Hellfire Rebellion

9

Johnny Small was frantic. He couldn’t find Andre and the others anywhere. The innkeeper at the Peacock Tavern said he hadn’t seen them and there was no one home at Hunter’s house on Long Lane, either. It was as if they’d all simply disappeared without a trace. It was his job to watch them and now he had no idea where they were. He fingered the Liberty medallion Sam Adams had given him. Adams had expressed confidence in him and now he’d failed him. He had no idea what to do.

As he walked through the dark streets of Boston, he tried to think where they might have gone. They wouldn’t have gone to one of the radical taverns, surely, because except for Hunter, they were all posing as Tories. The last time he had seen them. Andre had been on her way to meet with Hunter, so perhaps they were with him, but where? He tried to think where Hunter might have gone, who his close associates were. Perhaps one of them could tell him where Hunter could be found. He tried to think and then it came to him.

Hunter had been sponsored into the Sons of Liberty by Ben Edes and Ebenezer Macintosh. The hour was late and Edes was known to retire early, but Macintosh was a notorious carouser. He hurried to The Bunch of Grapes, but was told that he’d missed Macintosh by only twenty minutes. He had gone staggering home, full of rum, as usual. Johnny showed his Liberty medallion and said he had an urgent message for Macintosh from Samuel Adams and the he produced Macintosh’s address. He ran all the way there, desperately hoping that Macintosh Was not so drunk that he would be passed out by the time he arrived. As he ran, he had no idea that he was being followed.

“Mac, wake up.” said Hunter.

“Whhuh? Who izzit?”

“Mac! Come on. Mac. wake up, God damn it!”

Hunter grabbed Macintosh by his shirtfront and slapped him several times across the face. He had fallen into bed completely dressed, without even bothering to take his shoes off. Macintosh came awake with a drunken roar, sat up in bed, and took a wild swing at Hunter. Hunter easily avoided it and threw him out of bed onto the floor. Macintosh rose to his hands and knees and shook himself. He looked up and saw Hunter.

“Reese! Damn your eyes! What in God’s name are ya doin’ here?” he said, his voice thick with drink. “How’d ya get in here, anyway?”

“You left the door open, you drunken idiot. Come on, get up. We’ve got to get you out of here.”

Macintosh remained sitting on the floor, squinting at Hunter.

“Man can’t even sleep in peace. y’want? Breakin’ inta a man’s home at this ungodly hour.”

“Mac, get up!” said Hunter. “If you want to live, move yourself!”

“What kinda way is that ta talk? Go ‘way. Lemme alone.”

“Damn it, Mac…” Hunter went over to the washstand and picked up the basin. He threw the water into Macintosh’s face.

“ Aaarrghr

Macintosh lunged up off the floor and came lumbering at Hunter like an angry bear. Hunter ducked his swing and gave him a sharp jab in the solar plexus. Macintosh wheezed and doubled over. Hunter threw him up against the wall and slapped him twice across the face.

“Snap out of it. Mac, damn you!”

Macintosh made a small stunting, squealing sort of noise. “Gonna be sick…”

“Oh, for Christ’s sake

Hawke Hunter stepped away as Macintosh doubled over and threw up on the floor.

“Mac, you’re a fucking mess.” said Hunter.

Macintosh wiped his mouth with his sleeve. “Now look what ya gone an’ done,” he said. “I’m gonna break yer bloody neck…”

“It’s your own neck I’m trying to save. you fool.” said Hunter.

“They’re going to hang you!” Macintosh blinked. “What? Who? What the devil are ya talkin’ about?”

“The Tories! The Hellfire Club. you idiot! The followers of the headless horseman! They could be on their way here right now to lynch you, just like they did to those four friends of yours!”

Macintosh paled. “The horseman’s men’? They’re gonna hang me?”

“That’s right, you fool. Sober up if you don’t want to die! You’ve got to get out of hem right now!”

