Merry Christmas, Alex Cross

CHAPTER 58

We ran to the men’s restroom where I was sure Hala had gone in disguise. Halfway there, Mahoney heard something in his earbud and slowed to a stop, holding up his hand to me and Bobby Sparks.

“She made a call about eleven minutes ago,” he said, looking up at a clock on the station wall. It was 6:36, which put the call at 6:25.

Bobby Sparks grumbled, “It took us eleven minutes to-”

“I can’t control the National Security Agency,” Mahoney snapped, cutting him off. “In the call, an unidentified female said in Arabic: ‘Why?’ Unsub male replied in Arabic: ‘Four and zero.’ End of conversation. We have a rough idea of unsub male’s location: not far from where Suitland Parkway meets the Anacostia Freeway.”

“He could be coming toward us,” I said, looking at the clock.

“Possibly,” Mahoney agreed, and he started to move again.

“‘Four and zero,’” I said. “What did the unsub male say the first time?”

“‘One, four, and zero,’” Bobby Sparks replied.

“How long ago was that?”

“Just after she entered the station,” Mahoney said. “It was at five twenty-five.”

“So they dropped the one, and an hour has passed,” I said.

Both FBI agents slowed. “Again,” Bobby Sparks said.

“An hour and forty from five twenty-five is seven oh-five,” I said. “Forty minutes from six twenty-five is seven oh-five. I think we’ve got their timetable.”

Mahoney paled. “Which means we’ve got less than twenty-nine minutes to find her.”