He's almost here!
Katherine groped now for the handle, found it again, and heaved back on it with all her might. The massive panel seemed barely to move, and yet a sliver of moonlight now sliced into Pod 5. Katherine pulled again. The shaft of light from outside the building grew wider. A little more! She pulled one last time, sensing her attacker was now only a few feet away.
Leaping toward the light, Katherine wriggled her slender body sideways into the opening. A hand materialized in the darkness, clawing at her, trying to pull her back inside. She heaved herself through the opening, pursued by a massive bare arm that was covered with tattooed scales. The terrifying arm writhed like an angry snake trying to seize her.
Katherine spun and fled down the long, pale outer wall of Pod 5. The bed of loose stones that surrounded the entire perimeter of the SMSC cut into her stockinged feet as she ran, but she pressed on, heading for the main entrance. The night was dark, but with her eyes fully dilated from the utter blackness of Pod 5, she could see perfectly--almost as if it were daylight. Behind her, the heavy bay door ground open, and she heard heavy footsteps accelerating in pursuit down the side of the building. The footsteps seemed impossibly fast.
I'll never outrun him to the main entrance. She knew her Volvo was closer, but even that would be too far. I'm not going to make it.
Then Katherine realized she had one final card to play.
As she neared the corner of Pod 5, she could hear his footsteps quickly overtaking her in the darkness. Now or never. Instead of rounding the corner, Katherine suddenly cut hard to her left, away from the building, out onto the grass. As she did so, she closed her eyes tightly, placed both hands over her face, and began running totally blind across the lawn.
The motion-activated security lighting that blazed to life around Pod 5 transformed night into day instantly. Katherine heard a scream of pain behind her as the brilliant floodlights seared into her assailant's hyper dilated pupils with over twenty-five-million candlepower of light. She could hear him stumbling on the loose stones.
Katherine kept her eyes tightly closed, trusting herself on the open lawn. When she sensed she was far enough away from the building and the lights, she opened her eyes, corrected her course, and ran like hell through the dark.
Her Volvo's keys were exactly where she always left them, in the center console. Breathless, she seized the keys in her trembling hands and found the ignition. The engine roared to life, and her headlights flipped on, illuminating a terrifying sight.
A hideous form raced toward her.
Katherine froze for an instant.
The creature caught in her headlights was a bald and bare-chested animal, its skin covered with tattooed scales, symbols, and text. He bellowed as he ran into the glare, raising his hands before his eyes like a cave-dwelling beast seeing sunlight for the first time. She reached for the gearshift but suddenly he was there, hurling his elbow through her side window, sending a shower of safety glass into her lap.
A massive scale-covered arm burst through her window, groping half blind, finding her neck. She threw the car in reverse, but her attacker had latched on to her throat, squeezing with unimaginable force. She turned her head in an attempt to escape his grasp, and suddenly she was staring at his face. Three dark stripes, like fingernail scratches, had torn through his face makeup to reveal the tattoos beneath. His eyes were wild and ruthless.
"I should have killed you ten years ago," he growled. "The night I killed your mother."
As his words registered, Katherine was seized by a horrifying memory: that feral look in his eyes--she had seen it before. It's him. She would have screamed had it not been for the viselike grip around her neck.
She smashed her foot onto the accelerator, and the car lurched backward, almost snapping her neck as he was dragged beside her car. The Volvo careened up an inclined median, and Katherine could feel her neck about to give way beneath his weight. Suddenly tree branches were scraping the side of her car, slapping through the side windows, and the weight was gone.
The car burst through the evergreens and out into the upper parking lot, where Katherine slammed on the brakes. Below her, the half-naked man clambered to his feet, staring into her headlights. With a terrifying calm, he raised a menacing scale-covered arm and pointed directly at her. Katherine's blood coursed with raw fear and hatred as she spun the wheel and hit the gas. Seconds later, she was fishtailing out onto Silver Hill Road.
CHAPTER 48
In the heat of the moment, Capitol police officer Nunez had seen no option but to help the Capitol Architect and Robert Langdon escape. Now, however, back in the basement police headquarters, Nunez could see the storm clouds gathering fast.
Chief Trent Anderson was holding an ice pack to his head while another officer was tending to Sato's bruises. Both of them were standing with the video surveillance team, reviewing digital playback files in an attempt to locate Langdon and Bellamy.
"Check the playback on every hallway and exit," Sato demanded. "I want to know where they went!"
Nunez felt ill as he looked on. He knew it would be only a matter of minutes before they found the right video clip and learned the truth. I helped them escape. Making matters worse was the arrival of a four-man CIA field team that was now staging nearby, prepping to go after Langdon and Bellamy. These guys looked nothing like the Capitol Police. These guys were dead-serious soldiers . . . black camouflage, night vision, futuristic-looking handguns.
Nunez felt like he would throw up. Making up his mind, he motioned discreetly to Chief Anderson. "A word, Chief?"
"What is it?" Anderson followed Nunez into the hall.
"Chief, I made a bad mistake," Nunez said, breaking a sweat. "I'm sorry, and I'm resigning." You'll fire me in a few minutes anyway.
"I beg your pardon?"
Nunez swallowed hard. "Earlier, I saw Langdon and Architect Bellamy in the visitor center on their way out of the building."
"What?!" Anderson bellowed. "Why didn't you say something?!"
"The Architect told me not to say a word." "You work for me, goddamm it!" Anderson's voice echoed down the corridor. "Bellamy smashed my head into a wall, for Christ's sake!"
Nunez handed Anderson the key that the Architect had given him.
"What is this?" Anderson demanded.
"A key to the new tunnel under Independence Avenue. Architect Bellamy had it. That's how they escaped."
Anderson stared down at the key, speechless.
Sato poked her head out into the hallway, eyes probing. "What's going on out here?"
Nunez felt himself go pale. Anderson was still holding the key, and Sato clearly had seen it. As the hideous little woman drew near, Nunez improvised as best as he could, hoping to protect his chief. "I found a key on the floor in the subbasement. I was just asking Chief Anderson if he knew what it might go to."
Sato arrived, eyeing the key. "And does the chief know?"
Nunez glanced up at Anderson, who was clearly weighing all his options before speaking. Finally, the chief shook his head. "Not offhand. I'd have to check the--"
"Don't bother," Sato said. "This key unlocks a tunnel off the visitor center."
"Really?" Anderson said. "How do you know that?"
"We just found the surveillance clip. Officer Nunez here helped Langdon and Bellamy escape and then relocked that tunnel door behind them. Bellamy gave Nunez that key."
Anderson turned to Nunez with a flare of anger. "Is this true?!"