“Sweet Mother o’God,” said Macintosh. “And ya come ta warn me. God bless ya. Reese. you’re a real friend. I’m sorry I took a poke at ya-”

“Never mind that now,” said Hunter, impatiently. “You’ve got to get out of here. Are you sober enough to remember what I tell you?”

“Aye, if comes to my own neck, that I am,” said Macintosh, rubbing his face. “They’re not gonna hang Ebenezer Macintosh. by God!”

“Listen to me carefully,” said Hunter. “We haven’t got much time and lives depend on it. The horseman’s men are going to try to kill off the leaders of the Sons of Liberty, one by one. Get to your South End boys. Tell them that they’ve got to place a constant watch on Adams and the others or they’ll wind up dangling from the Liberty Tree. Have several men watch each of them at all times, especially at night. And you stay out of sight, yourself. You got that’?”

Macintosh took a deep breath and nodded. “The horseman’s men are gonna try ta kill Adams an’ the others. Have my boys watch ’em, day an’ night.”

“Good man. Now come on, we’ve got to get you out of here. Have you got a place to go where you can hide out?”

“Aye. I’ll go an’ see my boys. They’ll take care o’ me. They’ll know what ta do.”

“All right, get moving. Quickly, now!”

Macintosh grabbed his coat and hat and lumbered down the stairs, Hunter right behind him. “God bless ya. Reese,” he said as they stepped outside. “You’re a good friend. I won’t forget this-”

“Yeah, yeah. I’m a saint, I know. Get moving. And for God’s sake, keep to the alleys. Don’t let anybody see you. And don’t forget what I told you.”

“I won’t forget. I’m on my way.” He shambled off into the darkness and turned into an alleyway. Hunter sighed with relief. And then he heard the sound of running footsteps. His fingers closed around the butt of his Beretta, but he relaxed when he saw Johnny Small come running up to him.

“Mr. Hunter! Mr. Hunter! Thank God I’ve found you!” The boy was out of breath. Hunter grabbed him by his shoulders.

“Steady on, lad. What is it? What’s wrong?”

“Its’-it’s your friends, Mr. Hunter.” Johnny gasped for breath. “Andre and the others. I–I can’t find them anywhere! I-have to-”

“Easy, lad, easy, get your breath back first,” said Hunter.

“Hold it right there. Hunter!” said a voice from the darkness. “Don’t move or the boy gets it!”

Two men with drawn weapons came walking out of the darkness. They both looked a little out of breath. As they came closer, Hunter saw that they were dressed in colonial clothing, but holding laser pistols, Network men. They must have picked the kid up at his old place and followed him. Johnny glanced up at him with fear and uncertainty.

“All right, hands out from your sides, very slowly, and clasp them on top of your head,” one of them said. Hunter did as he was told. Looking at him fearfully, Johnny did the same.

“Get lost, kid.” the other Network man said.

Johnny didn’t move: “Didn’t you hear me’?” the man repeated. “I said get lost! Run! Get out of hem!”

“No,” said Johnny. “No, It-I will not run. I have my duty!”

“Stupid kid. You want to die? I said, get out of here!”

“Do as he says,” Hunter said.

“No. No, I will not leave you like a coward.”

“Damn it, Johnny.” Hunter said, “don’t be a fool. Get out of here! Run!”

“No, I won’t run away!”

“Have it your way, kid,” the Network man said, aiming his pistol at Johnny.

“Drop your weapons, now!”

The Network men spun around and Neilson’s pistol coughed rapidly, four times. The first shot from the Colt took one of the men right between the eyes. The second shot struck the other man’s gun hand and he cried out as he dropped the laser, then the third and fourth shots struck each of his kneecaps dead center, knocking his legs out from under him as if someone had yanked the street out from beneath his feet. He fell to the ground, moaning with pain. Hunter hadn’t even had the time to draw his gun.

