At that moment, from beyond Stone’s prostrate, motionless body, Lou saw the radiation room door swing open. A man dressed in a bright yellow biocontainment suit emerged from the shadows of the room beyond. Groaning with each breath, Lou steeled himself to turn and run, but the suited man held up a hand in a nonthreatening gesture. Then he lifted the hood away from his face.

“Jesus,” Lou whispered.

He stepped over the fallen police chief and met Edwin Chester halfway past the convergence of the catwalks. Below them the clicking had grown more intense.

“I was involved in an experiment and didn’t hear anything that was going on,” Edwin said. “For as long as I can remember, Gilbert Stone has been owned by my father. He can be one of the most heartless, frightening men I have ever met.”

“He brought me down here to kill me,” Lou said.

“I don’t think you’d be the first. He does a lot of my father’s dirty work.”

“Edwin, this whole business has gotten out of hand.”

“I didn’t want any of this to happen. I told my father the corn wasn’t ready, but he just wouldn’t listen.”

“I thought you were his protector.”

“I am, but that doesn’t keep me from trying to cancel out some of the things he does. That’s why I contacted Darlene Mallory in the first place.”

“You? You’re Double M?”

Edwin grinned. “You expected someone a little taller and heavier? I have boots with six- and seven-inch lifts, and specially padded jackets. In my world, trust can be a very expensive commodity. I tend to stand out because of my lack of height, so when I need to, I just do something about it.”

“But why the charade? Why didn’t you just come forward and tell what you knew had happened?”

“You don’t know my father,” Edwin said. “He’s really a very wonderful man—by far the most important person in my—” His eyes widened. “Lou! Behind you!”

Lou whirled. Stone had unsteadily pushed himself to his knees and, eyes glazed, was fumbling for his gun, which had been on the catwalk underneath him. There were no choices available this time—no strategies. The distance between him and Stone was ten yards. Ignoring the pain in his chest, and keeping as low as he could manage, Lou charged. Stone rattled off two wild shots that clanged off the steel walls. The third one, fired from no more than six feet away, tore through the outside edge of Lou’s left thigh.