Blind Alley - Iris Johansen [107]
“All? I don't need anyone else to rid myself of vermin like you. But I'll be waiting for you. I need to destroy you before you destroy me.”
“I won't be there. I'm not a fool.”
“But you're a coward.” She paused. “Okay, don't come to the press conference. I'll meet you at the vomitorium tomorrow night at nine o'clock. I'll have Trevor take down the coffin with the reconstruction and then leave. You'll have us both, if you're man enough to kill me and destroy the skeleton.”
“Tomorrow night.”
“Tempted? No skeleton for the press conference the next night and you rid yourself of me.”
“It's a trick.”
“If it is, are you clever enough to turn it against me? I don't think you are. You won't be there. You'll be too frightened. You know I've beaten you all your life. I took away your father. I took away your childhood and now I'm going to show you what a sniveling failure you really—”
“Shut up.”
“Why should I? You're nothing. You're weak. I don't have to have help to crush you.”
“No, you're so proud of yourself.” He sneered. “You've been preparing yourself to meet all comers. Do you still have that thirty-two Smith and Wesson Quinn gave you?”
She was silent, surprised.
“See? I know everything about you. I know you can fire a gun and you were issued a hunting license when you were sixteen. The computer is a wonderful source of information and I even know the name of the firing range where Joe Quinn took you to teach you.”
“If you're so sure that destiny is on your side, then that shouldn't bother you. Don't you think you're smart enough to find out if there's anyone down there but me?”
“Of course I am.”
“Did that sting? Good. You deserve it. Poor bastard, afraid of a seventeen-year-old girl.”
“I'm not afraid.”
“Admit it. You're out of your league, Aldo. I'll be there tomorrow night. Come or don't come. I don't care. I'll have a chance to kill you another day. But this is your last chance. After that press conference it won't matter if you destroy the reconstruction. I'll live on forever.”
“No! It won't happen and I won't be taunted by you.”
“Then don't come. Read about it in the newspapers.” She hung up, drew a deep breath, and looked at Trevor. “How did I do?”
“You could have fooled me,” Trevor said.
She shook her head. “He was very wary.” She paused. “I keep thinking about that video of him in the vomitorium. He looked so triumphant, so at home in that tunnel.” She shivered. “I felt caught, smothered, down there. And you said they were like a maze.”
“But you're not going to have to know anything about the tunnels. And remember, Aldo is in the same boat as you are. He's not familiar with the Via Spagnola tunnels. Even if he's been doing some tentative exploring, it would take months to learn them without a map.”
“Do you think he'll come?”
“If he can find an advantage, if he can see any way he can kill you and survive.”
“It won't be easy. He's going to be suspicious. He knows you and Joe will be trying to trap him.”
“But you threw down the ultimate challenge and he's just nuts enough to try to do it. Isn't that what we've been counting on?”
Madness and that sick hunger to kill. “Yes.”
“And he'll be down there checking out the immediate area. He won't find anything but what we want him to find. Our principal advantage is the temptation you offer and his desperation at the thought of Cira becoming a household name. If anything will draw him out of his hole into the open that will be it.”
She tried to think, mentally going over the conversation word for word. “I have to look vulnerable. He's not going to show his face if I show up armed to the teeth.”
His lips tightened. “There's no way you're going down there without a weapon.”
“Do you think I'm crazy? But no jacket or pockets that could hide a weapon.” She repeated, “I've got to look vulnerable. You'll have to plant a gun somewhere I can get to it fast.”
He thought about it. “Underneath the red velvet throw. Lower right-hand corner as you come out of the tunnel. It will only take you seconds to get to it. And we'll plant another in the