‘It’s been modified to be chlorine-resistant. That’s why we found the undiluted hypochlorous acid – what he was using to alter the strain. We have no idea how potent it is.’

‘I’ll be wearing face mask and coveralls.’ She ran to the back of her car, popped the trunk and yanked out her crime scene kit.

‘You need full biohazard gear,’ he protested.

She hit speaker, set the phone down and called, ‘The unsub knows we haven’t cut the supply yet – the water’ll still be spurting out of the hole he drilled. He’s waiting for the valves to close but he’s not going to wait very long. He’ll rabbit, with who knows how much of that shit.’

‘Sachs, listen. This isn’t arsenic or snakeroot. You don’t have to drink it or eat it. One ten-thousandth of a gram in a mucous membrane or wound’ll kill you.’

‘Then I won’t pick my nose or scrape my knee. I’m going in, Rhyme. I’ll call when I’ve cleared the scene and got him in metal.’

‘Sachs—’

‘For this one I need to go in quiet,’ she said firmly and clicked disconnect.

CHAPTER 65

Amelia Sachs easily found where the unsub had gone underground: the manhole on 44th Street, near Third, which Pulaski had told her about.

She dug the tire iron out of the trunk of her Torino and used it to muscle the heavy metal disk up and then managed to push the cover to the side. She aimed her Glock into the pitch-black hole. She peered down, hearing a powerful hissing noise – the leaking pipe, she assumed. She holstered her weapon.

Well, let’s get to it. Go and go fast.

When you move, they can’t getcha …

Thanks to the recent medical procedures, she now felt lithe as a thirteen-year-old as she turned and began down the ladder.

Thinking: I’m in bright white coveralls, lit from above and behind.

A perfect shooting solution for him.

One way to put it. The other was: sitting duck.

Climbing into hell. Practically sliding down the rails as she’d seen sailors do on some TV submarine movie, going from deck to deck.

She hit the floor of the spacious tunnel – open and without any cover whatsoever. Natch. Drawing her gun fast, she lunged to the side, where at least it was darker and their unsub would have a harder time placing a lethal shot. There she crouched and spun the muzzle 180 degrees, squinting to spot threats.

That she hadn’t pulled any fire didn’t allay her concern; he might still be near, aiming her way and waiting for any other officers to enter the target zone before he began squeezing off rounds.

But as her eyes grew accustomed to the dark, she noted that this portion of the tunnel was unoccupied.