Read Online The Code by Nick Carter - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Nick Carter
Tags: det_espionage
Ads: Link
battered Ford with the souped-up engine was sitting there waiting. I'd had it brought over from Bonham that morning. Moose and his companions had almost two days' start on me. I had no intention of letting their trail get any colder.
"It's been a long time since I've seen a man in your physical condition," the doctor said. The beating you took would have laid me up for days. But don't press yourself too soon. You might find out that you're not as strong as you think."
"I'll be careful, Doc." I wasn't even thinking about what I was saying. I was thinking about getting Moose.
After the doctor left the room, I removed my hospital robe and donned street clothing. I strapped on the bullet-scarred shoulder rig, my good luck charm, and checked the Luger.
My plans had not been cleared with Hawk. So far we'd had no opportunity to confer at length on the happenings in Bonham. We had talked once on the telephone since the police rushed me to the hospital, a necessity because my presence in the house with a slain girl had required a bit of explaining.
In fact, the Bonham police had threatened to arrest me. They were very upset about the rash of fatalities that had broken out in their town on the day of
my
arrival. But Hawk had pulled some strings, and suddenly there had been no more questioning, no more pressure. There had been no stories in the newspapers, either.
I left the hospital by the back stairs. I was walking briskly across the parking lot when a long car turned off the highway and came to a halt alongside me. A door swung open and Hawk said, "Nick, I'm glad you're up and about."
Hoping I didn't look like a school-kid caught playing hooky, I obeyed his signal to climb into the limousine.
"You were planning to call me, I suppose. Certainly you wouldn't leave the hospital and take up the chase again without letting me know."
"Certainly not," I said.
"You weren't afraid that I'd veto the idea and say you were in no condition to pursue a wolfpack of killers?"
"No, sir," I replied, respect in my voice. "You know I'd take myself off a job if I didn't feel I was able to handle it."
"When you get too old for this line of work, Nick, I'm going to recommend you for the diplomatic service," Hawk sighed. "I was in Denver anyway and since I suspected you'd pull something like this, I came on over. Would you like someone assigned to you as a reinforcement?"
"No sir. I'd rather follow up on it alone."
Hawk slid the soundproof glass panel between us and the two men in the front seat.
"It's no longer simply a question of avenging Kirby, is it, Nick?"
I shook my head. "There's the girl, too. But there's more to it than personal vengeance. The man who leads the killers is a sadist who'll go on slaughtering people if he isn't stopped."
Hawk flipped down a panel in front of him and tugged out a tape recorder. He pressed a button. In an official-sounding voice, he said, "Give me your report, N3."
I related the events that had occurred since my arrival in Bonham and then Hawk cut off the recorder. "That takes care of the official part of it. The rest that is said is strictly between the two of us. I'm going to permit you to continue with this on your terms. Get the bastards, Nick."
"You realize our security was breached at the base on the Carolina coast, don't you?"
"I'll take care of that," Hawk said in a hard voice.
"I think the base was infiltrated by an agent of the Mafia. They were after the information we'd gathered on the girl, and they were seeking Frank Abruze's killers. They can't have a pack of mavericks knocking off a man to whom they'd promised security and retirement. It's a direct challenge and an affront."
"Agreed," Hawk said. "I've drawn the same conclusions."
"There are some missing pieces to the puzzle. Like why an assassin apparently working for the Mafia tried to kill me, but Marco Valante lent me a hand. Quiz your Mafia experts about that. Maybe they can come up with a theory."
"Consider it done."
"The men
"It's been a long time since I've seen a man in your physical condition," the doctor said. The beating you took would have laid me up for days. But don't press yourself too soon. You might find out that you're not as strong as you think."
"I'll be careful, Doc." I wasn't even thinking about what I was saying. I was thinking about getting Moose.
After the doctor left the room, I removed my hospital robe and donned street clothing. I strapped on the bullet-scarred shoulder rig, my good luck charm, and checked the Luger.
My plans had not been cleared with Hawk. So far we'd had no opportunity to confer at length on the happenings in Bonham. We had talked once on the telephone since the police rushed me to the hospital, a necessity because my presence in the house with a slain girl had required a bit of explaining.
In fact, the Bonham police had threatened to arrest me. They were very upset about the rash of fatalities that had broken out in their town on the day of
my
arrival. But Hawk had pulled some strings, and suddenly there had been no more questioning, no more pressure. There had been no stories in the newspapers, either.
I left the hospital by the back stairs. I was walking briskly across the parking lot when a long car turned off the highway and came to a halt alongside me. A door swung open and Hawk said, "Nick, I'm glad you're up and about."
Hoping I didn't look like a school-kid caught playing hooky, I obeyed his signal to climb into the limousine.
"You were planning to call me, I suppose. Certainly you wouldn't leave the hospital and take up the chase again without letting me know."
"Certainly not," I said.
"You weren't afraid that I'd veto the idea and say you were in no condition to pursue a wolfpack of killers?"
"No, sir," I replied, respect in my voice. "You know I'd take myself off a job if I didn't feel I was able to handle it."
"When you get too old for this line of work, Nick, I'm going to recommend you for the diplomatic service," Hawk sighed. "I was in Denver anyway and since I suspected you'd pull something like this, I came on over. Would you like someone assigned to you as a reinforcement?"
"No sir. I'd rather follow up on it alone."
Hawk slid the soundproof glass panel between us and the two men in the front seat.
"It's no longer simply a question of avenging Kirby, is it, Nick?"
I shook my head. "There's the girl, too. But there's more to it than personal vengeance. The man who leads the killers is a sadist who'll go on slaughtering people if he isn't stopped."
Hawk flipped down a panel in front of him and tugged out a tape recorder. He pressed a button. In an official-sounding voice, he said, "Give me your report, N3."
I related the events that had occurred since my arrival in Bonham and then Hawk cut off the recorder. "That takes care of the official part of it. The rest that is said is strictly between the two of us. I'm going to permit you to continue with this on your terms. Get the bastards, Nick."
"You realize our security was breached at the base on the Carolina coast, don't you?"
"I'll take care of that," Hawk said in a hard voice.
"I think the base was infiltrated by an agent of the Mafia. They were after the information we'd gathered on the girl, and they were seeking Frank Abruze's killers. They can't have a pack of mavericks knocking off a man to whom they'd promised security and retirement. It's a direct challenge and an affront."
"Agreed," Hawk said. "I've drawn the same conclusions."
"There are some missing pieces to the puzzle. Like why an assassin apparently working for the Mafia tried to kill me, but Marco Valante lent me a hand. Quiz your Mafia experts about that. Maybe they can come up with a theory."
"Consider it done."
"The men
Similar Books
