Sleeping Bear by Connor Sullivan

Author:Connor Sullivan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Atria/Emily Bestler Books
Published: 2021-07-06T00:00:00+00:00

* * *

Gale tried getting reception in the elevator, and when that failed, the lobby, only to be disappointed again. He walked outside and stood in front of the building, holding his cell to the sky, trying to obtain enough service to make the call.

He finally got service on the sidewalk outside and dialed Plant. Straight to voice mail. He gave her a brief overview of his discussion with Earl Marks regarding Paul Brady’s tent. He said nothing about Vance, just to call him back immediately.

When he hung up, he dialed Emily; as he looked up the road, he nearly froze as he spotted a black van parked across from a Subway.

Maybe it had just been a coincidence. Maybe he was just being paranoid.

No.

Something was off. This was one of the vans from before—tailing his taxi from the hotel.

Holding his phone to his ear, Gale walked south down the street and stood in front of an insurance building, using its reflective windows to clock the black van to the north.

Emily’s phone went straight to voice mail.

So did Petit’s.

Why the hell weren’t they answering?

He’d just had that thought when he saw two telephone workers round the corner from the south. Alarm bells started chiming in Gale’s brain.

The van to the north started its engine. Using the window as a mirror, Gale estimated that he was a good two hundred yards from the front entrance of the FBI building.

There was no one else on the sidewalks, no cars driving up and down the road. Something was wrong, very wrong. Gale wished he had his pistol, but he’d left it in the hotel room.

He shot a furtive glance at the telephone workers, both in blue jumpsuits and white hard hats. Fifty yards away. They each held a toolbox, but their jumpsuits were too clean. Their hardhats too white. Their boots weren’t scuffed and dirty, they were pristine, shiny—

As Gale wondered if the FBI building had security cameras that would reach his side of the street, a motor roared and tires squealed. A second black van peeled around the street from the south and came to a screeching stop behind him. Gale turned around just in time to see Elliot Vance jump out of the van.

“Mr. Gale!” Vance said.

“You sonofabitch—”

The telephone workers had dropped their toolboxes, pistols now in their hands.

Five men spilled out behind Vance wearing black jumpsuits and ski masks. Gale put his weight on the balls of his feet and dropped his center of mass. The first man grabbed him by the elbow, Gale leaned forward, countered, and threw him down to the sidewalk. But the other men were already on him.

An aerosol canister was thrust into his face and orange mist exploded from the cap. Gale gasped as he breathed in the noxious chemical and immediately lost his footing, his balance, and all motor functions.

The last thing he remembered was being hoisted off his feet and into the back of the van.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.