The Legacy (36 page)

Hold it right there!

Cole whipped around. Standing in the stores doorway was a lone Helena city policeman, gun drawn.

Hands up! the young policeman yelled. He was nervous. Cole could see it all over his face. His eyes were flashing around and his voice was strained.

Officer, weve got a hostage situation, Cole said calmly.

Get your hands up! The policeman moved forward, hunched over at the waist, the revolver pointed at Cole. Dont talk until I tell you to!

Slowly Cole raised his hands. He could hear Bennett rifling through the tapes. Empty cases and cassettes were crashing to the floor behind the storage room door. If he somehow found the Dealey Tape, hidden in a cassette case marked Reds, hed head out the back door and be gone forever.

The policeman was only a few feet away now. In the distance Cole could hear more sirens. In seconds the place would be crawling with cops, and a standoff would ensue if Bennett hadnt found the Dealey Tape by that point. The officers would surround the store and call in special forceswhich would take another thirty minutesand by the time everyone was in place, Bennett would have found the unmarked tape inside the Reds case. Then hed negotiate his way out by using Tori as trade bait. Cole could see the scenario developing so clearly.

Get down on the floor! the policeman shouted at Cole.

As Cole began to drop to his knees, he chopped the back of the officers wrist with his hand. The gun fell to the floor, and as the officer reached to retrieve it, Cole smashed his chin with a powerful uppercut. The policeman toppled backward, unconscious.

Cole grabbed the revolver and moved toward the storage room. As he aimed at the door, there was a loud explosion from within. Instantly Cole fired twice into the lock, blowing it apart, then slammed his shoulder into the door and fell into the room. He rolled twice, smashed against a rack of tapes and aimed in the direction of the shot.

He was unprepared for the sight that met his eyes at the end of the officers gun. Bennett lay on the floor near the stores back door, blood pouring from a wound in his chest, the Reds cassette case on the floor beside him. Tori sat on the floor a few feet away, one wrist chained to a rack of tapes by a pair of handcuffs, the other holding the Generals gun which she had slipped into her jacket just before she and Cole had entered the interstate.

What the hell? Cole rose unsteadily to his feet.

He found the Dealey Tape! Tori yelled. He was going to escape out the back door. I couldnt let him do that, not after all weve been through. Her breath was coming in shallow gasps. Get the key to the handcuffs. Its in his pants pocket. Get me out of these things. Come on, Cole! Hurry!

Bennett moaned and pulled himself into a sitting position against the wall. Cole whipped his gun around, covering Bennett, searching for a gun in the other mans hand. But Bennett was unarmed. Cole spotted Bennetts gun lying against the far wall, where it had fallen when Tori shot him. Bennetts head was resting against the cinderblock wall and a tiny rivulet of blood was oozing down his chin.

Coles eyes flashed back to the doorway. Policemen would be spilling through that door in a matter of seconds. Theyd arrest him, and there would go any chance of getting the Dealey Tape into the proper hands and collecting the money. The DIA would hear of this incident, and the tape would be gone forever.

Cole bolted to where Bennett sat against the wall and picked up the case, checking to make certain the Dealey Tape was inside.

Cole! Tori screamed. Dont leave me here!

He gazed at her. She was pointing the Generals gun in his direction. What the hell are you doing?

Get the key to the handcuffs!

He blinked. The sirens were closing in.

Shes DIA, Bennett groaned. Dont let her out of those handcuffs.

What? Cole turned to face Bennett.

Dont listen to him, Tori hissed. Hes trying to delay you until the cops get here. If he cant have that tape, he doesnt want you to have it.

Shes DIA. I recognize her, Cole, Bennett whispered. It was all he could do to speak. Shes part of the operation I told you about. She works for a man named William Seward. He runs Operation Snowfall. The one I told you about on the river.

Cole glanced back at Tori. She was still pointing the gun straight at him. She had smashed the Generals head by throwing the rock through the window, then run around the house to the front door. The natural reaction should have been to run away. Now she had shot a man. Maybe she was DIA.

Get the key, Cole, Tori urged, still aiming the gun at him.

Check under the fingernail of her left index finger, Bennett said weakly, coughing. Check for the brand.

Cole glanced at Toris left hand, chained to the rack of tapes.

Tori shook her head as she leveled the gun at him. If you leave here without me, youll do the deal with someone else, Cole. Your father wanted me to get credit for finding that tape. Ive been through way too much to let you walk out that door without me and sell it to someone else. Take a step for that door, Cole, and Ill shoot you, I swear. The gun shook in her hand and tears streamed down her cheeks.

Its all an act, Bennett spoke as loudly as he could. Shes DIA, Cole.

Liar! Tori screamed. You want to see whats under my fingernail? Is that what you want, Cole? Will that convince you? She held out the hand chained to the rack. Is this the finger? She made a fist except for the index finger.

Tori, dont! Cole yelled.

But it was too late. She shoved the finger in her mouth and jammed her lower front teeth under the nail. The nail tore neatly away from one side and she screamed in agony. Blood poured from the spot, but she sucked it away and held up the finger. There was no brand.

You bastard, Bennett. Cole reached down and searched Bennetts pockets. It took him a few moments, but he found the key, scrambled to Tori, released her from the handcuffs, pulled her to her feet and hugged her tightly. Youre incredible.

Weve got to get out of here! she implored.

Right. Cole grabbed her by the hand and pulled her out the back door.

Bennetts chin dropped to his chest as he watched them disappear out the door. He could feel his lungs filling with blood, and he would die whether or not the doctors at the Helena hospital could save him. If he survived the operation, agents would find him and there would simply be another, more accurately aimed bullet.

