Divine Fury (42 page)

 
Lee was back at the beginning of the parade.
 
He’d made a complete circuit but hadn’t seen Walberg.
 
Of course, Lee could have just missed him in the large crowd. Walberg could be in a disguise of some sort.
 
On the other hand, maybe he had been scared off.
 
The narrow escape on Telegraph Hill might have had some effect.
 
He must know that the parade would be packed with security, making Harper a tough target to reach.
 
They were letting people cross Market past the beginning point of the parade.
 
Lee moved back to the south side of the route and waited for the parade to start.

Chapter 52

 
IT BEGAN WITH the deep-throated purr of a single Harley.
 
Then, two more.
 
Finally, the sustained roar of 52 motorcycles blasted down the urban canyon in San Francisco as their riders gunned their engines to announce to everyone within hearing distance that the Dykes on Bikes were on the move.

There were overweight mamas in leathers, petite ladies in scarves and jodhpurs, and a handful of women riding on the backs garbed only in streaming hair and bemused smiles.
 
They drove slowly past in two columns and the thick crowd on both sides of the street applauded in appreciation as the 2004 Pride Parade began.

Lee waited until he saw Harper’s Cadillac and then moved at the parade’s pace a couple of groups ahead of the candidate.
  
He could hear the change in decibel levels as people caught sight of Harper.
 
It was as if a wave of applause and cheering accompanied by the frenetic bobbing of the Harper signs was being pushed down the parade route ahead of Harper’s Caddy.
 

Tina Valdez heard the crescendo of noise rolling down the parade route, too, and craned her neck to see what was causing it.
 
She saw the big “I’m Andrew Harper” banner.

“Hey, it’s the guy running for governor,”
 
she said.
 
“You know.
 
The gay dude.”

“Oh yeah,” said Johnny.
 
He squinted and saw Harper sitting in the Caddy with the sign behind him.
 
“Hey.
 
Do you want to get something to drink?
 
I’m thirsty.”

“Let’s wait and see this guy,” said Tina.
 
“I like him.
 
He’s got guts.”

As Harper drew closer, she joined in the “Har-per
 
Har-per” chants.
 
She cupped her hands with fingernails painted a bright blue to make a megaphone.
 
Johnny smiled and held on to her thigh.
    

* * *

Even on the shady side of the street, Walberg was feeling hot and trapped.
 
He had the coat on over his body armor.
 
But the real problem was the damn mask.
 
It had worked fine as a disguise.
 
But as the morning warmed up and he had to burrow into the crowd to hold a place at the railing, he was burning up now.
 
His heart was pounding as he waited.
 
The parade was just inching along.
 
First the cheerleaders stopped in front of him.
 
At least most of the people they tossed in the air were girls.
 
Then, there were a bunch of guys in skin-tight tie-dyed tights with long balloons tied together and sticking out like wings.
 
They rollerbladed in some ridiculous formation.
 
Get on with it, he thought.
 
Get out of here before I blow your fucking arms and legs off!
 
The sweat was pouring into his eyes now.
 
He kept trying to blink it away.
    

Finally, he saw the yellow Cadillac just one group away.
 
He had planned to wait until Harper was directly across from him, no more than 30 feet away.
 
He was too damned hot.
 
He couldn’t breathe.
 
He reached into his left pocket and pulled out the innocent-looking clicker.
 
He thought Harper was looking right at him with the sign behind proclaiming: “I am Andrew Harper.”

“That’s right,” thought Walberg as he pressed the button on the clicker.
 
“You are Andrew fucking Harper.
 
Enjoy the last minute of your life.”

* * *

Lee saw the bright flash from the other side of the street an instant before he felt more than heard the boom of the explosion that tore through the bank of newspaper boxes and sent out a shock wave that shattered windows halfway up the office building behind.
 
He saw a plume of smoke from across Market and heard the sound of glass breaking and falling, accompanied by the screams.

The first ones were screams of shock, surprise and fear by people around him.
 
Two seconds later, he could hear people hurt and maimed howling in agony and those around them shouting for help.

Everyone was staring at the bomb site as the smoke continued to rise and the sound of glass hitting the pavement seemed to go on forever.
 
Lee was staring in that direction as well when he saw Walberg.
 
His face was streaked with black paint but Lee still recognized him.
 
Walberg was climbing over the barrier. When he reached the other side, he reached into his coat, pulled out a gun and started walking toward the yellow Cadillac.

Lee pushed through the people in front of him and jumped the barrier.
 
He started after Walberg.
 
