BooksBarbecue
Back The Short Drop
Chapters (61)
  1. Title Page
  2. Copyright Page
  3. Dedication
  4. CONTENTS
  5. START READING
  6. PART ONE
  7. CHAPTER ONE
  8. CHAPTER TWO
  9. CHAPTER THREE
  10. CHAPTER FOUR
  11. CHAPTER FIVE
  12. CHAPTER SIX
  13. CHAPTER SEVEN
  14. CHAPTER EIGHT
  15. CHAPTER NINE
  16. CHAPTER TEN
  17. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  18. CHAPTER TWELVE
  19. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  20. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  21. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  22. PART TWO
  23. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  24. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  25. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  26. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  33. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  34. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  35. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  36. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  43. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  44. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  45. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  46. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  49. PART THREE
  50. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  51. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  52. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  53. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  54. CHAPTER FORTY-SIX
  55. CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
  56. CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
  57. CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
  58. CHAPTER FIFTY
  59. EPILOGUE
  60. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  61. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

By a quarter to five, Gibson wasn’t asleep, but he wasn’t entirely alert either. Sitting cross-legged on the floor, he was resting his chin on his knuckles and staring at the monitor displaying ACG’s server data. He felt like a guy waiting for a plane that was perpetually delayed. So he was slow to react when his phone vibrated on the floor between his knees. On the third buzz, he looked down at his phone, saw the text message, and immediately snapped back up to the monitor. Adrenaline slammed through him. A red bar had popped up with an alert message. The virus on ACG’s servers was receiving new instructions.

“Did either of you just get a text message?” Hendricks asked.

“Yeah, I got it. Gibson, what’s happening?” There was an edge to Jenn’s voice—excitement fused with a predator’s hunger.

“The virus is active. WR8TH is talking to it.”

“From the library?” Jenn asked.

“Hold one,” he said, scanning the list of outbound library Internet traffic. Come on, baby. Come on. He ran his finger down the screen. And there it was. Big, beautiful, and guilty. Someone on the library Wi-Fi was communicating with the corrupt ad server that was the virus’s anonymous relay station. It was an impossible coincidence and could mean only one thing.

“Son of a bitch is here,” he said. Mostly to himself, but he’d left comms open and the response came back with urgency.

“Where?” Jenn demanded.

“He’s outside. He’s in the park,” Gibson said.

He looked at the video feed from the park. Their guy was down there. Suzanne Lombard’s kidnapper, and likely murderer, was sitting in plain sight, catching some rays.

“Which one?” Jenn demanded.

He matched the IP address to a machine and read through his notes until he found the driver’s license photo. He looked from the name back to the monitor until he spotted their man.

“Got you,” Gibson said with a smile.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Tinsley sat on the wooden crate he was using as a makeshift stool. He’d been there since before dawn and had watched the sun come up over the library. He was waiting for it to happen . . . or not. He was indifferent.

Earlier in the week, he had scoped out a small, unoccupied office to hole up in. From the second-story window where he sat, Tinsley had an unobstructed view of the library and adjacent park. At that hour, the library and park were deserted, but Tinsley wanted time for the emptiness to saturate his retinas and burn the landscape into his mind’s eye. Later, as it filled with bodies, each object would stand out clearly to his brain like a blemish on a pristine original.