Toys - James Patterson [64]
And McGill’s “problem” was easy to see on the imager—Lucy had an escape route. The plant’s water mains had been opened and their maintenance hatches torn off. The mains dropped underground and branched into a complex network that ran under the entire city. At the whisper of alarm, Lucy and her team could easily disappear into the tunnels. That was certainly reassuring to me.
“We need her alive,” McGill emphasized, laying a comradely hand on my shoulder. “She knows what the humans are up to. We need to know everything she knows. Actually, this should be fun. For both of us.”
I studied the imager for a few seconds longer. The plant’s entrances were sealed, but there was a row of grimy industrial windows about twenty feet above the ground. That’s where I planned to go. I was starting to see a chance of how I might succeed—by failing.
I took one last close-up look at Lucy’s face, then I set off, ostensibly to capture or kill her.
Chapter 85
MINUTES LATER, I was crouched down at the border of the dark wasteland. I had a stun-gun carbine in my hand and was tensing my legs for a sprint to the filtration plant where the Agency had isolated Lucy—I was the point man in her capture. I sucked in one more deep, measured breath. Then I jumped forward, racing in long, springing strides.
I lunged straight up as I reached the building’s granite walls, catching the ledge below a window with my free hand, throwing the carbine to my shoulder with the other.
This was it, life or death. For me, and for Lucy.
I rammed the rifle barrel through the window and aimed. Right now, this instant, I had to be the best marksman I could imagine.
Very slowly, I squeezed the trigger.
Shot of my life.
And Lucy’s too.
Lucy and her men spun around toward the shattering glass. I had fired the most deliberate and careful shot—three inches off her left shoulder.
The stun blast cracked with a flash like a lightning bolt, and Lucy went reeling. But she stayed on her feet. I figured that she would.
So far, so good.
But then they didn’t run for the tunnels. The three of them stumbled away in the wrong direction—farther into the plant. What was she doing? This made no sense.
Maybe I’d cut the shot too close, jolted her completely out of her senses?
I swung myself boots-first through the window and dropped in a driving rain of glass to the floor below. I needed to save Lucy, somehow—with McGill watching my every move.
Chapter 86
SHE WAS SEALING her own doom though, fleeing even deeper into the plant instead of using the escape route. And she was moving faster now too, disappearing in the dark maze of machinery, pipes, and catwalks, then reappearing for a glimpse, then disappearing again. But why go back into the building?
If I tried to chase her, I’d never catch her in time. McGill and the others would get to her for sure.
So I threw the rifle onto my shoulder again. Another near-impossible shot was needed. Could I do it twice in a row? I had to.
Very slowly—now squeeze, Hays.
The flashing stun jolt slammed Lucy to the floor. She was definitely down, but was she out, unconscious? Or had I just killed her?
I lunged forward to scoop her up and race back toward the tunnels and the way out. The Elite air-assault units were directly overhead now—I only had a minute or two left before they arrived.
Whoom! A megaforce laser blast hit the plant’s roof, vaporizing at least a forty-foot section. That showed it wasn’t a good idea to wage war against the Elites.
The pulsing lights of Agency aircraft appeared directly above the hole, then black-uniformed commandos came leaping through it and into the building.
I had messed up and it was going to cost Lucy. Now there was only a single option to keep Moore and McGill from getting their hands on her.
I dropped to my knees beside Lucy. Her face was turned toward me, her cheek resting on the cold concrete. Her eyes were barely open, but I