Deep Silence_A Joe Ledger Novel by Jonathan Maberry

Author:Jonathan Maberry [Maberry, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Amazon: B079DWH5XW
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Published: 2018-10-30T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVENTY

CORNER OF WHITTIER STREET NW AND HARLAN PLACE NW

WASHINGTON, D.C.

It took a long time to get back to the car.

Ghost limped along on wobbly legs and we both had to stop and rest. Whatever kind of stun gun was used had more kick than anything I’d ever even heard of. Nearly lethal, but not actually.

When I reached the Betty Boop, I collapsed against it and stood there on macaroni legs, trembling and weak and stupid. The locks clicked open and I helped Ghost inside.

“Calpurnia,” I wheezed, “get a forensics team here. I want that car taken to the Warehouse. And find that motorcycle. Retask any drones you need and access all pertinent traffic cams. This guy doesn’t slip away, understood?”

“Of course, Cowboy,” she said briskly, then added, “You appear ill. According to the RFID chip, there is a ninety-two percent possibility that you have been Tased.”

“Well, no shit, Sherlock.”

“Don’t be snotty,” scolded the computer. “And watch your—”

“If you tell me one more time to watch my fucking language I’m going to open up your CPU and let Ghost take a piss in it.”

There was a beat. “Initiating a full medical diagnostic, Joseph.”

“Do that,” I said, and called Doc Holliday. “Tell me if Sam is alive.”

“He is,” Doc said, “but he’s in bad shape. Shrapnel, shock, and blood loss. An evac team is flying him out of D.C. and when I know more you’ll know. He was wearing a bodycam but it was damaged and the video feed is distorted. Our people are running all kinds of filters and we should have something soon. One thing I can tell you, though, is the blast that took him down was weird. Not orange or yellow flame. It was bright green. That jibes with witness reports from the other explosions.”

“What the hell blows up green?”

“For fireworks,” she said, “they use barium chloride. People throw copper wire into campfires to make the flames burn green, but there’s a longer answer about color spectrums, heat, and gas that you don’t want to hear.”

I gave myself another jab of painkillers. “No,” I hissed. “I don’t.”

“So, short answer is we don’t know why the explosions are green. Or, why they’re so hot. Teams that have managed to examine blast sites report a great degree of melting, indicating intensely high temperatures. We don’t know what it means, but it’s weird and I don’t like weird unless I’m in bed with someone.”

“Is Sam going to be okay?”

“Honey, he’s a mess and the only people who’ve seen him are EMTs. I hope so, but right now I can’t put good money on any bets.”

“What about Auntie…?” I asked, afraid of almost any answer.

“Alive and holding on,” said Doc, “but she’s critical and, trite as it is to say this, they’re doing everything they can. Seriously.”

“Will she make it?”

“Cowboy, you’re asking me to read the future, and I left my tarot cards at home. If I was still a church lady I’d pray to one of them saints, but far as I know nobody up there’s taking calls from this Texas gal.

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