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Chapters (97)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright
  4. Dedication
  5. 1.
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  24. SIX MONTHS LATER
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  93. SIX MORE MONTHS LATER
  94. 88.
  95. 89.
  96. Discover More
  97. About the Author

Now, seeing Karloff in the courtroom—voluntarily in a courtroom of the state of New York—Lopez is sure his instinct is right. Something is up, and he bets it involves Zack.

Why? Why is Karloff here?

81.

81.

“And can you recount, one more time, what happened in the GreenGirl when you sat down across from the defendant and Emily Lane, who was effectively the defendant’s hostage at that moment?”

Zack continues testifying.

He tells of immersing the two phones in the two coffees. He was hoping to make that the end of it, he explains. Hoping to convince the defendant to let this GreenGirl meeting be their last.

He looks across the courtroom at Emily. Can’t help it. A rush of affection, of sorrow, of wistfulness, of desire, sweeps over him. Is any similar rush of feeling happening in her? Of course, she was the one who asked him to leave. Furiously. Impulsively. But there’s the deep reservoir of what they had, isn’t there? It doesn’t evaporate overnight, does it? And he’s never wavered in his feelings for her—and she knows it. Somewhere, she knows it.

After all, she is here.

Here while the cell phone detonator has been safely in Zack’s pocket.

But now she is here while Karloff stands only a few feet away from her—with, very likely, a new detonator in his pocket. As if, in a magic trick, it has switched pockets.

If so, what can Zack do?

Can he yell it out? There’s a bomb in the courtroom and that man has the detonator!

There’d be panic. Pandemonium. Or else, stunned paralysis. In the brief, confusing moment before all their existences ceased.

No, not a good option.

82.

82.

Zack, on the witness stand, is indeed witnessing everything. The only one, besides the judge, facing the right way to observe the whole courtroom.

And that’s when Zack sees it. A young, wiry guy with tattoos handing a cell phone to Karloff.

They’re in the back row of the gallery. Only Zack sees it.

Wiry, tattoos. It must be the guy Joey described. The tech guy, Will.

Handing Karloff a cell phone. And then, silently, unobtrusively, exiting the courtroom.

Zack watches Karloff take the new phone and slip his old one into his pocket. The old one is an iPhone, Zack can see. How many crimes, how many murders, have originated from it? The ultimate diePhone, Zack thinks.

He sees Karloff step back toward the courtroom door.

He sees Karloff stand there at the door a moment, survey the room, and then look down at the new cell phone he was handed.

A cheap disposable—Zack can see from here. Oh my God…

If the numbers of the code are significant, would Karloff keep the same code?

Or in the wiring, in the syncing, did it need to be the same? Could it not be changed?