‘Davila?’ I said numbly. ‘Jimmy Davila?’
‘He was unit four twenty-nine. That’s his code. It hasn’t been reassigned. It’s right here.’
We stared at the screen. The flashing red code was changing locations along a computerized grid. I was shocked no one had thought of it before.
‘Was Davila’s radio with him when his body was found?’ I asked.
Commander Penn didn’t react.
‘Gault’s got it,’ I said. ‘He’s got Davila’s radio.’
Wesley’s voice came back, and he could not know of our difficulty. He could not know about the Mayday.
‘We’re not sure we have him,’ Wesley said. ‘We’re not sure who we have.’
Lucy intensely looked over at me. ‘Carrie,’ she said. ‘They’re not sure if they have her or Gault. She and Gault are probably dressed alike again.’
Inside our small control room with no windows and no people nearby, we watched the flashing red Mayday code move along the computer screen, getting closer to where we sat.
It’s in the southbound tunnel heading straight at us,’ Commander Penn said with growing urgency.
‘She didn’t get the messages we sent.’ Lucy had it figured out.
‘She?’ Commander Penn asked, looking oddly at her.
‘She doesn’t know about the parade or that Second Avenue is closed,’ Lucy went on. ‘She may have tried the emergency exit in the alleyway and couldn’t get out because it’s been bolted. So she just stayed under and has been moving around since we sighted her at Grand Central Station.’
‘We didn’t see Gault or Carrie on the platforms of the stations closer to us,’ I said. ‘And you don’t know it’s her.’
‘There are so many stations,’ Commander Penn said. ‘Someone could have gotten out and we just didn’t see them.’
‘Gault sent her to the pharmacy for him,’ I said, more unnerved by the minute. ‘He somehow knows every goddam thing we’re doing.’
‘CAIN,’ Lucy muttered.
‘Yes. That and he’s probably been watching.’
Lucy had our location, the Bleecker Street local stop, on closed-circuit TV. Three of the monitors showed the platform and turnstiles from different angles, but one monitor was dark.
‘Something’s blocking one of the cameras,’ she said.
‘Was it blocked earlier?’ I asked.
‘Not when we first got here,’ she said. ‘But we haven’t been monitoring this station where we are. There didn’t seem to be a reason to check here.’
We watched the red code slowly move across the grid.
‘We’ve got to stay off the air,’ I told Commander Penn. ‘He has a radio,’ I added, because I knew Gault was the red code on our screen. I had no doubt. ‘You know it’s on and he’s hearing every word we say.’
‘Why’s the Mayday light still on?’ Lucy asked. ‘Does she want us to know where she is?’
I stared at her. It was as if Lucy were in a trance.
‘The button may have been hit inadvertently,’ Commander Penn said. ‘If you don’t know about the button, you wouldn’t realize it’s for Maydays. And since it’s a silent alarm, you could have it on and not know it.’
But I did not believe anything happening was inadvertent. Gault was coming to us because this was where he wanted to be. He was a shark swimming through the blackness of the tunnel, and I thought of what Anna had said about his hideous gifts to me.
‘It’s almost at the signal tower.’ Lucy was pointing at the screen. ‘Goddam that’s close.’
We did not know what to do. If we radioed Wesley, Gault would overhear and disappear back through the tunnels. If we did not make contact, the troops would not know what was happening here. Lucy was at the door, and she opened it a little.
‘What are you doing?’ I almost screamed at her.
She quickly shut the door. ‘It’s the ladies’ room. I guess a janitor propped open the door while cleaning and left it that way. The door’s blocking the camera,’
‘Did you see anybody out there?’ I asked.
‘No,’ she said, hatred in her eyes. ‘They think they have her. How do they know it’s not Gault? It may be her who’s got Davila’s radio. I know her. She probably knows I’m in here.’