Edge of Tomorrow (89 page)

He wouldn’t be in there with the chain off,
would he? I don’t want to shoot the bastard until I’ve talked to
him. Shit! Here goes nothing!

She pushed the door open and slowly entered
the room, leading with her pistol.

• • •

Sara looked at her watch nervously. It had
been only five minutes since Syd had entered the building.

Why in the fuck did I let her go in there
alone? I should be up there covering her back! Even fucking Dr. Z.
can get her tit in a wringer! I’ll give her a few more minutes,
then I’m going up there!

She stood up, then sat back down and looked
at her watch again. Less than a minute had passed.

I hope I haven’t screwed the pooch on this
one! This goes against all my training! Maybe I should call Packy
over here and go up there anyway!

But she didn’t.

• • •

Syd pushed the door open another foot and
entered the room. She saw the sliding glass doors across the room
were open and the ocean breeze was flapping the drapes. The hairs
on the nape of her neck stood up. Too late!

The man behind the door snatched the
pistol out of her hand as he slammed the door shut. He shoved her
into the middle of the room and pointed his own silenced weapon at
her. She looked at him with surprise on her face. It was Boris
Vlastok! He
was
still
here!

Shit! Now I’ve done it! I should have worn
Hatch’s watch so I could signal Sara, instead of the other way
around! How do I get my ass out of this?

“Who the fuck are you, bitch? A second
story whore?” snarled Vlastok. “I don’t
think
so! Not with this baby.”

He looked at the silenced Beretta he had
taken from her, then laid it on a lamp table. He kept his gun
pointed between her breasts.

“Who are you, I asked?” he spat, wondering
who was after him.

She knew he could find out her name by
searching her purse, so she knew it was no use to lie about that.
She had to stall for time—until Sara came looking for her.

“My name is Sydney Steppe. What’s yours?” she
said.

“Brash bitch, aren’t you?” he growled. The
silenced gun she had been carrying still worried him. What if she
had backup out there somewhere?

Syd noticed that Vlastok did not have a
Russian accent. He must have been good in the Cold War years.

He continued, “You a cop?”

“Cop? Heavens no!”

“Maybe CIA? They love silenced weapons like
yours. I think before we say anything else, I’ll check you for a
wire. Are you wired?”

“Why would I be wired?” shrugged Syd,
searching for a chink in his armor.

“You’re not even afraid. Most broads would be
peeing their pants and crying by now,” he observed.

“I’m too scared to be afraid,” she replied.
The quiver in her voice was not all fake.

“Let’s check for that wire, missy. Take off
your clothes,” he ordered with a snicker.

“Look at these clothes! You can see I’m not
hiding anything!” she wailed.

“Let’s just be sure. Besides, you’ve
got a great body and I want to see it. Don’t mess with me! You’re
trespassing and I can shoot you legally. Shirt off,
now
!”

Syd glanced over his shoulder and saw a
battery-driven clock on the wall. It was 3:40. When had she left
Sara? How long had it been? She needed to keep him talking as long
as she could, or she was dead!

She pulled her body shirt off and put it on
the table next to the couch. She stood there as he leered at her in
her black bra. He was beginning to get an erection already.

“Now, you can see I wasn’t hiding anything.
Happy?”

“Take off your bra and toss it over here. The
CIA and the FBI have some great technology now,” he said as he
ogled her body. “The sunglasses, too.”

Syd tossed him her sunglasses and then
reached behind her back, undid her bra, and tossed that to him. He
caught both deftly in his left hand. He put the sunglasses on a
table and began feeling the cloth of the bra for a hidden device.
Finding none, he tossed it on the floor and picked up the sun
glasses and inspected them. Syd crossed her arms over her breasts,
wishing she was closer to him. She had no chance to take him at
this distance. He was definitely a pro and his pistol never
wavered.

Vlastok decided at that moment that he was
going to fuck her before he killed her. The white of her breasts
against her tanned body was driving him crazy! Who would ever know?
He would be safe back in Russia before her body was ever found.

But who is she? Why is she here? I need to
know.

“The rest of your clothes now. We’re going to
play the game of ‘hooker finds john’ now.”

