F. Paul Wilson - All the Rage

Vuk leaned on the horn and pressed back in the seat as he saw the rear corner of the truck angle around and loom larger and larger in the windshield.

"He's going to hit us!" Ivo shouted.

Vuk covered his eyes and braced himself. The impact jarred him forward but wasn't as bad as he'd expected. When he opened his eyes he realized that the corner of the lift platform had punched into the grille. Their car had been spared the full impact of the truck itself.

"Sranje!" Vuk shouted.

Ivo too was cursing a blue streak as they pushed open their doors. This idiot driver was going to wish he'd never turned in here.

But the truck was moving again. This time forward.

"He's taking off!" Ivo shouted.

Vuk sprinted after it, but it was picking up speed too quickly. He motioned Ivo back into the car. The truck ran the red light across Sutton Place and headed up Fifty-eighth—wrong way against the traffic.

"He's insane!" Ivo cried as they watched the truck weave a zigzag course as it dodged cars in the oncoming traffic. Tires screeched, horns blared, but the truck kept going.

Vuk wasn't about to let some old govno in a rust-bucket truck outmaneuver him. "Jebi se!" he shouted. "So am I!"

High beams on and horn blaring, he gunned the Lincoln across the street and up Fifty-eighth. Luckily there wasn't much traffic, but still it was scary.

Up ahead the truck had made a right on First Avenue, and they got there just in time to see it make a left onto Fifty-ninth.

"He's heading for the bridge!" Ivo said.

Vuk followed and spotted the truck taking the on-ramp to the Queensboro Bridge.

He floored the Lincoln up the incline, screeched into the turn, and pulled onto the span.

Ivo pointed straight ahead. "There he is!"

Vuk grinned. Did this old fool really think he could outrun them?

He accelerated up behind the truck and was about to pull alongside when the car started bucking.

"What's wrong?" Ivo said.

Vuk looked at the dashboard and saw that the temperature gauge was into the red.

"We're overheating!"

The engine coughed, bucked, and, with an agonized whine, died. The Lincoln ground to a halt.

"Sranje!" Vuk pounded on the steering wheel. Through the haze of steam rising from under the hood he watched the truck disappear over the arch of the bridge. "Sranje! Sranje! Sranje!"

Ivo was already out of the car and moving toward the front. Vuk got out and joined him. Horns blared as traffic backed up behind them.

"There's the problem," Ivo said, pointing to the smashed-in grille. "Big hole in the radiator."

"Bastard!" Vuk shouted, slamming his hand on the steaming hood. "The lucky bastard!"

"Was it luck?" Ivo said, staring along the bridge to where they had last seen the truck.

"You think that old govno did it on purpose?"

"Why do you say old? Because he had a white beard? It could have come from a Santa Claus costume."

"You think it was the man from the beach?"

Ivo shrugged. "I'm just thinking, that's all. I'm thinking that if it was the man from the beach, and if he wanted to remove us from the front of his house, he succeeded very well, didn't he."

Vuk was fuming. He wanted to punch Ivo for looking so calm. Instead he spit.

"Sranje!"

How were they going to explain this to Dragovic?

13

Nadia was ready to call it quits for the day. As she waited for the molecular imager to go through its shutdown sequence, she checked her voice mail. One message: Jack wanted to meet her at the diabetes clinic at five. He had something for her. He left his own voice mail number in case she couldn't make it.

Nadia checked her watch. Almost five now. She dialed Jack's number and told him it would be easier to meet in front of the drugstore across from her office at a little after five. As she was hanging up…

"Such dedication."

Nadia jumped at Dr. Monnet's voice. She turned and saw him standing in the doorway of the dry lab.

"You startled me."

"Sorry," he said, stepping toward her. "I came in to pick up a package and noticed that you were still logged in."

"Just getting ready to leave, actually."

"I won't ask you if you've made any progress," he said. "That would be absurd at this early stage… wouldn't it?"

His last two words caught her by surprise. She studied him. Close up like this he looked tired. And well he should be if he'd been up all hours watching men punch each other as Jack had said.

But he seemed beyond tired—more like physically, mentally, and emotionally spent. And beneath the fatigue she sensed something akin to… desperation.

What is that hoodlum forcing you to do? she wondered. What hold does he have on you?

"Yes," she told him. 'Too early. I've only just finished reviewing your experiments. You covered a lot of ground."

He nodded absently, almost morosely. "I tried everything I knew. That's why you're here. For a fresh perspective."

Nadia looked down at the console and gathered up her notes to avoid facing him. How could she tell him she felt lost, that the things Jack had told her about his bizarre testing session in Brooklyn, and Doug's discovery of the secret stock buyback were upsetting her, making it almost impossible to focus.

Monnet cleared his throat. "There's another matter I need to discuss with you: Douglas Gleason."

Nadia stiffened. Oh, God. Does he know about the hack?

"What about him?"

"Word has filtered back that he's been in the research wing, even here in the dry lab with you. That's against the rules, you know."

Nadia relaxed and let out a breath. She turned to face him.

"I thought that only applied to people outside the company." A lie… but a little one.

"No. I believe I made it clear that this area is restricted to research personnel only. Are you two… close? Is that why you've been letting him in?"

Dr. Monnet seemed so intent on her answer. Why?

Nadia decided not to reveal that Doug had been letting himself in, and she remembered how Doug had been wary about letting on that there was any romance between them.

"Close?" She managed a smile. "No. We're just old friends."

"Do you see each other often? Do you discuss your work?"

Where was this going? "He's just a friend of the family." Another lie. "We have lunch now and then. He's just very interested in"—she almost said computers—"research. But I'm sure he'd never—"

"I am sure he wouldn't either," Dr. Monnet said quickly. Why did he suddenly look relieved? "But we must not forget that he's a salesman, his business is talking, talking all day long, and one day in his enthusiasm he might slip and mention a product in a delicate stage of development. But… if he does not know about that product, he cannot slip. Do you see my point?"

"I do." It was a good point, one she could respect. She'd tell Doug about it when they met for sushi tonight. "And I promise you Douglas Gleason will not be seen in this department again."

Dr. Monnet turned and walked back toward the door. He left without a good-bye. She heard only a sigh and thought he said, "Yes, I know," but she couldn't be sure.

14

"Oh, no," Jack muttered as he followed Monnet onto the ramp off Glen Cove Road. "Don't tell me he's heading for Monroe."

This little jaunt had started in midtown after he'd returned from delivering a special party favor to the Ashe brothers on Long Island.

He rubbed his jaw from where the beard glue had irritated his skin. Had to admit he'd pulled a pretty damn efficient maneuver this afternoon with Sal's truck, leaving Dragovic's men stranded on the Queensboro Bridge.

He'd been in frequent contact with Gia since then and so far Dragovic's men hadn't returned.

He'd met Nadia in front of the Duane Reade across the street from her office as she'd suggested. He was just pressing a manila envelope containing the sample of inert Berzerk into her hand when he saw Monnet step out the door and start walking.