Greg Rucka - Critical Space

There was a thud as the phone was set down, then a silence. I heard the front door of the apartment open, and I pulled my gun and sighted at the corner, and Dale came into view and immediately threw up both hands. I lowered my gun, and each of us caught our breath. Over the phone I heard Drama telling someone to say hello.

Antonia's voice was thin, like a sheet that had been bleached one too many times. "Atticus?"

"Do what she says," I told her. "We'll get you back, just do what she says."

"I wi…"

Then she screamed, and the phone made another thud as it was dropped, and I started shouting for Drama to come back, to leave her alone. There was no answer, and I stopped shouting and started listening again, but there was nothing to hear. Dale was still standing at the edge of the kitchen, both fists balled.

The phone was picked up again. Drama said, "She screams like a girl."

"You hurt her…"

"Think it through, Atticus. Do you really want to be threatening me?"

I didn't say anything.

"Stay by the phone. I'll call when I'm ready. And I reiterate: Any word of her abduction, she dies. And I will know if you raise the alarm, Atticus."

Then I was listening to the dial tone, looking at Dale as he waited to hear the news.

The haze had started to lift by the time the elevator doors opened, and through the tears and the dissipating smoke and gas, I'd seen Corry running down the hall toward us, his gun out. All he needed was a glimpse, Natalie on her side and unmoving, me trying to find my feet, and it didn't matter that I was shaking my head, trying to tell him no, don't, he was on the radio immediately.

"Alarm alarm alarm," Corry said. "Repeat, alarm, Wendy is…"

"Dammit, shut up!" I shouted, and it felt like crushed glass was running in two directions inside my chest.

Corry gaped at me, but came offhis transmitter. Over my earpiece, I could hear Dale and Moore each calling in for status.

"Help Nat," I wheezed. "See if she's okay."

Without another word, Corry holstered his pistol, took a deep breath, then stepped into the elevator.

The voices on my radio were getting frantic. I clamped down on my transmitter, said, "All units – this is Tink, stand by."

There was a pause, during which the elevator doors tried to close. Corry used his leg to block them, then slapped the emergency stop. Natalie was making a wet noise from the back of her throat, and as he took her by the armpits to drag her out of the car, she started coughing.

"Timmy standing by, " Dale said.

"Hook standing by, " Moore said. "Request status. "

I pulled myself upright using the wall, fighting for breath. The only part of me that wasn't screaming from the pepper gas was my jaw, and that was because it had gone numb from the kick Drama had given it. My watch read eleven thirty-eight, and my best guess said I had to be at home, by the phone, by five past twelve. I tried to fill my lungs with good air, tried to sound as calm as I could before I transmitted again.

"All units, false alarm. Request Timmy to free house at convenience, Hook landline in ten minutes. Confirm."

"Timmy confirms, en route. "

"Hook?" I asked.

"Hook confirms."

"Tink out," I said, and came off the transmitter and the coughs I'd been fighting off struck back then, doubling me over. By the time the attack ended Corry had Natalie out of the hall and into the suite. I released the emergency stop on the elevator, started to follow, then realized my weapon was still in the car and managed to halt the doors just in time. I got my gun, then made my way after Corry.

They were in Lady Ainsley-Hunter's bathroom, Natalie already in the shower, Corry trying to sort her gear. He helped me get my radio off, taking the rest of my equipment as I stripped, then holding my glasses as I joined Natalie under the spray. He didn't ask any questions.

She was slumped against the tiled wall, her head down, diluted blood swirling at her feet. When she looked up at me I could see the source. Drama had broken her nose.

After taking a face full of icy water for thirty seconds, Natalie and I swapped places again. My watch was an Oris, water-resistant to one hundred meters, and I checked it again, saw that I had twenty-two minutes. The burning had stopped where the water was still hitting me, but everywhere else it still persisted, not as ferocious, but constant. There was nothing more I could do about it; pepper only relents in the face of three things – fresh air, cold water, and time – and time was the only sure cure.

Corry handed me a towel as I got out. Dale was now standing in the doorway.

The phlegm still bubbling in my throat made my voice thick. "Drama's got her," I told them.

It was on their faces that I was only confirming what they already knew.

"No word to the law, no alarms, nothing. The balloon goes up, she'll kill her." I dropped the towel, reached for my clothes. "I'm supposed to be at my place in twenty minutes for further instructions."

"I'll bring the car around," Dale said, and went.

"What do I tell Moore?" Corry asked.

"Have him and Chester come to my place as soon as they can, but tell them not to rush it. If the police catch a whiff, we're fucked."

"You think Drama's serious?"

From the shower, Natalie said, softly, "Absolutely."

I finished tying my shoes, grabbed my gun and radio. "There's another problem."

"Fowler's with Bridgett, and both were with Moore when the radios started," Corry said. "We're not going to be able to keep Fowler from coming here, or to your place, if that's where Bridgett is headed."

"Then don't try. Just make sure he doesn't find out why we've moved." I checked my watch, saw that I had just twenty minutes. "I'm gone. You and Nat follow as soon as you're able."

"What'd she say?" Dale asked.

"She wants me to stay by the phone. She says she'll call. She says again if we raise an alarm, Antonia's dead." I carefully replaced the receiver.

"What do we tell Scott?"

"Nothing."

Dale moved closer. "He'll know something's up, Atticus. He'll have to report this. He's legally and ethically obligated to report this."

"Then we'll lie."

"Atticus…"

"Dammit, Dale, Drama has her and the only reason Antonia's not dead is because she wants something else!"

He let go of my shoulder, scowling. "Don't shout at me."

I matched his expression with a scowl of my own, and then stepped past him. From the gun locker in my closet I took my Smith Wesson, my extra clips for the HK, the ammunition I needed for both guns. Dale was where I'd left him, staring out the window. He turned his head enough to watch me dump everything on the kitchen table.

"We're going to need maps," I said.

"I have the Hagstrom in the car."

"Get it."

He went and as soon as I heard the door close I reached for the phone. Bridgett's cell phone rang twice before she answered, and before she could speak I started talking.

"Don't say my name. We've got a situation and it's bad and Fowler cannot be a part of it. Understand?"

"Uh-huh."

"Where are you?"

"Leaving Midtown North."

"Is he with you?"

"Uh-huh."

"I need you to come up with an excuse to separate from him."

"I can do that, but it might be a couple minutes. I'll have to go to the office first."

I was so worked up I didn't even appreciate the embellishment. "Moore told you where he was going?"

"Uh-huh."

"Dammit." That meant Scott already knew we'd moved from the Edmonton to the apartment, and that meant he'd be coming here anyway. "All right, don't worry about it. I'll call you back when it's safe."

"Well, safety is my middle name."

"Your middle name is Eileen."