Dead Aim by Iris Johansen Read Free Book Online Page B

more sinister than my humble self?"
    "That's why I'm telling you about it. Is it a Toyota?"
    He nodded as he picked up the phone and dialed a number. "What color and model car are we using for the surveillance on Alex Graham?" He listened. "And the license number?" He jotted the number down on his pad. "Thanks." He handed Alex the slip of paper. "This one is ours. If you suspect anyone else is following you, then get on the phone and call me right away."
    "Don't worry." She tucked the note in her purse. "I'll yell if I even get a glimmer I'm in danger. I believe in letting the police earn those tax dollars. Particularly when it means keeping my neck intact." She moved toward the door. "Thanks for everything, Detective."
    "Thank you." Leopold walked her out of the office and down the steps. "I'll just see you to your car. Wouldn't want you to be cheated out of those tax dollars."
    Alex glanced in the rearview mirror as she turned the corner and approached the Golden Nugget Hotel.
    The blue Toyota was still behind her, keeping a discreet one-block distance.
    She turned left, went down the underground parking ramp, and parked beside the elevator doors. She glanced quickly around before getting out and punching the button for the elevator.
    She tensed.
    Another car was coming down the ramp.
    The elevator doors opened and she quickly stepped inside and pushed the button for the seventh floor.
    No response.
    She pushed the button again.
    The car was closer, coming down the last curve in the ramp.
    Her hand reached inside her bag for her .38 revolver. Dammit, why didn't the doors of the elevator--
    She stabbed the button again.
    The car on the ramp came into view.
    It was the blue Toyota.
    She breathed a sigh of relief and released the grasp on her gun to wave at the driver behind the wheel.
    He waved back. He parked in a space a short distance away as she punched the elevator button one more time.
    At last the elevator doors slid shut.
    Lester muttered a curse as he threw the radio-control device on the seat beside him. What the hell had happened? Decker had promised him the elevator doors would jam if he pressed the damn switch. He should have known better than to trust anyone but himself. Fucking screwup. Now he'd have to find a way to get into Graham's hotel room.
    He got out of the blue Toyota and strode toward the bank of elevators. He had to move fast. He pressed the button for the elevator. He didn't know how much time he had left before--
    The doors of the elevator opened.
    "Pardon me."
    He whirled to see a man coming down the emergency stairs.
    "I do hate to spoil your plans," the man said softly. "But I really can't let you get in that elevator."
    Shit. Cop?
    Lester's hand dove into his jacket for his holstered Glock.
    "Too late." Morgan shot him in the head.
    Alex was just picking the phone up to call Sarah when the fire alarms in the hall started wailing.
    She stiffened. A little too convenient? A fire was a great way to get someone out of a hotel room. She dialed the front desk. Busy.
    She dialed Leopold at the precinct. "There's a fire alarm going off at my hotel. Will you check and see if it's legitimate?"
    "I'm on it." He hung up.
    Well, if the alarm was legitimate she wasn't going to stay here and burn up. She'd already gotten her handbag and camera equipment from the bedroom when the phone rang.
    "The fire department is on the way. The hotel called and reported a fire in a car in the underground lot," Leopold said when she picked up. "It reached the gas tank and exploded. The smoke has entered the ventilating system. They're afraid there will be other explosions down there, so they're evacuating the hotel."
    She headed for the door. "Then I'm out of here."
    "Good idea. I'll have an officer meet you in the lobby."
    The hall was only a little smoky, but it was filled with people heading for the emergency stairs at the end of the corridor.
    "This way." A teenage boy was motioning her forward. "Don't be scared. It's