Neilson ran up and quickly stuffed a handkerchief into the wounded man’s mouth, jamming it in deeply. The man started to gag. He was already in shock. Neilson picked up the laser pistol the second man had dropped and tucked the Colt into his waistband.

“Jesus Christ.” said Hunter. flabbergasted. “Priest said you were lightning with a gun, but… Jesus! Where the hell did you learn to shoot like that?”

Johnny stood, speechless, staring at Neilson with astonishment.

“Practice.” Neilson said. “Lots and lots of practice.” He pulled a disruptor out from underneath his coat. He aimed it at the dead man and fired a stream of neutrons. The corpse was briefly wreathed in the blue glow of Cherenkov radiation, then it disappeared.

“Let’s get out of here.” he said, nervously glancing up at the surrounding windows. It had all taken merely seconds, and fortunately, there hadn’t been much noise. “Come on. We’ll have to take him with us,” he said, nodding toward Johnny as he adjusted his warp disc to a wider pattern.

Johnny didn’t understand what had happened. The stringer had fired his peculiar pistol four times, with astonishing accuracy and impossible speed, all without reloading, and it had barely made a sound. And then he had somehow made the dead man’s body disappear without a trace in that strange blue glow that came from that even stranger, second weapon. He was still trying to take it all in when Hunter brought him up to stand close beside Neilson and the wounded man and the next thing Johnny knew, he was no longer standing in the middle of the street outside Ebenezer Macintosh’s house, but in the center of a room somewhere, in a completely different place, and he was feeling nauseous and dizzy. He gasped and looked around him wildly, and then his eyes rolled up and he fainted. Hunter just barely managed to catch him before he hit the floor.

Moffat was missing. Drakov didn’t have to wonder where he was. He would never have had the nerve to take all somewhere on his own without first asking permission and saying precisely where he was going and when he would return Both he and the female were like servile dogs in that respect, thought Drakov, falling all over themselves to attend him. Moffat’s disappearance could only mean one thing. The Time Commandos had him, which meant there was no question of returning to the house on Newbury Street. It was no longer secure.

Moffat would hold out against interrogation for a while, but they were sure to break him, as Drakov had intended that they should. He knew that people always valued something a great deal more when they had to work for it and they would have to work to break down Moffat, but break him down they would, and then they would believe him when he talked-as Moffat would, of course, believe himself-when the fact was that neither of the hominoids knew what the real mission was. They believed the plan was merely to kill Samuel Adams, the revolution’s Grand Incendiary, as Thomas Hutchinson had christened him, but if the Hellfire Club succeeded in assassinating Adams, which was entirely possible, it would only be an added bonus. But though it was part of what Drakov intended to accomplish, he did not need Adams dead to achieve what he had planned.

The hominoids had served their purpose. Moffat would distract the Time Commandos and by the time they realized their mistake. it would be too late for them to do a thing about it.

Steiger heard the door open and, slowly raised his head, staring at the newcomer through swollen eyes. He was dressed in well-tailored, elegant colonial, clothing with a silk brocade waistcoat and lace at the throat and cuffs. He heard the man expel his breath sharply as he saw him.

“Jesus Christ.” he said, staring at Steiger. “What the hell is going on here? What did you do to him?”

“Softened him up a little,” said the other man, still wearing the black leather gloves he’d donned to administer the beating.

“What for?’ said the man who’d just come through the door.

“What for? What are you, crazy? Don’t you know what’s going on? Don’t you know who this guy is?”

“Do you?”

“You’d damn well better believe I do.” the gloved man said. “He’s Col. Creed Steiger, head of the goddamned I.S.D.”

“You didn’t have to do this.” said the newcomer, his mouth tight. “There was no call for this.”

“No call for it? Are you nuts? The son of a bitch is lucky he’s alive! There’s a contract out on him, in case you didn’t know. You know what he’s worth dead?”

“Is that what it’s come, to, Stevens?” said the newcomer.

“We’re taking contracts now? We’re hitting our own people’?”