My God! He’s going to rape
me! What in the hell have I done? I’ve really let Hatch down
big time!

Syd slipped off her leather skirt and laid it
on the table with her shirt. She pointed to the couch.

“May I sit down to take off the rest?”

“Sure. But hurry up! Big John here is getting
impatient!” he said, really wanting her now.

Syd looked at the clock again as she sat down
and took off her shoes. It was only 3:45. At least 15 more minutes
until Sara came looking for her!

This asshole is going to kill me when he
gets through with me! I’ve got to stall some more. Shit! Why didn’t
I let Sara come up here with me? What’s the matter with me?

What Syd had not realized yet was that
she was in this fix because she was still
Syd
! Anna Klein was still being repressed
subconsciously. Syd had thought she was being Anna Klein, but in
truth, she was merely acting out a charade.
Anna Klein
would
never
have found herself in such a situation!
Carrying a weapon and sneaking around was insufficient. So far, she
had acted as an amateur would, and was reaping the
consequences.

As she slipped out of her pantyhose, Vlastok
was getting hotter and hotter, and it showed on his face. He was
surprised when she said, “Who hired you to shoot Lincoln,
Vlastok?”

He wondered how she knew his name and why he
was in the U.S. He could deny everything, but since he planned to
kill her later anyway, why bother?

“Well, well. What are you? FBI? Going after
Gramble finally?” he laughed.

“So it was Gramble,” she said as she stood
up, completely naked now. “Look at my face for a second, instead of
my body. Don’t you recognize me?”

He looked at her intently, then it came to
him. “You’re the broad who was with him when he was shot!”

“Yes. I’m his fiancée. So Gramble hired you
to kill him, eh?”

“Sure. He’s been using my services for years.
It sure took you guys a long time to sniff him out. Too bad he’ll
slip through your fingers again. When I’m finished with you, I’ll
be gone and you’ll have nothing on him.”

Syd figured that if he thought she was from
the FBI, she might be able to use that.

“People know I’m here. If you kill me,
they’ll come after you,” she said as she peered at the clock again.
Ten long minutes to go!

“Unfortunately for you, your country requires
all sorts of evidence to convict people. There won’t be any, and
I’ll be back in Russia. OK, enough of this! We can talk while I
sample your wares,” replied Vlastok.

Syd was trying not to panic, but she was not
doing too well.

I can either let this guy screw me for ten
minutes, or make some sort of move now! I have one chance! I can
turn his lust against him, maybe. A woman possesses the greatest
power in the world, and it lies between her legs! Go for it,
Syd!

Anna Klein was struggling to be turned
loose!

Syd walked to the table where her leather
skirt and shirt were. She leaned over the table, her ass pointing
at Vlastok.

“Could you do me this way? I don’t want to
look at you while you’re raping me,” she whispered, tears running
down her cheeks.

See my crocodile tears,
asshole?
thought Anna Klein as she took over Syd’s
body.

“So, you want it in the ass, eh?” he
laughed.

“I don’t want you in any of my orifices, you
prick! But I guess I don’t have any choice, do I?”

He moved up behind her and dropped his pants
and shorts. He put his left hand on her left buttock, laid his gun
on her back, and positioned himself to thrust into her.

Well, if he’s not distracted now, he never
will be! Here we go!

When she felt the tip of his hard penis touch
her skin, she grasped the handle of her plastic travel knife, which
was in the special scabbard in the hem of her leather skirt. She
pushed on the table, and he mistakenly thought she was thrusting
back to receive him. Rapists usually thought that their victims
enjoyed it! To his surprise, as she arched up, she spun to her left
and smashed an elbow into his ribs, breaking two of them. She
continued her turn and drove the knife into him just under his
sternum. She withdrew it and stabbed him again in the left side.
She pushed him and he stumbled on the pants around his ankles, but
his right hand caught her left wrist to help break his fall. She
quickly slashed his right wrist to the bone and he let go and fell
to the floor on his back. He was bleeding badly.

Anna wiped the knife on his shirt as she
picked up his gun.

