Chapter 5

There was more free space on Dixie Highway now. A portion of wrecked vehicles has been removed from the road, the rest stood on the right-hand shoulder. Driving at the maximum possible speed, Barkov passed the airplane crash location in just ten minutes. The fire had already been put out, but the plane hull and remains of the buildings it had struck were still smoking.

At the crossroads right after the metro station, he turned to Rickenbacker Causeway. To the right of the road, stood the stone fence of the Alice Wainwright Park; behind it stretched a solid wall of leaf-bearing trees. Residential skyscrapers dominated on the left. Ahead of them a bright shield with the inscription “Welcome to Biscayne Key Island Paradise” stood conspicuously on the green grass in front of the central mall.

“Already to paradise? Isn’t it too early?” Emily said darkly.

Glancing at the rear-view mirror, Andrew realized that he had broken protocol by forgetting to raise the partition. But that was a mere trifle compared to what he was going to do on the island.

“A smart aleck lives in this ‘paradise’. It’s necessary that we convince him that we act on behalf of the World Government.”

“Why?”

“He’s able to procure any kind of information. If what you said about the asylum proves to be true, I’ll try to help your father.”

“Hurrah!” the girl yelled.

Giving a start of surprise, Andrew glanced at the mirror again. Emily’s eyes were shining with joy.

This girl is very emotional. It’s easier to understand such people, but it’s harder to control them.

They were approaching the Rickenbacker Causeway toll plaza. In fact, it was not one causeway but two, connected sequentially with bridges. The road led to a small island, Virginia Key. From there, one could get to Biscayne Key via another bridge.

No less than a hundred vehicles accumulated before the toll plaza. It had never happened within Andrew’s memory. It was not difficult to guess the reason. The automatic toll system was down because of the gravitation leap, so drivers had to pay the old-fashioned way with credit cards and cash. Andrew drove his car to booth number three between concrete guard rails as the queue was a bit smaller there.

Music drifted from a nearby car. A well-known Italian singer was belting out a song about unhappy love. A happy man, singing his heart out like that. What a strong and beautiful voice he has! I’ll never have one, even if Mortimer coached me day and night.

Unintentionally, Barkov started to tap with his fingers on the steering wheel in time to the music. Suddenly his heartbeat sped up, and an unpleasant tingling started in his right temple. A distinct image appeared before his eyes. An off-road beige colored Lexus… A young man in the back seat… Black curly hair, a hooked nose… A leather holster with a Beretta pistol in it… Long, thin fingers touch the plastic fastener on the holster…

In a moment, the image disappeared. Andrews heartbeat slowed down gradually.

Andrew knew what it meant: someone had wanted to put a bullet in Andrew’s temple, but had suddenly changed his mind or was just distracted.

Barkov turned his head right. In the queue leading to booth number two there was a beige Lexus, exactly the same as Andrew had just envisioned. A middle-aged blond fat man was sitting at the wheel and a curly headed young man with the hooked nose was in the backseat. Both of them were looking to another side. There was evident tension in their posture.

Who are they? Why did that guy want to shoot at me?

“What’s wrong?” Emily asked and exclaimed in surprise as she traced Andrew’s eyes, “Oh! They’re here too.”

“Your accomplices?” Barkov inquired thinking about what to do – flee or attack.

“No. Just employees of the security department of the company my father delivers… delivered vegetables to. Do you know them?”

“Not in the least. But they seem to know me.”

He couldn’t attack first. There were too many people around who could be wounded. Besides, how would he prove in court that he had acted in self-defense? The vision he had in his head would not be taken into account! In fact, revealing it could only draw questions about whether he was genetically modified.

He looked around. Vehicles were packed in solid rows. It was impossible to jump the queue, even if he turned on the police siren. It was also impossible to turn around.

Suddenly he noticed that a gap appeared in the adjacent row: some cars moved forward, but the next driver lingered. Andrew turned the wheel to the left, pressed the accelerator and slid into the vacant place.

An indignant signal resounded from the back. Ignoring it, Barkov cast a glance to the right. The queue closed up there, and a shield in the form of a minibus appeared between him and the potential killer.

