Last Chance to Die. Noah Boyd

on>

      

      Last Chance to Die

      Noah Boyd

      For my wife, Patti,

       who has always grown stronger the more impossible things become

      Contents

      Before

      KATE BANNON THOUGHT SHE WAS HAVING A NIGHTMARE, BUT ACTUALLY…

      One

      KATE BANNON OPENED HER DOOR. “WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?”

      Two

      THE BLACK TOWN CAR PULLED UP TO THE CURB IN…

      Three

      AFTER KATE HAD WALKED THE DIRECTOR OUT, SHE CAME BACK…

      Four

      WHEN THEY GOT TO THE CAR, VAIL SAID, “YOU KNOW…

      Five

      KATE LISTENED TO VAIL’S SHALLOW BREATHING AND FOUND IT REMARKABLE…

      Six

      IT WAS ALMOST 11 P.M. BY THE TIME VAIL CHANGED CLOTHES,…

      Seven

      KATE FOUND A PARKING SPACE NEAR THE MAIN ENTRANCE OF…

      Eight

      THE TALL, SLENDER MAN WITH THE SPLAYED NOSE SAT BEHIND…

      Nine

      WHEN THEY WALKED INTO THE OBSERVATION ROOM AT THE SIXTEENTH…

      Ten

      VAIL WAS SITTING AT THE KITCHEN TABLE WITH HIS INJURED…

      Eleven

      LUKE, DO YOURSELF A FAVOR AND IGNORE THE STUFF ON…

      Twelve

      VAIL AND BURSAW SAT IN THE FRONT SEAT OF THE…

      Thirteen

      IT WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF THE AFTERNOON WHEN VAIL…

      Fourteen

      VAIL HAD GOTTEN IN ABOUT FOUR HOURS EARLIER, AFTER A…

      Fifteen

      SITTING IN THE BACKSEAT, KATE LISTENED TO KALIX AND LANGSTON.

      Sixteen

      THE THREE UNIT AND SECTION CHIEFS WERE ALREADY SEATED IN…

      Seventeen

      ONCE VAIL REACHED THE HIGHWAY, HE STAYED IN THE RIGHT…

      Eighteen

      THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT ASKED VAIL IF HE WANTED ANYTHING TO…

      Nineteen

      AT A FEW MINUTES BEFORE EIGHT THE NEXT MORNING, VAIL…

      Twenty

      JOHN KALIX WATCHED VAIL COME THROUGH THE GATE AFTER THE…

      Twenty-One

      AFTER MORE THAN THREE HOURS OF INTERROGATION BY THE ANNANDALE…

      Twenty-Two

      WHEN THEY GOT TO THE OFF-SITE, JOHN KALIX WAS PARKED…

      Twenty-Three

      AS BURSAW DROVE CAUTIOUSLY THROUGH THE CITY’S STREETS, VAIL ASKED…

      Twenty-Four

      THE PHONE RANG. BURSAW PICKED IT UP AND PUSHED THE…

      Twenty-Five

      THE FIRST GRAY LIGHT OF MORNING SEEPED INTO THE BEDROOM,…

      Twenty-Six

      BURSAW PARKED THE BUREAU CAR IN HIS SISTER’S GUEST PARKING…

      Twenty-Seven

      AS SOON AS VAIL REACHED THE OTHER SIDE, HE TOOK…

      Twenty-Eight

      KATE WAS THE LAST TO ARRIVE AT THE DIRECTOR’S OFFICE.

      Twenty-Nine

      IT WAS DARK WHEN KATE GOT BACK FROM THE PENTAGON.

      Thirty

      WHEN KATE CAME IN THE NEXT MORNING, SHE FOUND VAIL…

      Thirty-One

      WHAT!”

      Thirty-Two

      UNSURE WHERE IT WOULD TAKE THEM—AND NOT SURE SHE CARED—KATE…

      Thirty-Three

      AS THEY NEARED THE ADDRESS FOR MASTER SERGEANT LONGMEADOW’S APARTMENT,…

      Thirty-Four

      THE NEXT MORNING KATE PICKED UP AN ORDER OF STEAK…

      Thirty-Five

      THE SURVEILLANCE SQUAD’S OFF-SITE HAD BEEN CAREFULLY EELECTED. THE NEIGHBORHOOD…

      Thirty-Six

      AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER, THE TWO MEN THAT…

      Thirty-Seven

      THE BLURRY LIGHT OF DAWN HAD COME UP JUST AS…

      Thirty-Eight

      IT WAS THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, AND KATE COULDN’T…

      After

      VAIL WALKED UP TO THE FRONT DOOR OF THE SIX TEENTH…

      About the Author

      Other Books by Noah Boyd

      Credits

      Copyright

      About the Publisher

      BEFORE

      KATE BANNON THOUGHT SHE WAS HAVING A NIGHTMARE, BUT ACTUALLY SHE WAS dying.

      Only her nagging self-awareness, even in this somnolent state, was forcing her to remember that she didn’t have nightmares. The frightening images had always been there—people shooting at her, falling endlessly from towering buildings, running through thicker and thicker sand to escape something unknown—but her reaction to them had always been as an indifferent observer, curious and analytical. If the “danger” persisted, she would simply tell herself it was a dream and wake up. And that’s what she had to do now, wake up and find out what was causing the chaotic images in her head.

      She sat up and felt dizzy, the blood pounding in the top of her head. It hurt too much to be a dream. She felt nauseous and remembered driving home after the Thanksgiving Eve get-together at one of the local FBI watering holes with a large group of people from headquarters. She remembered having a glass of wine, and then a good-looking guy she didn’t know brought her a small glass of—what did he say it was?—Drambuie. She had never tasted it before and took a mouthful. Finding it too bitter for her liking, she set it down and didn’t touch it again. It must have been strong, because she soon started feeling woozy and decided to leave.

      Throwing her legs over the side of the bed, she worked her feet into slippers and stood up. As soon as she was fully upright, she felt light-headed and had trouble balancing herself. With a hand on the wall, she started toward the kitchen. Walking left her short of breath. That couldn’t be from alcohol. That’s when she heard the low rumbling. She continued to the kitchen and saw that the door to the garage was open. Now she could clearly hear her car running.

      Without warning, her knees started to buckle, and she realized that she was not suffering from what she had drunk but from carbon monoxide poisoning. Carefully, she stepped down the three stairs into the garage, which was filled with the haze of exhaust fumes. The car door was locked, and she could see the keys in the ignition.

      The garage’s outside door was only a few feet away, and she lurched to it. Taking hold of the knob, she tried to turn it, but her grip failed her. She