“Take a good look at me, you son-of-a-bitch!
I’ll be the last thing you see on this earth! Why did Gramble hire
you to kill Lincoln?” she snapped, furious now.

“I don’t know,” he gasped, blood running from
the side of his mouth. “I never ask.”

He coughed, then continued, “Besides, I
didn’t kill Lincoln. Someone beat me to it! I wasn’t about to tell
Gramble. I had more money coming. Who are you, really?”

“I’m Lincoln’s fiancée, just like I told you.
I vowed to find whoever shot him and take care of them. That’s you,
asshole!”

“But I didn’t
do
it! Someone in that chopper did! I was
watching from the pool house. Call me an ambulance!”

“There are three good reasons why
you’re going to die today, you prick! One, even if you didn’t shoot
him, you would have. Two, you were going to kill
me.
Three, you humiliated me, and
were going to rape me! For that alone, you’re going to die! You
should bleed out in another minute or two. Say, look at that!
Doesn’t my body excite you anymore? Your hard-on is
gone!”

Syd looked at the clock. It was 3:55. She
went to her purse and grabbed her Blue Phone and called Sara. She
didn’t want Sara or Packy involved in this. She told Sara that she
was fine, and would be down in a few minutes. Vlastok’s eyes were
glazing over as she went to the bathroom and washed the blood off
her body.

She dressed quickly, put her own gun in her
handbag, then went to the small kitchenette and got a butcher
knife. Vlastok was still breathing shallowly as she knelt down and
ran the butcher knife across the wound in his wrist, then plunged
it into the other two wounds, leaving it sticking out of his
chest.

“Well, they won’t be looking for a weapon
now. It’s right there in plain view,” she murmured to herself.

She took one last look around to make sure
that she had left no signs that she had been here, then slipped out
into the hall, letting the door lock snap shut. She walked to the
stairwell, then took off her latex gloves and threw them in her
handbag.

At the bottom of the stairs, she put on her
sunglasses and went out into the sun and joined Sara. They walked
quickly to Packy’s car, got in, and drove away.

“Well?” Sara asked in the car.

“Later. Let’s go to my condo, Packy. I want
to change clothes, then go to the hospital and check on Hatch.
Then, I want to go to Klaus Haus and see his parents.”

“Sure, Syd,” replied Packy as he looked at
Syd in the rearview mirror.

• • •

Syd showered as soon as she got to her condo,
and while she dressed in fresh clothing, she told Sara what had
happened with Vlastok.

“I
told
you not to go alone, dammit!” blurted Sara.

“I know! Pretty stupid of me! I acted like a
friggin’ amateur. I’ve never used my naked ass to distract a killer
before, but it worked! Thank God! If he hadn’t been so damn horny,
I’d be dead now!”

“Do you believe Vlastok about not shooting
Hatch?” asked Sara.

“Yes. He was dying. He had no reason to lie,
I guess. That means I still have a shooter to find,” replied Syd as
she touched up her makeup. “I don’t expect the cops to connect me
to that body, but if I fucked up somehow and they do, remember: you
know nothing about it. I don’t want my little vendetta to get my
friends in trouble.”

“Horse shit, Syd! I would have killed him
myself if I had been there!” exclaimed Sara. “What are you going to
do about Gramble? He’s a fucking top honcho in the CIA! But he
ordered Hatch killed. We can’t let that go unpunished!”

“I’ve dealt with him already. It should hit
the fan tomorrow. I won’t tell you the details. I want to give you
deniability,” said Syd.

“God, you’re a busy bitch, Syd! And sneaky!”
laughed Sara.

• • •

Packy drove them to the hospital and they
visited Hatch for 15 minutes. Syd held his hand and talked to him,
even though he could not hear her. On the way out, she sought out
Dr. Jenkins and he told them that he had stopped the coma-inducing
drug. Hatch should start waking up by tomorrow he told them. That
cheered them up immeasurably.

• • •

Back at Klaus Haus, Syd greeted the
General and Carrie, then told them the good news about Hatch. At
5:30 P.M., they had congregated in the dining room for cocktails
and
hors d’oeuvres
. The news
about Hatch had lifted everyone’s spirits. Even Mrs. C. was smiling
again.