The Steel Shark

Chapter 18

Avi had been one of the first out of the Hall of Ocean Life. He turned left and ducked into the Discovery Room. During museum hours, it brimmed with noisy children, but after hours, it was deserted. More important, the cameras had been placed such that there was a blind spot by the door.

Careful to stay in that spot, he shed his glasses, wig, and gloves. He dumped them into a specimen drawer, also in the blind spot, and added a label to it that said “Dress Up.” The items would probably be found anyway, but they couldn’t be tied to him and with any luck they’d be contaminated by other DNA before they were. He ran both hands through his natural hair and stepped back into the cameras’ view.

The crowd had thinned somewhat, but enough people still milled about to offer him cover. The crowd pushed through the 81st Street exit. There hadn’t been time to set up a police cordon, and he slipped into the crowd, shedding the bulky watch he’d been given to watch the drone’s antics.

A few meters later, he was inside Central Park and heading south. As he walked, he rolled up his sleeves, took off his jacket and tie, and unbuttoned the top few buttons of his shirt. He didn’t look like a partygoer anymore, just a guy in black pants and a white shirt, maybe a waiter.

He walked through the park like a man who knew where he was going, but wasn’t in any hurry to get there. Nothing remarkable.

Remarkable was Tesla’s survival. Avi had lined up the shot perfectly, but the man had turned at the last instant, warned by the tall woman with her arm in a sling who had knocked out the drone. She was either very lucky or very good. He hoped it was just luck. Luck ran out.

Now he was in the position of having to make a second attempt on a skittish target. Tesla was always going to be a difficult target. He lived underground, and the subway tunnels leading to his home were under surveillance. There were many tunnels, of course, which meant there would be more hours of surveillance tapes than the police could ever look through, but Avi didn’t like taking chances. It would take a great deal of stealth and time to find Tesla’s underground house, and it was probably well fortified.

It would be best to get him when he came out, but Tesla rarely left Grand Central Terminal — a building full of people, surveillance cameras, police, military, and reporters. He ate in the terminal, but switched up the restaurants. He had a dog that would make it difficult to get close to him undetected.

Tesla was a challenge.

Avi didn’t like challenges. He liked straightforward jobs, easy jobs, quiet jobs. He tried to mitigate risk and surprise. He’d already broken one rule by trying again after the first shot had missed today. A weakness.

He would go to his hotel room and soak his shoulder. He would eat a healthful dinner. He would pray. And then he would kill Tesla. Soon.