Two-Dollar Bill

51

DINO HIT THE SWITCH, and the door started up. Stone ducked under it and stepped outside, the gun pointing ahead of him. He checked both directions. "Clear," he said, and Dino came out.

"What is this place?" Dino asked.

They were in a kind of alley between two long rows of garages.

"I don't know," Stone said. "Let's find Arrington, then we'll worry about it. It sounded as though she was nearby, but not too near. You take the other row."

Stone and Dino began walking down both rows of garages, banging on the door and shouting Arrington's name.

"Here!" Dino yelled, two doors down.

"Dino? Stone?" Arrington shouted.

"We're right outside," Stone said.

"Well, get me out of here."

"First, we've got to figure out how to get inside. You said you were handcuffed. Are your feet free?"

"They're tied together, and I'm lying on my side," she shouted back.

"Can you get to your feet?"

"Maybe. What do I do then?"

Stone went over to the side of the garage door and tapped the silencer against it. "There's a button that opens the door, and it's probably right over here. If you can get to your feet, hop over this way and find the button."

"I'll try," Arrington called back. There followed some grunts and groans. "Okay, I'm on my feet, hopping your way." Her voice got closer.

"Do you see a button on the wall? It's about shoulder high."

"I see it."

"Press your forehead against it and push."

A moment later, the door started upward. Stone ducked under it and found Arrington, her head still pressed against the button. "You can stop pushing now; just hold it right there, and I'll get the cuffs off you." He unlocked the handcuffs while Dino untied her feet.

Arrington fell into Stone's arms. "Oh, God, I thought I would never see you again. I thought I'd never see anybody again." She hugged Dino. "How did you find me?"

"We were brought to you," Dino said. "You have any idea where we are?"

"No."

Stone pointed upward. "Seagulls; we're near water."

"That's very helpful, Stone," Dino said archly. "Come on, let's look around." He started down the alley, and Stone and Arrington followed.

They came to the end of the garages, and the alley joined a street.

"Look," Stone said, pointing. A sign said "Field 121."

"We're back where we started; Randall's Island."

"All that driving was just to confuse us," Dino said.

"Where the hell is Randall's Island?" Arrington asked.

"In the East River," Stone replied. "Come on, let's find my car." He started across the street, and they followed. Then Stone caught a flash of silver at the end of the street, where it joined the traffic circle. "Quick," he yelled. "Under the stands."

They ran across the road and ducked under the grandstand of the ballpark. "Hit the dirt." They all got on the ground.

Billy Bob's silver Navigator turned into the street from the traffic circle and started toward them. It turned into the alley and drove toward the garages they had just left.

Stone was on his feet. "Come on, we've got to get to my car before they find out we're gone!" They started running down the street toward where Stone had left his car. From somewhere behind them he heard car doors slamming. "They're back in the Navigator!" he puffed. They were still a hundred and fifty yards from the car, he reckoned. Arrington fell, and they stopped to help her. "Hit the deck!" Stone said.

They were all on the ground again as the Navigator turned the corner and drove past them.

"They're seeing if your car is still there," Dino said. "When they find it, they'll know we're still here and on foot."

The Navigator turned into the ball field.

"Come on," Stone said, running toward his car.

"We can't go toward them," Arrington said, grabbing his arm.

"We've got to get to the car. I've only got five rounds in this thing, but there are two guns under the car. Anyway, when they find it, they'll start driving around, looking for us." He heard car doors slam again. "Hit the dirt!" They all did.

A moment later, the Navigator backed out of the ball field and drove slowly away from them. Obviously, they were searching.

"Come on, but stay as far under the stands as you can," Stone said. They kept low and ran toward the Mercedes.

Stone could see the rear end of his car, now, and he saw the brake lights of the Navigator come on, then the reversing lights. "Go for it!"

Stone yelled, and he sprinted, leaving Arrington behind. "Make for the car!" he yelled over his shoulder.

He made the car, but the Navigator was reversing toward them, and he had no time to get inside. Dino arrived at the car, and Arrington was close behind.

"You left me!" she said.

"One of us had to get here," Stone said.

Dino was on the ground, looking under the car. "It's too low," he said. "I can't get under it."

"Keep the car between us and the Navigator," Stone said. "It's good protection."

The Navigator stopped, the two front doors opened and the two men with shotguns got out, looking around.

"Arrington," Stone whispered, "stay close to me." He looked around, but Arrington was gone. Dino was huddled close, on his other side. "Where's Arrington?" Stone asked.

"She was right here," Dino whispered back. "Here come the shotguns."

"They're behind the car," one of the men shouted, and the two brought the shotguns to their shoulders.

"What are you waiting for?" Dino asked. "Shoot somebody!"

"They're too far away," Stone said.

"You're just chickenshit! You just don't want to shoot somebody!"

"Give it a moment," Stone said. He heard a shotgun being racked. He looked up, and one of the men was ten feet away. Stone took his shot. The side of the man's head exploded, and he went down. As Stone ducked, he heard a shotgun go off and the sound of pellets striking his car.

"One down, one to go," Dino said.

"If I stick my head up again, he'll blow it off."

"Come out from behind the car," the man yelled.

A millisecond after he yelled, Stone heard a gunshot, and the man cried out in pain. He stuck his head up, and the man was gone. He stood up further and saw him on the ground, holding onto a bleeding foot.

The man saw him, too, and brought the shotgun around.

Stone fired, striking him in the shoulder, but he was still trying to aim. Another shot exploded, and the man stopped moving.

Stone looked under the car. "Arrington?"

"Did I get him?" she asked.

"You did. Stay where you are, and throw Dino a gun." Stone began to run toward the Navigator. He could see nothing through the darkened windows, but if one rolled down, he was going to start shooting.

The Navigator roared away, and Stone fired twice at it. The rear window shattered, but the second shot went astray. Stone turned and walked back toward his car, spent.

Dino was pulling Arrington from under the car. She stood up, and they all looked at each other, dirty and skint, and they began laughing.

"Okay," Dino said, finally, "it's time for the cops. Fuck Lance."

"Right," Stone said. There was, after all, the matter of the two dead men with shotguns.