“Shut up, you stupid bastard! Don’t use my name in front of him!”

“What difference does it make? Do you intend to let him live?”

“Only as long as necessary.” Stevens said grimly. “They got Carruthers. They took out Stiers and Aaronson, as well. Left no trace of them, not even a wet spot on the floor. This bastard’s our security. They come after us, we got a hostage.”

“How much is he worth dead?” asked the newcomer.

“A smooth five mil.” said Stevens. “Five million fucking dollars.”

“And you’d kill one of our own people for it,” said the newcomer.

“He’s not one of our people, you damn fool! He’s I.S.D.!”

“And what the hell is the I.S.D.?” the newcomer snapped.

“It’s the internal security division of the goddamn agency, you moron!’

“Don’t talk to me that way!”-Do you even realize what you’re doing?” the newcomer said. “It’s one thing to run a few illegal operations to make some money, but what you’re talking about now is murder!”

“They took out Carruthers and the others,” Stevens said harshly. “What do you call that?”

“Carruthers must’ve forced their hand. He went too far. When I heard what he was planning, I thought he had gone crazy. We’re supposed to be helping these people, for God’s sake! There’s a temporal disruption going down! We’re supposed to be on the same damn side!”

“Is that so?” said Stevens. He jerked his head toward Steiger. “Is that why this son of a bitch is trying to nail us? Because we’re on the same side? Don’t make me laugh. He sold out, the bastard. He was a field agent, just like us, and he sold out!”

“To whom?”

“To the goddamned bureaucrats and politicians, that’s to whom! Jesus, will you wake the hell up? This isn’t some game we’re playing here! This isn’t the goddamned Boy Scouts! Forester sent this guy to take us out. He’s out to bust the whole damn Network! We’ve gotta take them out before they get us first!”

“Them?” said the newcomer. “Wait a minute, let me get this straight. Are we talking about assassinating the director of the T.I. A.?”

“You’re damn straight!” said Stevens. “And the bounty on the old man’s been set at ten million! Where the hell you been? Me. I’m not crazy enough to try for Forrester. but Steiger here fell right into our laps. You don’t want a share, just say so. You can go back to Virginia and plant tobacco for all I fucking care. Go anywhere the hell you want, but I’m telling you right now, you get in my way. I’m gonna roll right over you.”

“That’s the way it is. huh?”

“That’s the way it is.”

“And what about the disruption?”

“Who gives a fuck about the damn disruption? We send this jerk to the cell commander in a bag and we can all retire. Especially now that Carruthers and the others have been taken out. We don’t have to cut the pie as thin.”

“I see, I guess that does make for an incentive.”

“You better believe it.” Stevens said.

The newcomer walked over to where Steiger sat, firmly tied down to a stout chair. He took him by the hair and pulled his head back so that he could look down into his eyes. Steiger squinted up at him. The man’s face was expressionless.

“He’d really take us out, wouldn’t he’?” the man said.

“In a minute.”

“I suppose that would make it self-defense, then.”

Stevens grinned. “Yeah, I guess it would.”

“Five million dollars is a lot of money,” said the man in front of Steiger. “And I suppose if a temporal disruption did go down, we could always clock back further, where we wouldn’t have to worry about it. Go underground. kick back and take it easy… “

“Now you’re talkin’.” Stevens said.

“I mean, between the rest of us in this section, we’ve already got a tidy sum salted away. Then there’re the goods in the warehouses in Boston, Philadelphia, and Charleston, we could easily liquidate those at a fat profit. wouldn’t have to cut that pie as thin, either… “

“Now you’re getting the idea.” Stevens said.

“You know, when you look at it that way. I suppose it does make a lot of sense-the man said, still looking down at Steiger with no expression on his face. He let his head drop and turned around to face Stevens. “Personally, I never cared much for Carruthers anyway.”

“Well, you don’t have to worry about Carruthers now,” said Stevens.

