There had been no other special security from what he had been able to see. But the fourth floor would be different. Turning, he walked back down the corridor, passed through the emergency room, and stepped outside into the still warm evening. Checking his watch he saw that it was nearly ten-thirty. HAMMERHEAD would be arriving at any moment. He crossed the parking lot, stopping in the shadows between a Ford and a van about thirty feet from his own car as a pair of headlights entered the parking lot from the far end, and slowly started down the back row.
HAMMERHEAD had worked out the contact procedures himself some years ago.
He was given the meet time and place over his computer message network.
A car would be waiting for him with its dome light on. They had used four different color cars: white, blue, red, and black, and license plates from the District of Columbia, Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware.
Each plate began with the same letter: P. Rand was searching now for the white Mercedes with its dome light on and the proper license plate. At the end of the first row the van turned down the next, passing beneath a light, giving Kurshin a brief glimpse of a lone man behind the wheel.
The van passed the Mercedes, stopped, backed up, and then pulled into the adjacent parking place. The headlights went off, the driver’s side door opened, and a man stepped out. Kurshin, carrying his medical bag loosely in his left hand, stepped out of the shadows and approached Rand who looked up nervously and backed up a step. “Good evening” Kurshin said pleasantly. Rand’s eyes flicked from his medical garb to the black bag. He nodded. It was obvious that he was very frightened. A gold seam, perhaps, but an amateur ready to explode. “Damn” Kurshin suddenly swore.
“Looks as if I’ve left my dome light on. Probably run down the goddamned battery. I I “It would take at least twenty-four hours to do that” Rand answered automatically.
“It’s only been out here fifteen hours”
“Then you’ll be okay”
“Yes, I guess I’m safe” Rand was shaking his head. “Who the hell are you? I’ve never seen you before. Where is Thomas” Thomas, for the past couple of years, had been Antipov himself. “He sends his greetings”
Kurshin replied. “You must know by now that the situation is becoming dangerous for you”
“You’re goddamned right I know it. They’re calling me “Feliks the Cat,’ for Christ’s sake. Can you imagine that? I got it off the FBI’s machine.
Christ”
“Do you have something for me” You’re damned right I do” Rand said. He was working himself up. “But this time I want something in return”
“Is this information valid? It has not been compromised” Rand waved the questions off. He pulled out a three-and-one-half-inch floppy disk from his pocket and held it in his left hand. His right hand was in his trousers pocket. His nostrils were flaring and his eyes were very wide.
Something was drastically wrong here. Kurshin’s gut tightened, but he held himself in check. “This is our information”
“Everything you asked for. Current to the next twelve days and untraceable. I mean totally in the blind”
“You mentioned something in return. “I want out” Rand said. “What do you mean”
“I want you to take me to Moscow. I’m going to trade you this data for my passage”
“I don’t think that’s possible Kurshin started to say when Rand suddenly pulled the .38 Police Special out of his pocket and cocked the hammer.
“Then I’ll bag me a goddamned Russian spy” Rand shouted. Driven purely by instinct, Kurshin batted the pistol away rand’s finger jerked on the trigger and the gun went off. Kurshin pulled out his silenced Graz Buyra from the waist band of his scrubs and fired one shot point-blank into Rand’s face. As the man was flung backward he fired his gun again, the noise shockingly loud in the parking lot.
“Those were gunshots” McGarvey shouted, racing out of the ICU. He and Dr. Rabbinoux had been standing beside Schey’s bed near the window. When the shots were fired, McGarvey had looked down into the parking lot. But there was nothing to be seen. Potok had drawn his gun. “Somewhere outside” McGarvey snapped. “He knows we’re here, and he’s trying to draw us out” Potok said. They were in the outer office. Dr. Rabbinoux snatched the telephone. McGarvey grabbed it from him. “Get the hell out of here now, Doctor” he yelled. “That’s my patient in there..”
“Not for the moment. I’m telling you to get out of here. Go to your office and stay there, no matter what you hear” Dr. Rabbinoux stepped away from them uncertainly, then turned and hurried out into the corridor, and disappeared. “I’ll take the west stairwell” McGarvey said.
“You stick it out here. Anyone comes through either door, shoot them.
“What about Schey”
“I don’t give a shit about him. He’s served his purpose. It’s Kurshin down there, and he’s waiting for me”
“Watch yourself” Potok said, but McGarvey was already racing down the corridor. The stairwell was silent.
If anyone was coming up they were making absolutely no noise. McGarvey switched the Walther’s safety to the off position and started down, taking the stairs two at a time but making as little noise as possible.
At the bottom of each course he leaned well over the steel railing which gave him a clear shot at the next two courses below. Nothing moved. No one was there. On the third floor two nurses were talking at their station, and on the second an attendant was pushing a man on a gurney through double doors.
Nothing out of the ordinary. At the bottom, McGarvey pulled out his FBI identification, clipped it to his lapel pocket, and stepped out into the corridor. A knot of people had gathered near the front desk, staring and gesticulating down the broad corridor toward the emergency room entrance. Two Marine guards came pounding up the hall, and when they spotted McGarvey, they split up, dropping into shooter’s stances. “Halt!
Halt” one of the Marines shouted as McGarvey started to turn toward them. He raised his hands above his head so that his gun was in plain sight. “FBI” he shouted. The Marines were well trained but they were young and inexperienced. They hesitated, their weapons trained on McGarvey. Behind him he could hear that the people who’d been standing near the front desk were scattering, trying to get out of the line of fire. “Look at my badge” McGarvey yelled. “I’m FBI” One of the Marines straightened up and cautiously approached, his eyes switching nervously from McGarvey’s gun to the badge on his lapel. “I’m Special Agent McGarvey. FBI. You can check it out, but we heard shots down here”
“Call Captain Schiller” the Marine called back to his partner. “On the double” The other Marine jumped up and rushed down the corridor back into the emergency room. “What the hell happened” McGarvey demanded. “I heard two shots, somewhere outside” The Marine was still uncertain.
“We’ll just wait “Goddamnit” McGarvey shouted. “You people know what’s going on up on the fourth floor. It’s why I’m here. Now what the hell happened out there” The Marine finally backed down a little. He lowered his weapon, and McGarvey slowly lowered his hands.
“It’s an Air Force officer. He was shot out in the parking lot”
“Who did it”
“We don’t know, sir. He apparently drove up, shot the officer and drove off. The police have been notified … I I “How did you know this, exactly? Did you see it yourself’”