“What is this maneuver for?” Emily said.

“I’m saving my skin. One of those boys wants me dead.”

“I don’t think so. Those are ordinary guards! Probably they’re going to the beach.”

“To wash off the blood?”

Watching the Lexus from the corner of his eye, Barkov drove the car into the narrow passage between guard rails up toward the toll booth. The possibility of maneuvering was lost, but Andrew felt no threat in his head anymore. Probably the curly headed man decided not to attack in such an inconvenient and populous place.

The cars were moving forward slowly. Finally, his Ford reached the open booth window. Taking a banknote from his pocket, Andrew held it out to the officer in an orange waistcoat. The officer, fumbling with more cash than he normally encountered in a month, started to look for the right change, and Andrew quickly said, “Keep the change.”

A green color lit up at the exit for him. Slightly touching the accelerator pedal with his foot, Barkov squinted to the right. The Lexus was still in the queue – there were two cars before it. So, Andrew had a minute head start or a bit more on the guys. Can I escape within that time?

He glanced over at a wide bridge in the distance. Apparently, wreckers had not reached it yet. There were about fifteen warped cars on it. Some of them were blocking traffic lanes. He would have to maneuver between them at low speed. It would be hard to escape that way. Besides, there was no place to hide in the process. Two small islands loomed ahead, Virginia Key and Biscayne Key, with no shelter for the car on either. After Biscayne Key, there was only the ocean. If the criminal started to shoot on the move, Emily could get hit. Andrew had to prevent that. He was responsible for those he arrested, but he also had to admit that he needed her to see this through. Her abilities could come in handy in saving them both. And, as much as he didn’t want to admit it, he found her attractive.

“Why are you driving so slowly?” the girl asked.

Barkov looked around. His Ford had not entered the bridge yet. To the left of the road, there was a parking lot. A commercial truck with a semitrailer loaded with a caterpillar bulldozer screened a part of it. The semitrailer was flat on the asphalt, its torn off wheels nearby. Probably the axes had not been able to bear the sharp increase of the load when the gravitation changed.

The semitrailer and the bulldozer might be an excellent shelter.

Barkov turned to the parking lot. “Stay in the car. I’ll be back soon.”

“Where are you going?”

“To stretch my legs.”

He parked the car behind the truck so that it would be impossible to fire at it from the road. A holster with his Colt was in the glove compartment. Opening the compartment, he took out the gun, thrust it under his belt in front and got out of the car. The truck’s cab was empty. Going around it, Andrew stopped with his back to the road and made a show of examining one of the broken wheels. He could be seen from the road quite well as he was standing in an open place lit by sunrays. The heat of the rays was so strong that he felt it on his skin under the shirt.

He didn’t wait long. Shivers ran down his neck and spine as if a cold wind bit him. Blood hammered in his temples. The Lexus appeared in his mind’s eye. The passenger was holding the plastic butt of the Beretta with two hands, his finger was hardly touching the metal trigger. The man was looking at Barkov through the open window hesitating between whether to shoot at the back of his head or the middle of his spine. The Lexus braked smoothly. Andrew kept on standing motionless. The killer chose the base of the skull to finish his work with one shoot. He rose the pistol and took aim.

As soon as the muscles of his forefinger started to contract and the trigger started moving, Barkov swung aside. The criminal didn’t have time to correct his sight. A shot rang out. The bullet flew past Andrew’s head and twanged on the metal bulldozer cab.

Now I have the right to defend myself in every way.

Andrew fell onto the asphalt and rolled sideways.

The killer moved the barrel and took aim again.

Barkov stopped sharply and rolled to the other side. The second bullet hit the asphalt and ricocheted into the bulldozer caterpillar.

Andrew’s movements were not as fast as when he arrested Housman. The new opponent had time to trace his movements. Is heat influencing me? Or maybe I’m not scared enough?

The man started shooting faster and with less concentration. Obviously, he was nervous. There was no need to dodge the next two bullets as they flew high and hit the semitrailer platform. Two others would have pierced Andrew’s leg, but he moved away and took up a position for shooting.

He has spent six cartridges. So, nine more are left.