“So tell me. what are we still doing here? We’ve got Steiger, why don’t we just blow? Why take chances?”

“Because we don’t know if Carruthers talked. Cash wants to make sure. He thinks they’re onto us and he wants to cover our tracks before we risk moving the stuff. And there’s still that shipment coming in.”

“That’s stupid. Why worry about that? If Steiger’s worth five million dead…

“Cash said-”

“Yeah, well, I never cared much for Cash, either.” The man turned around and walked over to the window. He pulled open the drapes and looked out. “If you ask mc. Cash is too damn greedy. So what if Carruthers talked? Who cares about the shipment’? The way things arc, hanging around here’s way too risky.”

“We stand to lose a lot if we leave now.” said Stevens. “Cash says long as we’ve got Steiger-

“Long as we’ve got Steiger, who needs Cash?” the other man said, still looking out the window. “Who needs any of them? We’ve got five million sitting right there in that chair. Split two ways… I mean, we could always tell the cell commander that the commandos got Cash and the others, couldn’t we?”

“Yeah… said Stevens. slowly. “Yeah, I suppose we could at that.”

The man at the window turned around. There was a small stinger pistol in his hand. He fired and the needle dart struck Stevens in the chest. Stevens stared at him with astonishment, then collapsed to the floor.

“You stupid asshole.” the man said, looking down at Stevens with contempt. “You’d kill your own mother for a buck.”

He walked over to where Steiger sat. “So you’re worth five million dollars. huh?” he said, still holding the pistol.

Steiger said nothing.

He put away the pistol. “I just saved your life, Colonel. I sure hope you’re the grateful sort.” He walked around behind the chair, took out a knife, and sliced through Steiger’s bonds. He came around in front of him again.

“Can you stand?”

Steiger stared up at him uncertainly. “I’ll manage.” he said thickly. His lips were cut and swollen and several teeth had been loosened. He lurched to his feet unsteadily. “I don’t get it. How come you’re doing this?”

“Cause I want out.” the man said. “I’ve had it. I draw the line at murder.”

“What do you call that’!” said Steiger, nodding toward the man on the floor.

“That wasn’t a lethal dart, he’ll only be out for about an hour. Name’s Murphy. by the way. Tom Murphy.”

“Thanks. Murphy.”

“Save your thanks. Just remember me at my court martial. Now come on, lean on me. We’d better get you out of here before the others get back.”

They laid Johnny out on the couch downstairs_ He was still unconscious. Andre knelt down beside him.

“What happened?” she said. “Is he all right?”

“He’s okay, he only fainted.” Hunter said. “The shock plus the effects of transistion. Always takes a lot out of you the first time.”

“You shouldn’t have brought him here,” said Lucas.

“He saw too much,” said Neilson. “It couldn’t be helped.”

“Who would have believed him?” Lucas said. You should have left him. Scott. Bringing him here was stupid.”

“I’m sorry, but I thought-”

“That’s just the trouble, you didn’t think.”

“Hey, lighten up. Priest.” said Hunter. “He saved my bacon and brought you a prisoner to interrogate. The kid did all right.”

Lucas sighed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. Scott. I didn’t mean to come down on you so hard. I guess it’s just the strain, that’s all. But the boy can’t stay here. We’ve got enough to worry about as it is. We’ve got to get him out of here while he’s still unconscious. Anybody know when: the kid lives’?”

“He’s Revere’s apprentice,” Hunter said. “Stays in the back of his silversmith shop over by North Square.”

“Andre. maybe you should take him there.” said Lucas. “Since you seem to have established a… uh, rapport with the kid, convince him he was seeing things or something. But get him out of our hair. We have to interrogate the prisoners and I don’t want him around for that.”

“Okay. I’ll take care of him.” said Andre. She started to adjust her warp disc.

Linda Craven came downstairs. “How is he?” Lucas asked her, referring to the wounded Network man.

