Part 15 (1/2)
The bullets landed in a small circle in Danny's chest, above his heart. His head snapped back then fell forward. His great bulk propelling him, he lumbered two more steps and crashed to the floor, inches from Eli.
Judd was already moving, checking bodies, picking up weapons.
Bosa let his M4 drift down to his side. An iPhone appeared in his hand. He spoke into it: ”Come and get us, Jack. We're done here. I turned on the lights to the landing strip. You shouldn't have any trouble. Hurry.”
Eva heard Tucker moan.
”Oh, my G.o.d,” Eva breathed. She knelt beside the old spymaster and raised her voice: ”Tucker's down. Head wound. It looks bad!”
38.
Judd ran back to Tucker. One of Danny's wild bullets must have hit him. Tucker was lying on his belly, his head turned to the side, the Walther near his hand. His tortoisesh.e.l.l gla.s.ses had fallen off. One lens was cracked. His eyes were closed. Blood spread down his cheek, matting his gray beard.
Eva held her cardigan sweater against his head, trying to control the bleeding.
”Open your eyes, Tucker,” she was saying. ”Come on, I know you can do it. Open your eyes!” She glanced at Judd, her expression grim. ”His pupils are different sizes. It's typical of head injuries. We need to get him to a trauma unit.”
Bosa had been talking on his iPhone. Ending the call, he said, ”The Merrittville Hospital has the closest one. Jack can fly us to the airport in ten minutes. One of my people is a medic. He'll do triage on the way.”
Judd tapped numbers on his smartphone, calling Gloria Feit. It was late, past two A.M. Gloria and her husband, Ted, were probably in bed.
Still, her voice was strong when she answered. ”This better be good, Judd.”
”Tucker's been shot in the head,” he told her bluntly. ”He's alive, but he's not moving, not talking.”
”Oh, G.o.d, no.” There was a pause. When she spoke again, her voice was controlled. ”What can I do?”
”We need an ambulance to meet us at the Merrittville airport to take Tucker to the hospital.” He got a description and tail number for the plane from Bosa, then relayed the information to Gloria.
”Taken care of.” Her line went dead.
Bosa had been searching Eli Eichel. He pocketed Eli's limestone pieces.
Judd flung books off a free-standing bookcase and carried two empty shelves about six feet long to Tucker and set them on the floor beside him. Judd and Bosa picked up Tucker and laid him on the makes.h.i.+ft stretcher.
Judd's phone rang. It was Gloria again. ”I've alerted the hospital that a cla.s.sified federal employee needs emergency care. An ambulance is on its way to the airport. A police escort will meet the paramedics, and one of the cops will stay with Tucker until I can get our people there to make certain he has the help he needs and doesn't inadvertently blab any secrets. I've also called his wife, Karen. How'd this happen?”
”There's been a shoot-out at Martin Chapman's horse farm.” Judd surveyed the havoc. ”We haven't heard any sirens yet, but it's possible some of the employees who bunked out have notified the Maryland State Police. The cops won't know exactly who and what they're looking at here for a while. That'll buy us some time.”
”And what will they see?” Gloria asked suspiciously.
”Corpses. A dozen or so guards, Martin Chapman, and the Eichel brothers.”
”Oh, h.e.l.l, a billionaire and two international a.s.sa.s.sins,” she said. ”Is Tucker's blood there?”
”Yes. And our fingerprints and DNA.”
Gloria's voice rose. ”Who is 'our'? And whose airplane is going to fly you to Merrittville?”
”Brace yourself, Gloria. We're working with the Carnivore again.”
She took an audible breath. ”Well, if Tucker can, I suppose I can, too.”
”Eva Blake is with us,” Judd added.
”Eva? It's a shame you've dragged her into this. Will Tucker's injuries get him enough sympathy so he can hold on to his job?” There was a pause, and in it he heard if he survives.
”Tucker went AWOL in a big way tonight,” Judd said. ”Add that to the infractions Bridgeman has been toting up, and it might be enough to force Tucker to retire. It'll help if Tucker's right about something going on that'll seriously hurt the United States.”
”s.h.i.+t.” She paused. ”You know I'll have to tell Scott Bridgeman.”
”Can you delay?”
”I can weasel out of a lot of things, but I can't dodge a direct question from my boss. He'll find out everything eventually anyway. Let me know if I can help again.”
Judd ended the call.
”Come on,” Bosa snapped. ”We've got to get out of here.”
Eva zipped up Tucker's jacket and grabbed his eyegla.s.ses.
”Ready?” Judd asked, crouching.
Bosa squatted and nodded. ”Let's do it.”
The men picked up the boards holding Tucker and moved rapidly across the library. Judd was in the lead, walking backward, while Eva continued to hold her sweater to Tucker's head. In seconds they pa.s.sed through the library door and entered the brightly lit hallway, then down the staircase past the two guards Tucker had shot, and along the first-floor corridor where the rest of the corpses lay. Judd's boots grew sticky with blood. Looking at violent death was like a worm crawling up his spine.
He rerouted his thoughts: ”Was it you who knifed the two outdoor sentries?” he asked Bosa.
”Who else?” Bosa said.
”What are you talking about-what sentries?” Eva asked.
Judd told her about Tucker's text messages describing two corpses in the snow, their carotid arteries sliced.
Bosa nodded. ”One of them had spotted Tucker, then the other saw me.” He glanced at Eva. ”All of this happened while I was reconnoitering.”
”Why are you here, Eva?” Judd asked.
She described how the Carnivore had tricked her into joining him in Williamsburg, and then how she had escaped his plane and driven here. ”He met me at the service entrance, armed to his eyeteeth and wearing the white snowsuit with the balaclava over his face. He had a plan-he'd pretend he'd captured me so we could get into the main house. That worked, and then we learned you and Tucker had broken in. So he volunteered to be part of your welcoming party, and you know the rest.”
The door to the short hall was open. Again they hurried, pa.s.sing the silent kitchen and the guards' locker room, where Judd had left his things. The building reverberated with the powerful roar of approaching jet engines.
Bosa lifted his head, listening. ”Jack is circling the plane. Let's put Tucker down.”