He crawled across the floor, listening to the policemen shouting to each other as they entered the video store. As he reached the gun lying against the far wall, the first officer moved through the doorway behind the counter and into the storage room, gun drawn.

Freeze! the officer shouted.

But Bennett had already reached the gun. In one smooth motion he picked it up, pressed the barrel to his temple and fired.

TORI FOLLOWED COLE as he hobbled quickly across the blacktop and into the woods behind the strip mall. It was deserted here behind the stores. There seemed to be no one milling about the Dumpsters and semitrailers. In the cover of the woods, Cole turned right, toward the sound of cars on the interstate a quarter of a mile away.

Tori held her left index finger tightly in her right hand, trying to stop the bleeding as she stuck close to Cole. The fingertip felt as if it were on fire. She took her hand away from the finger, glanced at the nail and cringed. The nail rose slowly until it was standing straight up. It was completely torn away from the skin on one side, still attached on the other.

Where are we going? she asked.

Back to the Bronco, Cole replied as he limped around trees, still clutching the Dealey Tape.

The Bronco doesnt have any fuel. Remember, smartass? She was furious with him. The pain in her finger was almost unbearable, and he was to blame for it.

Cole didnt answer. He just kept going.

A few seconds later they reached the edge of the interstate. Cars flashed past as Cole searched the roadway for police cruisers. It was almost five oclock in the afternoon, and traffic had picked up as people headed home from work. A few hundred yards north of where they stood, the Bronco was still parked on the side of the road with Bennetts white sedan directly behind it. However, they saw no police cars.

Were going down there, Cole said, pointing at the two vehicles. Youre driving because I cant. My ankles killing me. Plus youll be able to drive without having to worry about being recognized. That cop at the video store never got a look at you. The police wont have your description unless one of the customers in the store when we first ran inside gives it to them, and I doubt we have to worry about that. Those people were too busy trying to get out of there to remember any details. The cops will be searching for me. If we see any police, Ill get down in the seat. They wont be looking for a woman driving by herself.

What about roadblocks? Tori asked.

I think the only place the police could set up any roadblocks would be on the interstates. There are too many other roads to cover. Montana is too big. And were not going to stay on the interstate very long. Were going to travel on back roads and head south toward Bozeman, then around Bozeman and east to Livingston. After that well head over to Billings. From Billings well fly to Minneapolis. There should be a plane going to the Twin Cities in the morning. From Minneapolis well go to New York and get this tape to your boss.

Tori glanced up. What happened to me having nothing but the right of first refusal? I thought you were going to shop your piece of gold around so you could get the best offer, then come back to me to see if I could match it.

Cole shook his head and gestured at her finger, still bleeding profusely. After your performance at the video store, youve earned yourself an exclusive on the tape. Ten million dollars is more than enough. In fact, Im going to share some of the cash with you. If you hadnt stopped Bennett on his way out the back of that place, this tape would be long gone right now, and so would my ten million. He grimaced as he looked at her hand again. I dont know if I could have ripped off my own fingernail. Thats one of the most courageous things Ive ever seen anyone do.

One of the dumbest too.

No, it wasnt. I couldnt trust you any more than I do right now. Cole glanced up into her eyes. Despite the hell shed endured in the last two days, she still looked damn good. Youre something else.

Thanks. She managed a thin smile.

Cole touched her arm gently. Lets get down to the car. In a few minutes therell be cops and dogs all over these woods.

Tori grabbed his arm as he started forward. But I dont understandthe Bronco is out of gas.

He jammed a hand into his pocket and pulled out a set of keys, holding them up for her to see. I found these when I took the key to the handcuffs out of Bennetts pocket.

She laughed despite the pain throbbing from her finger all the way up her left arm to her shoulder. You have an answer for everything.

Not always. He tossed the keys to her, then limped down the slope to the interstate. A minute later they were in the white sedan and were moving out into traffic.

What if Bennett tells the police to search for this car? Tori asked, her eyes darting from rearview mirror to side mirror and back to the windshield in search of police cruisers. He must have seen you take the keys out of his pocket. He could give them the license plate number of this car and a description of me.

Bennett wont be a problem.

Why not?

Did you hear a gunshot as we were running across the blacktop behind the stores?

She nodded. Now that she thought about it, she did recall hearing a blast come from inside the video store as they were sprinting out the back. Yes, I did.

Bennetts not going to be giving information to anyone unless hes a very poor shot from point-blank range. Or his head is even harder than I think it is.

What are you talking about?

Bennetts dead. Im pretty sure that gunshot was him committing suicide. As I was going through his pockets looking for the key to the handcuffs, he asked me to leave his gun on the floor. He wanted to die on his own terms. I have no doubt he did that.

Tori gazed forward, as if in a trance. It was incredible what they had been through.

Turn here. Cole pointed at an EXIT sign.

Tori guided the car down the gentle incline to the traffic light at the bottom of the hill.

Go left, Cole directed. South.

As she pulled the car out into the intersection, they suddenly heard a loud siren. Where is it? she screamed.

I dont know, I dont know! Cole looked behind and to the side, searching for the police car.

Suddenly they saw the ambulance coming at them from the opposite direction. Tori eased off to the side of the road as the emergency vehicle raced past.

I dont know about you, Cole, Tori said quietly, but Ive had enough of this. Lets pull over and Ill call my boss at NBC. Hell have bodyguards meet us. Theyll fly a private jet out for us. Im sure they could have one in Billings by the time we get there.

Great. Cole smiled. Now were talking. I like the idea of a private plane and bodyguards. But first lets put some distance between the Helena police force and us. Then you can call your boss.