Michael Connelly - Void Moon

There was a pop as the. 25 hidden in the napkin and Karch's hand was discharged. Martin's head snapped back in the same instant, the bullet catching him in the left eye and entering his brain. At the same moment he was falling lifelessly to the floor of the housekeeping station, Karch was swinging his arm over Grimaldi's shoulder. He fired the first shot at Romero too early. The slug hit the wall of the elevator, a foot to the right of Romero's face.

Romero straightened his shooting arm but hesitated. Grimaldi was in his shot. The delay in his action was all the time Karch needed to correct his own mistake. His second shot hit Romero on the left cheek. The third hit his forehead, snapping his head back. The fourth shot hit the soft underside of Romero's chin and went up into the brain. He dropped to the floor of the elevator without ever getting a shot off.

Karch grabbed Grimaldi by the tie and yanked him to the door of the elevator. Karch had his foot firmly planted against the bumper so the door would not close. He drove the. 25 up under Grimaldi's chin so that his face was angled upward while his eyes looked downward and back at Karch.

An evil smile slowly spread across Karch's face.

"So, Vincent, how's the short range looking now?"

"Jack… please…"

"Be sure to say hello to Mom for me."

Karch waited for the comeback but there was none.

"You don't know, do you?"

"Know what, Jack?"

"Let me tell you a quick story. About ten years ago the old man got sick. Cancer. It was shot through him and the only way he was going to make it was if he got a bone marrow transplant. I wanted to do it and they took my blood for the match test."

Karch shook his head.

"No match, Vincent. I told them to do a few other tests and they did. I didn't match because he wasn't my father."

Karch just stared into Grimaldi's eyes.

"Thanks, Vincent. Back in there you filled in the last part of the story for me."

"You mean – "

Karch squeezed off two quick shots and watched Grimaldi drop on top of Romero's body. He then looked down at his hand and saw the napkin as well as his fingers and the gun bathed in blood. He felt a tremendous rush move through him. Three against one and he had beaten the odds. He looked around as if hoping someone had seen the magic act he had just performed and would applaud.

And what was more stimulating than the adrenaline blitz of surviving was the release and relief of knowing he was leaving one of life's rooms and going through the door to the next.

He dropped the napkin and reached down and wiped his bloody hand and gun back and forth on Grimaldi's white shirt until they were reasonably clean. He then tucked the gun back into its pocket in his pants and jerked the gym bag out of the dead grip of Grimaldi's right hand.

Karch backed up, grabbed one of Romero's legs and pulled his body out into the elevator's threshold so that the bumper would hit it and the door wouldn't close. He then moved from body to body checking pulses and pulling his Sig Sauer out of the waistband of Martin's pants. He checked the weapon to make sure there was no blood on it and then holstered it. He patted Martin's body until he found and removed the silencer from a front pants pocket.

Finally, he looked around the housekeeping station and saw in the fenced enclosure there was a large laundry basket on wheels. He checked the door but it was locked. He stepped back and shot his leg out, his heel striking the fencing just above the key lock. The door snapped open and inward and he went in for the basket, turning it over first and dumping several stacks of fresh towels onto the floor.

It took almost all of his strength to load all three bodies into the laundry cart. He then used some of the towels to mop up the blood. When he was done he grabbed a blanket off one of the shelves and used it to cover the cart. He pushed it into the fenced enclosure and closed the door.

CASSIE heard the series of pops that she knew to be gunfire. It sent an electric chill down the muscles of her back.

"Cassie?"

It was Jodie's urgent whisper. Cassie looked toward the reflected glow from the penlight in the duct ahead. Jodie was scared. It was impossible to tell where the shots had come from. She crawled toward the light.

Jodie was huddled by the bars. She put the light on Cassie as she got closer.

"Cassie, I heard loud noises."

"It's all right, Jodie. It's all right. I'm going to go around now and come get you. You wait right there, okay? You wait for me."

"No! Don't – "

Cassie had to put her hand over her mouth. When she did it she felt tears on the girl's cheeks.

"It's okay, Jodie. We're almost done. You have to wait here. It's the only way. I will be coming around for you in five minutes. I promise. Look at that watch and see how short five minutes is, okay?"

"Okay," she said in a small voice. "I'll be here."

This time Cassie just reached a hand through the bars that separated them and touched Jodie's cheek. She then started pushing herself backward through the duct toward suite 2001.

When she got to the vent she tapped it with her foot to push it out of its frame. It swung down the wall on the one screw still in place. She climbed out feet first and dropped down to the room service table, carrying her belt bag of tools with her. She took the fact that the table was still in place as a good sign. She went to the television console and was about to turn it off so she could hear better when a voice from behind stopped her.

"Nice move getting in here."

She turned and Karch was standing in the alcove leading to the bathroom, which was blocked off by the room service table beneath the overhead vent. He held the gym bag down at his side with one hand and a gun pointed at her with the other. She saw the gun had the silencer attached. He pushed the room service table out of his way with a foot and stepped into the room. Cassie backed up against the television, which was showing another Road Runner cartoon.

Karch smiled but there was no warmth or humor in it.

"The Trojan horse," he said. "The enemy was inside and they rolled it right in. One of the best magic tricks ever."

Cassie still didn't say anything. She stood perfectly still and just hoped the television noise was loud enough that Jodie didn't hear this.

"You know those bars you ran into up there in the duct?" Karch asked. "They were put in after your little spree with Max seven years ago. All the hotels did it. I guess you could say you did your little part to help make Las Vegas what it is today. A safe place for the gambler and his family."

He smiled again.

"Where's the girl?"

Cassie pointed to the bag in his hand.

"You have the money, Karch. You have me. Let her go."

Karch frowned as if he was actually considering the suggestion. Then he shook his head.

"Can't do it. I hate loose ends."

"She's not a loose end. She's not even six years old. What possible danger is she to you?"

Karch ignored the question and wagged the gun at her.

"Let's go into the other room. I like that window better. There's a symmetry to it. That was Max's window."

Cassie turned and started to move slowly toward the door as she tried to consider options. She decided her only chance was at the door. She had to make a move there, even though he would be expecting it. She gripped the strap of the tool bag tighter and was a few steps from the door when again a voice stopped her. But this one wasn't Karch's.

"Don't you hurt her!"

As Cassie turned she saw that the voice had also caught Karch by surprise. He was instinctively turning, swinging his gun hand up toward the air vent behind him. Cassie's eyes followed the movement and saw Jodie crouched in the air duct, looking down on them.