It was not a pleasure to jump like a monkey under fire, but Andrew didn’t want to kill the bastard. His training required avoiding killing unless absolutely necessary. A slight wound would be enough to disable him. However, it wasn’t clear what to aim at. Andrew could only see the guard’s head and the hand holding the pistol.

I must only scare him.

Barkov leveled his Colt at the lowered door glass and pulled the trigger. The bullet shattered the upper edge of the glass. Fragments flew into the man’s face. He jerked back and hid behind the door. Very well!

Now it was possible for Andrew to reach the Lexus in a few jumps shooting above the criminal’s head, and making a hole in his leg or hand. Or, if it worked, Andrew could just take his pistol away, pull him out of the car and tie him up.

Barkov jumped up to execute his plan, but a new danger struck his senses. [2] A soviet assault weapon, a Kalashnikov, its barrel cut off, lay on a seat… Another man eyed Andrew… A plump hand removed the safety lock and racked the slide…

The Lexus driver! He’s also going to open fire!

However, this time it wasn’t clear how to escape the bullets. The fat and sweaty fair-haired man sitting at the wheel was not going to level his gun to put Andrew in his sights; he just wanted to press the trigger and to pour lead as if it wasn’t a Kalashnikov at all but a hose for watering a lawn. Andrew’s chances to stay unhurt were close to zero. He didn’t know where bullets would fly because the shooter himself didn’t know that.

Andrew knew he had no choice: I’ll have to kill him.

As soon as the man lifted the gun from the right-hand seat and put it out of the window, Andrew fired a shot. The driver yelled. He dropped the gun and caught his hand as he beat his forehead repeatedly against the wheel, roaring with pain.

Barkov didn’t have time to rejoice at such a successful hit. The curly head and the pistol appeared above the back door. Andrew realized that bullets would fly into his stomach in half a second as the killer had already turned his Beretta into the automatic mode.

It was a mortal threat. No acrobatic tricks would save him in this situation.

Barkov aimed his gun at the enemy in one short, precise movement and discharged. The bullet exploded into the man’s left eye. Bloody liquid splashed on his face. Death was instant. The body fell on the seat.

Andrew aimed his Colt at the driver. “Get out of the car!”

Without a glance, the driver raised his head, grasped the wheel with his bloody hands, and the Lexus rushed forward. Just before the bridge, the car turned left, its tires squealing, onto the last entrance of the parking lot. It caught on bumpers of several parked cars with its side, crossed the lot and turned at full speed to the road leading back to the city. A taxi moving in the same direction managed to brake in time and let it go.

Barkov lowered his gun and looked about. Not a single car was moving towards the islands. Lots of them were concentrated at the toll plaza as the barriers were now closed. The cars seemed to be empty. One by one, curious heads started to emerge above front panels and seat backs.

Andrew took his badge out of his pocket and raised it above his head. “Everything is all right! I’m a policeman!”

He put the badge back and directed his steps to his Ford. It was necessary to leave immediately before his colleagues arrived. All investigations could be conducted later.

Emily came out from behind the truck. Her eyes sparkled with amazement as she spoke, but her voice came to him in an unnatural, slow way, “I saw everything. That is, I have never seen anything like that! How did you do it? Like in the movie!”

Barkov shouted back, “What the hell are you doing out here?”

Her face expressed surprise. “What? Speak slower, I don’t get you!”

I’m still not all there, he realized. He took a long breath, then trying to prolong each sound, he pronounced slower, “I told you to stay in the car! Why the heck are you here? Did you want to get a bullet?”

She started. “What for?”

“A bullet not from me, but from them. Get back!”

She turned back to the car and sat on the backseat in silence.

Sitting down at the steering wheel, Barkov felt sudden fatigue and weakness. Here it is again. I’ve got to do something.

He recalled that he had bought a cola recently. There was caffeine in it, so it had to help.

“Take a cola can out of the backseat pocket, please.”

“Where?”

“Behind me.”

Although Andrew didn’t try to prolong sounds anymore, Emily understood him. It meant that his adrenaline-rushed metabolism had started to “brake’.

