Central Park by Guillaume Musso (ebook reader macos .TXT) 📕

blazing up, out of control. Her head spinning. The sensation of drowning. The need to know.

“You okay, darling? Can I get you anything else?”

Alice picked up her glass of rye and drank it down in one gulp. She wanted to believe that the alcohol would clear her thoughts. Or at least give her courage.

Do or die!

She opened her satchel and took out the fingerprint kit. With a paper napkin, she picked up the glass Gabriel had been drinking from and carried out the same procedure she had performed earlier on the syringe: using the magnetic brush to sweep the black powder over it, finding the print of the index finger, trapping it with sticky tape, and affixing it to the bottom of the drinks coaster, next to the print from the syringe. Her movements were precise, mechanical. Time was passing quickly. There was no room for even the slightest error.

Alice had brought the coaster close to her face and was examining the two fingerprints when the bell above the door jingled.

She turned around and saw Gabriel coming toward her.

“We can go now,” he called out over the hubbub of voices.

Sweat prickled her scalp as Gabriel moved closer with an easy, open smile.

“That Virgil guy did a great job. The old car’s waterproof again!”

One last roll of the dice…

“Go start the car. I’ll settle up here and be there in a minute,” she said, hoping he would make a U-turn.

“No need, I—”

From behind the counter, the woman grabbed him by the arm. “Hey, darling, how about one for the road? Virgil makes this gin himself. Tastes like honey and juniper. You can tell me what you think of it.”

Clearly surprised and annoyed by this familiarity, Gabriel pulled away. “No, thanks. We have to get going.”

Alice used those few seconds to shove the fingerprint kit back in the satchel. Then she took three ten-dollar bills from her pocket and left them on the counter.

“Ready to go?” Gabriel asked when he reached her.

As casually as she could, she followed him to the front door. Outside, the rain was still pouring down.

“Wait for me here under the awning,” Gabriel said. “I’ll go get the car.”

While he ran to the Shelby, Alice turned her back on the parking lot and took the coaster from her bag. In the light from the neon sign above the general store, she compared the two fingerprints. To the naked eye, they looked identical. Most compelling, they both had the same arch of ridges interrupted by the tiny cross-shaped scar.

In that moment, she understood that Gabriel had lied to her from the beginning.

When she looked up, she sensed the sports car parked behind her. Gabriel leaned over and held the door open for her. She got inside and buckled her seat belt.

“Everything okay? You look kind of pale.”

“I’m fine,” she replied, suddenly aware that she had given him her Glock and was now unarmed.

He pulled the door shut. Trembling, Alice turned toward the window, lashed relentlessly by rain.

As the car sped off into the night, it took her several seconds to admit the truth to herself: Gabriel and Vaughn were one and the same.

Part FourCome Undone

23Do or Die

THE RAIN FELL heavily and aggressively against the windows.

Thunder rumbled almost incessantly. At regular intervals, lightning flashed through the sooty clouds, illuminating the line of pine trees on the horizon like a giant camera flash.

Sebago Hospital was located at the end of a peninsula bordered by pines that stretched out ten miles into the center of the lake.

Fully focused on his driving, Gabriel was going too fast. The road, strewn with torn-off branches and debris, was treacherous. The wind screamed through the trees, making them bow until they broke, shaking the car as if trying to slow its progress.

Alice stole surreptitious glances at her cell phone. Unsurprisingly, service was spotty, but even so, she did have a signal at times. In some places, the bars showed perfect reception; in other places, there was no service at all.

She tried not to tremble. She needed to buy time. As long as Gabriel didn’t suspect that she had guessed his identity, she was safe. There was no way she could try anything on this road without a weapon, but once they were in the hospital, she would be able to act.

What I need is lots of people, activity, security cameras. This time, Vaughn won’t get away.

Her hatred was stronger than her fear.

It was unbearable, sitting next to her son’s killer like this. To know his body was only inches away. Unbearable, too, to have felt so close to him, told him some of her secrets, been moved by his lies, been deceived in this way.

Alice breathed deeply. She tried to think rationally, to find answers to her questions: What was the point of this wild-goose chase? What was Vaughn’s plan? Why hadn’t he killed her when he had the chance?

The Shelby rounded a tight bend before coming to a sudden halt. A tall white pine tree just off the road had been hit by lightning. The intensity of the rain must have put the fire out before it could spread, but the tree was still smoking, its trunk split in two. Bits of wood, bark, and burned branches were scattered across the pavement, blocking the road.

“Damn it!” Gabriel exclaimed.

He put the car into gear and accelerated, determined to force his way through. A large branch lay in the way. The Shelby veered to the side, to the edge of the ravine, and its wheels started skidding in the mud.

“I’m going to try and clear the road,” Gabriel said, pulling over and putting on the emergency brake.

He got out and closed the door, leaving the engine running.

Too good to be true?

She could try to escape as soon as he moved the branch, of course, but it wasn’t the desire to flee that drove her. It was the need to know. And to go all the way.

Alice glanced at her phone and saw the signal was