Magic Line by Elizabeth Gunn Page B

said, doing her best to sound like Moses handing down stone tablets. ‘The answers I’m getting are urgently needed or I wouldn’t have come over here. Leave me alone and I will finish quickly.’
    Nurse Bell’s face froze over. She took one step back from the bed and turned to the door, her clean hands gripping the little tray with the water glass and the hypodermic in its sheath. Her expression as she walked out said, You are on my turf now and we will see about this.
    Sarah turned back to Fitz, who drooped on his pillows, too wasted to take any interest in another fight. ‘You passed out before you had time to phone in a BOLO, is that right?’
    â€˜But somebody did, I guess,’ Fitz said, ‘because you’re here.’
    Finished or not, she was going to have to stop; he was falling asleep. ‘Can you remember anything about his appearance?’
    â€˜I just got on my feet as he jumped out of the truck.’ Fitz’s head wobbled. Eyes half closed, he said, ‘He wasn’t as big as I expected.’ His chin dropped on his chest. Then, with one final heroic effort he lifted his head and added: ‘He was wearing surgical gloves!’
    â€˜Here’s my card.’ She put it on the bedside table. ‘When you wake up, Fitz, if you think of anything more, call me.’ In case he was not as comatose as he looked, she added: ‘Don’t worry about this incident. You got handed a rotten mess, and you did the best anybody could do with it. I’ll put that in my report. Sleep now.’
    Just saying the word made her long to lie down on the hard tile floor beside his bed and grab some Zs for herself.
    Don’t even think about it.
    She hurried out into the hall, nodding pleasantly as she passed Nurse Bell, who was headed toward the doorway with a doctor in tow.
    Outside in cooling darkness, she drove back to the Midvale Park neighborhood talking to her buddy Kate, who was running the shift at the West Side Station.
    â€˜Delaney called about the escape,’ Kate said. ‘We’re setting up the containment area now. Eight blocks each way around UMC – we’re getting help from Midtown since the hospital’s in their division. Two K-9 units are on their way; they’ll walk grids in the area. Sergeant Holly’s supervising, and the gang unit from Midtown’s coming over, too. You got anything more for a physical description?’
    â€˜Dark hair, pale eyes. Maybe five-nine. Strong but not large. Wearing a dark blue collared polo shirt with the firehouse logo on the back.’
    â€˜What?’
    â€˜Yeah, he took it off the driver, how’s that for cool? This guy’s quick and resourceful. Armed and very dangerous. Tell everybody, he’s . . .’ She took a breath, trying to think how to convey the threat. ‘He has some tricks I’ve never seen before.’
    â€˜Like what?’
    â€˜Like, he knows how to control his pulse and breathing. He can play dead.’
    â€˜Come on.’
    â€˜I wouldn’t believe it if I hadn’t seen it, Kate. Zimmy declared him dead at the scene and I fully agreed with his judgment. But just now he threw an able-bodied officer right across a gurney that he himself was lying full length on – strapped to it, actually.’
    â€˜Whoa. Houdini’s come back?’
    â€˜Or something. Pass the word to everybody on shift tonight, ‘Look around you every minute. Trust no one. A clever killer is on the loose.’

FIVE
    R obin had no plan at all when he jumped out of the van. He just knew he didn’t want to be strapped to a gurney under guard, so he took the first chance he got to escape.
    He had no idea where he was. Just get out of the van , his instincts told him, and then deal with whatever comes next. Quick reaction times, he knew, were his major asset.
    He had a good eye for foraging, too. Most people in the middle of an emergency entrance,