he stopped rolling, he managed to sit up, then froze.
A car’s headlights were coming right for him. The police bubble light
blasted into his eyes as the wheels came within two inches of his head.
He slumped back on the asphalt. He was too winded to even move.
The car door sprang open. Jack looked up, puzzled. It was the passenger
door. Then the driver’s door flew open. Big hands slid under his
armpits.
“Goddammit, Jack, get your ass up.”
Jack looked up at Seth Frank.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
BILL BURTON LEANED HIS HEAD INTO THE SECRET SERVICE command post. Tim
Collin sat at one of the desks going over a report.
“Come on, Tim.”
Collin looked up, puzzled.
Burton said quietly, “They’ve got him cornered down near the courthouse.
I want to be there. Just in case.”
SETH FRANK’S SEDAN FLEW DOWN THE sTREET, THE BLUE BUDble light
commanding immediate respect from a traffic population unaccustomed to
conveying any whatsoever to fellow motorists.
“Where’s Kate?” Jack lay in the back seat, a blanket over him.
“Right now she’s probably being read her rights. Then she’s gonna get
booked on a slew of accessory charges for helping you.”
Jack sprung up. “We’ve gotta go back, Seth. I’ll turn myself in. They’ll
let her go.”
“Yeah, right.”
“I’m not kidding, Seth.” Jack was halfway over the front seat.
“I’m not either, Jack. You go back and turn yourself in, that’ll do
nothing to help Kate and it’ll snuff out what little shot you’ve got to
get your life back to reality.”
“But Kate-2′
“I’ll take care of Kate. I’ve already called a buddy at D.C.
He’ll be waiting for her. He’s a good guy.”
Jack slumped back down. “Shit.”
Frank opened his window, reached out and flicked the bubble light off
and tossed it on the seat beside him.
“What the hell happened?”
Frank looked in his rearview mirror. “I’m not sure. The best I can
figure is that Kate picked up a tail somewhere. I was cruising the area.
We were going to meet at the Convention Center after she made the drop
with you. Heard over my police radio that you had been spotted. I
followed the chase over the airwaves, tried to guess where you might go.
Got lucky. When I saw you blow out of the alley, I couldn’t believe it.
Damn near ran you down. How’s the body by the way?”
“Never better. I ought to do this crap once or twice a year just to keep
me limber. Get ready for the Fleeing Felon Olympics.”
Frank chuckled. “You’re still alive and kicking, my friend.
Count your blessings. So did you get any nice presents?”
Jack swore under his breath.He had been so busy running from the police
that he had never even looked. He took out the packet.
“Got a light?”
Frank flicked on the dome light.
Jack flipped through the photographs.
Frank checked the mirror. “So what do we got?”
“Photos. Of the letter’opener, knife, whatever the hell you want to call
it.”
“Huh. Not surprising I guess. Can you make out anything?”
Jack looked closely in the poor, light. “Not really. You guys must have
some gadget that’ll do some good.”
Frank sighed. “I gotta be straight with you, Jack, unless there’s
something else we don’t have much of a shot. Even if we can somehow pull
something that looks like a print off there who’s to say where it came
from? And you can’t do DNA testing on blood from a friggin’ photograph,
at least not that I’m aware of.”
“I know that. I didn’t spend four years as a defense counsel picking my
ass.”
Seth slowed the car down. They were on Pennsylvania Avenue and the
traffic had grown heavier. “So what’s your idea then?”
Jack rubbed back his hair, dug his fingers into his leg until the pain
in his knee subsided and then lay down on the seat.
“Whoever’s behind all this wanted the letter opener back really bad.
Enough to kill you, me, anybody else that got in the way. We’re talking
paranoia at its peak.”
“Which fits in with our theory of some big shot with a lot to lose if