Brad Meltzer - Dead Even

“Damn city turns every disaster into a spectator sport,” the officer grumbled as the police car slowly made its way through the ever-growing crowd.

Even before the car came to a complete stop, the officer had his door open. When they were as close as they were going to get, about half a block from the building, he let it fly wide and jumped out of the car. Guff quickly followed. Sara didn’t move.

Turning around, Guff stopped. “C’mon, let’s go.”

“But what if he-”

“Sara, you have to face it sooner or later. It’s the only way to find out.”

Nodding, she knew that Guff was right. As Sara got out of the car, Guff took off after the police officer, who was making his way toward the building. Following in the direction of her assistant, Sara fought her way through the tightly packed crowd. Within seconds, though, she lost Guff, who was too short to stand out. “ Guff, wait !” she called out. It was too late. He was gone. Jumping up to get a better view, Sara caught sight of the police officer. He was holding his badge in the air and was almost at the front entrance of the building. But just as she moved toward him, she caught a glimpse of someone rushing away from the building and in the opposite direction from the crowd, approximately a hundred feet to her left. She could only see him from behind, but his athletic gait was unmistakable. Sara stopped dead in her tracks. “Jared?” she called out.

If the man heard her, he wasn’t stopping. Craning her neck, Sara struggled to get a better look, but the crowd was too thick. “ Jared !” she shouted again. He still didn’t stop. Pushing through the crowd, Sara followed the figure. Forget about it, she told herself. It’s not him. But as she watched his perfectly combed brown hair disappear in the sea of bystanders, she couldn’t ignore the resemblance. At the top of her lungs, she let out one more scream. “JARED, IT’S ME!”

Suddenly, the man turned around and Sara’s mouth went dry. Their eyes locked for an instant. That was all it took. It was him. Without a doubt, it was her husband. Before Sara could even register a response, Jared turned and ran. “Jared, wait!” she shouted as the crowd seemed to envelop him.

Using her outstretched arms to wade through the masses of people, she fought to catch up with him. He was weaving in every direction, seeming to use the confusion to his advantage. “Jared!” she shouted, barely able to see him. “Please don’t do this!” But Jared still didn’t stop. And as Sara frantically collided with bystander after bystander, she realized she was starting to lose him. Between the endless crowd and the advantage of Jared’s own speed, he was slipping away.

As Jared headed farther away from the building and down Seventh Avenue, Sara completely lost sight of him. Panicking, she pulled out her badge and waved her hand in the air. “Police!” she yelled. “Stop that man!” Although not a single person reached out to stop him, they did make it easier for Sara to maneuver through the crowd. Once they started stepping out of her way, she was able to fly through the wake of people Jared was leaving behind.

When she reached Forty-ninth Street, Sara stopped. Jared was gone. She looked down Seventh Avenue, but it didn’t look like anyone was running there. Maybe he’d turned on Forty-ninth, she thought. Then she heard someone shout, “Watch yourself, asshole!” and spotted an angry man coming out of the entrance to the subway, looking over his shoulder. There. She darted down the concrete stairs, raced underground, and promptly encountered another mob of people. Judging by the size of the crowd, it appeared that everyone who was not still swarming in front of the building was trying to take the subway. Running past the long line that stretched out from the token booth, Sara hopped over one of the turnstiles.

She was stopped by a transit employee. “Sorry, not without a token,” he said as he held her by the arm.

“Get the hell off me,” Sara said, pulling away. “My husband-”

“Lady, I don’t care who your husband is, you’re not-”

She shoved her badge in front of his face. “You want to talk to my boss?”

“Sorry, I didn’t realize you were a-”

But before the man could finish, Sara was gone, running down the subway platform. It took her only another thirty seconds to find Jared. He was forcing his way through the crowd toward the edge of the platform. Since most of the crowd was now standing still, waiting for the train to come, Sara could see that there were two other people running with him. When she was an arm’s length away, she realized who they were. And when she realized who they were, she also realized why Jared had been running.

“You never give up, do you?” Rafferty asked. Standing behind Jared, he turned just enough to show Sara that he was holding a gun to Jared’s back. Next to Rafferty was Claire, who looked miserable.

“Are you okay?” Sara asked her husband.

“Yeah,” he said. Turning to Rafferty, he added, “Let Sara go.”

“Not a chance. Now I get an extra hos-”

“ He’s got a gun! ” someone shouted as chaos enveloped the crowd. Within seconds, everyone else on the platform scattered, racing for the turnstiles.

Using the confusion to her advantage, Sara reached for the gun in her right pants pocket.

“Don’t do that,” Rafferty warned. He shoved Jared out of the way and pointed his gun at Sara. “I’ll decorate the walls with you.” He was disheveled, sweating.

As Jared stopped himself at the edge of the platform, Sara froze. Seeing the gun aimed at his wife, Jared did the same.

“Now give it to Claire,” Rafferty said as people continued to scramble from the platform.

Claire reached out for the gun, but Sara hesitated. “You don’t have to do this,” Sara said.

“Shut up,” Claire shot back. She took the gun and led Sara toward the edge of the platform, near her husband.

As Sara and Claire walked in front of Jared, Sara shot him a desperate look. They had to do something.

Determined to save his wife, and unable to get a clear view of Rafferty, Jared made his decision. Just as Claire passed him, he kicked her in the back of the knees, sweeping her legs out from under her. Hitting the floor with a jolt, she dropped her gun. Wasting no time, Sara lunged at Rafferty, whose gun was now pointed at Jared.

Rafferty got off a single shot, then turned his gun on Sara. But before he could pull the trigger, Sara plowed into him, connecting with a swift knee to the groin. The gun flew out of his hands, but she was too late – he had already shot at Jared. And as Rafferty doubled over in pain, Sara registered her husband’s scream.

“ Jared! ” she shouted. She turned around, but he was nowhere in sight. She ran back to the edge of the platform. He was lying on the train tracks. Blood ran from his shoulder. “Jared, are you okay? Can you hear me?” she asked.

He didn’t answer. From the vacant look on his face, she could see he was in shock.

Behind her, Sara saw Claire helping Rafferty to his feet. On her right, near the edge of the platform, was Rafferty’s gun. She looked back at her husband. He was just starting to shake off the effects of his injury. Get the gun, she told herself. Jared’ll be fine. But as she moved for the gun, she heard the jarring electronic tone that signaled the imminent arrival of an incoming train. Leaning over the platform, she could see the train’s lights in the tunnel. There wasn’t much time. Jared was still lying there. So was the gun. She had to pick one. The choice was easy.

She braced herself on the edge of the platform and was about to leap down to the tracks when she felt Rafferty grab her by the hair. As Sara was yanked backwards, she managed to spin around. She lashed out uncontrollably. “ Get off me! I’ll kill you! ” She clawed at his arms, then his face – anything to make him let go. Taken aback by her ferocity, Rafferty released her and crouched to get his gun. Sara knew she had to be quick. At the edge of the platform, she could see the incoming train barreling toward the station. It was too close. There was no way she’d be able to get in and out in time. “ Jared! Stand up! ” she shouted.