The girl handed him the can. Barkov held it in his hand with difficulty. It seemed to him the can weighed about ten kilograms. He put the can on his knee and pulled the ring. To his surprise, the ring did not unclasp. Andrew didn’t have enough strength! He tried once again, to no avail.

He didn’t want to confess to the girl that he couldn’t do it.

“You open, please. It might splatter over the controls.”

Emily took the cola, and in a second there was “Click’!

Taking the can back, Andrew raised it with both hands and took a few gulps. The liquid reached his stomach quickly. The can seemed to be lighter at once. He continued drinking, feeling an increase of strength with each gulp. It’s amazing how fast the caffeine works!

Finishing the cola, Barkov squeezed the can with one hand and dropped it onto the right seat. He felt neither weakness nor sleepiness anymore. Now I’m ready.

He started up his Ford and drove to the road.

Bypassing broken cars, Andrew ignored them. He had the curly-headed man in his eye at the moment. It was the first human being Andrew had killed in his life. An unpleasant gnawing at his gut had spread through him. In the past, he had managed to take criminals alive, wounded at times, yes, but alive nonetheless. He should have guessed that the driver could also take part in the encounter. He shouldn’t have been so sure in his fast reactions.

Cocksure idiot! I’d had a clear view of them both. I should have figured it out and disabled him before I was forced to kill him! Or found a safer vantage point to start the attack and avoided this altogether.

He remembered that there was a park at Virginia Key that skirted the road. If Andrew and Emily had hidden among the trees, the criminals would have had to follow them on foot. It would have been easier to injure them either in a leg or an arm.

“Damn!” he exclaimed as he banged his fist on the wheel.

“What’s wrong?” Emily asked with caution.

“I hate this job. I should have quit long ago. Did you know that those people were going to attack me?”

The girl rounded her eyes. “Me? How?”

“You said you knew them. According to you, they were ordinary guards from a vegetable company.”

“I just saw them a couple of times when I went there with my father. They stood at the entrance and opened doors for us!”

Emily’s tone was convincing, but he knew she couldn’t be trusted. It was possible that she had known about the attempt on Andrew’s life or even ordered it herself.

I’ll sort it out later. Now I must solve a more important problem.

They entered the wide causeway of the Virginia Key island.

Occupied with his own thoughts, Barkov didn’t pay attention to the familiar surroundings – sand beaches to the right and the harbor to the left.

“Good heavens! The boats are lying alongside!” Emily exclaimed suddenly.

“So what? Haven’t you seen a marina before?”

“They are lying literally! On the soil!”

Barkov looked left. At the location where the smooth blue-green water surface had been seen before, there were bumps of slimy sea bottom covered with algae. The harbor had turned into something like a swamp. Snow-white boats stuck in it, tilted and resting on each other like a pile of beached sea creatures.

Andrew cast a glance to Biscayne Bay on the right, the other shore identified by dim contours of Miami skyscrapers. The width of the nearby beaches had increased noticeably – from usual fifteen meters to two hundred or even more. Oh my, is that the low tide? It has never been like that before!

“I know what’s happening!” Emily exclaimed even louder now. “When water pulls away from shore like this, it’s the first sign of tsunami. We must go somewhere higher – now! Drive faster, please!”

Andrew’s skin prickled – she was right. Before a tsunami, water recedes far from the shore making the seabed visible. Earthquakes are often the cause of that. Now they faced two signs of an oncoming disaster.

“Computer!” Barkov pronounced loudly.

A semitransparent screen flared up above the gauge panel and a pleasant female voice replied, “I’m listening.”

“Is a tsunami possible in the Miami region?”

“Unfortunately, the forecast is unavailable at the moment. Repeat your request later.”

It meant that the connection with the central server was broken.

After waiting for a couple of seconds in expectation of further commands, the screen finally went out.

“To go somewhere higher’ on Virginia Key and Biscayne Key wasn’t possible. Both islands were absolutely flat. The tsunami wave height could be a few dozen meters, so the only chances to survive would be on the top floors of high-rise buildings. There was no such construction on Virginia Key, but there was one on Biscayne Key. It was the 70-floor condominium where the man that Andrew was going to visit lived.

Barkov pressed the pedal harder, hoping he could make it in time.