Night Mask by William W. Johnstone Page B

were covered with dust and grime and cobwebs. It took them another hour to find the files on Jim and Jack Longwood.
    Neither of them realized it, but they were both holding their breath as Leo opened first one file, then the other. They exhaled as the pictures of the twins looked back at them.
    â€œGotcha, you little jerks!” Leo said.
    â€œWe can do a computer enhancement and pretty well know what they’ll look like at age thirty,” Lani said.
    â€œWe finally got a break.”
    They put fresh batteries in their flashlights and repacked as best they could. On the way out, Lani literally tripped over a small box and hit the floor. On the floor, her beam of light caught the printing on the side of the box. DISCIPLINARY RECORDS.
    â€œWell, now,” she said, standing up and brushing some of the dust off of herself. “This just might prove interesting reading.” She opened the box and found the files on Jim and Jack Longwood, and shoved them into her large purse.
    â€œYou taking those?”
    â€œYou better believe I am. We can always say someone mailed them to us.”
    Leo suddenly clicked off his light and shushed her. “Listen!” he whispered, as Lani instinctively cut the beam of her light.
    They could clearly hear the sounds of footsteps on the concrete walk outside.
    â€œMore than one person,” Lani whispered.
    â€œI make it two people. And we’re trapped.”
    â€œJimmy the goddamn thing,” a woman’s voice reached them in the dark and dusty corridor. Let’s get in here and get this over with.”
    â€œI got news, Sis. It’s already been jimmied.”
    â€œThe half brother and sister,” Lani whispered.
    â€œYeah.”
    The California cops heard the jimmied door open and close.
    â€œAnd here they come,” Leo whispered.

Chapter 7
    The man and woman stood still and used flashlights to search the long corridor. Lani and Leo were well aware that the beams of light were picking up their footprints in the decade’s-old dust on the floor. There was nothing they could do about that. There was nothing they could do, period. The newly arrived man and woman were blocking the way out.
    The flashlights were abruptly switched off, plunging the hall into darkness. Then the sounds of running feet reached the California cops. The man and woman were leaving ... in one hell of a hurry.
    â€œNo way!” Lani muttered, throwing caution to the wind. She jumped to her feet and ran after the pair.
    â€œNo!” Leo yelled. When his warning had no effect, he leaped to his feet and took off after his partner.
    The unknown man was fumbling with a stubborn door when Lani slammed into him. The old door shattered, and both Lani and the man went tumbling outside, landing on the concrete. The woman turned and faced Leo, stopping the cop for a few seconds.
    Leo had never before in his life seen such hate and evil on a human face. But he was quite familiar with the gun in her hand.
    She screamed at him, the fury in the shrieking echoing throughout the empty building. Leo threw himself to one side, just as she pulled the trigger. The booming of the pistol was enormous in the emptiness. The slug slammed into the glass of the trophy case and breaking glass tinkled to the tile.
    The man Lani had hurled against was addled, having bumped his head on the concrete. She jumped up and threw herself at the woman’s legs, knocking the woman down. The pistol slid away into the darkness. Lani got a second’s glimpse at the woman’s face, and nearly recoiled at the hate and evil so vividly expressed there. Then the woman was up and delivering a vicious kick to Lani’s belly, driving the wind from her. She grabbed her pistol and ran out the door.
    Leo fired, the slug from his 9mm missing the woman and grooving a hot line in the half-open wooden door. Then the woman was gone, her male companion staggering along with her. Lani lay gasping on the dirty