve already wasted enough time, and 
 Fine. You re right. Let s go. I told myself that this wasn t good-bye forever just until we d won the
game.
I tugged the door closed and locked it, my worldly possessions now measured by the width and breadth
of the Kate Spade tote I d snagged last fall in a seventy-five-percent-off sale.  I ll be back soon, I said
to the door. I hoped I was telling the truth.
Chapter 23
T wenty minutes later, the taxi dropped us off in front of the entrance to Prestige Car Park.  What now?
I asked.  Can we just go in and look for spot 39A?
 Not likely, Stryker said, taking my elbow and pulling me aside.  The attendant s going to be well
tipped and very protective.
 So what are we going to tell him?
 Not a damn thing, Stryker said, nailing me with a sideways glance.  We re sneaking in.
I was on the verge of asking how when a car pulled into the drive. Stryker held up a finger, signaling for [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]