'I don't know about big cats around these parts, but I think I just spotted a little pussy.'
Another loud growl - and this time it was really close. Right on the heels of the two of them. Gaining ground fast.
'C'mon! Let's go. Let's move it,'said Martha Wiatt. She was a little afraid now, running as fast as she could, and that was very fast.
Another eerie growl pierced the gathering fog.
Alex Cross 7 - Violets Are Blue
Chapter Three
Lieutenant Martha Wiatt had definitely picked up her pace. She put some distance between herself and Davis. It wasn't that hard. She did triathlons for fun. He worked behind a desk, though God knows, he certainly looked good for an accountant.
'C'mon, c'mon. Keep up with me, Davis. Don't fall back,'she called over her shoulder.
Her boyfriend for the past year didn't answer. Well, that settled any future debate about who was in better shape, who was the real athlete. Of course, Martha had known that all along.
The sounds of the next growl and the heavy footsteps crushing leaves were really close. They were catching up to her.
But what was catching up to her?
'Martha! There's something behind me. Oh God! Run! Run, Martha!' Davis shouted. 'Get the hell out of here!'
Adrenaline charged through her. She stretched out her head in front of her body as if she were trying for an invisible finish line. Her arms and legs moved in synch like efficient pistons. She leaned her weight forward, the way all good runners do.
She heard screams behind her and looked back - but she couldn't see Davis anymore. The screams were so terrifying that she almost stopped running. But Davis had been attacked by something vicious. Martha rationalized that she had to get help. The police. Somebody.
Her boyfriend's screams were ringing in her ears and she was running in total panic, unaware of where she was going. She stumbled over a pointy rock and cartwheeled down a steep hill. Martha crashed into the base of a small tree, but at least it stopped her fall.
In a daze, she managed to pull herself up. Jesus, she was pretty sure she'd broken her right arm. Cradling it with the left, she ran forward in a clumsy stumble.
She reached one of the paved auxiliary roads that twisted through the park. Davis's screams had stopped. What had happened to him? She had to get help.
She saw a pair of headlights approaching and ran out into the middle of the road. She straddled the double center lines and felt like a total madwoman. For God's sake, this is San Francisco!
'Please stop, please stop. Hey! Hey! Hey!' She waved her good arm and shouted at the top of her voice.'Stop! I need help!'
The white van sped straight for her, but then, thank God, it skidded to a stop. Two men jumped out and ran to her. They would help. The van said 'Red Cross' on its hood.
'Help me. Please,'Martha said.'My boyfriend is hurt.'
Everything went from bad to worse. One of them hit her with a closed fist. Before Martha realized what was happening, she went down hard. Her chin struck the pavement, bouncing like a wet ball. She was knocked almost unconscious by the powerful blow.
She looked up, tried to focus her eyes, and wished she hadn't. Blazing red eyes stared down at her. A mouth was open wide. Two mouths. She had never seen such teeth in her life. They were like sharpened knives. The incisors were huge.
She felt the teeth bite into her cheek, then her neck. How could that be? They tore into her and Martha screamed until her throat was raw. She rolled and twisted and kicked out at her attackers, but it did no good. They were incredibly strong. Both of them were growling.
'Ecstasy,' one of them whispered against Martha's ear. 'Isn't it exquisite? You're so lucky. You were chosen out of all the beautiful people in San Francisco. You and Davis.'
Alex Cross 7 - Violets Are Blue
Chapter Four
It was a perfect, blue-skied morning in Washington - well, almost perfect. The Mastermind was on my cell phone. 'Hello, Alex. Did you miss me? I missed you, partner.'
The bastard had been making obscene, threatening phone calls to me every morning for over a week. Sometimes he just cursed at me for several minutes; this morning, he sounded positively civil.
'What's your day look like? Any big plans?' he asked.
Actually, yes. I was planning to catch him. I was inside an FBI van that was already on the move. We were tracing his call and would have the exact location very soon. A court order had been put through the FBI and the phone company was involved in 'trapping' the call. I was in the rear of the speeding van with three Bureau agents and my partner, John Sampson. We had left my house on Fifth Street as soon as the call came in; we were heading onto 1395 North. My job was to keep him on the line until the trace was completed.
'Tell me about Betsey Cavalierre. Why did you pick her instead of me?' I asked him.
'Oh, she's much, much prettier,' the Mastermind said. 'More fuckable.'
One of the techie agents was talking in the background. I tried to listen to both conversations. The agent said, 'He's living up to his name. We've got a wire tap and should be able to trace the call immediately. It isn't happening for some reason.'
'Why the hell not?'Sampson asked and moved closer to the agents.
'Don't know exactly. We're picking up different locations, but they keep changing. Maybe he's on a cell phone in a car. Cell phones are harder to trace.' I could see that we were getting off the D Street Exit. Then we headed into the Third Street tunnel. Where was he?
'Everything all right, Alex? You seem a little distracted,' the Mastermind said.
'No, I'm right here with you. Partner. Enjoying our little breakfast club.'
'I don't know why this is so goddamn hard,' the FBI techie complained.
Because he's the Mastermind, I wanted to yell at him.
I saw the Washington Convention Center on the right. The van was really clipping along, doing sixty or seventy on the city streets.
We passed the Renaissance Hotel. Where the hell was the Mastermind calling from?
'I think we have a fix on him. We're real close,' one of the young agents said in an excited voice.
Suddenly the FBI van stopped; it was chaos inside. Sampson and I pulled out our guns. We had him. I couldn't believe we had him.
Then everyone inside the van groaned and cursed. I looked outside and saw why. I shook my head in disgust.
'Jesus Christ, do you believe this shit!' Sampson yelled and pounded the wall of the van. We were at 935 Pennsylvania Avenue, the J. Edgar Hoover Building. FBI headquarters.
'What's happening now?' I asked the agent in charge. 'Where the hell is he?'
'Shit, the signal is roaming again. It's moving outside Washington. Okay, now it's back in the city. Christ, it just skipped out of the country.'
'Goodbye, Alex. For now anyway. As I told you before, you're next,' the Mastermind said. Then he hung up on me.
Alex Cross 7 - Violets Are Blue
Chapter Five
The rest of my day was long, hard, and depressing. More than anything, I needed a break from the Mastermind.
I'm not exactly sure when, where or how I got up the nerve, but I had a date that night. It was with a lawyer for the DA's office here in Washington. Elizabeth Moore was wickedly funny and nicely irreverent. She was a large woman with a really sweet smile that made me smile. We were having dinner at Marcel's in Foggy Bottom, a good spot for this kind of thing. The food is French, with a Flemish flair. The night couldn't have been going any better. I thought so, and I was pretty sure that Elizabeth would agree.