“He’s coming out of shock.” she said. “I gave him something for the pain and I took care of his hand, but I can’t do anything about his knees. Both kneecaps were shattered by the bullets. It’s going to require major reconstructive surgery and prosthetics.”

“Can he talk?”

“Yeah. he can talk, but he’s still hurting. If I give him any more, he’ll he too doped up to be coherent.”

“All right, let’s go have a word with him,” said Lucas. “Finn. Hunter, come with me. Mike, take Rico and Ivan and check on the leaders of the Sons of Liberty. see if Macintosh has anybody keeping an eye on them yet. Scott. I want you and Geoff on Adams, just in case the Hellfire Club pays him a call. If they do, I want you to get him out of there and I don’t care how you do it. We can’t let anything happen to him.”

“Right, we’re on our way.” said Neilson.

“Okay, let’s go see what our Network man can tell us.” Lucas said. “And then we’ll have another talk with our friend Moffat.”

“He’s been very quiet in there,” Linda said.

“Yeah. He’s had a lot to think about.” said Lucas.

They went up the stairs. The Network man was lying on a bed, clearly in great pain, despite the narcotic analgesic Craven had injected him with, an opiate analog that dulled much of his agony. His breeches had been removed and his knees were bandaged and splinted, but mainly to stop the bleeding and prevent his moving them. There was little more that they could do for him under such primitive conditions except give him another injection that would put him out and Lucas planned to use that as a carrot on a stick.

The man was breathing raggedly, in short, gaspy little bursts, and clutching at the bedclothes spasmodically. Lucas pulled a chair up beside the bed.

“My name is Col. Lucas Priest.” he said. “Can you hear me?”

The man nodded jerkily.

“What’s your name?”

“Di-Dicenzo,” he said, through clenched teeth. “Ro-Robert Dicenzo. God… it hurts… Gi-Gimme another shot…”

“We’ll give you another shot and clock you out to a military hospital as soon as you answer a few questions.” Lucas said.

“Shot first. God… the pain…”

“No shot,” said Lucas. “Talk first, then we’ll give you another shot. Knock you out and make the nasty pain go away. But I want some answers first and they’d better be the right ones. otherwise I’ll get my shooter back in here and have him put a couple bullets through your ankles.”

“You bastard…” Dicenzo gasped.

“Hey, you called it,” Lucas said. “You got what you deserve. Now I don’t have much time and I’m not a patient man, so what’s it going to be?”

“Okay! Okay, damn you!”

“What have you done with Steiger?” Lucas asked. “Is he still alive?”

“Yeah… place on Short. Street… fourth house on-on the left from Pond. S-secend floor… end of hall.”

“How many men are watehing him?”

“One… maybe two… Stevens… maybe Cash…”

“You’re doing fine,” said Lucas. “How many of you are there?”

“ Eight… no, you got Carruthers.. Aaronsenan d Stiers… your shooter got Morton. too, didn’t he? Oh. Christ… “

— You mean there were only eight of you in this Network cell to begin with?”

“Y-yeah. Not-not counting cell commander… Randall… he’s not here… another-another time…”

“Okay. so the only Network men left in this scenario are yourself. Stevens. and this guy Cash, right? That’s only seven.”

“M-Murphy.” said Dicenzo, his teeth chattering. “S-supposed to… come up from… Virginia… “

“When?”

“Tonight.”

“Carruthers said you had thirty men here.” Lucas said. “You’re saying only eight.”

“Bluff…” Dicenzo said. “Not-not thirty. Only eight… Swear to God… Carruthers thought you were… onto to us. Wanted… to sidetrack you… keep you busy till-till we could clear the stuff… “

“What stuff?”

“ Merchandise… in warehouses… Boston… Philadelphia… Ch-Charleston… another shipment coming

“What sort of merchandise?”

