Chapters (57)
- Cover
- Dedication
- Foreword
- Prologue
- One
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
- Eleven
- Twelve
- Thirteen
- Fourteen
- Fifteen
- Sixteen
- Seventeen
- Eighteen
- Nineteen
- Twenty
- Twenty-One
- Twenty-Two
- Twenty-Three
- Twenty-Four
- Twenty-Five
- Twenty-Six
- Twenty-Seven
- Twenty-Eight
- Twenty-Nine
- Thirty
- Thirty-One
- Thirty-Two
- Thirty-Three
- Thirty-Four
- Thirty-Five
- Thirty-Six
- Thirty-Seven
- Thirty-Eight
- Thirty-Nine
- Forty
- Forty-One
- Forty-Two
- Forty-Three
- Forty-Four
- Forty-Five
- Forty-Six
- Forty-Seven
- Forty-Eight
- Forty-Nine
- Fifty
- Praise for Linwood Barclay
- Also by Linwood Barclay
- About the Publisher
As he headed for the floor, the back of his head connected with the edge of the desk, making a sound not unlike a baseball bat connecting with a pitch.
Ruskin went down. He settled into a heap, not moving.
Joe looked at Sandra, his mouth open, as if trying to express his shock and regret, but no words came out.
Sandra looked equally stunned, but at least she managed to speak.
“Tell me he’s not dead,” she said.
Joe quickly knelt down next to the man, put two fingers to his neck, hunting for a pulse. Blood was already beginning to pool beneath Ruskin’s head.
“He’s not dead,” Joe told Sandra. “But he’s out cold.”
“We need to call—”
Sandra didn’t bother to finish the sentence. The Garrett Island ambulance was outside, overturned. Calling for help was not an option.
“I’ll find some ice, a pillow, a first aid kid or something,” Sandra said. “I saw something in one of the other rooms. In the meantime, can you get into that computer?”
Still kneeling next to the unconscious Ruskin, Joe said, “Honestly, I don’t like my chances.”
Thirty-Four
For now, Archie believed he was safe.
Standing on the Discount Bonanza loading dock, looking out toward the Garrett Mall parking lot in the distance, and the assembly of Arrivals right in front of him, Archie took stock of his situation.
There was no way the Arrivals could get at him. The loading dock was a good four feet above pavement level, and the only thing leading up to it from the loading bay area was a three-foot-wide concrete set of steps with a rusted metal railing. Archie didn’t see any way the cars could use it to their advantage. Nor did he think the layout of the loading dock area was such that the Arrivals could drive over each other to reach him the way they’d done with the escalators.
He’d counted twelve Arrivals sitting out there on the asphalt beyond the loading bay, all aimed his way, watching. Archie felt like a cat in a tree with a pack of dogs hanging around the trunk. You weren’t in immediate danger, but you weren’t going anywhere, either.
Archie definitely wanted to go somewhere. Archie wanted to go home. He wanted his mom. He even wanted his sister.
He saw no upside to going back into Discount Bonanza or the attached mall. The place was lousy with Arrivals.