'Okay, Perchek. Step up and get on to thatcouch over there,' he said.
At that moment, a gunshot cracked fromsomewhere atop the wall near the gate and a bullet slammed into the metal byHarry's face. Before he could react, a second shot tore through his upper arm.He cried out and reeled back against the side of the RV clutching the wound.The gun dropped from his hand. It took only a second for Perchek, his handsstill tightly bound behind him, to sprint off toward the gate. Another bulletsnapped into the side of the Winnebago. Maura jumped to the ground, but Perchekwas already diving to safety through the pedestrian gate. She fired three timestoward the wall, but the shadow on top of it had disappeared.
'I'm okay,' Harry said. 'Get up there andstart this thing. I can make it.'
He followed her into the Winnebago andslammed the door behind him. Seconds later, Maura pulled away. He tore away thesleeve of his turtleneck. The bullet had hit the meat part of his deltoid andexited only an inch or so lateral to where it went in. Blood was oozingsteadily from the wounds, but it was venous bleeding, not arterial. He couldmove his fingers and his elbow, although there was a good deal of pain — enoughto think the shaft of the humerus might have been hit as well. He wrapped thesleeve around the wounds and used his teeth and free hand to tie it as tightlyas he could stand. As Maura sped past the massive gate, the headlights of thesedan that had been parked there flicked on. Harry cursed himself for notthinking to shoot out a tire as they walked past it.
They're coming after us,' he said.
'Where should I go?'
'The river's off to the right. Stay onthis road and look for a left you can make.'
'Harry, this thing is huge.'
'Just take it up to as fast as you canhandle it and then go a little faster.' He snatched up the phone and dialed911. 'This is Dr. Harry Corbett! I'm wanted by the police. Right now we'redriving along the Palisades in a Winnebago motor home, being chased by men whowant to kill us. We're-'
The window beside Maura exploded inward,showering her with glass. Reflexively, she ducked, then poked her head up andaccelerated through forty.
'You all right?'
'Cut on my arm and my face, but I'm okay.'
Tires and brakes screeched as she snappedthe wheel to the left. They skidded on the wet pavement, then felt a bump andheard the crunch of metal against metal. The lurch sent cabinets flying open.The fax machine snapped off its stand and shattered against the wall. Pots,pans, and canned goods clattered out on to the carpet and bounced off the teakdining table.
'Can you put your seat belt on?'
'I can't let go of the wheel.'
Harry dropped the phone, picked up Maura'sgun, and raced to the driver's-side window in the lounge.
'I don't see them!' he cried. 'Maybe youknocked them off the-'
The window behind him shattered. Hewhirled and fired three shots just as Maura pulled the wheel sharply to theright. He lost his balance and cried out as his wounded arm struck a counter.The collision with the sedan was louder and more forceful this time. The heavysedan was much faster, but hardly a match for the Luxor in close-in battle.
'Harry?'
'I'm okay. There are three of them, Ithink! Perchek's in the back seat! I'm sure of that!'
He had to holler now to be heard over therush of wind and the roar of the two engines. They were heading down a fairlysteep hill.
'Harry, I can barely stay on the road!'
'Is there any way you can make a left onto a side street?'
'I'm going fifty-five! I'd have to slow toten! I just hope this road doesn't turn too sharply, or we're going to tipover!'
'Hang in there! You're doing great!'
The sedan pulled alongside them again.This time, the center window on the driver's side was shot in. Harry bracedhimself and pulled the trigger of his revolver, but got only an impotent click.The pursuers inched forward.
'Watch it, Maura!' he cried.
A shot came through the vacant windowbeside her and spiderwebbed half the windshield. She whipped the wheel to theleft. Only the pressure from the sedan kept them from flipping. Harry scrambledinto the passenger seat, fumbled for the seat belt with his wounded arm, andthen gave up trying. If she didn't have one on, he didn't want one either.
'Harry, they're in front of us, trying tocut us off!' she yelled. 'I can hardly see through this windshield! Harry,watch out! The road's gone! They're in front of us!'
The sedan had spun against the grille ofthe Winnebago, beneath the massive windshield. It was being pushed sideways,plowing through a forest of saplings and low bushes at fifty miles an hour.Trees snapped like firecrackers as the Winnebago barreled forward, brakesscreeching. Several larger trees flashed past, their branches whipping throughthe empty windows. Again and again, the wheel spun out of Maura's grasp. Eachtime she managed to steady it. Then suddenly, the dense young woods fell away.A ten-yard stretch of wild grass ended in blackness. Ahead of them were thelights of Manhattan. Well below them was the Hudson.
'Harry! Harry!' Maura cried, bracingherself. 'We're going over!'
The sedan and motor home hurled off theedge of the precipice together. Harry grabbed the edge of his seat, stiffenedhis legs, and watched through the cracked windshield in numb horror as the cartumbled away from them and hit the water just beneath them. The Winnebago nosedslightly downward as it passed over the spot where the sedan had splashed down.It hammered into the ebony water with dizzying force, striking it first withthe front bumper. Instantly, the windshield collapsed inward, and the massivedual airbags filled. Chilly water flooded the cabin.
Harry snapped forward and collided withthe dash at the instant the airbag drove him back into the seat. The pain inhis chest, which had never fully abated, exploded through him once more.
'Maura!' he cried.
The river poured in with force, fillingthe Winnebago in seconds. Still tilted forward, the huge RV glided downward,beneath the surface. Harry, battling the rushing water, the airbag, and thepain in his arm and chest, inhaled deeply and clawed his way toward thedriver's seat, expecting at any moment to connect with Maura's body. The murkyriver pushed him backward toward the sitting area. He kicked off his sneakersand struggled to calm and orient himself. The blackness was total. Wherewere the windows? Below him? Above? Were they still sinking? His breath wasgoing. He kicked and battled to find a way out. Nothing. Water was entering hisnose and mouth. Soon, any second now, he would have to take a breath. He feltthe consuming panic of being trapped in water — panic unlike any he had everknown.
His movements grew weaker, more futile.The pain in his chest grew worse. Water seeped down his throat.
Breathe, his mind cried. You musttake a breath.
Darkness closed in.
Reluctantly, Harry surrendered to it. Hisarms grew heavy. The dreadful ache beneath his breastbone began to fade. Then,at the instant his consciousness vanished, he felt a hand take hold of the backof his shirt.
Chapter42
Harry's first awareness was the smell — the unmistakable amalgam of cleaning solutions, antiseptic, laundry starch, andhuman illness. It was an aroma as familiar to him as his own room. He was in ahospital, cranked up in bed at a forty-five degree angle.
Piece by piece, image by image, thenightmare began returning to him. He was dead. Had to be. The godawfulsensation of muddy river water filling his mouth and lungs — it had to havebeen fatal. Is this Heaven? No, it's Iowa. . He was dead, and itreally wasn't all that bad. He would open his eyes now and there would beclouds billowing about his feet. James Mason would be ushering new recruits tothe celestial escalator that would take them to the next level.