“ Wine… silk s.. s-spices… “

“Commodities,” Delaney said, with scorn. He snorted with derision. “Do you believe it? This whole thing was about commodities. They were willing to let a disruption go down just to protect a small-time smuggling operation.”

“N-no t sm all… ti me,” Dic enz o sai d. “ Chea p h ere… big profits sell further up timeline…”

“And for that you were going to let a temporal disruption occur?” said Lucas, with disbelief.

“We were gonna help…” Dicenzo said, twisting the bedclothes in his hands, “but-but Steiger…

“What about Steiger?”

“ Damn… oh. damn… he-he got on to us… we-we got word..

“You got word? You’re saying someone informed on him?” “Yeah-yeah …”

“Who?”

“Don’t know… Honest. I swear, I’d tell ya.

“All right, go on.”

“Carruthers and Cash said-said Steiger was worth five million dead’

“Five million dollars?”

“Yeah…” said Dicenzo, gritting his teeth. “Network’s got a contract on him… the old man, too. Ten million for him..

“What a bunch of sweethearts,” said Hunter. “So you decided to stall us and try to move your goods, and then collect on Steiger,” Lucas said. “Just a little business enterprise, isn’t that right?”

“Wasn’t-wasn’t my idea.” said Dicenzo, “About Steiger. I mean. I swear..

“But you were more than willing to go along with it for a share of the money.” said Delaney. “We ought to just dump you out into the slit-et and leave you.”

“No! No, please… you gotta get me to a hospital! I’ll talk… I’ll tell you everything I know. please…”

I want you to give Cpl. Craven full details on the warehouses,” Lucas said. “Where they are, what’s in them, where your other safehouses are, everything you’ve got set up in this scenario. Then and only then will she give you another shot and clock you to a hospital. But if I find out you’ve held anything back, personally pay a visit to your hospital room, you understand?”

“I’ve told the truth. I swear…”

“You better have,” said Lucas. “And you’d better hope that Steiger’s still alive. Linda. take his statement.”

They left the room. “I’m going after Steiger,” said Delaney. “All right,” said Lucas. “Take Hunter with you. I’ll stay here and hold the fort. I still need to have another talk with our friend Moffat.”

“What do you want us to do. with those Network men?” asked Hunter. “Personally, I don’t much care,” said Lucas. ‘“Try to take them alive if you can, so they can be put through interrogation, we’ve already got Dicenzo, so don’t take any chances. The mission has to come first, If they put up any resistance, take them out.”

“You got it, pilgrim.”

Hunter said. “And one more thing.” Lucas said. “Stop calling me pilgrim.” Hunter grinned. “Sure thing, pilgrim. Anything you say. Come on. Delaney. We gotta go rescue the guy that wants to squeeze my brain out like a sponge. Think maybe he’ll be grateful?”

He chuckled and started down the stairs.

“Watch him. Finn,” said Lucas. “I could still be wrong about him. I don’t want any accidents, okay?”

“Sure.” said Delaney. “You’re taking a chance, you know?”

“You mean, sending Hunter with you? I’ve got no choice. We’re spread too thin.”

“That’s not what I mean,” Delaney said. “There’s something likable about that guy, isn’t there? Reminds us of the Hunter that we knew. You’re figuring on making Steiger fccl obligated to him, aren’t you? That many not play, partner.

Steiger’s awful cold.”

“You may be right,” said Lucas. “But what the hell, it’s worth a shot.”

“You getting soft on me?” said Delaney, with a grin.

“Go on,” said Lucas. “Get out of here.”

He watched Delaney leave, then sighed and went down the hall to Moffat’s room. He opened the door and froze. The chair in which Moffat had been tied down was empty. The ropes holding him had been snapped with incredible strength and the window was open.

“Jesus Christ… said Lucas. He ran back out into the hall. ‘Finn!”

But he was too late. They had already left. Linda Craven came running out into the hall.

“What is it?” she said.

“What’s wrong?”

“It’s Moffat.” Lucas said grimly. “He’s escaped.”