Net Force - Tom Clancy [120]
In here! the Selkie said. Hurry!
She heard the sound of fast footsteps. She grinned.
37
Friday, October 8th, 8:37 p.m. Grozny
Plekhanov didnt need to use VR to see that trip wires were broken all over his walkways. They knew who he was, and they were probing every aspect of his life they could reach. He didnt think they could find much, but he was worried a bit more than he had been. This damnable child who worked for Net Force might be faster than he was smart, but somebody brighter might take notice of some of the patterns and draw a conclusion Plekhanov did not want them to draw. Or they might feed all the bits they had to an Al-analog, and have the computer make a connection a human might not be clever enough to see. This was very much not to his liking.
And he was so close; it was but a matter of days until the special election was to be held. All he needed was to stall them just a little longer. Then it truly wouldnt matter what they knew. Even now, it was probably too late for anybody to thwart him, but he was a careful man. People had told him that he was too careful, that he lingered for another look when he should be leaping, but they were wrong. Those who had uttered such stupidities-where were they now? Not where he was, poised to control the destinies of millions.
No, he would add one more piece of insurance, something to make them think. One more obstacle to make certain they stumbled and could not recover in time to catch him.
He put in a call to the Rifle.
Friday, October 8th, 12:37 p.m. Quantico
Give him credit, the Selkie thought. As soon as he saw the gun, he knew what was going on. She quickly pointed it back at the woman in the shower. Move and she dies.
The target nodded. I understand. Im not armed. He spread his hands wide, to show they were empty.
The Selkie shook her head. How stupid of him not to be armed.
All right. Slow and easy, over here.
Michaels felt the fear in the pit of his belly like shards of cold glass, but he knew he was going to have to go for the assassin anyway. He had to keep her from shooting Toni. And if he was going to die, he was going to go out on his feet, moving toward the threat and not away from it. He took a slow breath. Held it-
Toni sat very still, watching. She was going to have to make her move soon. She tried to keep her breathing calm and steady, but it was hard. This was the assassin, the woman who had erased Ray Genaloni, tried to do the same to Alex, and who might or might not have murdered Steve Day. For sure, if Toni didnt do something, the woman was going to kill her and Alex. The gun was one of those ceramic things, but that didnt make it any less deadly.
She could come up from a cross-legged sit, had done it in practice thousands of times. A silat player had to be able to work from the ground. If the woman was six inches closer, she could reach her with a kick.
If, if-
Alex said, Toni? You okay?
Yes, she said.
Alex was getting closer. The gun was still pointed at her, and Toni knew if she moved, she was certainly going to get shot, but that would buy Alex a second or two. She had to do it.
Toni inhaled slowly, a long breath. Held it. Made herself ready-
Dont move! FBI! somebody yelled.
Toni looked at the reflection in the shower door.
Rusty-?!
The Selkie reacted without thinking, almost a reflex. When the man at the locker room entrance jumped into the room, pointing what looked like a gun at her, she swung her own pistol over and fired. The little gun bucked hard in her hand, light as it was, but she saw the man react as the shot took him in the center of mass. He went down. No vest-
The target lunged at her, screaming something.
Too fast to get to the knife. She thrust the pistol at him, fired-
No! the woman in the shower screamed. Then she slammed into the Selkie and they both went flying. She lost the pistol, hit next to a bench, managed to roll up as Fiorella also got to her feet.
The Selkie kicked away her shoes, ripped her skirt off, grabbed the knife and jerked it from the