Sidney Sheldon - The sky is falling

«No.»

«Good. I'll bet you can finish every bit of that for Miss Dana.»

Kemal sat down and began to eat.

He should sleep for about six hours, Mrs. Daley calculated. Then I'll see what they want me to do with him.

Dana raced through the airport until she passed a large dress shop.

I need to hide my identity. She went inside and looked around. Everything seemed normal. Customers were busily buying merchandise and clerks were taking care of them. And then Dana looked out the shop door and she could feel her flesh crawl. Two menacing-looking men were standing there at each side of the entrance. One of them held a walkie-talkie.

How had they found her in Chicago? Dana tried to control her panic. She turned to the clerk. «Is there another way out of here?»

The clerk shook her head. «I'm sorry, miss. That's only for the staff.»

Dana's throat was dry. She looked out at the men again. I have to escape, Dana thought desperately. There has to be a way.

Suddenly, she grabbed a dress off the rack and started to walk to the entrance.

«Wait a minute!» the clerk called. «You can't—»

Dana was approaching the door, and the two men started to move toward her. As Dana stepped through the door, the sensor on the dress tag triggered an alarm. A store guard came rushing out. The two men looked at each other and stepped back.

«Just a minute, miss,» the guard said. «You'll have to come back inside the store with me.»

«Why should I?» Dana protested.

«Why? Because shoplifting is against the law.» The guard took Dana's arm and pulled her back inside. The men stood there, frustrated.

Dana smiled at the guard. «Okay. I admit it. I was shoplifting. Take me to jail.»

Shoppers began to stop to see what was happening. The manager came hurrying over. «What's the problem here?»

«I caught this woman trying to steal this dress.»

«Well, I'm afraid we'll have to call the pol—» He turned and recognized Dana. «My God! It's Dana Evans.»

Whispers rippled through the growing crowd.

«It's Dana Evans…»

«We watch her on the news every night…»

«Do you remember her broadcasts from the war…?»

The manager said, «I'm so sorry, Miss Evans. Obviously there's been a mistake.»

«No, no,» Dana said quickly. «I was shoplifting.» She held out her hands. «You can arrest me.»

The manager smiled. «I wouldn't dream of it. You can keep the dress, Miss Evans, with our compliments. We're flattered that you like it.»

Dana stared at him unbelievingly. «You're not going to arrest me?»

His smile widened. «I'll tell you what. I'll trade you the dress for an autograph. We're big fans of yours.»

One of the women gathered around exclaimed, «Me, too!»

«Can I have an autograph?»

More people were approaching.

«Look! It's Dana Evans.»

«Can I have your autograph, Miss Evans?»

«My husband and I watched you every night when you were in Sarajevo.»

«You really made the war come alive.»

«I'd like an autograph, too.»

Dana stood there, growing more desperate by the second. She glanced outside. The two men were still there, waiting.

Dana's mind was racing. She turned to the crowd and smiled. «I'll tell you what I'll do. Let's go outside in the fresh air, and I'll give each of you an autograph.»

There were cries of excitement.

Dana handed the dress to the manager. «You can keep this. Thank you.» She started toward the door, followed by her fans. The two men outside backed off, confused, as the crowd descended on them.

Dana turned to her fans. «Who's first?» They were pressing around her, holding out pens and pieces of paper.

The two men stood there, uneasy. As Dana signed autographs, she kept moving toward the terminal exit. The crowd followed her outside. A taxi pulled up at the curb, discharging a passenger.

Dana turned to the crowd. «Thank you. I have to go now.» She jumped into the cab and a moment later it disappeared into the traffic.

Jack Stone was on the phone with Roger Hudson. «Mr. Hudson, she got away from us, but—»

«Goddammit! I don't want to hear that. I want her taken out of the picture—now.»

«Don't worry, sir. We've got the license number of the taxi. She can't get far.»

«Don't fail me again.» Roger Hudson slammed the receiver down.

Carson Pirie Scott & Company, in the heart of Chicago's Loop, was crowded with shoppers. At the scarf counter, a clerk was finishing wrapping a package for Dana.

«Will that be cash or charge?»

«Cash.»No sense leaving a paper trail.

Dana took her package and had almost reached the exit when she suddenly stopped, filled with fear. Two different men were standing outside the door with walkie-talkies. Dana looked at them, her mouth suddenly dry. She turned and hurried back to the counter.

The clerk asked, «Was there something else, miss?»

«No. I—» Dana looked around in desperation. «Is there another door leading out of here?»

«Oh, yes, we have several entrances.»

It's no use, Dana thought. They'll have them all covered. This time there would be no escape.

Dana noticed a woman shopper in a shabby old green coat looking at a scarf in a glass case. Dana studied her a moment, then walked over.

«Beautiful, aren't they?» Dana said.

The woman smiled. «They certainly are.»

The men outside were watching the two women in conversation. They looked at each other and shrugged. They had every exit covered.

Inside Dana was saying, «I like that coat you're wearing. It's exactly my color.»

«I'm afraid this old thing is about worn out. Yours is very pretty.»

The two men outside watched as the conversation continued.

«It's damned cold,» one of the men complained. «I wish she'd get the hell out here and let us get this over with.»

His companion nodded. «There's no way she can get—» He broke off as he saw the two women in the store start to exchange coats. He grinned. «Jesus, look what she's trying to get away with. They're swapping coats. What a dumb broad.»

The two women disappeared for a moment behind a clothes rack. One of the men spoke into the walkie-talkie. «The subject is switching from her red coat into a green coat…Hold it. She's heading for exit four. Pick her up there.»

At exit four, two men were waiting. A moment later one of them said into his cellular phone, «We've got her. Get the car.»

They watched as she came out the door into the cold air. She wrapped her green coat tightly around her and started down the street. They closed in on her. As she reached the corner and started hailing a cab, the men grabbed her arms. «You don't need a cab. We have a nice car for you.»

She looked at them in astonishment. «Who are you? What are you talking about?»

One of the men was staring at her. «You're not Dana Evans!»

«Well, of course I'm not.»

The men looked at each other, let go of her, and raced back to the store. One of the men clicked on his walkie-talkie. «Wrong target. Wrong target. Do you read me?»

By the time the others piled into the store, Dana had disappeared.

She was caught in a living nightmare, trapped in a hostile world with unknown enemies trying to kill her. She was enmeshed in a web of terror, almost paralyzed with fear. When Dana got out of the taxi, she started walking fast, trying not to run and call attention to herself, having no idea where she was going. She passed a store with a sign that saidFANTASY HEADQUARTERS :FANCY DRESS FOR ALL OCCASIONS . On an impulse, Dana went inside. It was filled with costumes, wigs, and makeup.

«Can I help you?»

Yes. Call the police. Tell them someone is trying to kill me.

«Miss?»