The second man.
Grinning wickedly, he sliced his knife in my direction.
Graham swept into the corridor like a knight riding a steed. Extending his arms, he slammed the wood into the man’s gut. The man tried to shout as he crumpled over, but only managed a small gasp. Shifting gears, Graham jabbed the piece of wood into the man’s skull and the guy fell still.
Quietly, I set Saul on the floor. “I thought you said there was just one of them.”
Graham grinned. “Close enough.”
I retrieved the two fallen knives and handed one to Graham. On a whim, I rifled through Saul’s pockets and found a smartphone. A few flicks of the fingers took me to the texting program.
Graham glanced down the corridor, toward the main hallways. “Anything interesting?” he asked.
“I think I know what Saul meant by an offer he couldn’t pass up. Malware put a bounty on us.” I held up the screen so he could see it. “One million dollars apiece.”
Chapter 29
“One million dollars?” Graham arched his mouth in snooty fashion. “Please. I’m worth way more than that.”
“What about me?”
“I’m easily equal to ten of you.”
“Only if we’re going by body odor.”
It felt good to banter a bit, especially after all that had happened. But the effect was only temporary and after a few seconds, I found myself feeling hollow all over again.
I studied Saul’s phone. It showed two pictures, side by side, along with an accompanying caption. The pictures were of Graham and I, neck-up, and taken that very evening. The caption read, Wanted: Cy Reed & Dutch Graham. Crime: Betraying the revolution. Location: 1199 Madison Avenue. Reward: One million dollars apiece, untraceable and delivered to the bank account of your choice for proof of death. The final line was one I’d seen before, Malware Approved.
The photos were a bit grainy and I realized Malware had used our own phones to take them. The background, a cold, moonlit sky, indicated she’d done so before we’d even entered 1199 Madison Avenue. She must’ve planned to put a price on our heads from the very beginning.
“Damn paparazzi.” Graham pulled out his smartphone and made to ditch it. “At least she could’ve gotten my good side.”
“What good side?” The seeds of a plan began to form in my brain. “And don’t get rid of that yet.”
“But she can use them to track us.”
“That’s the idea.”
He frowned, clearly confused. But he stuffed the device into his pocket anyway.
I grabbed Saul’s knife, edged out of the bedroom, and made my way into the adjoining corridor. Pausing, I perked my ears. I heard soft footfalls and barely perceptible shuffling movements. The rest of Saul’s gang sounded like they were a good distance away from us.
We slipped into the exterior hallway. The footfalls and shuffling were louder now, but still distant.
Escaping the floor wouldn’t be too difficult. But leaving the building would be much more challenging, especially since Saul had probably posted some people at the downstairs exit in case we doubled back. At the same time, I didn’t like the idea of hiding out in the building when Saul’s gang had two million reasons to find us.
I hustled down the hallway, retracing my footsteps. Halting just short of the entrance hall, I snuck a peek. It was empty.
For a moment, I pictured the exterior of 1199 Madison Avenue. I recalled its textured sides, the front doorway, the surrounding area.
And the street.
I hurried to the heaping pile of construction materials. Using Saul’s knife, I cut some large pieces of plastic tarp. Then I rummaged through the other items and found some duct tape along with several boxes of metal screws.
I stuffed the items into my pockets and entered the stairwell. Then I began to climb the steps, taking care to make as little noise as possible.
Graham picked up speed until he was walking next to me. “Where are we going?”
“The roof.”
“But there’s no fire escape. And the nearest building is at least twenty feet away.” He arched an eyebrow. “What are we going to do? Jump?”
A solitary image of Dad falling to his death streaked through my mind, a brief interruption to my now-constant thoughts of Beverly. “Something like that.”
We hurried up the steps and I opened a metal access door leading to the roof. Sounds of the riot poured into my eardrums. The odors — fire and soot, electricity, garbage, sweat, blood, and booze — wafted into my nostrils.
Graham and I walked onto the roof and I closed the door behind us. I looked for a lock, but didn’t see one.
I ran to the edge of the roof. The riot had thinned out a little and the authorities had retaken much of the street. As such, lines of armored cars rolled down both sides of the pavement with relative ease.
Kneeling down, I removed the pieces of plastic tarp, the duct tape, and the boxes of screws from my pockets. Then I began wrapping one of the small boxes in plastic.
“We’re definitely trapped.” Graham appeared at my side. “I hope you’ve got a plan rolling around that head of yours.”
“Malware’s been pulling tricks on us for hours.” My lips curled into a cold grin. “It’s time we repaid the favor.”
Chapter 30
I stared down, far down. Twenty stories away, the parade of armored cars continued to drive down either side of Madison Avenue. The line of cars closest to us hugged the sidewalk.
Lifting the wrapped box of screws, I took careful aim. “Bombs away,” I whispered as I released it.
My aim was true. The package fell through the air, twisting slightly in the process. It struck a car and bounced onto the street. A moment later, a giant tire rode over the package and I heard a very soft crunching sound.
“Oh, I see.” Graham’s one good eye brightened in realization. “You’re going to use her technology against her.”
“That’s the idea.” I wrapped another box of screws with several layers of plastic and used strips of duct tape to secure it. Then I added a few additional strips of tape facing outward. “That should do it.”
Leaning over the edge of the roof, I tossed the package. It struck a second car’s roof. The sticky tape reduced its bounce, but not quite enough. Moments later, the package struck the street and disappeared from sight.
My plan was simple. Malware could track us via the GPS devices installed in our satphones. If we wanted to throw her off our trail, we needed to get rid of them. But not just by tossing them from the rooftop. We needed to get them as far away as possible and in one piece, ideally in a way that made it look like we’d escaped the building. Malware would then alert Saul to that new location and we could escape.
Graham walked to the access door and planted his ear against the metal. Meanwhile, I picked up another box of screws and began to wrap it in duct tape.
“Cy,” Graham hissed quietly. “We’ve got company.”
So much for tests.
I stuffed the package into my pocket and turned to the two phones. They were already wrapped separately in plastic and secured with duct tape. Swiftly, I added a few extra layers of duct tape to make them heavier. Then I peeled off more duct tape, stuck it together so that the sticky side faced outward, and added that tape to the phones as well.
Graham retreated to the opposite side of the concrete structure enclosing the stairwell. I could hear footsteps now, along with angry whispers. Saul’s gang was getting close.
Here goes nothing.