He saw Connors standing up in the Caddy next to Harper with one hand on his chest, holding him where he was seated.
 
Like everyone else, she was staring in the direction of the bomb site.

“Bobbie!”
 
yelled Lee, trying to get her attention.
 
“Bobbie!”
 
There was too much commotion .
 
Too much noise.
 
He couldn’t get her to look his way.
 
Desperate, he reached into his pocket, found his cell phone and threw it at the Cadillac.
 
Then, he sprinted after Walberg.
 

He caught Walberg before he lifted his gun and knocked him forward a couple of steps.
 
Walberg almost went down before he recovered and found his footing.
 
Then, he was trying to fend off Lee, using his left arm to push him away.
 
Lee tried to grab Walberg around his waist and throw him down, but he couldn’t get a good grip.
 

Lee grabbed Walberg’s gun arm and started to pull it down before he slipped and went down on his knees.
 
Then, Walberg hit him in the face with his left elbow.
 
Lee was stunned but still tried to hang on.
 
He dug his fingers into the coat but his grip still slipped on the smooth leather.
 
Then, another hard elbow caught him in the jaw.
 
His head snapped back, his arms dropped and he was on the ground.
  

* * *

Bobbie Connors had the presence of mind to stand up on the back seat of the Caddy and move in front of Andrew Harper when the bomb went off.
 
But she quickly realized the blast wasn’t a danger to them.
 
She kept her attention focused in that direction like everyone else.
 
The difference was that she scanned the area looking for signs of anything else – another bomb, someone with a gun…anything.
 

She was still looking that way when she saw something fly by her head off to the left not more than a yard away.
 
Connors tracked the cell phone’s arc as it hit the street and shattered into pieces on impact.
 
She turned in time to see Enzo Lee launch himself at Walberg 20 feet away from her.
 
She saw the gun in Walberg’s hand.
 
His face was streaked in black with a thick band across his eyes.

Connors had her 9 mm out in an instant. She was vaguely aware of Nestor Cruz pushing Harper down into the car next to her.
 
She saw an officer in front of her with his weapon drawn, in a crouched, two-hand shooting position.
 
She worried about the crowd, all the people around them.
 

“Wait…wait…wait,” she said, half to herself and half to the officer in front of her as Enzo and Walberg struggled.
 

“C’mon, Enzo,” she thought to herself.
 
“We got this now, boy.
 
Just get away.
 
Get away.”

Then, she saw Lee lose his grip and fall to the ground.

“Stay down. Stay down,” she tried to will him to follow her silent command.
 
She saw Lee roll away to his left and stay prone. “That’s it!”

The first salvo of shots staggered Walberg but didn’t put him down.
 
She knew he was taking multiple hits in the torso that should have stopped him cold.
 
That told her he had protection underneath his coat. Walberg got off a couple rounds in her general direction.

Connors lowered her aim, delayed half a second to steady herself, and tried to put the next rounds into his thighs.
 
She fired with steady precision, praying she wouldn’t hurt anyone in the crowd behind.
 
She didn’t stop until Walberg was on the ground.
 
She saw his weapon skitter away on the blacktop.
 
Several officers quickly converged on the downed gunman.
 
She checked to make sure Harper and Sanchez were okay.
 
Then, she holstered the 9 mm and moved her legs over the side of the car until she could slide to the ground.
 
She started barking orders to secure the scene as she assessed the damage.
 
She knew others would be dealing with the bomb site.
 
She could hear sirens already in the distance getting closer.
  

Lee sat on the pavement, propped up on one arm with his head hanging down.
 
Connors got down on one knee next to him and put her hand lightly on his head.

“You okay, Enzo?” she asked.

He lifted his head enough to look at her.

“Head’s still ringing,” he said, wincing.
 
“But I think I’ll survive.”

Connors nodded and gave his shoulder a squeeze.
 
She stood up.
 

“We got him,” she said.
 
“You done good.”

Lee nodded carefully.
 
Then, he looked up at Connors.

“You know you owe me a cell phone, right?” he said.

Connors chuckled.
 

“Uh huh.
 
When I said, ‘Use your cell,’ that’s not exactly what I had in mind,”
 
she said.

* * *

“Tina!
 
Tina!
 
Tina!”
 
Johnny Tram yelled as he wandered past the misshapen remains of the newspaper boxes where he had left Tina Valdez in search of two Cokes.
 
There was glass everywhere and people on the ground and others standing around, trying to help.
 
He knew he was bleeding.
 
He could feel it dripping down his face and he could see his shirt covered with it.