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Back A Small Town Save as PDF
Chapters (44)
  1. Cover
  2. Also by Thomas Perry
  3. THOMAS PERRY
  4. Copyright
  5. Dedication
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
  11. 6
  12. 7
  13. 8
  14. 9
  15. 10
  16. 11
  17. 12
  18. 13
  19. 14
  20. 15
  21. 16
  22. 17
  23. 18
  24. 19
  25. 20
  26. 21
  27. 22
  28. 23
  29. 24
  30. 25
  31. 26
  32. 27
  33. 28
  34. 29
  35. 30
  36. 31
  37. 32
  38. 33
  39. 34
  40. 35
  41. 36
  42. 37
  43. 38
  44. Back Cover

She turned and looked in through the windows of the building. In the shop in the back and the customer area in the front, flames were now licking the ceilings. Fire had engulfed the stamping, cutting, and printing machines and the counter, workbenches, desk, and chairs. The flames were all the way to Denes Varga’s body. It was clear the building and its contents would be a pile of charcoal, ash, and unrecognizable metal parts in minutes. She knew the two bodies and the kerosene cans would give the investigators something to think about.

She turned to look ahead through the windshield. She had made some terrible mistakes tonight, but the two or three things she hadn’t done wrong she had gotten really right.

Leah drove along a side street, hoping to stay away from the big north-south streets like Colvin, but finally took a chance on Delaware for a few hundred yards to reach the expressway entrance to get far from the scene of her crimes. She glanced in the rearview mirror and saw that her face was blackened by soot from the fire she had just escaped. She spotted her purse on the floor in front of the passenger seat, snatched it up, took out some antiseptic wipes, and washed her face and hands.

She drove to the Niagara section of the thruway, got off in downtown Buffalo far south of the burning building, and drove to her hotel. She pulled into the parking structure, went up the elevator to the second floor, and walked the rest of the way to her room so she wouldn’t meet anyone.

Leah ran a bath and soaked in the tub until the water got cold. Then she went to bed. As she lay on the tight, clean sheets of the bed and closed her eyes, she knew that in this city at the moment, there were at least two manhunts under way, both searching for her. She’d had a busy day.

18

She decided her next visit should be to Alan Becker. He was now Mr. Michael R. Miller of New York City. She had his new name and address, and he couldn’t possibly know it yet. He was on the other end of the state, but it was the same state. She could fly there in a couple of hours. The minute he learned of what had happened in Buffalo, she could lose him. The escapees in other states probably wouldn’t see news of Viktor Panko’s death. News organizations seldom reported murders in other states unless the victim was a celebrity.